Michelson interferometer
Hello there kiddo! Today, we are going to learn about something called the Michelson Interferometer.
Imagine we have a beam of light and we want to split it into two. This means the light will be going in two different directions. We can split the light by using something called a beamsplitter.
In a Michelson Interferometer, we have two mirrors and a beamsplitter. When we shine a beam of light on the beamsplitter, it splits into two beams - one beam travels to one mirror and the other beam travels to the other mirror.
Now, these two beams of light bounce off the mirrors and come back to the beamsplitter. When they come back, something interesting happens.
The two beams of light meet at the beamsplitter and merge back into one beam. This is called interference.
The interference causes some parts of the light waves to cancel each other out and some parts to amplify each other. This is why when we look at the light coming out of the interferometer, we see what looks like bright and dark bands. These bands are called interference fringes.
Scientists use Michelson Interferometers for lots of things. For example, they use them to measure very small distances, like the size of a virus, or to detect tiny vibrations in the ground.
That's the Michelson Interferometer, kiddo! Cool, huh?
Imagine we have a beam of light and we want to split it into two. This means the light will be going in two different directions. We can split the light by using something called a beamsplitter.
In a Michelson Interferometer, we have two mirrors and a beamsplitter. When we shine a beam of light on the beamsplitter, it splits into two beams - one beam travels to one mirror and the other beam travels to the other mirror.
Now, these two beams of light bounce off the mirrors and come back to the beamsplitter. When they come back, something interesting happens.
The two beams of light meet at the beamsplitter and merge back into one beam. This is called interference.
The interference causes some parts of the light waves to cancel each other out and some parts to amplify each other. This is why when we look at the light coming out of the interferometer, we see what looks like bright and dark bands. These bands are called interference fringes.
Scientists use Michelson Interferometers for lots of things. For example, they use them to measure very small distances, like the size of a virus, or to detect tiny vibrations in the ground.
That's the Michelson Interferometer, kiddo! Cool, huh?
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