Talk:Fraunhofer diffraction
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Physics, which collaborates on articles related to physics. | |
| B | This article has been rated as B-Class on the assessment scale. | |
| High | This article is on a subject of High importance within physics. | |
|
This article has been rated but has no comments. If appropriate, please review the article and leave comments here to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the article and what work it will need. |
||
I keep getting contradictions on Wikipedia:
This page:
"...exceeding that defined as fresnel diffraction (F >> 1)"
"...any wave which has a fresnel number of larger than one -- F >> 1, is therefore subject to Fraunhofer diffraction"
"Fresnel diffraction or near-field diffraction is the diffraction pattern of an electromagnetic wave obtained close to the diffracting object (often a source or aperture). More accurately, it is the diffraction case when the Fresnel number is large and thus the Fraunhofer approximation (diffraction of parallel beams) can not be used."
"Depending on the value of F the diffraction theory can be simplified into two special cases:
- Fresnel diffraction for F <or= 1
- Fraunhofer diffraction for F >> 1"
Having just done experiments on Fraunhofer diffraction I was pretty sure it occurs when L is large, which makes the Fresnel number small, ie F < 1 , however I was pretty confused about the topic. I'd appreciate it if someone could clear this up a bit? This is probably the first time when Wikipedia has made me even more confused.
[edit] Apologies
Apologies, i wrote the fresnel case in here. Cheers for changing it over; i didn't notice until i came back just now. 
J O R D A N [talk ] 12:39, 7 February 2007 (UTC)
