A wave diffracts more if its wavelength is large compared to the size of an opening or obstacle. As a result, a gap appears to be smaller than it is to a blue ray of light When white light is passed through a small gap (such as one found in a diffraction grating), the red end of the spectrum of light diffracts more than the blue end. Diffraction is a general characteristic exhibited by all types of waves, such as sound waves, light waves, water waves, or matter waves. When a wave enters a medium at an angle, refraction occurs because one side of the wave moves more slowly than the other side (one side needs to cover more distance = faster while other side needs to cover less distance = slower speed)Diffraction is the bending of a wave as it moves around an obstacle or passes through a narrow opening. Blue light has a longer wavelength than red light.
![what diffracts more sound or light what diffracts more sound or light](https://d20khd7ddkh5ls.cloudfront.net/interference_pattern.png)
In water, for example, which has n 1.333, the range of visible wavelengths is (380 nm)/1.333 to (760 nm)/1.333, or n n 285570 nm. Visible light of wavelength 550 nm falls on a single slit and produces its second diffraction minimum at an angle of 45.0° relative to the incident direction of the light, as in Figure 4.2.5 4.2. Yes, and each different wavelength of light is bent. In fact, the central maximum is six times higher than shown here. Every wave is the source of another wave. It follows that the wavelength of light is smaller in any medium than it is in vacuum. diffraction is the bending of a wave around a barrier such as an obstacle or the edges of an opening. Hope that answers your question!For GENERAL WAVES:Refraction is the bending of a wave as it enters a new medium at an angle. where is the wavelength in vacuum and n is the medium’s index of refraction. this happens to any wave.So the similarities are that they both involve light bending.
![what diffracts more sound or light what diffracts more sound or light](https://cvi.americanradioarchives.com/how_does_diffraction_work_in_radio_waves.png)
An example is light being seen through fog or clouds where light fringes of light and dark bands are produced. The normal is a perpendicular imaginary line from the medium.Diffraction involves any wave bending as it hits a corner. Refraction is where light bends because of entering a denser (or less dense) medium, so it slows and changes direction, moving towards the "normal" if it is entering a more dense medium and away from the "normal" when entering a less dense medium. In the 17 th century, Christiaan Huygens proposed that when a wave reaches an opening, its wavefront can be perceived as individual points emitting spherical secondary wavelets.
![what diffracts more sound or light what diffracts more sound or light](https://www.globalsino.com/EM/image1/3355b.jpg)
What do diffraction and refraction have in common? Huygens’s wave model of light is commonly used to understand the effect of diffraction.