destructive interference

American  

noun

Physics.

1. the interference of two waves of equal frequency and opposite phase, resulting in their cancellation where the negative displacement of one always coincides with the positive displacement of the other.

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How does destructive-interference compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• constructive interference vs. destructive interference

Example Sentences

"In geometrical optics, shadows cast by obstacles would extend indefinitely -- if you're in the shadow, there's no light; outside of it, you see light. But wave optics introduces a different behavior -- waves bend around obstacles and interfere with each other, creating a sequence of bright and dim fringes due to constructive and destructive interference."

From Science Daily

Just leave two doors open, and then you will have destructive interference, and the thieves cannot go into the living room,’” jokes physicist Jean Dalibard, who co-authored the 1984 paper.

From Scientific American

By blocking the brightest color, thus taking the atom’s single-photon-generating process offline, Schemmer and his colleagues were able to see the other process in action without the destructive interference created by the dominant single atom—much like a traffic light that shines both green and yellow when red is blocked.

From Scientific American

The length of the ring was chosen and adjusted precisely to create destructive interference for only one color of light.

From Scientific American

If, however, the waves of light are out of phase and overlap while misaligned, a peak may meet a trough in the wave, and both are canceled out, a process known as destructive interference.

From Scientific American