Why are Stars Star-Shaped?

Stars are spherical...so why do we draw them with points?

Because of diffraction...

 

How Far Can Legolas See?

Vision is limited by diffraction.

 

What Is The Speed of Dark?

Shadows moving faster than light?

 

MIT 8.02 Electricity and Magnetism Lecture 34

Gratings. Resolving Power. Single-Slit Diffraction. Angular Resolution. Human Eye. Telescopes.

 

Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle Experiment

Heisenberg's uncertainty principle tells us that it is impossible to simultaneously measure the position and momentum of a particle with infinite precision. In our everyday lives we virtually never come up against this limit, hence why it seems peculiar. In this experiment a laser is shone through a narrow slit onto a screen. As the slit is made narrower, the spot on the screen also becomes narrower. But at a certain point, the spot starts becoming wider. This is because the photons of light have been so localised at the slit that their horizontal momentum must become less well defined in order to satisfy Heisenberg's uncertainty principle.

Other Veritasium videos

How to Measure the Wavelength of Laser Light

Diffraction.

Butterflies and metamaterials with Professor Roy Sambles

Professor Roy Sambles from the University of Exeter, winner of the 2012 Faraday Medal awarded by the Institute of Physics for his pioneering research in experimental physics. Inspired by intricate microscopic structures in butterfly and moth wings giving their vivid colours, Roy has created 'metamaterials' to manipulate microwaves and RFID tagging in unusual ways, opening up new areas of research with direct practical applications. Roy's infectious enthusiasm for physics has inspired thousands of people - "How does it all work? That's it really, isn't it? How does it all work"

 

How to Measure the Width of a Hair With a Laser!

Exactly how small is a hair's breadth? Measure it for yourself with nothing more than a laser pointer and a tape measure!

Other Frostbite Theater videos

X-Ray Diffraction of DNA

Explanation of the technique used by Rosalind Franklin to observe the double helix.

Red Diffraction on a Blu-Ray

Using a CD, a DVD and a Blu-Ray disk as a diffraction grating.