Answer to Question #190133 in Physics for Makaia Hill

Question

When looking at the duck, how do you know when the waves are experiencing destructive interference?

Answer 1

The constructive interference occures when two identical waves arrives in phase (two waves line up crest to crest or trough to trough and, as a result, they add up). The destructive interference occurs when two identical waves arrives out of phase (crest from one wave lines up with the trough of another and, as a result, they cancel out each other). Therefore, if we see the duck in hollow between two crests, the waves are experiencing destructive interference.