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Introduction
This chapter introduces the basic phenomena identified with waves: reflection, refraction, diffraction, superposition and interference.
We shall see behavior that we are not used to from mechanics:
Two tennis balls colliding cannot pass through each other; they will bounce. But two waves can pass through each other.
Two tennis balls cannot meet at a point and disappear; but two waves can.
In the AHL section of this chapter, we will discuss the spreading of a wave through a slit and study the effect of the slit width on the interference pattern of many slits.