High School Photo Winner's Showcase

School: Maine West

Teacher: Jeffrey Tieman

This is a natural photo of two ducks swimming across the pond, creating waves. The ducks act as a two point source interference in the medium of water. In below them, there are overlapping waves, known as a wave interference pattern. There are two types seen, constructive interference and destructive interference. Destructive interference is the overlapping of the waves at 180 degrees out of phase. They end up cancelling out, creating dark spots on the criss cross pattern known as nodes. Also, in phase overlapping is constructive interference. This creates antinodes, higher lighter points on the criss cross pattern. As the ducks swim side by side, the nodes and antinodes will continue to radiate outward. In the top right of the photo, there is a diffuse reflection of a tree. Because the water is an uneven surface, light rays reflect in many different directions. Some are reflected towards the camera which creates parts of the tree’s reflection. Otherwise, the water ripples make the rest of the tree reflect at a different angle. This is the reason why the image of the tree has ripples in it. To sum up, physics can exist anywhere, including your local lake park. Let nature surprise you.