When the wavelength of a wave increases, what happens to diffraction?

When the wavelength of a wave increases, diffraction becomes more pronounced. This is because diffraction refers to the bending and spreading of waves when they encounter obstacles or openings.

As the wavelength of the wave increases, the size of the openings or obstacles relative to the wavelength becomes smaller, allowing the waves to spread out more significantly. This behavior can be observed with sound waves, light waves, and water waves, where longer wavelengths tend to diffract more around objects and through narrow openings compared to shorter wavelengths.

Overall, with a larger wavelength, the wave is effectively able to "bend" around obstacles more easily, resulting in increased diffraction. This phenomenon is observable in various applications like sound propagation in a concert hall or light behavior around edges. Thus, the relationship between wavelength and diffraction is crucial in understanding wave behavior in different contexts.