Why Do Refraction and Diffraction Both Involve Bending of Light?

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Refraction involves the bending of light as it passes from one medium to another, while diffraction refers to the bending of light waves around obstacles or through openings in a single medium. Diffraction causes light to spread out and create patterns of light and dark bands due to wave interference. This phenomenon can be observed in experiments like the single or double slit experiments. The similarity in names arises from both processes involving the bending of light, but they occur under different conditions. Understanding these concepts is crucial for grasping the behavior of light in various contexts.
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i know that refraction is the 'bending' of light as it enters a different medium. what's diffraction? is that when light somehow disperses when it goes really far...?

can someone explain them? and why the names are so similar?
 
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The difference

You are correct on refraction ( differing media ) but diffraction is about a single media . Light rather like a water wave can go round corners i.e. it can illuminate an area which by straight line geometry should be in shadow .
When this occurs the image is not a simple clean image but a set of bands of light from light to dark as would be caused by interfering waves .
The single slit experiment (or double slit by Young ) illustrates
search Young double slit on Yahoo or Wikipedia there is tons of info
Yours Ray.
 
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