DIFFRACTION

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does diffraction mean? 

• DIFFRACTION (noun)
  The noun DIFFRACTION has 1 sense:

1. when light passes sharp edges or goes through narrow slits the rays are deflected and produce fringes of light and dark bands

  Familiarity information: DIFFRACTION used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DIFFRACTION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

When light passes sharp edges or goes through narrow slits the rays are deflected and produce fringes of light and dark bands

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Hypernyms ("diffraction" is a kind of...):

optical phenomenon (a physical phenomenon related to or involving light)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "diffraction"):

X-ray diffraction (the scattering of X rays by the atoms of a crystal; the diffraction pattern shows structure of the crystal)

Derivation:

diffract (undergo diffraction)

 Context examples 

Analyzing data from an X-ray diffraction instrument on the rover that identifies minerals, scientists detected significant amounts of a silica mineral called tridymite.

(NASA Scientists Discover Unexpected Mineral on Mars, NASA)

A number of foreground stars in our Milky Way can be seen in the image, identified by their diffraction spikes.

(Hubble Surveys Gigantic Galaxy, NASA)

The position of the atoms can be reconstructed using computerized analysis of the diffraction pattern.

(Atomic Resolution X-Ray Crystallography, NCI Thesaurus)

X-rays are passed through crystals and the subsequent diffraction pattern is analyzed.

(Atomic Resolution X-Ray Crystallography, NCI Thesaurus)