Question

Can two wavefronts cross each other?

Answer 1

A wavefront is an imaginary surface that is formed from the collection of points that are all in the same phase.

The characteristics include:

1. Wavefront is formed from the locus of the particles vibrating in the same phase.
2. Wavefront can be used to denote the direction of the propagation of the wave.
3. The wavefronts may be of several different shapes including spherical, cylindrical, and plane.
4. Wavefront forms as an imaginary surface along which all the waves passing through are in phase i.e. their crests and troughs are in sync.
5. It is not possible that two wavefronts can cross each other because the next synchronization or for reaching the next wavefront takes some time.

If two wavefronts intersect, then at the point of intersection there will be two directions for the propagation of the wave which is not possible.

Therefore two wavefronts cannot cross each other as all the rays would take a similar time to travel between the successive ones.