Moire Patterns
Overview: A Moire pattern is an interference pattern that arrises when identical patterns overlap each other with a slight offset. We can see this in everyday things from our printed paper (yep! check it out with a microscope) or water wave motion.
Supplies: Pairs of sheets with identical patterns
Objectives: See how different types of interference form as the patterns on the sheets change
Setup:
- Grab two sheets with identical patterns and place them over each other
How to run the demo:
- Move the sheets around to see the Moire pattern and how it changes
What’s Happening?
A slight motion of one of the objects creates large-scale changes in the moiré pattern.
In mathematics, physics, and art, a moiré pattern or moiré fringes are large scale interference patterns that can be produced when an opaque ruled pattern with transparent gaps is overlaid on another similar pattern. For the moiré interference pattern to appear, the two patterns must not be completely identical in that they must be displaced, rotated, etc., or have different but similar pitch.
Moiré patterns magnify differences between two repetitive patterns. If two patterns are exactly lined up, then no moiré pattern appears. The slightest misalignment of two patterns will create a large-scale, easily visible moiré pattern. As the misalignment increases, the lines of the moiré pattern will appear thinner and closer together.
Learn more: (external links)
Moire Patterns explained