• Index
  • The Ether
  • The Swimmer Puzzle
  • The Experiment
  • Interfering Waves
  • Resulting Wave
  • Interference Pattern
  • The Results
  • The Theory of Special Relativity
  • The Interferometer
  • Astronomical Interferometry

The Michelson Interferometer

Resulting Wave

In the experiment, the two waves had the same amplitude and frequency. The resulting wave could range from a flat line caused by total destructive interference (no light) to an amplified signal caused by total constructive interference.

©2012 WGBH Educational Foundation. All Rights Reserved. Adapted from PlanetQuest: "SIM Lite Astrometric Observatory"/NASA/JPL. Images courtesy of Archival Photographic Files, apf6-00086, Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library, and Library of Congress.