Which property of waves is responsible for the bending of light around the corners of an obstacle?

💡 Solution & Explanation

Diffraction describes the phenomenon where waves bend around the sharp edges of an obstacle or spread out after passing through a small aperture, entering the region of the geometrical shadow. Phenomena such as refraction involve the bending of waves due to a change in speed when passing between different media, which is distinct from edge-spreading. Sound waves show prominent diffraction in daily life because their wavelength is comparable to the size of common obstacles. Light diffraction requires very small apertures due to its extremely short wavelength.