destructive
Discussion The intensity goes up by a factor of 4 when the amplitude doubles. This answer is a little disquieting. The two individual waves each have intensities of 1.00 W/m 2 , yet their sum has an intensity of 4.00 W/m 2 , which may appear to violate conservation of energy. This violation, of course, cannot happen. What does happen is intriguing. The area over which the intensity is 4.00 W/m 2 is much less than the area covered by the two waves before they interfered. There are other areas where the intensity is zero. The addition of waves is not as simple as our first look in Superposition and Interference suggested. We actually get a pattern of both constructive interference and destructive interference whenever two waves are added. For example, if we have two stereo speakers putting out 1.00 W/m 2 each, there will be places in the room where the intensity is 4.00 W/m 2 , other places where the intensity is zero, and others in between. Figure 16.45 shows what this interference might look like. We will pursue interference patterns elsewhere in this text.