Rainbow Oil Slick — Petroleum Interference on Water
56.92 £
A thin-film petroleum interference pattern on still water — the iridescent rainbow bands of oil diffraction creating concentric colour gradients from violet through green to red across a black-ground puddle.
Description
Thin-film interference occurs when light reflected from the top surface of a thin transparent film interferes with light reflected from its bottom surface — the path difference between the two reflections producing constructive or destructive interference at specific wavelengths. Oil films on water, typically one to three wavelengths of light in thickness, produce this interference as the characteristic rainbow pattern familiar from petrol station puddles. This image was made in controlled conditions using a minimal oil introduction to a black-dyed water surface in a large
photographic tray, the surface illuminated from a high-angle white LED panel. The resulting interference pattern shows concentric bands of the full visible spectrum from the thinnest region at the oil’s outer edge through the thicker central region. The absence of wind allows the pattern to stabilise into circular symmetry.
