What occurs during destructive interference?

During destructive interference, waves that meet are out of phase with each other, leading to a reduction in the resultant wave's amplitude. When two waves of equal amplitude and opposite phase combine, they effectively cancel each other out, which can lead to a situation where the resultant wave has a smaller amplitude than either of the individual waves. If the waves are perfectly out of phase, they can cancel each other completely, resulting in no wave being produced at all.

This phenomenon is crucial in understanding wave behavior, particularly in contexts such as sound waves, water waves, and light waves, where interference patterns can significantly influence the overall outcome. The correct understanding is that while the amplitude is indeed smaller in destructive interference, it may not always result in zero amplitude unless the conditions are perfectly aligned for complete cancellation.