Create a laser by pumping the chamber with a photon beam. Manage the energy states of the laser's atoms to control its output.
Create a laser by pumping the chamber with a photon beam. Manage the energy states of the laser's atoms to control its output.
Concepts underlying the first of the Essential Principles of the Climate Sciences are aligned with topics typically taught in the elementary grades. This article identifies lessons that will help elementary students develop an understanding of how Sun's light warms Earth and how variations in daylight hours are associated with seasonal change. This article appears in the free, online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle.
When light passes through a prism, the glass slows the light down. Different colors in white light have different wavelengths. Each wavelength is refracted a different amount, causing them to separate into different colors in the process of dispersion.
Refraction is the process of bending the path traveled by light due to a change in speed.
This video segment adapted from Shedding Light on Science describes how astronomical distances can be measured in units of light-years, and how the finite speed of light allows astronomers to study how the universe looked long ago.
This video segment adapted from Shedding Light on Science demonstrates the law of reflection by showing how light energy is reflected off both smooth and rough surfaces at predictable angles.
This video segment of Swift: Eyes through Time provides concrete examples to explain the concept that distance in space equals distance in time.
Learn about an important physics experiment that uses an invention that manipulates light in this interactive activity adapted from NASA.
How did scientists figure out the structure of atoms without looking at them? Try out different models by shooting light at the atom. Check how the prediction of the model matches the experimental results.
Produce light by bombarding atoms with electrons. See how the characteristic spectra of different elements are produced, and configure your own element's energy states to produce light of different colors.
This video segment adapted from Shedding Light on Science illustrates how light changes speed, and thus direction, in a process known as refraction.
Ohio-born football coach Jim Tressel narrates the processes of the Z-scheme chemical reaction that is the initial stage of photosynthesis. Digital animation shows football players acting out the transfer of light/energy and substances (represented by a football and the rearrangement of players) to demonstrate the actions that take place during photosynthesis.
Explore an active area of research in optical physics: producing designer pulse shapes to achieve specific purposes, such as breaking apart a molecule. Carefully create the perfect shaped pulse to break apart a molecule by individually manipulating the colors of light that make up a pulse.
The People's Physics Book v3 is intended to be used as one small part of a multifaceted strategy to teach physics conceptually and mathematically
See how light knocks electrons off a metal target, and recreate the experiment that spawned the field of quantum mechanics.
See how light knocks electrons off a metal target, and recreate the experiment that spawned the field of quantum mechanics.
A complete introduction to scientific investigation and the scope of physical science. Includes: states of matter, atoms, periodic table, chemical bonding, chemical reactions, carbon chemistry, chemistry of solutions, nuclear chemistry, motion, forces, Newton's Laws of Motion, work and machines, energy, waves, sound, electromagnetic radiation, visible light, electricity, and magnetism.
In this activity related to light and perception, learners use a pinhole in an index card as a magnifying glass to help their eye focus on a nearby object. Learners will also discover that because this magnifier limits the amount of light that reaches their eye from the object, the pinhole makes the object appear dimmer. Learners are encouraged to explore using pins and needles with different diameters to make different-sized holes in index cards to see how this affects the image. They can also try forming a pinhole by curling their index finger.
In this activity, learners explore how polarizing sunglasses can help diminish road glare. By rotating a pair of polarizing sunglass lenses or other polarizing materials, learners will discover that some angles are better at reducing glare than others. Learners observe light from the sky, reflected from a mirror, or reflected from the surface of a pond. Use this activity to introduce learners to principles of light and polarization.