Lab Station 1: Reflection in a plane mirror

Supplies: Plane mirror, stand, laser, protractor

  1. Use the protractor and align the laser light to be incident on the mirror as shown in the chart below.
  2. Complete the chart in your notebook.

Data Table

Angle of IncidentAngle of Reflection

20 ______

40 ______

60 ______

80 ______

Conclusion

  1. How do the incident angle sizes and angle of reflection sizes compare?
  2. How do the directions of the incident angle and angles of reflection compare?
  3. In general, a definition of reflection based on your data could read:

“Reflection occurs when an object/light bounces off another object (mirror) at the ______angle, but in the ______direction.”

Lab Station 2: Refraction in a container of water

Supplies: water, container, laser, protractor

Data Table:

Angle of IncidenceAngle of Refraction

30 degrees______

20 degrees______

40 degrees______

Conclusion:

1. What is the speed of light in the air?

2. Why do you see a change in the image after it enters the water?

3. What happened to the angle of refraction as the angle of incidence changed?

Station #3 Refraction through different mediums

Supplies: water, oil, 2 containers, laser, protractor

You will investigate what happens to light when it encounters a boundary between media.

  1. Trace the shape of the container in your notebook.
  2. Draw “Line #1” on the paper. Extend it so it passes through the container shape. This line represents the path of a ray of light traveling through air.
  3. Use the container with water.
  4. Place the flat side of the plastic container along the horizontal line.
  5. Aim the laser along line #1.
  6. Draw the line of refraction out of the container.
  7. Measure the angle of incidence and refraction with the beam of light entering the container.
  8. Repeat steps 3-7 with the container of vegetable oil.
  9. The light changes speed as it enters the new medium. This change in speed is known as ‘refraction’. What characteristic of liquid might cause it to refract light?
  10. Compared to air, do you suppose liquids cause light to speed up or slow down? Why?
  11. Which liquid produced the most refraction of the light? Why?
  12. A drop of water will act like a magnifying glass. Explain why in terms of refraction. (As light moves from water into air, what happens?)

Station # 4 The Appearing Penny

Supplies: water, 2 cups, penny

Problem: What causes a penny at the bottom of a glass to suddenly appear as water is added to the glass?

Procedure:

  1. Get two cups. Fill one with water and leave the other one empty.
  2. Place a penny in the empty cup. The penny should be positioned so that it is on the side closest to your partner. Your partner should barely be able to see the edge of the penny in the cup.
  1. Slowly pour water from the second cup into the cup with the penny until your partner tells you that he or she can see the penny completely. Your partner should not move while you are pouring.

Observations/Results:

  1. Use the definition of refraction to describe the phenomenon that you just observed.
  2. Draw a diagram and label to show what occurred as light passed from air into the water.

Station # 5Bubble Vision

Supplies: loop and bubble solution

Problem: How is the interference of light demonstrated utilizing bubbles?

Background Information: The brilliant colors you often see on soap bubbles are created by an effect called interference. Light rays reflect from both the outer and inner surfaces of the bubble. A ray reflected from the inside of the bubble travels slightly farther than one reflected from the outside, so when the waves of each ray meet, they are slightly out of step, and “interfere” with each other. Some colors cancel out and disappear; others combine, so bands of colors form on the bubble’s surface.

Procedure:

  1. Take a wire loop and dip into bubble solution.
  2. Slowly pull the loop up to form a bubble.
  3. Examine the colors on the bubbles surface. Notice how the colored bands change as the soap solution sinks to the bottom of the shape.

Observations/Results:

  1. Use colored pencils to draw the bands of color that you see in at least one of the bubbles that you observed.
  2. Explain how interference causes us to see the colors that you observed on the soap bubbles.

Lab Station 6: Laser Optics

Supplies: plastic optical fiber and laser

Shine the laser light through the plastic optical fiber so that it is transmitted through to the other side.

  1. Draw the path of the laser light in the drawing above.
  2. What type of reflection is occurring?
  3. When does total internal reflection occur?

Lab Station 7: Periscope

Supplies: Periscope

  1. How many mirrors are in a periscope?
  2. Draw the location of both mirrors in the periscope to your right.
  3. Draw the path of a light ray in the periscope to your right.
  4. What could a periscope be used for?


Lab Station 8: Concave Mirror

Supplies: Concave Mirror

  1. Hold the mirror close to you face. Write down what you see?
  2. Slowly move the mirror away until no image is visible. This is the focal point. What is the focal point of the mirror?
  3. Continue to move the mirror away from your face until you see an inverted image. At what distance does the image become inverted?

Lab Station 9: Prism made rainbow

Materials: Light box with a single line cover, glass prism

Rainbow may be hard to see, so turn the prism slowly!

Hypothesis: When sunlight shines through the clouds during a rainy day, you sometimes see a rainbow. How does light make these spectacular colors?

Procedure:

1.)Lay your paper in front of the light box and turn it on. DO NOT TURN THE POWER SUPPLY ABOVE 6V OR YOU WILL BURN OUT THE BULB!!!!!

2.)Stand up the prism on end in front of the beam and slowly turn the prism until a rainbow forms.

3.)Draw a line following the light beam as it enters the prism and as it leaves the prism onto your paper. Record the colors that are at the end of the beam and the order they are found.

4.)Do you think you can change the order of the colors? Try adjusting the prism to see if you can…

5.)Describe the pattern of light that you see on the paper. Starting at one end, list all of the colors that you can identify in the order that they appear.

6.)The color red has the smallest frequency in the visible spectrum of light. Which color must have the highest frequency?

7.)The amount of energy that is carried by light is directly related to the frequency of the light. Why do you think that most sunscreens contain UV (ultraviolet) blockers?

8.)Why do the colors separate the way that you see them? Why is each different color of light refracted by the prism in a slightly different way? (Think about what “refraction” means!)

9.)How is the magnifying glass aspect of a drop of water responsible for the formation of rainbows?

Lab Station 10: Reflection of Light

Materials: Concave Mirror, Convex Mirror, Light Box with 5 slit (or laser pen)

Procedure:

1.)Hold up a concave mirror in front of your face and think about what you see. Record how the mirror distorts your facial image.

2.)What do you think your image will look like with the convex mirror? Try it and record what happens.

3.)Place the concave mirror on a piece of paper 20 cm in front of the light box. Turn on the light box and trace the lines as they go into the mirror and as they reflect back. How does this explain the facial image you saw in step #1?

4.)Make a prediction about what will happen when you put the convex mirror in front of the mirror. Explain.

5.)Now place the convex mirror in front of the light box and trace the lines like you did in step #3. Were your results similar to your prediction? Explain why or why not.

Lab Station 11: Mirage

  1. Draw the image of the frog.
  2. Draw 2 incoming light rays and reflected rays.

Lab Station 12: Star Wars Cube

  1. Why do you see Yoda’s face on the right side and Darth Vader’s face on the left side?
  2. Is Yoda’s left side of his face identical to his right side of his face? Why?
  3. Place the cube so you can observe both Darth Vader’s face and Yoda’s face. What does this tell you about the location of the mirror?

Lab Station 13: Atomic Emission Spectrum

Demonstration:

View the vertical tubes filled with the following gases or filaments are excited. What colors do they glow? View the tubes with the diffraction grating glasses and record the colors of light given off by each.

Source/Gas / Color / Colors Viewed Through Diffraction Gratings
1. Incandescent / /
2. Fluorescent / /
3. Neon / /
4. Argon / /

Questions:

  1. Which light source had the most colors?
  2. Why do you think some have more colors than others?