A method has been developed to measure the swing period of a simple pendulum automatically. The pendulum position is converted into a signal frequency by employing a simple electronic circuit that detects the intensity of infrared light reflected by the pendulum. The signal produced by the electronic circuit is sent to the microphone port and…

Computer-assisted experiments with CdS and CdSe photoresistors are described. The most important characteristics of the photoresistors are determined: (i) the spectral response, (ii) the photocurrent versus incident radiant power, (iii) the rise and decay time constants and (iv) the frequency response to modulated light. The photoconductivity gain…

In this article, we present an overview of a suite of light and spectroscopy education materials developed as part of Project LITE (Light Inquiry Through Experiments). We also present an analysis of how introductory college astronomy students using these Project LITE materials performed on the Light and Spectroscopy Concept Inventory (LSCI)…