Visual representation in school textbooks plays an important role for physics teaching and learning. The integration of graphics with text has drawn attention of physics educators in recent years due to the close relationship between graphics and relevant text. The purpose of this study is to examine visual representation of optical content in…

When the road is wet (there is a water layer on the road surface), the road marks become blurred and drivers are distracted. We discuss the contributing processes and identify which processes are dominant to the occurrence of this phenomenon. Modelling and a simple experiment demonstrate that the dominant processes are: (a) refraction of light by…

We experience (perceive, act upon and react to, and conceptualize) dynamical processes in nature as agentive. Expressed differently, we experience events as resulting from activities and interactions of "Forces of Nature" (such as wind, light, heat, fluids, electricity, substances, and motion) that are conceived of as powerful agents…

Attempts to quantify the subjective sensation of brightness of the spot projected by a helium-neon laser and compares this with conventional sources of light. Provides an exercise in using the blackbody radiation formulas. (JRH)

Describes a career and technical education program on photonics, the study, research, and development of equipment and concepts used in the transmission of information through light, including fiber optics and experimental laser technologies. (JOW)

Describes the construction of lithographic gratings and Young's double slits by a contact print method that does not require any special skill or equipment. (JRH)

Describes the physics behind the shadows cast on a stream bed by subtle dimples on the surface of transparent water. (JRH)

Describes methods used to investigate the working of 3-D glasses available with comic books. Reports that the glasses are produced using methods of binary optics and that a prism effect, as well as diffraction grating, is incorporated in the design. (JRH)

Explains the theory behind the working of Scotchlite, a retrodirective material used for coating automotive license plates, and the Ensure Imaging System that allows law enforcement officers to verify the authenticity of the plate. (JRH)

Describes the construction of a new lighting system that uses a sulfur light source no bigger than a golf ball that emits enough light for an entire large room. Discusses the theory behind the system. (JRH)

Describes methods to observe diffraction effects without special equipment. Discusses the theory behind the different methods and associated problems. (JRH)

Investigates the conceptions and representations of light propagation, image formation, and sight typical to preinstruction learners (N=139). Findings indicate that preinstructional students display some familiarity with optical systems, light propagation, and illumination patterns and have not developed a consistent descriptive and explanatory…

Discusses factors that determine whether or not a sunburn is possible under glass, including the spectral dependence of the skin's sensitivity to sunburn, the ground-level spectrum of solar radiation, and the wavelength dependence of the transmission for the particular piece of glass. Concludes that it is possible to get sunburned through glass.…

Explores some of the principles behind the working of fluorescent bulbs using a specially prepared fluorescent bulb with the white inner fluorescent coating applied along only half its length. Discusses the spectrum, the bulb plasma, and light production. (JRH)

Describes a modification of the traditional demonstration of Newton's rings that magnifies the scale of the interference pattern so that the demonstration can be used for the whole class or for semiquantitative measurements in any high school laboratory. (JRH)