This study provides information about the formation of colours with an experimental activity based on the reflection of coloured lights from pigments. The activity shows the formation of colour in a simple and entertaining way. The lights are reflected by being changed by different coloured pigments. This activity provides an opportunity to…

Ever since Newton's groundbreaking work on the composed nature of light, additive colour mixing (and its laws) are subject to the interest of physicists as well as other sciences. In this paper, we present a setup for simple lab or home experiments on additive colour mixing and the laws of colour mixing. Students use the screen of a laptop or…

This paper demonstrates the use of a smartphone as a low-cost multi-channel optical fibre spectrophotometer suitable for physics laboratory classes. A custom-designed cradle and structure support were fabricated using 3D printing. The plastic optical fibres were arranged and inserted into the hole of the cradle to guide the light to the rear…

Mobile phones are a widely used platform for educational apps, mobile health, and a variety of chemical tests. Here, we are working on a mobile phone-based physics lab (mPhysics) that uses a mobile phone's capabilities to run simple physics experiments and demonstrations. While a mobile phone can be used to analyze magnetic and optical properties…

This study explored the theory and applications of complementary colors using a technology-based activity designed from the perspective of STEAM education. Complementary colors and their areas of use were examined from the perspective of physics, mathematics and art, respectively. The study, which benefits from technology, makes the theory of…

The generation of secondary colors in digital devices by means of the additive red, green, and blue color model (RGB) can be a valuable way to introduce students to the basics of spectroscopy. This work has been focused on the spectral separation of secondary colors of light emitted by a computer screen into red, green, and blue bands, and how the…

Frederick Sanger's early work on protein sequencing through the use of colorimetric labeling combined with liquid chromatography involves an important nucleophilic aromatic substitution (S[subscript N]Ar) reaction in which the N-terminus of a protein is tagged with Sanger's reagent. Understanding the inherent differences between this S[subscript…

In this article we propose an activity aimed at introductory students to help them understand the Stefan-Boltzmann and Wien's displacement laws. It only requires simple materials that are available at any school: an incandescent lamp, a variable dc energy supply, and a computer to run an interactive simulation of the blackbody spectrum.…

This laboratory was developed by undergraduate students in collaboration with the course instructor as part of a peer-developed and peer-led lab curriculum in a general chemistry course. The goal was to explore the hypothesis that crystal violet lactone was responsible for the thermochromic properties of a sipping straw using a FT-IR for…

The activities described here allow students to explore the concept of diffusion with the use of common equipment such as computers, webcams and analysis software. The procedure includes taking a series of digital pictures of a container of water with a webcam as a dye slowly diffuses. At known time points, measurements of the pixel densities…

A handheld digital microscope (HDM) interfaced to a computer with a presentation projector is used to project an out-of-focus yellow patch on the screen, then the patch is brought into focus to show that, paradoxically, there are red and green but no yellow pixels. Chromaticity diagrams are used to discuss this observation and spectroscopic…

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)…