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Fuster, Gonzalo; Rojas, Roberto – Physics Teacher, 2021
The photoelectric effect consists of electrons emerging from the region near the inner surface of a metallic solid toward the outside vacuum, when the metal surface is illuminated. The effect depends on the frequency of the light waves and the properties of the metal surface. In particular, a minimum or "threshold" frequency of light is…
Descriptors: Physics, Science Instruction, Energy, Metallurgy
Sarkar, Soumen; Chakrabarti, Surajit – Physics Education, 2022
In this experiment we have first determined the focal length of an equiconvex lens. We have observed that a real image can be formed by the lens on the same side of the source if the source is sufficiently strong. This is due to the reflection from the concave surface of the lens. We have measured these image distances for different object…
Descriptors: Optics, Light, Science Instruction, Physics
Balta, Nuri – Physics Teacher, 2022
In introductory texts, some "special" rays are selected to draw the image produced by lenses and mirrors. After teaching special rays, students usually ask how to draw an arbitrary ray. One method for drawing an arbitrary ray is the "tilted principal axis." As an example, the tracing of an arbitrary ray in diverging lens is…
Descriptors: Physics, Scientific Concepts, Optics, Visual Aids
Cordeiro, Cristiano M. B.; Fujiwara, Eric – Physics Teacher, 2022
The refractive index (RI) is probably the single most important parameter in optical systems. Chromatic dispersion, on the other hand, indicates how the RI depends on the wavelength and is central in, e.g., optical communication systems. Chromatic dispersion also plays an important role when teaching optics due to the captivating natural…
Descriptors: Physics, Science Instruction, Science Experiments, Light
Chiang, Chun-Ming; Ma, Shih-Hsin; Lin, Shou-Tai; Hsu, Wel-Hung; Huang, Pin-Jui – Physics Teacher, 2022
The wave nature of light has been widely demonstrated in a double-slit experiment, which has played a special role in physics teaching. When monochromatic light passes through the double-slit sheet, the diffraction and interference fringes can be observed in the far-field regime. The interference of light causes the beams passing through the two…
Descriptors: Optics, Physics, Light, Science Instruction
Hughes, Stephen; Wegener, Margaret; Gurung, Som – Physics Education, 2022
In this paper, a simple method is described for visually demonstrating that the wavelength of light reduces when entering a medium of higher refractive index. When a violet laser (405 nm) is reflected off the surface of a Blu-ray disc (track spacing 320 nm) diffraction cannot occur since the wavelength is greater than the track spacing. However,…
Descriptors: Science Instruction, Physics, Light, Lasers
Pal, Arnab; Panchadhyayee, Pradipta; Sahu, Kriti R.; Syam, Debapriyo – Physics Teacher, 2022
The refractive index is a number that governs how light changes its direction of propagation as it enters one material medium from another. This phenomenon is known as refraction and the angles of incidence and refraction of light, referred to the normal to the interface of the two media at the point of incidence, are related by Snell's law. The…
Descriptors: Science Instruction, Physics, Light, Scientific Concepts
DiLisi, Gregory A. – Physics Teacher, 2022
On April 14, 1912, the British passenger liner R.M.S. "Titanic" struck an iceberg. The ship sank in a fraction of the time designers had estimated following a worst case scenario. The purpose of this article is to examine the atmospheric refractive phenomena that might have played a significant role in obscuring the iceberg from…
Descriptors: Science Instruction, Introductory Courses, Physics, Oceanography
Lazos, Panagiotis; Nezis, Anastasios; Kyriazopoulos, Nikolaos – Physics Teacher, 2022
The interference pattern between two harmonic oscillations with slightly different frequencies are called beats. The beats, as a combined motion, have two different periods, one approximately equal to the period of the original oscillations, and another that is significantly longer and is related to the variable amplitude of the motion. The main…
Descriptors: Science Instruction, Physics, Motion, Science Experiments
Greenslade, Thomas B., Jr. – Physics Teacher, 2021
The overhead projector is perhaps passing out of use, but it is still a useful device with which to do lecture demonstrations. In my early years at Kenyon I was teaching the pre-med course, and found that the overhead projector was an ideal platform for showing the phenomena of polarized light. This note is a discussion of how I learned to use the…
Descriptors: Projection Equipment, Light, Demonstrations (Educational), Science Instruction
Williams, Hollis – Physics Education, 2022
The Crookes radiometer (also known as a light mill) is a fascinating sunlight-powered device, in which a set of vanes is placed inside a glass bulb within which a partial vacuum has been pulled. The vanes then rotate when sunlight shines on the bulb. The reason for the turning of the vanes was subject to intense debate and many students still have…
Descriptors: Physics, Science Instruction, Light, Measurement Equipment
Mayer, V. V.; Varaksina, E. I. – Physics Education, 2022
We propose a laboratory experiment on the quantitative study of the normal dispersion of light. A triangular isosceles prism made of flint glass TF3 is used as the object of study, and we describe a simple and affordable device for observing and photographing the dispersion spectrum on a smartphone. A possibility of the quantitative investigation…
Descriptors: Light, Physics, Science Experiments, Science Instruction
Parks, Beth; Benze, Hans – Physics Teacher, 2022
Student misconceptions of the double-slit experiment (Fig. 1) are abundant. The most common ones that we observe include: (1) belief that constructive interference requires both pathlengths to be integer multiples of the wavelength ("L[subscript 1] = n[subscript 1][lambda]" and "L[subscript 2] = n[subscript 2][lambda]") rather…
Descriptors: Science Instruction, Scientific Concepts, Physics, Science Experiments
Inbanathan, S. S. R.; Moorthy, K.; S., Ashok Kumar – Physics Teacher, 2021
The falling temperature of the photosphere with height is responsible for the effect known as limb darkening. The Sun is not equally bright all over the disc. When we observe the Sun towards the limbs, it appears to get darker. Light from the photosphere travels through an absorptive medium. Therefore, one can see only so far into the photosphere.…
Descriptors: Science Instruction, Physics, Scientific Concepts, Light
Cvenic, Karolina Matejak; Ivanjek, Lana; Planinic, Maja; Jelicic, Katarina; Susac, Ana; Hopf, Martin; Brkic, Mateja Cindric – Physical Review Physics Education Research, 2023
Demonstration interviews with 27 high school students (18-19 years old) were conducted in Zagreb, Croatia, using several standard experiments on interference and diffraction of light. Students were asked for their predictions, observations, and explanations of the experiments. In this process, many student difficulties were identified, both…
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Science Instruction, High School Students, Science Experiments