Presents a demonstration in which a mirror "disappears" upon rotation. The author has used the demonstration with students from fourth grade up through college. Suggestions are given for making the demonstration into a permanent hallway display. (MVL)

Describes Herschel's demonstration of interference arising from many coherent rays. Presents a method for students to reproduce this demonstration and obtain beautiful multiple-beam interference patterns. (CCM)

Presents an alternative experimental arrangement that results in a considerable cost savings by reducing the number of sensors and other apparati required while giving excellent quantitative results for comparison with theory. (Author/CCM)

Describes an open-ended investigation in which students have to look into a feature of lens performance that is not commonly found in textbook materials on optics. Presents explanations and sample results. (WRM)

Presents an approach to the study of real lenses that would not contradict Fermat's principle. Shows how the rudiments of the correct theory can be incorporated into courses to provide students a clearer notion of what they can expect in laboratory situations. (DDR)

Compares the results of four studies made under the auspices of the Science Teacher Training in an Information Society (STTIS) project researching the difficulties students have in reading images. The studies are compared under such categories as pre-eminence of narrative readings, real-world versus symbolic elements, verbal elements, and…

A sensor experiment which can be applied to advanced undergraduate laboratory course in physical or analytical chemistry is described along with certain concepts like the demonstration of chemical sensing, preparation of thin films on a substrate, microtitration, optical determination of complex ion stoichiometry and isosbestic point. It is seen…

A device designed to demonstrate the dependence of viscosity on temperature and to check the validity of the exponential relationship is described. The device has the advantage of versatility as it can be adapted to different types of viscosimeters.

The eyes are the most complex organs in the body. Children's eyes are still developing until they are around 8-9 years old; therefore it is important to check that they are working properly before it is too late to rectify any problems. So how do they work, and why do they sometimes go wrong? In this article, the author explains children's eye…

It is known that naive observers have striking misconceptions about mirror reflections. In 5 experiments, this article systematically extends the findings to graphic stimuli, to interactive visual tasks, and finally to tasks involving real mirrors. The results show that the perceptual knowledge of nonexpert adults is far superior to their…

This paper describes the development, use, and analysis, of an educational tool inspired by the history of the optical mechanism of vision. We investigated 12-year-old students' reasoning about vision. Most of them explain it as the result of something coming either from the object or from the eye. Moreover, some of them think that light…

This book is a collection of classroom demonstrations in physics designed to present basic scientific ideas on a concrete level. The topics covered include: physical change and properties of matter; energy waves and energy forms; absorption of heat; radiant energy; vacuum bottles; kinetic molecular theory; states of matter; pressure of air; work…

This book contains scaled-down versions of Exploratorium exhibits that teachers can make using common, inexpensive, easily available materials. Each topic begins with a drawing of the original exhibit on the museum floor, a photograph of the scaled-down version which contains an introduction to the exhibit, a list of materials needed with…

Describes the construction of a demonstration to show optical activity of table syrup. (Author/CP)

Describes the construction of a flexible coupled-cavity interferometer for student use. A helium-neon laser and phonograph turntable are the main components. Lists activities which may be performed with the apparatus. (Author/CP)