Travelling Waves
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Bubble Sheet
Pull a huge bubble film from a tank of bubble solution. Blow giant bubbles or watch as the colours in the film change.
Cyber-Lumen
A neon strobe artwork by artist-in-residence Christian Shiess.
Focus on Lenses
Investigate focal length of lenses and how the focal length changes the size of the image.
Ghostly Lamp
A parabolic mirror focuses the reflection of a lamp so that it appears to be in front of the mirror - this is called a `real' image.
Holograms
Remarkable 3-D image from a flat picture.
Hum Drum - Mixing Waves
Simulation of wave interference. Three light pens on a rotating drum show approximately how waves combine and cancel, as they come in and
out of step.
Laser Interference Patterns
An optical grating placed in front of a laser produces patterns through interference of the light waves.
The Light House
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Light House
The effect of different lenses, mirrors and prisms on beams of light can be explored.
Mirror-ball Game
This compares the law of reflection for light reflected from mirrors and balls that bounce off surfaces.
Newton's disc with a flashing light
A multi-coloured disc looks white when rotated fast under continuous light, but can be `frozen' with a stroboscope to produce a variety of
coloured patterns.
Polar Dome
A work of art, showing how cellophane between Polaroid filters, and light reflected at Brewster's Angle (42 degrees) can produce wonderful
coloured patterns.
Ripple Tank
Water waves show something of how light gives interference patterns.
See Stress
Polarising sheets (as in sunglasses) allow the stress patterns in plastic objects to be seen.
See Stress (Traveller)
Polarising sheets (as in sunglasses) allow the stress patterns in plastic objects to be seen. (Built to travel.)
Travelling Waves
Make waves travel up and down linked rods. Observe reflection and standing waves in the rods.
Try your own stress
Bend plastic between Polaroid sheets to reveal stress lines.
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