| Labs used in Spring, 2007 |
| Basic Optics Manual |
From Pasco. Lab 1 was most of Experiments 2, 3, 4, and 5 from this manual: specular reflection (from a flat survace), dispersion, refraction and Snell's Law, and total internal reflection. Lab 2 was Experiment 9 from this manual: Focal Length of a Thin Lens. |
| Polarization Activity |
Not a full lab, but a series of activities related to polarization, using Pasco's microwave optics sets. Note that, while not listed here, polarization by reflection was also addressed using the microwave optics sets, and several topics (stacking polarizers, birefringence, photoelasticity, and polarization by reflection) were also addressed using visible-light polarizing films, calcite crystals, plastic wrap, etc. |
| Diffraction |
Determining the wavelength of a laser (either tube or laser pointer) using a diffraction grating. Then, use that wavelength to determine the thickness of a human hair (using the single-slit equation), and the track spacing on a CD. |
| Grating Spectrometer |
Getting familiar with a grating spectrometer, by finding the spectral lines from a Helium tube. |
| The Hydrogen Spectrum and the Bohr Model |
Using the same grating spectrometer as the prior lab, to determine the wavelengths of the Hydrogen spectrum; analyze this relative to the preductions of Balmer's formula and the Bohr model, with the Rydberg constant. |
