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Al Tobias (wat4y) - Office: Rm. 201, (434) 924-0538 - Lab: Rm. 202, (434) 924-6800

Physics Demo Manual

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Geometrical Optics: Speed of Light; 1/r² Demonstrator; video - Ray Optics Kit; Confocal Mirrors; Concave Mirror; video - Light The Match; Disappearing Beaker; String Model of Refraction; Total Internal Reflection; Steal the Light; Light Pipe and Fiber Optics; Water Light Pipe; Thin Lenses with Objects
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String Model of Refraction

Purpose:

A simple demonstration of refraction at flat surfaces as a consequence of the wave length change in a different media.

Procedure:

A bicycle wheel with the strings strung across the wheel to represent the wave front and the metal plate with holes to represent a media boundary. Fix one end of the strings array on the wheel rim. If the spacing between the strings represents the wavelength, demonstrate that refraction is the consequence of the wavelength change in a different media, namely in order to have smaller spacing between the strings the light has to bend after crossing the media boundary.