Sean
and Maxwell's Science Fair Project
Sean
and Maxwell's Science Fair Project
"The Spectrum of Light"
Introduction
In our project we are trying to
reveal the spectrum of light contained in white light. Sean and I will also try
to merge the spectrum of light together, into white light.
Hypothesis
We think that white light is made up of many different
colors.
Materials
Glass prism, white light source (ray box), three colored
lamps (red, green and blue).
Experiment
The spectrum experiment was done by shining a narrow beam of light from the ray box to the prism. The prism was then rotated until the angle was right to produce a spectrum. Our other experiment was done by shining the three primary colors onto one spot to produce white light.
Results
The spectrum experiment proves that white light is made up of several different colors.
These colors can be split from the white light by a prism.
The primary colors experiment proved that the colors can be recombined into white light.
Conclusion
White light is really made up of many different colors, all combined in to one.
What is Light?
Light is a type of energy
caused by a combination of electrical and magnetic fields. Light travels as
waves so it has typical wave features, such as wavelength. Light also behaves as
a stream of tiny particles, called photons.
There are two types of
light. Visible and Invisible light. Visible light is light in which the human
eye can detect. Visible light can
be refracted or reflected.
Refracted light is light
which has been bent out of its original path by passing through two different
substances, such as air and a glass prism. When light passes through one
transparent substance, such as air, to another, such as glass, it appears to
bend where the two substances meet. This bending is called refraction. It
happens because light has a different speed in each substance, or medium. Light
travels fastest – the ‘speed of light’ – through space or a vacuum. It
travels slightly more slowly through air. In water, it travels much more slowly,
only about three quarters of its speed in a vacuum. In glass, it is slower
still. Refraction is used in hundreds of devices, from contact lenses to giant
telescopes. A spectrum is created from white light as it is refracted due to the
different wavelengths or colours of light being slowed by different amounts.
When light hits certain
kinds of surfaces, it bounces back from the surface, like a ball bouncing off a
wall. This is called reflection. Most objects do not give out their own light.
We see them because they reflect light from something else, into our eyes. For
example: The moon does not give off it’s own light. It shines because it
reflects the suns light. A very smooth and shiny surface, for example: A mirror
reflects most of the light hitting it, without scattering. So it produces a
bright clear reflection. On a rough surface, light is reflected in all
directions, producing poor reflections. The colors of objects also depend on
reflections. A white object reflects all the colors of white light shining on
it. A completely black object reflects no light at all.
(3)
Invisible
Light:
Invisible Light is light in
which the human eye cannot detect: Because the wave length is either too long or
too short. The two types we are focusing on are: Infrared Light and Ultra Violet
Light (UV Radiation)
(4)
Infra
Red Light:
Infrared Light is light with
a wave length just longer than that of red light, It’s wave length is between
0.0009 mm and that of short wave micro waves.
(5)
Ultra
Violet Light
Ultra Violet Light is light
with a wave length of just below.0004 mm. It is a harmful type of radiation
which can damage chemical bonds in DNA. It can also harm the human eye and skin.
We wear sunglasses with polarized lenses
(see polarized light), it blocks out the ultraviolet radiation,
protecting our eyes. We use sunscreen to protect our skin from UV Radiation.
Spectrum of Light
Color Wheel Definition
Sunlight brings color. It
is made up of all the different colors of the spectrum. It appears to us as
white light.
Prism
Experiment
We wanted to simulate Isaac
Newton’s prism. I used a 12 volt ray box and shined it through a glass prism.
White light from the ray box was split into the seven colors of the rainbow.
The main colors of the prism are:
Red
Conclusions: It seems that
white light is really a mixture of the seven colors of the visible light
spectrum. These colors can be dispersed by a glass prism.
Sir Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton was born in
1642 and died in 1727 at the age of 85. He is from England. One of his greatest
achievements was laws of motion and gravity. As one of the greatest scientists
of all time he discovered:
-The Prism
-Gravity
-Laws of Motion
-Calculus
Sir Isaac Newton, was one of
the first scientists to discover the spectrum of light. Just how did Isaac
Newton’s prism work? All the colors traveling together in a beam of light
shine as white light. But their path is changed by the glass prism. The glass
bends the different colors in the light at different angles. This is called
refraction. The path of each different color is bent by a different amount.
Violet light refracts more than blue light. Blue light refracts more than
green light, and so on. As a beam of white light goes through a prism, the
colors separate. If this spectrum then goes through a second prism, the colors
are refracted again to make white
light.
Appendix:
Light:
Invisible
Light:
Visible
Light: Visible light is light which
wave lengths is within the range of which the human eye can detect
Rainbow:
A rainbow is light which has
been split into the different wave lengths within the visible light spectrum.
White
Light:
Polarized
Light: Polarized Light is light
that is polarized in a certain direction allowing it to only pass through
certain objects
Reflected
Light: Reflected light is light
which has been deflected in a certain direction
Refracted
Light: Refracted Light is light
which has been bent out of it’s original path.
The
Spectrum:
Project Summary
1. How did I come up with my project idea?
Max: I came up
with my project idea when my Dad and I were thinking about what to do for the
upcoming Science Fair. We decided that the ‘Spectrum of Light’ would be a
good and interesting topic. Mr. Murray said we could have partners for the
Science Fair, so I asked Sean to be my partner. I told Sean about the prism
experiment, and Sean thought of the primary color experiment.
2.
What did I learn from
my experiment?
We learned that white light was really made up of many
colors, and that the colors could be split and recombined.
3.
How close were my
Hypothesis and my conclusion?
We guessed that white light was made up of many colors of light, and the experiment proved it!
4.
Did I learn anything
new from my project?
We learned how to make a spectrum with a prism, and we learned the three primary colors (red, green and blue) that can be combined to make white light.
5.
What was the most
interesting part of my project?
The most interesting part of our project was seeing the experiments work.
Bibliography
Childcraft Encyclopedia.
1993. (Volume 8, pp. 118-121) Discovering
Science. Published In Chicago:
World Book Encyclopedia
Childcraft Encyclopedia.
1993. (Volume 12, pp. 64-65, 70-71) World of Color. Published in Chicago:
World Book Encyclopedia
Science Encyclopedia. 1999.
(Pages 110-138)
Light and Sound. United Kingdom
Miles Kelly Ltd.
