In this article, simple models of optical computing circuits (1 x 4 demultiplexer (DEMUX), 4 x 1 multiplexer (MUX), Boolean logic, and half-adder (HA)) are shown with mechanically controlled plane mirrors. Photographs of the proposed computational circuits are also shown. It is very useful for the school student to understand optical logic and…

Refraction is a foundational concept within introductory physics. Physics students need a deep understanding of refraction, including Snell's Law, in order to progress towards more complex optics topics such as lenses and images. Unfortunately, many physics students obtain only a superficial understanding of refraction. Although many students can…

Nanoparticles are an increasingly important tool in chemistry research, but currently there are few opportunities for chemistry students to work with nanoparticles in undergraduate analytical courses. In this exercise, designed for an analytical or instrumental analysis lab course, students have the opportunity to work with solutions of silver…

Optics is one of the subject areas in which students have difficulty learning. Establishing the right connections between the concepts of optics and daily life supports the learning of the concepts of optics. In addition, this connection increases the students' motivation to learn optical issues. In this study, three activities related to prisms…

An easily constructed and inexpensive polarimeter with an optical rotation angle resolution of about 0.5° is presented. It is made from small pieces of polarizing film, 2 LEDs, a protractor, and a few wires, all held in place with plastic interlocking toy bricks, such as Lego bricks. The instrument was used to demonstrate the optical rotation of…

In his beautiful paper, Hasan Fakhruddin reported observations of mirror-like reflections in the rough surface of a ground glass plate. Similar effects have been recently employed for metrology of the roughness of optical diffusers used in modern light emitting device illumination systems. We report the observations of specular reflection in…

Students preparing to enter medical fields are required to take physics. To increase their interest in physics, a low-cost classroom medical activity is presented introducing them to the basics of endoscopic visualization and navigation. Incorporated in the activity are basic surgical techniques such as resection with single or multiple operators.…

This paper describes the formation of a circumzenithal arc for the purpose of teaching light and optics. A circumzenithal arc, an optic formation rarely witnessed by people, is formed in this study using a water-filled cylindrical glass illuminated by sunlight. Sunlight refracted at the top and side surfaces of the glass of water is dispersed into…

This is not a treatise on optics or the index of refraction. It is merely a demonstration that will surprise and engage many of your students. We have all put a pencil in a beaker of water and observed how it appears to bend. Not so much fun or engaging, is it? Why not illustrate this optical effect by taking your students spearfishing?…

Why does a lens magnify? Why does it shrink objects? Why does this happen? The activities that we propose here are useful in helping us to understand how lenses work, and they show that the same lens can have different magnification capabilities. A converging lens can also act as a diverging lens. (Contains 4 figures.)

Shadows can be found easily everywhere around us, so that we rarely find it interesting to reflect on how they work. In order to raise curiosity among students on the optics of shadows, we can display the shadows in 3D, particularly using a stereoscopic set-up. In this paper we describe the optics of stereoscopic shadows using simple schematic…

In this paper, an in-class activity concerned with real image formation by a converging lens in the context of accommodation in human eyes is described. In the first part of the activity, students are encouraged to experience the accommodation of their eyes in a prescribed way using simple materials. In the second part, the accommodation function…

Since the invention and dissemination of domestic laser pointers, observing optical phenomena is a relatively easy task. Any student can buy a laser and experience at home, in a qualitative way, the reflection, refraction and even diffraction phenomena of light. However, quantitative experiments need instruments of high precision that have a…

This article describes a method for making a spectroscope from scrap materials, i.e. a fragment of compact disc, a cardboard box, a tube and a digital camera to record the spectrum. An image processing program such as ImageJ can be used to calculate the wavelength of emission and absorption lines from the digital photograph. Multiple images of a…

Although the observation of optical spectra is common practice in physics classes, students are usually limited to a passive, qualitative observation of nice colours. This paper discusses a diffraction-based spectrometer that allows students to take quantitative measurements of spectral bands. Students can build it within minutes from generic…