Physics students learn about light and create their own holograms.

Students in physics class have been working through a unit on light over the last few weeks. Our more recent labs have had us working on the refraction (bending) of light, as well as creating holograms while playing with the reflection of light.

In our refraction of light lab, we took concave and convex acrylic lenses along with three different colored Light Blox and mapped out the path a light wave travels when passing through air, acrylic, water, and back into air. Prior to completing this activity in person, we also completed an online simulation of what to expect when shining a light in through a lens. This allowed us to visually see and experiment with light in a perfect setting, before we then experienced light and rays in the real world.

In our hologram lab, students created a pyramid projector using a pentagon template, an overhead projector sheet, and their cell phones. In order to create a crisp image, we needed bright screens and images, with black backgrounds, and crisp hard lines in our pyramids to create a strong structure. Students were all able to create their own unique hologram and able to take them home to share with families and friends!