Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Does Light Travel in a Straight Line?

 Learning Concepts
  1. Light travels in a straight line.
  2. When something blocks the path of light a shadow is formed.

Materials 
  • flashlight
  • 3 index cards with a hole punched in the center of each card
  • something to hold the 3 cards upright (I used 3 clips) 
  •  


    Directions
    • Stand the cards up a few inches apart on a flat surface. (Line up the holes.)
    • Shine a flashlight from one end through all the holes.
    • Did the light travel through all the holes?
    • Move the middle card a little so the hole is not lined up.
    • Shine a light through the holes.
    • What happened?
    • Did the light travel through all the holes? 
    • Does light travel in a straight line?
    • What happens to light when it is blocked?
    • How is a shadow formed?

    1 comment:

    1. I love the simplicity of this experiment. It's also easy to set up. Thanks for the post!

      ReplyDelete

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