Cornell University
Sometimes You Behave Like a WAVE, Sometimes You Don't!
Electromagnetic radiation behaves like both a wave and a particle. Help classes explore this concept through a lab investigation. Young scientists create optical interference patterns on a glass slide using a carbon layer. They analyze...
Cornell University
Light Waves: Grades 9-12
Explore the behavior of light waves with a lab activity. Scholars build new vocabulary through experimentation and observation. Using different mediums, they model reflection, refraction, transmission, diffusion, and scattering of light.
Rice University
College Physics for AP® Courses
Take a look at an organized physics course. The 34-section electronic textbook covers material in AP® Physics 1 and 2. Teachers use the text to supplement lectures and have the class work through the labs. Each section contains...
National Institute of Open Schooling
Atomic Structure
Learners explain historical findings such as Rutherford and Bohr's contributions, explain wave particle duality, and formulate Heinsenberg's uncertainty principle. They also draw s, p, and d orbitals, explain more historical findings,...
Cornell University
LEDs Rainbow Connection
View LED lights through the eyes of a scientist. Young scholars learn to view light as a wave frequency and connect various frequencies to different colors on the light spectrum. A lab activity asks groups to measure the frequency of...
California Institute of Technology
Physics of Light
Gummy bears are tasty, but did you know they are also used to determine color and light properties? Use the activity as a way to demonstrate light absorption, light reflection, and refraction with high schooler....
Cornell University
Optical Simulation of a Transmission Electron Microscope
Don't have an electron microscope? Have your classes build the next best thing! A hands-on lesson asks scholars to build a model of Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM). They then use their models to identify the function of each...
Physics Aviary
Physics Aviary: Em Spectrum Lab
This lab is designed to allow students to look at the factors affecting the location of different colors formed by diffraction grating.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Frequency
In this interactive activity adapted from the University of Utah's ASPIRE Lab, students will investigate frequency in terms of trampoline jumps, pendulum swings, and electromagnetic waves.
Florida State University
Florida State University: Magnet Lab: Faraday Cage
A faraday cage is an important tool for some scientists at the MagLab. But they don't work with it: they work inside it.
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Measuring the Speed of 'Light' With a Microwave Oven
In this experiment, you will measure the speed of light using a microwave oven, some egg white, and a ruler. This short project proves to be an extremely interesting choice for a science lab, with pictures for illustration, and thorough...
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Microwaves
What makes those kernels pop inside your microwave? A whole lot of water interacting with a whole lot of high-frequency electromagnetic waves. (Java tutorial)
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Heinrich Hertz
The discovery of radio waves, which was widely seen as confirmation of James Clerk Maxwell's electromagnetic theory and paved the way for numerous advances in communication technology, was made by German physicist Heinrich Hertz. In the...
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Wilhelm Weber
Find out more about German physicist Wilhelm Weber, who developed and enhanced a variety of devices for sensitively detecting and measuring magnetic fields and electrical currents.
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Zeeman Effect 1896
Most of us have seen the rainbow-hued breakdown of the composition of light. Light is of course a form of energy. A magnetic field changes the behavior of light- a phenomenon known as the Zeeman effect.
Other
National Physical Laboratory: The History of Length Measurement
This resource provides historic information on length measurement in the United Kingdom. Click on the topics on the left toolbar of the article to find out more information.