Students find and calculate the angle that light is transmitted through a holographic diffraction grating using trigonometry. After finding this angle, student teams design and build their own spectrographs, researching and designing a...

Students learn how using a spectrograph helps us understand the composition of light sources. Using simple materials and holographic diffraction gratings (available online at a variety of sites, including Edmund Scientifics and the...

Students are introduced to different ways of displaying visual spectra, including colored "barcode" spectra, like those produced by a diffraction grating, and line plots displaying intensity versus color, or wavelength. Students learn...

This lab is designed to allow students to look at the spectra of a handful of elements when light from a glowing sample of those elements travels through a diffraction grating.

[Free Registration/Login Required] Learn about the interference and diffraction patterns that result when a wave passes through one or two thin openings using this interactive simulation. A PDF worksheet and a video tutorial are also...

An indexing page for a physics department site about the wave properties of light that lead to interference.

Students will make their own spectroscope, learn how light is bent by a diffraction grating, and explore how various forms of light differ.

This lab is designed to allow students to look at the factors affecting the location of different colors formed by diffraction grating.

This activity is designed for learners to apply their knowledge of mathematics and physics to "real life" situations. Students are presented with the situation that they are on a camping trip and wish to know the wavelength emitted by a...

Identify the composition of stars by applying the ideas of quantum theory. Investigate the field of spectroscopy, and examine the spectra of stars to locate the emission and absorption lines of hydrogen.