Here is described a simple process to 'put a voice on a sunbeam' and transmit it over a distance. It is a fascinating example of amplitude modulation of light using sound vibrations. It then describes how the modulated light is detected...

What is light energy? Here we'll learn about the properties of light and how pigments such as chlorophylls absorb light energy.

Science Buddies profiles careers you perhaps never even considered. Do you know what a power distributor and dispatcher does? Someone has to control the flow of electricity along the transmission lines to be sure nothing takes the power...

Article explores the light-dependent reactions as they take place during photosynthesis in plants. Traces how light energy is used to make ATP and NADPH and explains photosystems and electron transport chains.

Tutorial provides a discussion of UV-Vis spectroscopy, infrared (IR) spectroscopy, and the Beer-Lambert law.

A collection of projects that recreated Isaac Newton's experiments as he would have built them in the seventeenth century. The projects include the mechanical advantage possible using three levers, the trajectory of a projectile, air...

A very simple device to convert light into sound can be made by wiring a solar cell directly to headphones (or an earpiece). The solar cell converts light into electricity and the headphones convert electricity into sound. The limitation...

This article from Khan Academy provides information about refraction and light bending. This information is intended for the Class 12 Physics Course (India).

Students will determine the effect of placing objects made with different materials in the path of a beam of light. This lesson plan includes background information, guiding questions, directions, and a chart to record data.

A timeline from prehistory to modern days of advances in optics and related disciplines, and of the people responsible for them. The timeline is categorized into distinct spans of time, each accompanied by extensive information.

Learn how to make stained glass window art using the phenomenon of polarized light.

Students learn about the properties of light as a photon and the wave-particle duality.

A very simple electrical resistance thermometer is described that can be built, calibrated and tested in a school laboratory at virtually no cost. With it, flames, focused sunlight and other high temperature sources can be probed. The...

There are so many different types of LEDs on the market (even of the same size and color), how do you tell the difference between them and which one you should use for your particular application? The simple tests descibed here compare...

Using straws and soap, you can create geometric shapes to make a colorful art display when light shines through them.

In this experiment, students construct models of larger red and smaller blue waves on index cards, and use them to investigate how light behaves when it is reflected off the front and the back of soap film.

A demonstration exploring light scattering to show why the sky is blue and sunsets are red.

Get a visual of convention currents with this activity. This activity allows students to observe the currents by bending light due to cold and warm water.

In this full-color image, a neuron is expressing the light-gated cation channel channelrhodopsin-2 (small green shapes), and is being illuminated by a focused beam of blue light (coming from the top).

Discusses the validity of research showing that neutrinos travel faster than the speed of light.

Investigate the behavior of light that is reflected off a spherical mirrored surface.

Under the heading, "Cracking the Code of Faraway Worlds" this site explores the uses of spectrum (and spectrograph, spectra) in planetary study. In addition to an image, a description of spectrum and its uses in space science is provided.

One knife pulled from the sea may shed more light on the mysteries of the first Americans. Archaeologists are still shaping the new Coastal Migration Route theory one artifact at a time.

Lesson plan should be used for intermediate students. Students work in pairs or groups to create a shoe box that will bend light.