Related papers: The true colours of white light: hands-on optical …
Homemade spectrometers are commonly used tools to analyze light sources and determine its physical characteristics. We perform an assessment of homemade spectrometers in terms of spectral resolution and accuracy in the determination of…
Smartphones are widely available and used extensively by students worldwide. These phones often come equipped with high-quality cameras that can be combined with basic optical elements to build a cost-effective DIY spectrometer. Here, we…
Optical spectroscopy is an important and widely used technique, for instance, to characterize new materials and to identify unknown compounds. Spectra are typically reported as a function of the wavelength of light, yet the information…
Optical coatings are widespread in everyday life, from camera lenses to glasses, to complex optics experiments. A simple, reliable device that can quickly and inexpensively analyze optical coatings is a valuable laboratory tool. Such a…
The paper demonstrates the design and execution of a low-cost optical spectrometer that employs a webcam, diffraction grating & Python (a free, open-source programming language). The device's design prioritized economy and usability, with a…
The research documents the impact of a teaching experiment designed in order to make students consider not only the spectral composition of light but also its intensity when they interpret colour phenomena. The analysis of eight recorded…
The wavelength calibration of spectrographs is an essential but challenging task in many disciplines. Calibration is traditionally accomplished by imaging the spectrum of a light source containing features that are known to appear at…
We entertain the use of light dependent resistors as a viable option as measuring sensors in optics laboratory experiments or classroom demonstrations. The main advantages of theses devices are essentially very low cost, easy handling and…
A small tabletop experiment for a direct measurement of the speed of light to an accuracy of few percent is described. The experiment is accessible to a wide spectrum of undergraduate students, in particular to students not majoring in…
Interfering liquid surface waves are generated by electrically driven vertical oscillations of two or more equispaced pins immersed in a liquid (water). The corresponding intensity distribution, resulting from diffraction of monochromatic…
We designed and built a do-it-yourself spectrograph assembly to demonstrate the concept of spectroscopy, an indispensable tool for exploring the cosmos. This spectrograph is designed for optical band (400-750 nm). It uses a transmission…
Optics is an important subfield of physics required for instrument design and used in a variety of other disciplines, including materials science, physics, and life sciences such as developmental biology and cell biology. It is important to…
Continuing professional development for teachers in the physical sciences is crucial to maintaining high-quality instruction, especially when addressing modern physics. Nevertheless, the teaching of these topics often relies on theoretical…
In this paper, we demonstrate a low-cost method to measure the speed of light. It uses instruments which are readily available in any undergraduate laboratory in a developing country and some components which are inexpensive. The method is…
We describe a teaching-lab experiment that applies basic optical spectroscopy to examine the physics of semiconductor diode lasers. By using a low-power visible laser, this experiment is suitable for use in an open lab environment, where…
We introduce some new experiments where light diffraction is demonstrated with simple elements: white light diffraction with a coin, construction of a diffractive lens by holography, diffraction properties in digital discs and an…
Spectroscopy is one of the most important tools that an astronomer has for studying the universe. This chapter begins by discussing the basics, including the different types of optical spectrographs, with extension to the ultraviolet and…
Spectral measurements in the infrared (IR) optical range provide unique fingerprints of materials which are useful for material analysis, environmental sensing, and health diagnostics. Current IR spectroscopy techniques require the use of…
Physical insight into a material can be first gained by its color since the reflectance spectrum from an object reflects its microstructure and complex reflective indices. We here present a comprehensive overview of electrodynamics and…
We demonstrate a new kind of optical spectrometer employing photonic crystal patterns to outcouple waveguided light from a transparent substrate. This spectrometer consists of an array of photonic crystal patterns, nanofabricated in a…