October 27th/28th 29th and 30th Color Mixing Lab

29th-30th

We completed the color mixing lab on page 84--however we used the following websites to complete the color addition part of the lab

Additive color mixing

Fun with color filters


If you missed this class try both of these websites--play with the software and take notes on what happens when you play with different colored lightbulbs, canvases and filters.

On the 27th and 28th we went over light interactions We demonstrated the ideas of regular and diffuse reflection, light scattering, angles of incidence and angles of reflection--all with two laser pointers and a fog machine--These demonstrations match up with chapter 3, section 3 in our textbook. Finally we worked on our concept maps which we will be presenting to the class on halloween.

Oct 23-24, Why are you wearing that? Won't you be hot?

Today in class we dove deeper into the electromagnetic spectrum, looked at additive color mixing and answered the question why darker colored clothes get hot quicker than lighter colored ones.

We discussed and looked at how white light is composed of the colors of the rainbow (roygbiv), also known as the visible spectrum, and how ultraviolet (uv) light is above violet, infra red (IR) is below red. We discussed that we experience different frequencies of EM radiation as color--just as we experience different frequencies of sound as pitch.

Finally, we completed the 'which color is hotter lab'--though we did not follow the procedure in the book--instead we made up our own because we wanted to use our nifty digital temperature probes.

Reminder--ten points of HW are due on Monday the 27th for A days, Tuesday the 28th for B days.

Oct 21st and 22nd; What Light through yonder window breaks?

Today we started chapter three--all about light.

It was a busy day, we first took care of some general classroom business by looking over our graded chapter two tests and also self graded our chapter two homework portfolios.

We then viewed some slides of rainbows, sundogs and halos--then looked at light being broken up by a prism. Some classes looked at copper giving off green light during intense heating--other classes were not so fortunate as unfortunately the gas valve in room 121 became stuck in the off position.

We finished off the day by looking through spectroscopes at both fluorescent and incandescent lights, then had a brief discussion about the speed of light and the light year. We looked at the galaxy Andromeda and discussed what was happening on earth when the light that we see today first left the galaxy 2 1/2 million years ago.

We also received a hardcopy of the chapter three take twenty homework assignments. Not bad for 80 minutes!

Oct 13-14, constructive interference with sound

Today we finished up our concept maps on waves and sound then we started the tuneful tubes lab (page 131 in the textbook).

In this lab we created constructive interference with sound waves. We knew we had created constructive interference because the sound of the tuning fork became louder.

We also turned in the next set of homework assignments.

Remember--Test on Friday--extra help this week is during lunch hour.

October 8th-10th

Today we looked at the doppler effect with the help of an neat little program found at http://www.lon-capa.org/~mmp/applist/doppler/d.htm

We then played a virtual piano through a virtual oscilloscope and listened and compared how the instruments sounded and looked.

Following this we completed the good vibrations lab on page 30, the sounding board lab on page 39; we sketched the inner ear, played with the tin can telephones and demonstrated resonance using a matched pair of tuning forks.

At the end of class we went back to talking about pressure--we put a balloon in a bottle, pressurized the bottle and watched the balloon shrink--we also pulled a vacuum on a marshmallow and watched the marshmallow expand.

Remember--the rest of the homework points are due on Monday for B day classes--tuesday for A day classes and the next test will be on Friday the 17th of October.

Oct 6-7, Ear ye, Ear ye

We are into chapter two today--we started off with a demo model of the eardrum--we played music and bounced a laser beam off of the surface of the eardum and on to the smartboard--we watched the vibrations of the music cause the laser beam to create some very interesting patterns.

We then demonstrated what happens to sound waves when you remove air. We rang a bell inside a bell jar--then removed some of the air with a vacuum pump. We found that the sound of the bell became fainter.

We then discussed air pressure, scuba diving and balloons. We saw that if you put a balloon into a low pressure area the balloon expands. We found the same thing happened to marshmallows--put them in low pressure and they expand.

Finally, we used inspiration software to start the creation of a concept map for chapters one and two.

Note: Ten points of homework were due today.

October 2-3--What's that sound

Due to the nice weather this week and the rain forecast for next week we moved up our speed of sound lab--we went outside with large cymbals and timers and determined how fast sound travels. The lab for this activity is on page 130 in our textbook.

We also experimented with the doppler effect using our buzzing frisbee. We found that as the annoying sound went away from us it dropped in pitch--when it was thrown toward us it rose in pitch. We also determined that Mr. J can still throw a frisbee...

Back in the classroom we looked at our experimental data and discussed the areas where error could have entered our data.

Reminder--ten points of homework are due on Monday/Tuesday October 6th and 7th

9/29-10/1 finished collecting data and reviewed ch 1 homework

We had a busy two days. We collected data for day three of the international boiling point project. Everyone had a chance using the digital temperature probes--following the lab we discussed the graph that was created by the data.

We reviewed our chapter one homework and self graded the homework portfolio. Following that we completed the start up activity on page 29--making homemade guitars using shoeboxes and rubber bands. We discussed how the thickness of the rubber band and the length impacted the sound that the band made.

Finally, we received the chapter two homework assignment. Ten points will be due on Monday/Tuesday October 6th/7th, the remainder of the points will be due on Monday/Tuesday October 13th/14th. As always--turning things in early is appreciated!