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Bending Light
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About
Topics
- Snell's Law
- Light
- Refraction
Description
Explore bending of light between two media with different indices of refraction. See how changing from air to water to glass changes the bending angle. Play with prisms of different shapes and make rainbows.
Sample Learning Goals
- Explain how light bends at the interface between two media and what determines the angle.
- Apply Snell’s law to a laser beam incident on the interface between media.
- Describe how the speed and wavelength of light changes in different media.
- Describe the effect of changing wavelength on the angle of refraction.
- Explain how a prism creates a rainbow.
For Teachers
Teacher Tips
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Overview of sim controls, model simplifications, and insights into student thinking (PDF). |
Teacher-Submitted Activities
| Title |
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Authors | Level | Type | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wave unit (Inquiry Based) |
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Trish Loeblein | UG-Intro HS |
Lab CQs Demo |
5/27/15 |
| Exploring How Light Behaves at Boundaries |
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Elyse Zimmer | HS | Lab | 7/21/14 | |
| Bending Light Exploration Lab |
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Cynthia Bordash | K-5 | Lab | 3/2/13 | |
| Refraction Investigation |
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John Macuk | HS | Lab | 5/7/12 | |
| Bending Light -Refraction and Reflections |
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Danny Rehn | UG-Intro UG-Adv |
HW Lab |
7/18/11 | |
| PhET Sims Aligned to the Chemistry Curriculum |
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Julia Chamberlain | UG-Intro HS |
Other | 5/27/15 | |
| MS and HS TEK to Sim Alignment | Elyse Zimmer | HS MS |
Other | 8/21/15 | ||
| Light and Waves E-Learning Activity | Gregory O'Neill | HS | CQs | 6/17/15 | ||
| Snell's Law and the Index of Refraction | Daniel Nieman | HS | Lab | 5/22/15 | ||
| Bending Light | Dorian McIntire | MS UG-Intro HS |
CQs Demo Lab HW |
5/17/15 | ||
| Refraction of Light | Ayesha Ayub | K-5 | Lab | 3/16/15 | ||
| PhET Inquiry - Bending Light | Paul Martenis | HS | Lab | 5/27/14 | ||
| Total Internal Reflection | Shawn Templin | HS | Lab | 5/1/14 | ||
| Bending Light Worksheet | Kristy Bibbey | HS | Lab CQs |
4/6/14 | ||
| Snell's law Lab - Inquiry based | Argirios Paschos | HS | Lab | 3/29/13 | ||
| abdelaziz | abdelaziz sayed | HS | Lab MC Demo |
8/18/15 | ||
| Curvando a luz | Cláudio Pereira Ribas, Thiago de Cacio Luchese | HS | Other | 5/29/15 | ||
| Laboratorio de Refracción | Jesús Alfredo Mantilla Lobo | HS | Lab | 8/2/12 | ||
| REFRACCION DE LA LUZ | daniel cruz ochoa | MS | Lab | 9/28/13 |
Translations
Related Simulations
Software Requirements
| Windows | Macintosh | Linux |
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Microsoft Windows XP/Vista/7 Sun Java 1.5.0_15 or later
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OS 10.5 or later Sun Java 1.5.0_19 or later
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Sun Java 1.5.0_15 or later
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Credits
| Design Team | Third-party Libraries | Thanks To |
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