Bad Movie Physics--Lasers
Speed of Light Activity
Activity
by
Jody
Harkrider.
Materials
list:
one
30‐cm
piece
of
wire
per
studentTHE SPEED OF LIGHT(HAND OUT THE 30 CM WIRES)LIGHT TRAVELS 300,000 KM PER SECONDTOO HARD! HOW ABOUT......300,000,000 METERS PER SECONDTOO HARD! HOW ABOUT......30, 000,000,000 CM PER SECONDTOO HARD! HOW ABOUT......SO......MAYBE THE PROBLEM IS THE “SECOND”1/1000 OF A SECOND IS 30,000,000 CMTOO HARD! HOW ABOUT......NO, STILL CANʼT PICTURE IT!1/1,000,000 OF A SECOND IS 30,000 CM STILL TOO HARD! I KNOW, HOW ABOUT A NANO SECOND?1/ONE BILLIONTH OF A SECOND!YES! IN ONE NANO SECOND, LIGHT TRAVELS 30 CM!HOLD UP YOUR WIRE. STRETCH IT OUT STRAIGHT.WHAT YOU ARE HOLDING IS HOW FAR LIGHT CAN TRAVEL IN ONE/ONE BILLIONTH OF A SECOND, ONE NANO SECOND.
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Check out this interactive website that looks at light at different wavelengths. Explore the appearance of galaxies
Light responds to gravity. A gravitational lensing explorer |