Physicists are scientists who study the physical world around us. They learn all about matter, time, space, and energy!
Try this experiment today to learn about the physical properties of light!
Materials:
Clear cup, water, 1/2 cup whole milk, measuring cup, flashlight, spoon.
Time Estimated:
5-10 minutes
Directions:
Fill your clear cup halfway with water.
Shine a flashlight into the cup from directly above it. Note what color the water appears to be (the water should appear white).
Now measure ½ cup of milk and pour it into your glass. Mix well!
In a dark room, shine the flashlight into the cup from the side. What colors do you see now? The milk should appear yellow, orange, or red– just like a sunset!
Think Like A Scientist:
What did the pure water represent? What did the addition of milk represent?
Why did we shine the flashlight from above at the beginning, but from the side at the end? What does this tell us about sunrise and sunset?
Why do you think we needed to do the second part in a dark room? Let us know in the comments below!
How It Works:
In this experiment, you brought a sunset and sunrise to life using the physical properties of light and water!
The atmosphere is made up of billions of particles, but they are so tiny that we can’t see them! Although it looks like nothing is there, when light travels through the air, it must pass through all of these microscopic particles. When it’s the middle of the day, the sun shines down on us from above, and is super bright and white because there aren’t as many particles that the light has to pass through.
So, what happens at sunrise and sunset?
At sunrise and sunset, the sun is lower in the sky, and the sunlight must pass through a thicker layer of atmosphere– a thicker layer means a greater number of particles! When the sun’s rays hit these particles, the light bounces off of them and scatters. When light scatters, its properties actually change! This means that the light is completely absorbed, then redirected in lots of different directions after interacting with each particle! That’s a lot of scattering! Red and orange light scatters the least compared to the rest of the visible light spectrum, which means that these colors will be the most concentrated at sunrise and sunset.
What did you think of this experiment? Let us know in the comments below!
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