Odds and Ends

Today was a strange day full of mish and mash...

B Block went over their refraction and lenses quiz before taking on the topics of total internal reflection and dispersion. We looked at how total internal reflection is generated and discussed examples of how it is used in fiber optic systems. We'd already touched on dispersion earlier in this unit, but reviewed the basics and went into more detail on formation of rainbows in the atmosphere.

C Block started their discussion of interference and diffraction with an overview of interference and Young's double-slit experiment. We linked the familiar ideas constructive and destructive interference with the new concepts of phase and fringes. Waves in phase produce constructive interference and a bright fringe on a screen; destructive interference is produced by waves that are out of phase and we see a dark fringe on the screen. On Monday, we'll add diffraction to the mix before taking Wednesday as a review day for Thursday's exam.

E and F Blocks were sparsely populated due to rampant dismissals for Frolic. Why juniors and seniors want to attend a freshman/sophomore dance is beyond me... anyway, those who remained got to investigate the myriad of science demonstrations around the room and spent the period playing with electricity, projectile motion, angular momentum, etc. A good time was had by all. On Monday, E Blocks begins their discussion of interference and diffraction and F Block conquers interference of light before working on a lab that centers on diffraction.