Definition, including the dispersion of light in a prism. Demonstration that the combination of all colors of light is white using a rotating disk.

Table of wavelengths for visible light. The primary colors of light, including a color triangle. Demonstration of creating yellow and orange light from combinations of red and green light.

A black and white top which gives the illusion of color when rotated.

Creating what appears to be a color image by superimposing two black and white images, one of which was taken with and is projected with a red filter.

Definition, including Edwin Land's invention of the light polarizer and Malus' Law.

Looking through two polarizers, one of which is rotating to alternately block out the polarized light and allow it to pass through.

Explanation of this method, and justification using Maxwell's Equations and the properties of reflection and refraction. The Brewster Angle for full polarization.

Polarizing light by shining it at an angle off of a piece of glass.

Conductors do not reflect linearly polarized light.

Creating polarized light by scattering over 90° with small particles. Explanation that for very small particles, blue light scatters more frequently than red light.

Scattering light using cigarette smoke with small and large particles

Explanation of how scattering makes the sky appear blue and the rising or setting sun appear red. Includes slides of stars that appear blue and a blue dust cloud around an astronaut on the moon.

Creating a blue sky and a red sun in the classroom by shining light through a bucket of thiosulfate.

Fifteen questions about rainbows are posed. Explanation of how sunlight is reflected and refracted through a raindrop using Snell's Law.

Further explanation of how rainbows are formed, including an explanation of the cone of light reflected back from a raindrop.

How we see a rainbow, including the appropriate angle to look into the sky.

Discussion of the secondary rainbow, including the radius and color arrangement.

Answers to twelve of the questions posed about rainbows at the beginning of the lecture.

A collection of slides of rainbows showing how they form, the primary and secondary rainbows, supernumerary bows, and white bows.

More slides showing rainbow-like phenomena, including the 22 and 46° halo, sundogs, circles of light around the shadow of a plane on a cloud, and fog bows.

Explaining why the light in a rainbow is highly polarized using the Brewster angle.

Creating a rainbow by projecting light through a single drop of water and onto a large screen. Using a polarizer to show the polarization of the light in the rainbow.

Links to visualizations illustrating the concept of electromagnetic radiation. Traveling waves are defined, with diagrams and example of a traveling sine wave. Wavelength, amplitude, period, frequency, and angular frequency demonstrated in a diagram. Diagram of the electromagnetic wave spectrum. Direction of propagation of electromagnetic waves.

Chart showing the wavelengths for different colors of visible light.

Four true-false questions: λ in different media, Poynting vector, polarization, total internal reflection.

Solution (PDF)