Students will investigate the properties of light waves. They will learn about the different types of electromagnetic waves and mechanical waves, and investigate the phenomena of reflection, refraction, interference, and diffraction.

This digital textbook covers core physical science concepts and includes interactive features, real world examples, and videos.

[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Visible light and the different waves that make it up, infrared light and ultraviolet light.

[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] How visible light interacts with matter and classifying matter in terms of light.

[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Discusses refraction of light in matter and how light changes its speed and angle of refraction according to the type of medium it is travelling through.

Here is a large collection of simple science class activities for understanding the physics of light.

Students will make their own spectroscope, learn how light is bent by a diffraction grating, and explore how various forms of light differ.

Is that right side of your brain yearning to express its artistic side? This is a project that blends art with science. Learn about light and colorful shadows in these experiments where you mix and match various colors of light to create...

Light is an example of an electromagnetic wave. Electromagnetic waves can travel through the vacuum of interstellar space. They do not depend on an external medium-unlike a mechanical wave such as a sound wave which must travel through...

[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Considers the reflection of light from both smooth and rough surfaces and the law of reflection.

Link to nine major physics topics and dig deeper into the content. Find out about the work of scientists in each field and see example physical science experiments.

[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Overview of the different colors in visible light and how they relate to its wavelength, how a prism separates visible light into its different colors, the colors of...

[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Reflection and how it produces an image, regular and diffuse reflection and the law of reflection.

Science Buddies profiles careers you perhaps never even considered. Do you know what a power distributor and dispatcher does? Someone has to control the flow of electricity along the transmission lines to be sure nothing takes the power...

You've probably heard that compact fluorescent light bulbs are more efficient than incandescent bulbs. More of the electricity they use goes into producing light, and less into producing heat than with incandescent bulbs. How much more...

Think it takes expensive, sophisticated equipment to measure the speed of light? Think again. Outfit yourself with a simple handheld laser pointer, a protractor, and Jell-O, and you're ready to get started.

In this experiment, you will measure the speed of light using a microwave oven, some egg white, and a ruler. This short project proves to be an extremely interesting choice for a science lab, with pictures for illustration, and thorough...

You've probably noticed the colorful patterns "reflecting" from the shiny surface of a CD disk. What you are seeing is actually diffraction of white light, and the rainbows of color are diffraction patterns. In this project you'll learn...

[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] What artificial light is and five different types, and how each type produces visible light.

Here's a project that shows you how to use a laser pointer and some knowledge of physics to figure out the concentration of sugar dissolved in a liquid.

Created to teach students of the 21st century, SOPHIA is bringing science experiments straight to your fingertips. Become the commander of your own learning experiences as you take part in this interactive experiment.

In this engineering science fair project, students will determine which 3-D geometric shapes scatter light the most. The Science Buddies project ideas are set up consistently beginning with an abstract, objective, and introduction,...

Here is described a simple process to 'put a voice on a sunbeam' and transmit it over a distance. It is a fascinating example of amplitude modulation of light using sound vibrations. It then describes how the modulated light is detected...

Reflection, refraction, and the colors that make up white light is explored through lab activities after reading a brief background about light energy.