Laboratory 7: Transmission & Reflection

Lab7: Transmission & Reflection

Refer to the Beyond Labz application to find the lab bench and the Beyond Labz landing. Follow the instructions on the Beyond Labz worksheet specific to the lab title in order to complete this assignment.

Download the Beyond Labz worksheet for this lab here:

Transmission & Reflection.pdf Download Transmission & Reflection.pdf

There are a total of eight graded responses or activities in this lab consisting of: 1 pre-lab questions;  and 7 questions. Each activity is worth 5 points each. For a total of 40 points for this lab.

Purpose

To study the properties of light when intercepting transparent and opaque objects and to examine
reflections of images off plane mirrors from different angles.

Intuition
Some people think there would be nothing worse than going blind. Blindness is described as the “world going dark”, however is that really what happens? We are able to see things because there is visible light from the Sun reflecting off everything and intercepting the receptors in our eyes. Even if we close our eyes, or go blind, the light is still there, bouncing around, carrying information and will continue to do so until it is absorbed by something or the source of light energy disappears.

Definitions

Opaque, reflection, transmission, transparent

Context & Theory
When light runs into a surface it can do one of three things: bounce off, travel through, or be completely absorbed in the substance. Some combination of these three options can also occur. If light hits a surface at the right angle, some portion of the light can pass through the substance and some of it will reflect off at an angle. What the light will do is dependent on what surface it is hitting. Transparent substances will usually allow light to travel through them, with some amount of refraction and absorption. Opaque substances often absorb light, which is why you can’t see through them. Reflective substances primarily reflect the light that hits them.

Observing the properties of light and learning how to predict the behavior is what is studied in the field of optics. In this activity, you will experiment with reflective and transparent surfaces and observe how the object you are examining appears under different conditions.