Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Episode 1 - Mixing Light

Liquid light can be mixed to create pure white light. In the premiere episode, "lightstick juice" is used to demonstrate how red, green, and blue light can be mixed to create white light. All it takes is a few colored light sticks, a knife, and a paper towel...

Episode 1

5 comments:

Darren Baker said...

I discovered your videos through Geek Dad's blog. As a dad I wanted to say thanks for putting these together. Well done!

Dr. Matt J. Carlson said...

You're welcome! They're a lot of work (over time) but they're also fun.

Tim said...

I am here from GeekDad as well (but you can tell I'm behind on my reading.)

This one is excellent. I have been mixing colors for a long time, but now that slide projectors are more rare, this is a great and engaging substitute for "old school" light mixing experiments. I am pretty impressed by the ability to get a good white from the glowsticks since I imagine them to not be "ideal" primaries.

Does the paper towel really not absorb the red dye or is it just so thin relative to the glow juice that the effect is diminished? For example, if you poured the mix on a white table, would the effect of the red dye diminish as well?

One other question, have you considered posting these on YouTube, if only to make the viewing easier?

Dr. Matt J. Carlson said...

Good Question. I'm not sure about the answer. I was "told" that it didn't absorb the pink/red dye, but never poured any out to confirm or deny it. It definitely looks better on the towel than in the cup.

As for YouTube, its on my "to do" list, but I keep thinking I want to go back and add a mention of the main web site (www.ScienceTheater.net) at the end of each episode first. That just keeps getting put off. I'll have to buckle down and "just do it" soon...

Prototyping Education said...

I have loved your geeky vids and they have been enjoyed by many of my students. Physics is AWESOME. I use internet resouces (yours is one of them) to enhance teaching and learning. http://cyberspaced.blogspot.com/