Splitting Light with a Prism

Lab Brief #3

🎯 Your mission

Understand the idea. Then look for it everywhere.

⚡ The twist

Nature loves to surprise the careful watcher.

What you'll learn

Light behaves as both a wave and a particle. White light can be separated into a spectrum of colors using a prism. Each color has a different wavelength.

Key words

wavelength
The distance from one wave crest to the next.

Make a hypothesis first

Before you start: write down what you think will happen, and why.

Say your guess out loud — then find out if you were right.

Step 1 of 3 · Read

Look at the vocabulary words and write a definition for each in your own words.

Step 2 of 3 · Observe

Draw a detailed diagram of what you observe.

Step 3 of 3 · Record

Write a conclusion: what did your results show? Did they match your prediction?

Question 1 of 3

What does a prism do to white light?

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Question 2 of 3

What is the electromagnetic spectrum?

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Question 3 of 3

How does light travel?

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Mind = blown

🔬 The more you look, the more nature shows you.

Nice work!

You got 0 of 3 right.

Next: Using Models to Predict All lessons

🎯

Next Smart Experiment

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✨ More to explore

🌍 Where you see this in real life: This shows up in your everyday life more than you'd think.

🏆 Stretch challenge (try it this week): Try one experiment in real life this week — even a tiny one.

👨‍👩‍👧 For the dinner table: “What's the most surprising thing you learned today?”

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Splitting Light with a Prism

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