Bending Light
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Original Sim and Translations |
Topics
- Snell's Law
- Refraction
- Reflection
- Optics
- Prisms
- Lenses
- Light
Description
Explore bending of light between two media with different indices of refraction. See how changing from air to water to glass changes the bending angle. Play with prisms of different shapes and make rainbows.
Sample Learning Goals
- Explain how light bends at the interface between two media and what determines the angle.
- Apply Snell’s law to a laser beam incident on the interface between media.
- Describe how the speed and wavelength of light changes in different media.
- Describe the effect of changing wavelength on the angle of refraction.
- Explain how a prism creates a rainbow.
Teacher Tips
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Overview of sim controls, model simplifications, and insights into student thinking ( PDF ). |
Teacher-Submitted Activities
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Authors | Level | Type | Subject |
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| Wave unit (Inquiry Based) |
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Trish Loeblein | HS UG-Intro |
Lab Demo |
Physics |
| Exploring How Light Behaves at Boundaries |
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Elyse Zimmer | HS | Lab | Physics | |
| How do PhET simulations fit in my middle school program? |
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Sarah Borenstein | MS | Other | Chemistry Biology Earth Science Physics |
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| Alignment of PhET sims with NGSS |
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Trish Loeblein | HS | Other | Physics Biology Chemistry Earth Science |
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| PhET Sims Aligned to the Chemistry Curriculum |
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Julia Chamberlain | UG-Intro HS |
Other | Chemistry | |
| MS and HS TEK to Sim Alignment | Elyse Zimmer | HS MS |
Other | Biology Chemistry Physics |
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| Mapping of PhET and IBDP Physics | Jaya Ramchandani | HS | Other | Physics | ||
| PhET Inquiry - Bending Light | Paul Martenis | HS | Lab Guided |
Astronomy Physics |
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| Investigating critical angle and Total Internal Reflection | Jim Champion | HS UG-Intro |
Lab Guided HW |
Physics | ||
| Bending-Light Worksheet | Madhuri Ganapathi | HS | HW | Physics | ||
| Discovering Snell's law | Jonathan Carlson | UG-Intro HS |
Guided HW Lab |
Physics | ||
| Refraction and Snell's Law Lab | Kristin Michalski | HS | Lab | Astronomy Physics |
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| Wave Refraction | Simon Lees | HS | Guided Lab HW |
Physics | ||
| Determining Speed and Intensity of Light during Refraction | Simon Lees | HS | Lab Guided HW |
Physics | ||
| Reflection in a plane surface | Simon Lees | HS | Lab Guided HW |
Physics | ||
| Bending Light Lab! | Jamie Schoenberger | MS | Guided Lab |
Physics | ||
| Bending Light Student Worksheet | Lucy Kulbago | MS HS |
Lab Guided |
Physics | ||
| Preguntas de razonamiento para todas las simulaciones HTML5 |
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Diana López | HS K-5 Grad UG-Intro MS UG-Adv |
HW Discuss |
Chemistry Physics Mathematics Astronomy |
| pc-labo: lichtbreking | Maarten Vervecken | MS | Lab | Physics | ||
| Valguse murdumine | Siim Tõkke | HS | Lab HW |
Physics | ||
| Moodle et PhetColorado | Claude Divoux | HS | Guided Lab MC |
Chemistry Physics |
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| 光の屈折 | Hiroto Kuninaka, Akira Ogihara, Taichiro Goto | MS | Guided Lab |
Physics | ||
| Visão Humana (Atividades) nos OA's do PhET | Artur Araújo Cavalcante e Gilvandenys Leite Sales | MS HS Other |
Guided Other HW |
Biology Other Physics |
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| Óptica Geral (Atividades) nos OA's do PhET | Artur Araújo Cavalcante e Gilvandenys Leite Sales | MS HS Other UG-Intro |
Demo Other HW Guided |
Other Earth Science Physics Mathematics |
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| Miopia e Hipermetropia (Lentes) no "Bending Light" | Artur Araújo Cavalcante e Gilvandenys Leite Sales | MS HS Other |
HW Guided Other |
Earth Science Other Physics |
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| Refração da Luz no "Bending Light (HTML5)" | Artur Araújo Cavalcante e Gilvandenys Leite Sales | HS Other |
HW Guided Other |
Physics Other Earth Science Mathematics |
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| Verificação da lei de Snell e cálculo do índice de refração desconhecido | andre borba | MS | Lab | Physics | ||
| REFLEXIÓN Y REFRACCIÓN DE LA LUZ | FRANCISCO CRUZ CANTU | HS | Guided Lab HW |
Physics | ||
| EXPERIMENTOS DE NEWTON OPTICA | FRANCISCO CRUZ CANTU | HS | Lab HW Guided |
Physics |
Browse legacy activities.
The new HTML5 sims can run on iPads and Chromebooks, as well as PC, Mac, and Linux systems.
iPad:
iOS 11+ Safari
iPad compatible sims
Android:
Not officially supported. If you are using the HTML5 sims on Android, we recommend using the latest version of Google Chrome.
Chromebook:
Latest version of Google Chrome
The HTML5 and Flash PhET sims are supported on all Chromebooks.
Chromebook compatible sims
Windows Systems:
Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer 11, latest version of Firefox, latest version of Google Chrome.
Macintosh Systems:
macOS 10.9.5+, Safari 9+, latest version of Chrome.
Linux Systems:
Not officially supported. Please contact phethelp@colorado.edu with troubleshooting issues.
| Design Team | Third-party Libraries | Thanks To |
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