Determining the refractive index for the prism displayed at The DarkSide of the Moon album cover

a high school optics activity

Authors

  • Jair Lúcio Prados Ribeiro Colégio Marista de Brasília

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26512/2446-564X2015e13342

Abstract

The cover of the album The Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd depicts white light being scattered by a prism, a phenomenon elucidated by Isaac Newton. This article describes a simple activity for determining the refractive index of the illustrated prism in high school, for each of the six colors represented in the image. The indexes are  determined from ray tracing in tissue paper, measuring of corresponding angles and application of Snell’s Law, and it was realized that refractive index should decrease with the radiation frequency increase, a condition not revealed by everyday transparent materials. It is proposed that the playful nature of the activity and the possibility of interdisciplinary discussions could bring benefits to this topic learning.

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References

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Published

2015-09-11

How to Cite

Ribeiro, J. L. P. (2015). Determining the refractive index for the prism displayed at The DarkSide of the Moon album cover: a high school optics activity. Physicae Organum, 1(2). https://doi.org/10.26512/2446-564X2015e13342

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