This paper mainly proposes a simple method to record scattered light rays via photography, presenting a clearer and brighter representation of the optical path. This technique is applied to the double-slit interference experiment and single-slit diffraction experiment typically conducted in general physics courses, and shows the intuitive results…

Today smartphones and tablets do not merely pervade our daily life, but also play a major role in STEM education in general, and in experimental investigations in particular. Enabling teachers and students to make use of these new techniques in physics lessons requires supplying capable and affordable applications. Our article presents the…

We discuss how compressed images created by modern digital cameras can lead to even severe problems in the quantitative analysis of experiments based on such images. Difficulties result from the nonlinear treatment of lighting intensity values stored in compressed files. To overcome such troubles, one has to adopt noncompressed, native formats, as…

Based on detecting long-wavelength infrared (IR) radiation emitted by the subject, IR imaging shows temperature distribution instantaneously and heat flow dynamically. As a picture is worth a thousand words, an IR camera has great potential in teaching heat transfer, which is otherwise invisible. The idea of using IR imaging in teaching was first…

Gives information for producing 35mm slides and for constructing a copy stand for the production of close-up photographs. (GS)