This paper is inspired from a scene in the movie "Memento" (2000), where the eyeglass prescription for a myopic eye can be estimated since the virtual image of a distant wall seen through the lens and a nearby actor outside the view of the lens are located at the same distance. The estimate illustrates that there are times when the power…

Entertaining and educational experiments that can be conducted in a water park, illustrating physics concepts, principles and fundamental laws, are described. These experiments are suitable for students ranging from senior secondary school to junior university level. Newton's laws of motion, Bernoulli's equation, based on the conservation of…

The use of a video camera may markedly improve demonstrations of optical spectra. First, the output electrical signal from the camera, which provides full information about a picture to be transmitted, can be used for observing the radiant power spectrum on the screen of a common oscilloscope. Second, increasing the magnification by the camera…

For several years we have included discussions about insect vision in the optics units of our introductory physics courses. This topic is a natural extension of demonstrations involving Brewster's reflection and Rayleigh scattering of polarized light because many insects heavily rely on optical polarization for navigation and communication.…

Optical activity using an iPad as a source of polarized light is demonstrated. A sample crystal or solution can be placed on the iPad running a white screen app. The sample is viewed through a polarized filter that can be rotated. This setup can be used in the laboratory or with a document camera to easily project in a large lecture hall.…

A new procedure for performing quantitative measurements in teaching optics is presented. Application of the procedure to accurately measure the rate of change of the variable refractive index of a water-denatured alcohol mixture is described. The procedure can also be usefully exploited for measuring the constant refractive index of distilled…