Can You See The Light?

This term, our STEAM class is called, "Light, Sound, and Time," and each category is separated into a unit. For unit 1, we focused on learning in-depth about Light and components that relate to it. We learned about light waves - how light travels, how to capture light, different types of waves, and how to calculate them using trigonometry. We learned about color and the electromagnetic spectrum, and even how to make our own cameras! For this AP, we took what we learned about light and got to travel to our new school to make our own cameras, in-person. We had the option of making either a Pinhole camera, a Camera Obscura, or a room-size Camera Obscura. Each was a little different - the pinhole camera allows you to capture an actual image, whereas, the camera obscura acts more like a projector, allowing you to see an image through a lens, but not actually take a photo. Below, you can see my work and the finished product of the camera, along with, the image through the lens, a diagram of the light process, and some calculations. Enjoy! 

In this unit, I think I am most proud of my camera, even though it was pretty basic. It was really cool to physically make something and be able to see how it turned out/apply what we learned. My Camera Obscura captures light by it coming through a small hole (the lens) at an angle, and then hits the surface inside (parchment paper), to then create an upside-down image of the object you are looking at. It also demonstrates reflection, because of how the light goes through the lens, bounces off the parchment paper, and further travels to your eye, through the looking hole, which allows you to see the image on the paper. In my case, I was looking at a lightbulb, and it was really interesting to see how it appeared flipped in the camera. Another thing I found fascinating was how, if you moved your hand upwards in front of the light, it looked like it was going down, and if you moved it down, it looked like it was going up.

This is my Camera Obscura and I made it out of an old shoebox. The additional materials I used were aluminum foil, parchment paper, tape, scissors, and a thumbtack. The first step was cutting a hole on the opposite side of the pre-made hole, and covering it with aluminum foil (this is the lens). Then, I cut a piece of parchment paper and struggled to tape it in the middle of the box, but finally succeeded. After that, I used a thumbtack to poke a tiny hole through the aluminum and, finally, closed my box and went to look at a lightbulb. 

MEM. Camera Obscura. 2021.

Here, is the picture that I observed through my camera. As you can see, the lightbulb is upside down, and that is because the light travels from the top of the object, straight down into the lens, and to the bottom of the parchment paper, thus, making the image appear upside down. You can see this in the diagram below. 

MEM. Lightbulb Image. 2021.

Photopedagogy. Camera Obscura Diagram. 2011.

From the Internal Investigation, the camera most demonstrates the visible science of the Electromagnetic Spectrum, otherwise known as, the 'Visible Spectrum'. This is the part of the EM that we can see - the light we see. The camera uses visible light to create an image on the parchment paper.  

The data for the camera includes: it's dimensions, the height of the lens (h1), the depth of the camera (d1), the height of the light (h2), the camera's volume, a similar triangles diagram, the minimum distance between the light and the camera, and the path of light rays to the camera. 

Camera Dimensions: Length- 12in, Width- 9in, Height- 4.5in

Volume: l*w*h = 12*9*4.5 = 486in^3

Similar Triangles: (h1)- 4in, (h2)- 12, (d1)- 5in, 

Minimum Distance: h2*d1/h1-d1 = 12*5/4-5 = 10in

The pathway of light to the camera can be seen in the image below, in 4 labeled steps. 

MEM. Similar Triangles and LightPath. 2021. 

In conclusion, I really enjoyed making my camera and really taking what I learned, and applying it to something physical, to see how it works. If I could do it differently, I might’ve made a Pinhole camera instead, because you get to actually take a picture with it, but overall, I am happy with my decision. I feel good about ending this unit with a strong understanding of Light, and I am excited to move on to learning about Sound, in unit 2. I hope you enjoyed my project!

Citations:

“Camera Obscura.” PhotoPedagogy, https://www.photopedagogy.com/camera-obscura.html