Mirrors - Candle Under Water


 

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 Code Number :   6A10.60

Disclaimer:

Reprinted by permission of Dick Berg, University of Maryland, for use on this website.

The demonstrations contained and referenced herein are listed for the purposes of cataloging and describing physics demonstrations which should be conducted only under the direction of a trained instructional support professional or physicist. These demonstrations are not presented for the purpose of being conducted by persons unconnected to this Facility and/or persons not consulting with or being supervised by the recognized instructional support professional or physicist and his/her staff. The University is responsible only for those demonstrations carried out using its own equipment using established safety and scheduling policies, and bears no responsibility for those choosing to use this source material for their own purposes. All demonstrations described and contained herein are public domain, and can also be found in reference materials in libraries, bookstores, and electronic sources.

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Condition :   Excellent   
Principle :   Reflections and Image-Object Distance
Area of Study :  Optics  
Equipment :   Plexiglas or glass plate, beaker full of water, small candle, grill lighter, black screen or box.

 

Procedure :   Set the Plexiglas plate vertically on the table so that you can see through it.  About 20 cm behind the glass plate place the beaker of water.  At approximately the same distance in front of the glass plate is where you place the candle or light bulb.  Viewing from a slight angle in relation to the glass plate should give you an image of the candle inside of the beaker.  Dimming the room lights may help brighten the image of the candle.

If you are setting this up as a hallway demonstration you will want to hide the candle from the viewer.  You would place the candle behind the black screen or in a black box to achieve this.

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   References

Michael J. Ruiz, Terry L. Robinson, "Illusion with Plane Mirrors",
TPT, Vol. 25, # 4, Apr. 1987, p. 206.

R.D. Edge and Edwin R, Jones, Jr., "Optical Illusions", TPT, Vol. 22, # 9 , Dec. 1984, p. 591.

Thomas B. Greenslade, "Illusion with Unsilvered Mirrors", TPT, Vol. 15, # 6, Sept. 1977, p. 360.

 

 

Albert V. Baez,  "An Entertaining Demonstration Using Window Glass as a Mirror."  AJP,  21, 63-64 (1953).

 

Ob-2:  Freier and Anderson,  A Demonstration Handbook for Physics.

 

O-100:  "Glass Sheet-Candle Under Water,"  DICK and RAE Physics Demo Notebook.

 

7.1.2: "Creating Illusions with Reflections,"  Cunningham and Herr,  Hands-On Physics Activities with Real Life Applications,  p. 438.

R. E. Berg,   "Light Bulb in Water Beaker Illusion,"  Physics Instructional Resource Association Newsletter."  

R. Gardner,  "A Burning, Underwater Candle,"  Make an Interactive Science Museum,  p. 83.

Joey Green, "Underwater Candle", The Mad Scientist Handbook, Vol. 1, p. 111.



Mail Questions and Comments to:  Dale Stille