Session Overview
For this week’s phySTEM session, Beam There, Done That, we got hands on with light and how it behaves. Using lasers, ray boxes, mirrors, glass blocks, and lenses, we explored the core ideas behind reflection and refraction through simple experiments and challenges.
We started with reflection, using plane mirrors to see how the angle of incidence matches the angle of reflection. This made it clear why mirrors can be used to precisely control the path of a light beam. By adjusting mirror angles, participants could predict and then test where the laser would go.
We then moved on to refraction with glass blocks and lenses. When light passes from air into glass, its speed changes, causing it to bend. This bending explains why beams change direction at the boundary between two materials and why lenses can focus or spread light depending on their shape.
Mirror Challenge
To put these ideas into practice, we set up paper targets with obstacles in the way. The goal was to use mirrors to guide laser beams around the obstacles and hit the targets. This required thinking carefully about angles, multiple reflections, and the overall path of the beam.
Overall, the session combined theory with experimentation in a way that kept things interactive and approachable, while still digging into the physics behind everyday optical devices.