setup for rainbow and raindrop demo, black dropcloth, laser
laser light Through Lucite Drop

 

 

Code Number: 6A46.30 

Demo Title: Raindrop and Rainbow

Condition: Good

Principle: Dispersion of Light by Atmospheric Particles

Area of Study: 

Equipment: 

Black Dropcloth, Lucite Raindrop, Laser, and Pinhole White Light Source.

Procedure: 

See also 6A46.30 in Optics. 

Assemble the demo as shown.  At about the angle shown, the raindrop will have internal reflection so that the laser light or the rainbow will appear on the ceiling above the light sources.  For enhanced colors, use a piece of tin foil or Aluminum tape on the side of the raindrop opposite the light source.

References:

  • Erin Ubertelli and David Shane, "Ground Rainbow", TPT, Vol. 57, #8, Nov. 2019, p. 576.
  • Mark Welter, "Another Rainbow Demonstration with a Glass Sphere", TPT, Vol. 57, #5, May 2019, p. 344.
  • Archibald W. Hendry, "A Triple Rainbow?", TPT Vol. 41, #8, Nov. 2003, p. 460.
  • Mikolaj Sawicki and Pawel Sawicki, "Supernumerary Rainbows", TPT, Vol. 38, #1, Jan. 2000, p. 19.
  • John C. Eliason Jr., "Dispersion in Spherical Water Drops", TPT, Vol. 27, #4, Apr. 1989, p. 264.
  • M. Eugene Rudd, "The Rainbow and the Achromatic Telescope: Two Case Studies", TPT, Vol. 26, #2, Feb. 1988, p. 82.
  • Giovanni Casini and Antonio Cavello, "The 'Rainbow' in the Drop", AJP, Vol. 80, #11, Nov. 2012, p. 1027.
  • Harold A. Daw, "A 360 Degree Rainbow Demonstration", AJP, 58, #6, June 1990, p. 593.
  • Frank S. Crawford, "Rainbow Dust", AJP, Vol. 56, #11, Nov. 1988, p. 1006.
  • E. Blaise Saccocio, "Somewhere Under the Rainbow", Physics Today, Vol. 57, #3, Mar. 2004, p. 16.
  • Mikolaj "Mik" Sawicki, "Somewhere Under the Rainbow", Physics Today, Vol. 57, #3, Mar. 2004, p. 16.
  • Chuck Adler, "Somewhere Under the Rainbow", Physics Today, Vol. 57, #3, Mar. 2004, p. 15.
  • E. Blaise Saccocio, "Inteference in a Double Rainbow", Physics Today, Vol. 56, #11, Nov. 2003, p. 10.
  • Jearl Walker, "The Amateur Scientist: Mysteries of Rainbows, Notably Their Rare Supernumerary Arcs", Scientific American, Vol. 242, #6, June 1980, p. 174.
  • Jearl Walker, "The Amateur Scientist: How to Create and Observe a Dozen Rainbows in a Single Drop of Water", Scientific American, Vol. 237, #1, July 1977, p. 138.
  • Dick Berg, "Glass Bead Rainbows", PIRA News, Vol. 9, #2, Nov. 1994, p. 14.
  • Pat Murphy, Ellen Macaulay, and the Staff of the Exploratorium, "Garden-Hose Rainbows", Exploratopia, p. 306 - 309.
  • H. J. Press, "209. Colored Hoop", Giant Book of Science Experiments, p. 223.
  • "Laser Quest", Metrologic Instruments Inc., 1986.
  • Readers Digest, "Light Shows in the Sky", Facts and Fallacies, p. 28 - 29.
  • Ron Hipschman, "The Colors of Light: A Sun of Many Colors", Exploratorium Cookbook III, p. viii - xvi.