The Atomic Universe Club
Experiments
Check out the experiments below to gain new insights into each of the lessons; these are made to be easily done at home, so give them a try!
Materials
I. Laser Pointer
II. Wire/Paper clip
III. Electric Tape/Duct Tape
IV. Scissors
01
Double-Slit Experiment
Instructions:
- Tape the wire (or an unbent paper clip) to the center of the opening through which the laser light is displayed.
- Place tape on both sides of the wire to cover as much of the opening as possible, while leaving a small gap between the ends of the tape and the wire in the middle for photons to pass through.
- You have successfully made the double-slit! Turn on the laser and check if you can see the spectrum of light, as apposed to a single point.
02
Sun-Viewer
Instructions:
- Take a small cardboard box or an old shoe box to use as the main frame to make the sun-viewer.
- Cut two holes onto one side of the box, making sure in inside on the opposite end is clear.
- Tape aluminum foil on one of the openings and poke a small hole into the foil to allow for light to come into the box.
- If using a shoe box, make sure to tape down the top lid so that it doesn't accidentally fall off when viewing.
- Go outside, angle the hole in the foil towards the sun, and view the light entering the box from the other viewing hole that you made.
- Try this during solar eclipses and just in general to look for sun spots and other cool phenomenon!
Materials
I. Small cardboard box
II. Scissors/knife (make sure you are safe if using a knife)
III. Aluminum foil
IV. Tape
03
Paper Airplane Race
Instructions:
- Follow along the video to build three different paper airplanes:
1. Fold the paper in half vertically, then fold two of the corners on the same side into the center line. The fold the entire paper together and fold down to create wings on either side.
2. Similar to number 1, except before folding the entire thing together, fold the corners in once more on the same side you did previously and repeat all the same steps.
3. Similar to number 2, except after folding the corners in twice, form a small accordion fold with the front of the plane and repeat the same steps.
(Follow along with the video of you have any questions)
- Fly the paper airplanes; why did they move in the way that they did? Try different designs to attempt to deduce which type of airplane flies the best.
Materials
I. Three sheets of paper (or more)
Materials
I. Laser Pointer
II. Wire/Paper clip
III. Electric Tape/Duct Tape
IV. Scissors
04
Reflection on Double-Slit Experiment
Instructions:
- Think back on the double-slit experiment we did in the first lesson...
- What new concepts can you apply to the experiment? How is this useful in our understanding of quantum physics?
05
IBM Quantum Computing
Instructions:
- Go to quantum.ibm.com on any web browser and sign up using an email address. Then, scroll down and click on quantum composer.'
- Have fun playing around with the gates and trying to come up with new probabilities for a |0> or a |1> state for the qubit.
Materials
I. Working Computer
II. Internet Access
III. Email Address