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Dec 2004

Volume 42, Issue 9, pp. 516-562

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A Multipurpose LED Light Source for Optics Experiments

Se-yuen Mak

The Physics Teacher -- December 2004 -- Volume 42, Issue 9, pp. 550 | Cited 2 times

Online Publication Date: Nov 2004

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Show Abstract
The traditional light source for studying lenses and mirrors is either a bare white light bulb,1 or one encased inside a lamphouse.2, 3 A simple pattern like an arrow, mounted on an optical bench or printed on the window of a lamphouse, serves as the object. Ironically, the image captured on a translucent screen is often the shadow of the pattern with no light falling on it. Although LEDs have been used in commercial display boards for decades, the advantage of using LEDs as a multipurpose light source in the physics laboratory has been overlooked by many physics teachers. In this paper, we remind readers of a few examples of how LEDs can be used to replace the incandescent lamp for geometrical optics, physical optics, and fiber optics experiments.
Show PACS
01.40.E- Science in school
01.50.Pa Laboratory experiments and apparatus
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