Student Exploration: Herschel Experiment
Vocabulary: electromagnetic radiation, infrared radiation, prism, ultraviolet radiation, visible
spectrum
Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)
All star
...
Student Exploration: Herschel Experiment
Vocabulary: electromagnetic radiation, infrared radiation, prism, ultraviolet radiation, visible
spectrum
Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)
All stars emit electromagnetic radiation. Sunlight is part of the electromagnetic radiation
emitted by the Sun.
1. What happens when sunlight passes through a prism? _The sunbeam bends in the prism
and more when it passes through
2. The colors you see in a rainbow or when white light is
separated is called the visible spectrum, shown at right.
What is the order of colors in the visible spectrum?
Purple blue green yellow orange red
Gizmo Warm-up
William Herschel was a British astronomer famous for
discovering the planet Uranus in 1781. While observing the
Sun through various colored filters, Herschel noticed that the
different filters seemed to transmit different amounts of heat.
Herschel hypothesized that different colors in the visible
spectrum have different temperatures. As he was testing this
hypothesis in 1800, Herschel made a remarkable discovery.
The Herschel Experiment Gizmo allows you to reconstruct Herschel’s experiment. The Gizmo
shows sunlight shining through a prism and into a box. A thermometer can be moved to different
positions on the floor of the box. To begin, move the thermometer to 9 cm.
1. Click Play ( ), and wait about 10 simulated minutes.
A. What is the color of light where the thermometer is located? _green_
B. What is the temperature at this location? ___26.7 degrees____
2. Move the thermometer to the blue light at 6 cm, and wait another 10 simulated minutes.
What is the temperature at this location? ___21.7 degrees
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