Observatory Visit

Norman Lockyer Observatory Visit Introduction: The Norman Lockyer Observatory, based outside Sidmouth South Devon, is an historic working optical observatory and an educational centre for science, mainly concentrating in the fields of astronomy, meteorology, amateur radio and sciences of the coast and countryside. It is operated by The Norman Lockyer Observatory Society, a registered charity, and is staffed entirely by unpaid volunteers, many of whom are retired scientists. The Observatory was established in 1912 by Sir Joseph Norman Lockyer to continue his astronomical research when the South Kensington Observatory was closed. Now it provides a facility at which the general public and eccentrics alike may participate in projects and pursue recreational study of science in a practical way. The Hill Observatory was intended to continue research into the Sun's effect on the Earth's climate, and the spectral classification of stars. By 1913 solar research had commenced using the Kensington 10-inch twin tube refractor which had been brought from South Kensington. The South Kensington site was being cleared to make space for the Science Museum and extensions to the Royal College of Science, now Imperial College. A spectrum of a star is composed of a number of 'lines' which can be either emission or absorption lines. The continuum emission is a product of the blackbody radiation

  • Word count: 908
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Science
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Proving the lens formula.

Jack Webdale 02/05/2007 Page 1 Proving the lens formula Background information When light passes from air to a denser material it slows down. In a concave lens the light has to travel further through the middle then through the sides. This has the affect of pushing the waves back in the middle and forward around the edge therefore effectively adding curvature to the wave. A similar thing happens when passing through a concave lens but obviously vice-versa, taking away curvature of the wave. The curvature that the lens adds or takes away is the Power of the lens, measured in dioptres. P=1/f, P is the power of the lens and f is the focal length. The focal length of a lens is the distance from a lens to its focal point, which is where the image of a distant object is formed. The shorter the focal length the more powerful the lens. The following formula is what I am going to attempt to prove that it is valid. It is used to give the focal length, and hence where the image is focused. /v+1/u=1/f Where v is the distance from the lens to its focal point, u is the distance from the object to the lens and 1/f is the power of the lens. This follows from the above, the power shows how much curvature is added to the wave. As a wave moves further away from an object the curvature of it decreases. This formula may also help me with my progress, as I can use it to calculate the

  • Word count: 2745
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Science
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The use of the electron microscope has advanced our understanding of cell biology further than the light microscope. Discuss." The definition of a microscope is that it is an instrument for viewing objects that are too small

Heather Sanders - Biology Coursework : Ms Belbin "The use of the electron microscope has advanced our understanding of cell biology further than the light microscope. Discuss." The definition of a microscope is that it is an instrument for viewing objects that are too small to be seen easily by the naked eye. Microscopes have been around since the end of the first century and have become an essential instrument within early and modern-day science. Below is a timeline or the innovation of the microscope from when it was first invented, to today. Circa 1000AD The first vision aid was invented (inventor unknown) called a reading stone. It was a glass sphere that magnified when laid on top of reading materials. Circa 1284 Italian, Salvino D'Armate is credited with inventing the first wearable 'eye glasses'. 590 Two Dutch eye glass makers, Zaccharias Janssen and son Hans Janssen experimented with multiple lenses placed in a tube. The Janssens observed that viewed objects in front of the tube appeared greatly enlarged, creating both the forerunner of the compound/light microscope. 665 English physicist, Robert Hooke looked at a sliver of cork through a microscope lens and noticed some "pores" or "cells" in it. 674 Anton van Leeuwenhoek built a simple microscope with only one lens to examine blood, yeast, insects and many other tiny objects. Leeuwenhoek was the first

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Science
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Investigating the factors which Affect the image formed by a Convex lens

INVESTIGATING THE FACTORS WHICH AFFECT THE IMAGE FORMED BY A CONVEX LENS APPARATUS Light box, screen, slide, stand, lens, power pack and metre rulers. METHOD . I set up the apparatus as shown in my prediction. 2. I then turned the light on putting it on 10v. 3. I then, by using a ruler, placed the lens 70cm away from the object. 4. I then moved the screen closer and further away from the lens in order to get a clear picture projected onto the screen. 5. When I had a clear picture, I measured the length between the lens and the screen. I recorded the result. 6. I will then move the lens 5cm closer to the light box and repeat steps 4 and 5. 7. I moved the lens 5cm closer to the object until I had ten sets of results. 8. I repeated steps 1 to 7 twice in order to get an average. RESULTS LENS FROM OBJECT (cm) LENS FROM SCREEN (cm) 1 2 AVERAGE 70 65 60 55 50 45 40 35 30 40 40 42 45 49 56 66 88 55 39 41 42 45 49 55 65 86 41 39.5 40.5 42 45 49 55.5 65.5 87 48 CONCLUSION- ANALYSIS I have found out that the closer the light box is to the lens, the further away you have to place the screen in order to get a clear picture. I found also found out that the closer the lens is to the light box, the bigger the image created on the screen. The image was inverted for al distances. For example, the

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Science
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To investigate and demonstrate how the different wavelengths of red and blue light differ by finding their focal lengths using a converging lens.

Physics Coursework Aim To investigate and demonstrate how the different wavelengths of red and blue light differ by finding their focal lengths using a converging lens. Apparatus * Red and Blue LED's (light emitting diodes) * Wires to connect apparatus together * Power supply and mains access to control voltage supplied to the LED's * Ruler in cm and mm * Converging lens * Blocks to adjust height of components Safety This experiment is relatively safe and there are few hazards. However I will be aware throughout the experiment of the electrical components thus minimising any risk of electric shock. Although LED's them selves do not get sufficiently hot enough to burn skin the wires may get quite hot if the current passing through them is high enough. If I conduct the experiment with a high voltage not only may the LED's fuse, the brightness of them may harm my eyes if they are looked at continuously. To reduce this effect I shall have a small voltage but with a high enough brightness within the LED to obtain accurate results. Chromatic Aberration Different wavelengths are refracted by different amounts. The refractive index is different for different colours. This leads to an effect called chromatic aberration. A simple lens has different focal lengths at different wavelengths (Colours). This is because the different colours have been refracted through the

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Science
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The History, Development and Use of the Light and Electron Microscope.

The History, Development and Use of the Light and Electron Microscope Fatimah Jilani Over time, our knowledge regarding matters in biology has developed quite rapidly with the use of microscopy. The use of microscopy has allowed us to look further into the physical side of biology especially in terms of cell ultra structures. Without the use of microscopes, we would never have even discovered cells let alone being able to know the characteristics and effects of minute detail, which is visible only through the Light and Electron Microscope. During the historic period known to be the Renaissance, there took place the inventions of gunpowder and the mariner's compass which then lead to the discovery of America. However, during that period came the equally significant invention recognized as the microscope. The microscope being an optical instrument that uses a lens or a combination of lens to produce a magnified visual image of small minute objects. The invention of the microscope gave light to details of worlds within worlds. Looking at the advances of the technology behind the microscope you begin to wonder about the beginning of microscopes and what triggered off this development. The earliest simple microscope was purely a tube with a plate for the object being viewed at one end and at the other end, there would have been a lens, which would give a magnification, which

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Science
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To find the best position of a lens to give the best magnification.

GCSE Physics Coursework: Lenses Experiment Aim To find the best position of a lens to give the best magnification. Theory There are two basic types of lenses, convex lenses and concave lenses. A convex lens is also called a converging lens and a concave lenis is also called a diverging lens. Convex lenses are thicker in the middle than at the edges and concave are thinner in the middle than at the edges, which is exactly the opposite. The diagram below shows some examples of both types of lenses. Diagram 1 If a beam of light is directed parallel at a convex lens then the light is brought to focus by the lens. If the beam of light is directed along the lens axis (the line through the centre of each surface), the rays are brought to a focus on the axis at the focal point of the lens. The focal length (f) of a convex lens is the distance from the lens to the point where the rays are brought to a focus. Diagram 2 If a beam of light is directed parallel at a concave lens then the light rays are made to diverge from the lens. The focal length (f) of a concave lens is the distance from the lens to the point where the rays appear to diverge from. Diagram 3 Ray diagrams are used for showing how images are formed and predicting where the image will be formed. For simplicity, rays are shown bending at the line through the middle of the lens. In reality, bending takes

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Science
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Optical and Electron Microscopy

Biology essay: Optical and Electron Microscopy: Introduction: Microscopes allow us to see things so small they normally can't be seen by the naked eye. The intention of all microscopic studies is to produce an image that is a copy of the object, or the specimen. There are two main aspects to a microscope, which determine the image - magnification and resolution. The magnification is the number of times the image is linearly larger than the object. So, small objects will appear larger in the image under higher magnification than under lower magnification. The resolution, or resolving power, is the microscope's ability to differentiate between small objects that are close together. Theoretically the electron microscope has 100,000 x better resolving power than optical microscopes, but in practise the resolution of an electron microscope is at best 1 nm (nanometre), i.e. two objects less than 1 nm apart will be seen as one. Optical Microscopy: The main instrument, which utilizes light to produce a magnified image, is the compound microscope. A compound microscope uses the magnifying power of two convex lenses, the eyepiece and the objective lens, which itself has three variable magnifying powers - low, medium and high, to produce an image. Light rays are transmitted, the light source usually being a bulb, through the object, and then through the two convex lenses where

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Science
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Advantage and disadvantage of using an optical and electron microscope.

ADVANTAGE AND DISADVANTAGE OF USING AN OPTICAL AND ELECTRON MICROSCOPE In this essay I will be talking about all the different types of Optical and Electron Microscopes and what there uses are and what the Advantage and Disadvantage of them both are. Electron Microscope An electron microscope uses electrons to illuminate an object. Because electrons have a smaller wavelength than light has it can resolve much smaller structures than light can. The resolution is very good. The minimum wavelength of an optical microscope is 500nm whereas the smallest wavelength of electrons in an electron microscope is round about 0.005nm. The microscope has many different features. It has an electron gun so that it can emit electrons onto the specimen so it can create a magnified image. Magnetic lenses that create the magnetic fields are used to direct and focus the electrons onto the specimen. The microscope uses a vacuum system because electrons are easily scattered by air molecules so the microscope has a high vacuum. The can also produce images that the electrons have made. There are two types of electron microscopes. The Transmission Electron microscope (TEM) and the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). In the TEM the electrons are directed onto the object, but some of the electrons are absorbed by the object so they do not reach the screen setting a dark image (electron dense). The

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Science
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Bradford Museum of Film and Photography

Bradford Museum of Film and Photography Our physics group went on a trip to the Bradford Museum of Film and Photography to find out more about physics. We went to find out about new ideas of physics and also to reinforce ideas we had already covered in class. The areas of physics we were going to focus on was the use of light and lenses and the way they are used in everyday products. At the museum we visited an area called The Magic Factory, which was all to do with the ideas and applications of physics. At the museum an exhibit, which interested me, was the pinhole camera exhibit. This is because it gave a very clear image of the clock tower in the distance through a tiny little pinhole using a converging lens. There was a few different options you could choose to test how a pinhole camera works, there was the option to use a bigger hole which gave a very blurred image of the clock tower and there was also an option to use three pinholes at the same time which gave an image which showed the clock tower overlapping each other three times. The small pinhole however was the most successful to view a sharp image on the screen the image is upside down due to the converging lens. In a pinhole camera the smaller the hole is the sharper image however this has limitations as the sharper the image the less light there will be and the image wont be as bright. A pinhole camera

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Science
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