The diffusion of light
This experiment is very easy to make, and will allow you to bring to highlight some characteristics of colors and light.
How does it work?
This experiment shows you how light and colors work.
Light is composed of all the colors of the rainbow. White is made out of all these colors while black is the absence of colors.
White lets all the colors of the light diffuse through the paper, while black absorbs them all, and that's why you can't see the light anymore.
You will notice that in the video, yellow let more light diffuse than red. Actually, yellow is a secondary color made out of red and green. It diffuses two colors and you can see more light. On the other hand, red is a primary color, it's only red and diffuses just red. That is why you see less light.
Necessary materials
- Colored sheets of paper (same paper for all), two of them black and white
- A flashlight
How to make this experiment?
- Turn down the light in the room, and turn on the flashlight.
- Successively, put the sheets of paper onto the flashlight. These sheets of paper must be of the same paper for the experiment to be relevant.
- Now, put the white sheet of paper onto the light and then the black one.
- You can notice that light doesn't go through the black paper, but goes through the white one very well.