Tracking Radio Waves Materials Required: AM pocket radio Aluminium foil Table Radio and TV stations send I’ out powerful waves of their TV respective kinds through antennae, which get caught by our radios and televisions. To determine the direction through which these waves reach you, take a portable AM pocket radio and place it on a table. Now tune in to a station which is coming in properly Fold a piece...

Refraction in a Telescope Materials Required: Two hand magnifying glasses Modelling clay Table near a window White paper Sunny day Two pieces of cardboard A telescope allows objects to appear close. It is made up of the Greek word “tele” meaning ‘from afar’ and “skopos”, meaning ‘viewer’. Telescopes gather light and focus it and this allows objects to appear closer than they actually are. Telescopes reveal things in the sky which...

Measuring Distance with Sound Materials Required: A large building Measuring tape The speed of a sound wave is generally fixed at 335 metres per second. When the energy waves actually move, the molecules of the medium it moves through (like metal, water, air) do not travel forward with the wave. To understand things better, let us return to the example of the wave. When a wave moves in the ocean, the...

Inside the Eye Materials Required: Hand magnifying glass Modelling clay A few small toys High-intensity desk lamp Adhesive tape A strip of white paper Table A pair of scissors An adult Images are magnified through binocular and telescope lenses. However, we often forget that the first tool used in astronomy is the human eye. Objects reflect light that go in through the pupil, then pass through the lens. This focuses the...

Invisible Light Materials Required: A flashlight A small cardboard box A pair of scissors Talcum powder A dark room An adult While some types of energy can be seen, others remain invisible. Paradoxically, a beam of light energy is also considered to be invisible. This type of energy can only be seen, when light energy falls on the human eyes, or gets reflected on some object and then enters the eye....

How to Calculate Averages Materials Required: A jug of water Glasses, cups, bowls etc. of different sizes Newspapers Some white paper Red and blue marking pens Take containers and glasses of different shapes and fill them with water. Pour all the water from each container into a measuring jug. Measure the water in the jug and divide the total quantity by the number of containers. This is how the average amount...

Blinded By Light Materials Required: An automobile An adult A white poster board A black marker A dark evening While there is common knowledge of air pollution, astronomers will also inform you about something known as ‘Light pollution’. This occurs, when light from signs, lamp posts, neon lights, homes and offices, wash out the night sky, thereby hiding fainter stars from our view. This experiment basically deals with washing out your...