Monday, March 9, 2015

Lab: The Particle Model for Light

Here is the prompt for the lab report.

Write a  two paragraph conclusion for the lab.  It should focus on the plausibility of light being made of particles and show logical reasoning based on the results of our lab.  You may want to start it with one of the sentences below.

The results of this lab allow me to state that there is evidence that light could be a particle, because…
The results of this lab allow me to state that there is evidence that light probably isn’t a particle, because…
The results of this lab do not allow me to state that there is evidence that light is a particle or isn’t a particle, because…
In order to have had more useful data, I would have needed to …

The second paragraph should propose a further test you could perform on either particles or light to confirm or deny the possibility that light is made of speeding “photon” particles.  It would be great if it was an experiment that you could actually perform in the classroom, but it is probably more realistic that it is simply an experiment that people could perform assuming that they had better equipment than we do.


This is not a research project.  I don't expect a historical or established experiment.  In class we listed a number of assumptions necessary to make a particle model for light workable.  Some of these were assumptions about light.  Some were assumptions about the necessary particles.  Focus on one of these assumptions and imagine/invent a test that probes its validity. 

In addition to the conclusion, please include a screen shot of your data table and graph.



8-10
5-7
0-4
Logic/Conclusion/Analysis
Explanation linking data to conclusion is logical and well expressed.
Conclusion is not strongly linked to the data.  (Data missing.)
Conclusion is unclear or not consistent with the data.
Proposed Procedure
Proposed experiment would add insight to the nature of light, fits the criteria of the assignment, and meaningful explanation of how to interpret the data is provided.
Proposed experiment could provide insight into the nature of light, but experiment or how to interpret it is not clear.  Or experiment doesn’t fit criteria (probably was researched rather than imagined).
Proposed experiment wouldn’t provide insight into the nature of light, or proposed explanation is contrary to a logical interpretation.