Students look through the viewers at the light source and observe colored light patterns coming from plain white light. Key rings are attached through holes in the plexiglas to allow the viewers to be hung from hooks at the top of the board as shown above. The purpose of this exhibit is to increase student awareness and understanding of light diffraction.
Diffraction is the bending of light around edges.
The colors that you see in diffraction patterns are the many colors that make up white light. Each color is formed by light waves with different wavelengths. When two light waves meet, they can add together, cancel each other out, or partially cancel. The colors appear when diffracted light waves reinforce each other. Diffraction patterns are used by scientists to distinguish various types of light sources from one another.