Chemistry and Physics Resources

Using ultraviolet beads in Chemistry

Solar Funnel Cooker

Measuring the Temperature of the Sun

Power Point Measuring the Temperature of the Sun

Kepler's Laws

Studying Light Level During the Eclipse (Sensors are Vernier Products)

As the moon gradually blocks more and more of the sun, you would certainly expect to see an associated change in the light level. The sun puts out so many different kinds of light, it would be interesting to see how any of the following change:

* Visible light level measured with our Light Sensor (LS-BTA) or Go Direct Light and Color Sensor (GDX-LC)

* UVA measured with UVA Sensor (UVA-BTA) or Go Direct Light and Color Sensor (GDX-LC)

* UVB measured with UVB Sensor (UVA-BTA) or Go Direct Light and Color Sensor (GDX-LC)

* Total solar radiation with our Pyranometer (PYR-BTA)

* Light color with our new Go Direct Light and Color Sensor (GDX-LC) 

Emission Spectra During the Eclipse

You often hear that the sky gets bluer as totality approaches during an eclipse. Is it really true? With a spectrophotometer set up to capture the light from the sun, you could do an interesting study of this. Note that you will have lots of time to take data. It takes at least an hour from First Contact, when the moon first starts obscuring the sun until totality (or the peak of the partial eclipse, if you are not in the zone of totality). You then have the same amount of time after the eclipse until the sun is completely unblocked. Plan your data collection accordingly.

If you have a spectrophotometer that can plot emission spectra, such as our Vernier Emission Spectrophotometer (VSP-EM) with its optional Vernier Emissions Fiber (VSP-EM-FIBER) or a Go Direct SpectroVis Plus Spectrophotometer (GDX-SVISPL) with its Vernier Optical Fiber (VSP-FIBER), you can take an emission spectrum every few minutes as the eclipse proceeds and compare.