Microworld Title Page:
A Story of Light

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Microworld: A Story of Light
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Author: Margie Hale

This 38-page Microworld is about the reflection and refraction of light rays. It is suitable for both exploration and instruction. The material can be appreciated by a wide range of students, from high school through college. There is material on conic sections, trigonometry, visualizing "virtual" images, optimization done both experimentally and with calculus, and the slope field of a differential equation. One can use this book to motivate and investigate student research problems. Step through these pages for hours of guided experimentation and fun with the physics of Light.

This Microworld makes use of Databases as Active Data Objects. This means that you do not have to have a database program to use these data bases, but you should have the MS Access Database or the MS Access 97 Database installed as a Data Source Name.

If the section on Data Tables does not work properly, please do the following. In Windows 95/98/ME, just go to the Control Panel, and under ODBC Data Sources, select the User DSN tab. If MS Access Database or MS Access 97 Database is already installed, you are all set! Otherwise, press the Add... button, and double-click on the Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb) entry. Then, in the Data Source Name, type MS Access Database.

Suggested Use: Experiment with the geometry and physics of reflection and refraction of light.

Topics: refraction, reflection, Snell's Law, Fermat's Principle

Number of Pages: 38

Animation: Yes

Grade Level: High School and Beginning College

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