First Advisor

Ralf Widenhorn

Date of Award

5-24-2019

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Physics and University Honors

Department

Physics

Subjects

Geometrical optics, Shades and shadows, Physics -- Study and teaching, Physics -- Experiments, Water striders, Surface tension

DOI

10.15760/honors.778

Abstract

When a water-walking insect sits atop the surface of a fluid, its legs create shadows that are disproportionately large and are surrounded by bright rings of light. While these shadows are prominent, their cause is not easily perceptible to an observer’s eye. The phenomenon is the result of the formation of fluidic lenses caused by the insect legs deforming the surface of the fluid. In this work, an experimental setup is created to emulate the conditions under which these shadows are formed and explore the properties of the shadows and the deformed fluid's surface. The setup is inexpensive, consisting of an LED lamp and a 3D printed apparatus attached to a ring stand. The methods used in this work can be used to create lab activities for physics students to help them to better understand geometrical optics as well as the interactions between solids, fluids, and air.

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In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/29045

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