Labs & Lending Library
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Nanophysics
Atomic Force Microscopy
Resistance of Atomic Wires
Imaging Atoms (Demonstration)
Waves
Audio Crime Lab
Resonance in Transverse Waves
Diffraction of Light
Clearly Colorful Thin Films
Exploring Wave Phenomena
Arecibo's Giant Mirror
Doppler Effect
Resonance in Longitudinal Waves
Electricity and Magnetism
Water Analogy to Electric Circuits
Discovering Ohm's Law
Too Cool to Resist
Magnetic Force on a wire with current
Biocircuits
Foutan Board
Snap, Crackle and Pop
Nature of Resistance
Power to the People
Quantum Physics
Bohr Model Game
The Phantastic Photon
Light Emitting Diodes
Mechanics
Double Pendulum
Mousetrap and Ping Pong Balls
The Physics of Rock Climbing
Vortex Rings
Stunt Car Challenge!
The Physics of Baseball
Particle Physics
Cloud Chamber and Cosmic Rays
Optics
Communicating with Light
Is the Light Bulb Too Good to be True?
Measuring the Speed of Light
Energy
Energy Conversion in a Light Bulb
Other
Introduction to Graphing
Introduction to the Oscilloscope
DNA Diffraction and DNA Structure
Clearly Colorful Thin Films
Author: Martin Alderman
Lab Manual: 
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Kit: Reserve
Abstract: Thin films, like soap bubbles and oil slicks, owe their pretty colors to the process of thin film interference. Anodized Titanium, Scandium, Niobium, and Tantalum also exhibit lovely coloration due to thin film interference associated with the oxide film anodizing creates. These are so lovely, in fact, that they are sometimes used to make jewelry! In this activity, each team of students will observe a sampling of thin films. They will then anodize a small sample of titanium to observe the nature of the electrochemical reaction (anodizing), TiO2 thin film interference, and the relationship between the thickness of the TiO2 film formed and the color seen on the metal. Future modules are planned for this experiment, which will add specific quantitative examination of the thin films observed here.
