Water Prism Experiment

Fill the glass with water.

Water prism experiment. Put the mirror into the water inside the glass at an angle. Place the card so sunlight shines through giving a thin beam of light. Some colors of light can travel quickly through the water like red and orange. Place a clear cup filled with water on top of a box or container.

On a sunny day this is a great way to split light with a prism. When you get the angle right the colors are spread enough for you to see the rainbow colors. Prisms can provide such a fun hands on way for kids to observe and hypothesize about light. You may have to shift the mirror to find the right angle.

By adjusting the angle of the mirror you are adjusting the angle for the sides of your prism of water. Place the prism over the light and rotate it until you can see the light split into the spectrum of colours. Here s some fun ways to use prisms with preschoolers kindergarteners and elementary students. Position the glass so that sunlight shines directly at the mirror.

This week we re focusing on rainbow science for kids by exploring prisms. Water prism experiment you will need. Use the dark card to create a slit over a sheet of white card. Place the paper out on the floor and tape to the wall.

Tough to capture with our camera but you can get an idea. Use the flashlight to make neat rainbows by shining it into the water at different angles. Put the container in the sunshine and adjust the lean of the mirror so that you can see a clear spectrum on the wall of the room. The stick is used to adjust the quantity of incident sunlight and get a clear spectrum.

Have a white sheet of paper handy or a few. When we make a water prism we are bending light and learning about light reflection and refraction. In this project we will first be making a water prism since rainbows need water it makes sense to recreate the rainbow at home using nothing but water and sunlight. Fill the container half with water.

A clean plastic or glass container ideally with flat faces water a sunny window sill or a torch a darkened space shady room room with curtains drawn blinds down white paper and coloured pencils optional.