Program Description
This workshop will investigate the nature and production of rainbows from both physical and geometric viewpoints, and support these ideas by constructing models and creating personal rainbows with mist, marveling at how our theoretical understanding aligns with experimental findings. We will begin with a discussion on the dispersion of white light through prisms and contrast it with raindrops. In the process, we will see how sunlight creates primary and secondary rainbows by interacting with a water drop and the role that caustics play, use lasers to observe and measure angles of maximum deviation in a 2D environment, and then build 3D models of primary rainbows to understand the order of colors and the circular arc from the perspective of an observer. Finally, we measure the rainbow angle of our personal misty rainbows (sunny day permitting!) using simple handmade inclinometers to check if our theoretical models held water!
Eligibility
Open to school students from 14 to 17 years in Bengaluru. Please register using the registration link below, for group participation write to 'outreach@icts.res.in'. Participation is by invitation only.
About the Speaker
Kaushik Basu enjoys the interplay of physics and mathematics, and try to see it everywhere around him. His interests are in teaching and interpreting student ideas to design experiments. He is affiliated with the Academic Talent Development Program, University of California, Berkeley, where he teaches physics and mathematics, including international students visiting UC Berkeley. He also mentors students interested in teaching, and he is a founding faculty member at Proof School. When doing neither of these, he embodies optimal fluid dynamics by swimming long distance butterfly in the open waters of the San Francisco Bay.
Supported by: Arista Networks India Pvt. Ltd.