Light at a Distance: Distance and Light Intensity

Author

Texas Instruments

Alignment

Standards Alignment

Textbook Alignment

Subject Area

Math: Algebra II: Powers Roots and Radical Functions

Level

9-12

Activity Time

60 Minutes

Software

TI Connect™

TI Calculator

TI-84 series

Applications

Accessories

CBL™ 2
Sensor - Light

Other Materials

Meter Stick
DC-powered point light source

Resource Types

Lessons

Report an Issue

Light at a Distance: Distance and Light Intensity

Activity Overview

In this activity, students will use a light sensor to record the light intensity at various distances from a bulb. They will compare the data to an inverse square and a power law model.

Before the Activity

Connect the light sensor to Channel 1 on the CBL 2™ or Vernier LabPro®

Connect the CBL 2 or LabPro to the calculator using the Unit-to-Unit cable

See the attached PDF file for detailed instructions for this activity

Print pages 157 - 162 from the attached PDF file for your class

During the Activity

Distribute the pages to your class.

Follow the Activity procedures:

Arrange the sensor and the light bulb for data collection

Dim the lights to darken the room

Move the sensor away from the light source in 1 cm increments and study the graph of light intensity versus distance

Trace the graph, record the left-most x and y values on the Data sheet, and calculate the initial model parameter

Use these values to model a best fit function for the inverse-square model and the power law model

After the Activity

Students will complete the Student Data Collection and Analysis Sheet and answer the questions listed in it.

Review student results

As a class, discuss questions that appeared to be more challenging

Re-teach concepts as necessary

Download Files

Download All Files (ZIP)

Before the Activity Files

Teacher Notes Information PDF Teacher Notes Appendix A PDF Teacher Notes Appendix B PDF Teacher Notes Appendix C PDF Teacher Notes Appendix D PDF Teacher Notes PDF

Author

Texas Instruments

Alignment

Standards Alignment

Textbook Alignment

Subject Area

Math: Algebra II: Powers Roots and Radical Functions

Level

9-12

Activity Time

60 Minutes

Software

TI Connect™

TI Calculator

TI-84 series

Applications

Accessories

CBL™ 2
Sensor - Light

Other Materials

Meter Stick
DC-powered point light source

Resource Types

Lessons

Report an Issue

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Vernier EasyData,Vernier EasyLink and Vernier EasyTemp are registered trademarks of Vernier Science Education.

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Light at a Distance: Distance and Light Intensity

DataMate

EasyData® for TI-83 Plus and TI-84 Plus

Light at a Distance: Distance and Light Intensity

Before the Activity Files

DataMate

EasyData® for TI-83 Plus and TI-84 Plus

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