Reflecting Rainbows: Decorate Your White Walls With Rainbow Colors!

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Like water drops in falling rain, a CD separates white light into all the colors that make it up. The colors you can see reflecting from a CD are interference colors, like the shifting colors you see on a soap bubble or an oil slick. This activity provides instructions for reflecting the visible light spectrum off the surface of a CD onto paper or a wall.

Quick Guide

Preparation Time:
Under 5 minutes
Learning Time:
5 to 10 minutes
Estimated Materials Cost:
$1 - $5 per student
Age Range:
Ages 6 - 14
Resource Type:
Activity
Language:
English

Materials List (per student)

  • compact disc
  • sunshine (or a bright flashlight and a room that you can make dark)
  • piece of white paper

Keywords

Subjects

  • Physical Sciences
    • Vibration and Waves
      • Diffraction and Interference
    • Light and Optics
      • Reflection and Refraction
      • Sunlight and Color

Audience

To use this activity, learners need to:

  • see
  • see color
  • touch

Learning styles supported:

  • Involves hands-on or lab activities

Other

This resource is part of:

Access Rights:

  • Free access

By:

  • Murphy, Pat ; Klages, Ellen ; Shore, Linda

Rights:

  • All rights reserved, The Exploratorium, 1998