Optics

Reflector Craft Projects

/ reflector basics / , , ,

If you were to wear a small mirror instead of a funflector safety reflector on your jacket, the light from the cars would reflect back all over the road, trees and buildings, instead of to the driver as is the case with safety reflectors. In our last blog post we described how safety reflectors (retroreflectors) works. To better understand, a craft project to make a model of a retroreflector might help. This is what you need:

  • 2-3 empty cereal boxes
  • ruler
  • marker
  • scissors or knife
  • aluminum foil
  • 3 pipe cleaners or thin drinking straws in different colors
  • 5 twist ties

And this is how you do it:

Measure the same distance on the three sides from one corner and connect with a line to cut along.
Measure the same distance on the three sides from one corner and connect with a line to cut along.

…

Reflector Craft ProjectsRead More »

Reflector Craft Projects Read More »

Science Project with Retroreflectors

/ reflector basics, thoughts / , , ,

We all have them in our photo albums: the photos taken with a flash straight into a window. The reflection of the harsh flash hovers over the heads of your friends because you forgot to take a step to the side and shoot a little bit diagonally into the window. If the window was a retroreflector, like a funflector safety reflector or a road sign, you would have got the flash bouncing back into your camera lens no matter where you were shooting from. Below and in our next post are some easy and fun ideas for a science project for schools or scout groups. These will help understand how retroreflectors work and why they can be so effective despite their small size.

Science Project with Safety Reflector & Laser Pointer

This video shows how a laser beam gets reflected right back to where it came from by a safety reflector.
Watch how it lights up the laser pointer and the hand holding it! (Please make sure the laser pointer is handled by an adult.)

…

Science Project with RetroreflectorsRead More »

Science Project with Retroreflectors Read More »

Scroll to Top