Light source that refracts full spectrum, other than the sun

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Capt Photon
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu May 29, 2014 2:01 pm
Occupation: Astronomy outreach speaker for grades 5 & 6
Project Question: What kind of portable light source can show the full color spectrum when refracted through a prism, as sunlight doesn't always shine when doing an outreach activity.
Project Due Date: N/A
Project Status: Not applicable

Light source that refracts full spectrum, other than the sun

Post by Capt Photon »

Hello,
I'm not actually a teacher (I have nothing but admiration and thanks to the real heroes who fight in the educational trenches every day), but I do astronomy outreach twice a year at a local grade school in grades 5 and 6.

One of the highlights of my presentation is explaining the electro-magnetic spectrum, especially when I make sunlight diffract through a prism and all the colors of the spectrum splash onto the wall. So far I've been lucky and the Sun has been shining every time, but one day it'll be cloudy, and I won't be able to do this experiment.

QUESTION:
Are there electric light sources that are portable and can produce the full spectrum when diffracted through a prism?

Thanking you all in advance for any help.

Please forgive my (ironically) grand-sounding pseudonym. My regular name was already taken in Outlook.
deleted-71487
Former Expert
Posts: 214
Joined: Wed Aug 24, 2005 3:07 pm

Re: Light source that refracts full spectrum, other than the

Post by deleted-71487 »

Any light source that is shining via black body radiation will work fine. E.g. true incandescent light bulbs or halogens.

You can experiment with different ones to get the smoothest rainbow possible (I'd suggest a color temperature as high as you can find (the sun is ~5800K), but incandescents rarely list this), but they'll all produce pretty good rainbows.
../ray\..
Capt Photon
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu May 29, 2014 2:01 pm
Occupation: Astronomy outreach speaker for grades 5 & 6
Project Question: What kind of portable light source can show the full color spectrum when refracted through a prism, as sunlight doesn't always shine when doing an outreach activity.
Project Due Date: N/A
Project Status: Not applicable

Re: Light source that refracts full spectrum, other than the

Post by Capt Photon »

Thank you very much!

I am now looking for photo studio lamps with tungsten-halogen bulbs. These seem to be the bulbs generating the highest heat levels and generally available on the consumer market.

Thanks again.
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