Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

MINIMAL TIME

My friend and I are doing the experiment called "Using a Laser to Measure the Speed of Light in Gelatin" and we were wondering how much of each liquid we need per container as we are doing this experiment with many different liquids. We were also wondering if to measure the liquids by the amount such as a cup of each liquid or by the weight

Hello,

This sounds like a fun experiment! In this experiment the volume of the liquids is more important than the weight. For each liquid you want to have enough volume to fill your container high enough that there is enough liquid to aim the laser at and your container should be wide enough to be able to measure the angle of refraction inside the liquid from above. The exact volume is not important.

However, you will need to use weights if you create a sugar or salt solution. You will need to create enough solution to fill your container as mentioned below and you might have extra solution leftover.

Hope this helps!

Audrey