Physics of Light Suggestions

[mwfanelli2]

The VCP department at the college has asked me to resurrect a conceptual physics class (basic algebra only) called Physics of Light for the summer session. There are no decent books on the subject so we plan to do this on a combination PowerPoint and hands-on activity basis. It is a ten-week class. I need some ideas!

The VCP department does an excellent job teaching students about seeing. The work is impressive. I want the physics course to fill in the technical details.

This is NOT meant to be a photography course! It is still physics. The topics I tentatively have on my list include:

basic physics of the eye and camera
general optics
color mixing
color spaces
color temperatures
diffraction
circles of confusion
resolution
depth of field
basics of sensor design
camera obscuras and pinhole cameras
old film processes (tintypes, cyanotypes, daguerreotypes, etc.)

I'd be happy to hear more ideas and comments from y'all. What photography-based physics would you want to learn (don't say "None!")? Are there things on my list you think should be added or dropped? Remember, I'm teaching elementary physics, not photography. But I want VCP students to enjoy themselves.

I have to spend the next few weeks putting together an Engineering Thermodynamics course so there is no rush but after that it is all Light Science preparation.

Thanks!

[Skyman]

Not so relevant in the digital age but reciprocity index law failure...

[freygr]

There is the film reciprocity but the digital equivalent is noise. The smaller the cells of the sensor are the lower noise amp and higher gain amp is required. Also with the smaller sensor is you get to the point were adjacent cells will inter react, change leakage, thinner insulation, and don't forget about base leakage which is becoming a major problem as the size of the transistors get smaller. I've seen in trade papers that 40% of the power in some of the new ICs is caused by this leakage.

[Greg McCary]

Maybe the physics behind focal length and how it works. Or maybe DOF and hyper focus?

[SmartWombat]

Polarisation? Transparent films under stress.
Phase? Phase contrast microscopy looks beautiful.
Newton's rings? with a glass mounted slide in a projector.

Don't forget different eyes !
Cats, Octopus - different neural layouts, the tapetum.
Compare & contrast to digital systems e.g. front/back illumination of the sensor.
Ask why no one has put in a tapetum layer on the back of the sensor to reflect back "lost" light.
Not sure whether there are biological analogues to the Foveon sensor.
Can sensor microlenses compare to compound eyes?

Refractive vs reflective optics (leading to catadioptric lenses), refractive index, dispersion, chromatic aberration, doublets & triplets vs single lenses, lots of material that could be in there.

Lens coatings. How quarter-wave magic works. Multicoatings. Why were the Apollo lunar EVA helmet faceplates gold?

Dynamic range, human eye vs film vs digital, if you have data vs other species.
Fuji's hyper sensor design, with extended dynamic range.

Estimate wavelength of laser light using steel rule.
Wavelength coverage vs other species vs digital (IR/UV special cameras).
UV fluorescence of minerals?

Diffractive limits, when aperture goes bad

[mwfanelli2]

One thing y'all have to remember is that this is a conceptual class. Most of these people may be excellent photographers but few did more than barely pass remedial math. They don't think like scientists, they think like artists. That's different!

Different types of eyes are briefly discussed when talking about vision. But cats don't take photographs! All that stuff with lenses and coatings as well as a few of the other things mentioned such as Newton's rings, I caught in the "optics", "diffraction", and "interference" sections.

Talk about amplifiers really isn't relavent to this crowd. I do talk about the different sensors including Fovean, about binning and Bayer, etc. But the electrical nitty-gritty is not going to work. Most of these students couldn't tell you how a simple light bulb works. I know, I also teach conceptual physics!

Wow, I really forgot to put polarization on the list. That is a big topic including a lab. And I also missed birefringence (I have a cool large piece of calcite to play with). Good grief, I even forgot phosphorescence and fluorescence! I must have been asleep.

Thanks for showing me some of the glaring omissions on my list. If I can get enough drive to finish up these current thermo PowerPoints, I can get started creating this course!

[SmartWombat]

OK leave out cats then.
No sensors have that back reflective layer (yet).

But you can compare back-illuminated sensors with the octopus eye, where the sensors are in front of the neural layer therefore unobstructed and more efficient.
And compare the human eye to "traditional" sensors where all the wiring and electronics of each sensor is on front of the sensor, restricting it, like the neural structures in the human eye.