What it shows:

Here we set up a convection cycle, where we heat part of a fluid; it expands, rises, then cools and sinks. A two dimensional model for real convection cycles in the atmosphere, oceans or stellar interiors.

How it works:

The convection cell is made from two sheets of 0.5cm plexiglass (front clear, rear translucent), separated by a 0.5cm gap for the liquid, the indicator thymol blue. The sides are plexi and the top left open, but the bottom is sealed with a hollowed brass rod. The brass serves two purposes. Firstly...

What it Shows

Hot fluid rises, cool fluid sinks. Here is a desktop convection cell modeling the processes in the atmosphere, oceans or stellar interiors.

What it Shows

Black body radiators in thermal equilibrium should emit the same spectrum of radiation; inside a muffle furnace at high temperature, objects should appear the same color, whatever their material.

What it shows:

A black body box is an idealized black body radiator. That is, any light emerging from the interior of the box is purely a product of the box’s temperature.

How it works:

As...

What it shows:

The thermal radiation emitted from a black body is temperature dependant. The tungsten filament of a bulb approximates a black body, and by increasing the current through the bulb, its temperature rises...

Detection of IR radiation from hair dryer and/or special IR source.

What it Shows:

Detection of infra-red radiation by the rotation of a paddle-wheel vane inside a low pressure flask.

How it Works:

A radiometer consists of a partially evacuated flask containing a four bladed vane (see figure 1). One side of each blade is a matt black, the other silver. The black surface, being a better absorber and radiator of heat, warms the air above its surface more than the silver. The resulting higher kinetic energy of these air...