Now your students can see the absorption lines in the sun’s spectrum, the spectra of energized elements in gaseous states and the double yellow line of Mercury vapor in the spectrum of a fluorescent lamp. Light pollution can be studied by checking yellow street lights to see if they are high- or low-pressure sodium lamps. The spectrometer comes with a strip of film and a scale from which a color may be identified by wavelength in nanometers or photon energy in electron volts. The activities include: Observing what diffraction grating does • calibrating the spectrometer • identifying various light sources and spectra of gaseous elements.

The cardboard spectrometer kit comes unassembled and contains (10 of each unless noted): 1-inch plastic disks with diffraction grating • sets of cardboard top and bottom pieces • long and short Styrofoam pieces • cardboard support tubes • sets of 5 nuts and bolts • film strips (35mm) with slits and wavelength/photon energy scales • 1 set of instructions & activities.

• PS-14: Cardboard Spectrometer Kit (set of 10 bulk) $66.00
• PS-14/Single: 1 Cardboard Spectrometer Kit $12.00

(See also the Plastic Spectrometer below.)

Recommended for astronomy, chemistry, physics, physcial science and earth science at the high school through college level.

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Hailed as "one of the very best, affordable scientific instruments" by the Astronomical Society Pacific, the Project STAR spectrometer is made of high-impact plastic for years of classroom service and comes completely assembled. The spectrometer uses high-dispersion, high-efficiency diffraction grating that produces an easily-read bright spectrum. Includes a reference label for bright spectral lines and a scale labeled in both electron volts and nanometers for chemistry and physics instruction.

Also includes a 10-page activity booklet. The activities include: Observing what diffraction grating does • identifying various light sources • identifying elements in flame spectra, solar spectra and street lights including mercury, sodium, hydrogen and neon.

• PS-14/Plastic: 1 Plastic Spectrometer $27.50

(See also the Cardboard Spectrometer above.)

Don't Miss This!

We have located a great resource for spectra photos using the Project STAR Spectrometer and a wide variety of light sources (these photos are wonderful!). The photos were taken by Rob Brown as a home science project. Visit his Web site at: