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We describe a low-cost and playful apparatus for geometrical optics experiments that uses everyday materials. The experimental setup is simple and easy to manipulate, and it entails making spherical lenses with Jell-O. Using paper templates, created in the desired shape, we cut the Jell-O in the format of a spherical lens. Using these materials, we measured the refraction index of the lenses using Snell's Law and measured the focal distance of a convergent Jell-O lens. Using a Jell-O lens, we simulated how the crystalline lens in the human eye works. By stretching and compressing the Jell-O lens, it is possible to observe a change in the focal position, illustrating the mechanism of accommodation that occurs in the human eye. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we developed the theoretical model Cooke triplet in an environment that runs programs quickly; which means you can build surfaces; increasing them and solving more complex and elaborated designs. This result is compared with the optical device developed with OSLO EDU [1] software. We show how a simple code is presented as a computational tool for the teaching of geometric and paraxial optics of the first order for an introductory optics course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A photodetector for using in quantitative measurements of the irradiance or power of a laser beam needs to have a linear response. Devices with this property can be acquired but usually they are expensive. In this paper we propose the construction of a photodetector that employs a Light Dependent Resistor (LDR), which has a nonlinear response. In this situation, for using such a photodetector it is necessary a previous calibration. The performance of the new system in experiments that need to quantify the radiant power in stationary conditions was evaluated by comparing the results of the measurement of the radius of a gaussian beam through the knife-edge technique, with the obtained with a commercial linear photodetector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The teaching of Optics in the undergraduate courses that have General Physics in their syllabi, usually focus on elementary topics of geometrical and wave optics, put aside actual subjects of this field. So usually are not discussed importants topics from both, basic reaserch and technological applications. One of this topics is nonlinear optics. This paper presents a proposal of a low-cost experiment for demonstrating that the light can modify the optical properties of a medium. The experiment is founded in the induction of a lens in a medium due to optical absorption followed by a nonradiative relaxation. The sample used in this experiment is a fluid of easy obtainment, soy sauce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work describes the assembling of a stereo pinhole camera for capturing stereo-pairs of images and proposes experimental activities with it. A pinhole camera can be as sophisticated as you want, or so simple that it could be handcrafted with practically recyclable materials. This paper describes the practical use of the pinhole camera throughout history and currently. Aspects of optics and geometry involved in the building of the stereo pinhole camera are presented with illustrations. Furthermore, experiments are proposed by using the images obtained by the camera for 3D visualization through a pair of anaglyph glasses, and the estimation of relative depth by triangulation is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a general historical overview of Isaac Newton's contributions to optics, from his first investigations in 1664 to the end of his life, when he published the several editions of his book Opticks. To allow an adequate understanding of Newton's work, the article also presents the contributions of other important 17th Century authors, especially René Descartes, Walter Charleton, Robert Boyle, Robert Hooke and Christiaan Huygens. The analysis of Newton's unpublished and published works shows that he never reached a definitive theory of light and colors, adopting several different and mutually inconsistent hypotheses. This work may contribute to supplement the simplified accounts of the history of optics and of Newton's contributions, as well as amending several mistakes that can be found in didactic works and popular versions of this subject. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a historical approach about the double refraction of light, especially the ideas of Isaac Newton. Initially, I discuss the studies of Erasmus Bartholinus, who discovered and described the phenomenon in 1669, and also the studies of Christiaan Huygens, who developed an explanatory model based on a vibration conception of light in his Treatise of Light (1690). Next, I analyze the concept of sides of light elaborated by Newton to explain the phenomenon and described in the "Queries" of the Opticks (1704). Through this analysis, I intend to outline other elements of Newtonian optics not yet known by scholars and educators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]