2005 HS Photo Contest Pictures

2005 High School Photo Contest Winners
Sponsored by Vernier Software and Technology
2005 AAPT Summer Meeting , Salt Lake City, UT

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Honorable Mention - Contrived Category

Title: Bending Metal with Light
Student: Sarah Emily Koczot
School: J.W. Robinson Secondary High, Fairfax, VA
Teacher: Jill Mahoney

A 192 Hz tuning fork is held in front of a blank word document screen of a computer. Before it was placed in front of the screen, the fork was hit against a rubber mallet to create movement in the form of vibrations (which also produced sound). The light is emitted by the computer at about 30 times a second due to the Vertical Retrace Signal, which refreshes the screen 30 times a second. This constant changing/flickering of light waves produces a strobe light effect on the tuning fork, thus the vibrations of the fork are seen in stages. When a picture is taken only one state is captured, giving the tuning fork the illusion of being bent.