For my experiment, I was forced to use my dad's very large 19.2 volt shop flashlight because apparently it is the only flashlight with batteries in our house. Hope we are all together when an emergency arises! :) For this experiment at home, I tried the flashlight out in two places: down my hallway and in my laundry room that is in my parent's basement with no windows. When I shined the flashlight down the hallway I was surprised to see a bullseye effect on the opposite wall mostly because my main argument in class has been "the stronger the wattage, the mor apparent the beam would be." I was dealing with a pretty large flashlight, so naturally this was still my thought. When I turned the flashlight on, all I saw was the flashlight illuminating the hallway, hitting the opposite wall in a bullseye fashion.
When I tried the flashlight out in my parent's laundry room, I saw a similar effect as I did in the hallway, but the light appeared brighter than it did when I shined it down the hallway. I think I saw a brighter light in the laundry room due to the fact that the laundry room is a much smaller space than the hallway, causing the light to fill the laundry room more than it did in the hallway. I still saw a bullseye, like many of my other classmates, in the laundry room because it was bouncing off the opposite wall.
I think so many of us have conflicting view points about what we actually think a "beam" looks like that we are having trouble coming to an understanding. This experiment helped to clear up my ideas that stronger flashlights would produce more of a beam.
I'm curious to see a picture or sketch of the "bullseye" effect. From what I'm imagining, you are saying it's a circle, but there's something else as well that makes it look like a bullseye. Is that right?
ReplyDeleteSo, one thing you observed was that the bullseye in the laundry room was brighter than down the hallway. This seems consistent with what many people in class said on the very first day... that they thought light should get dimmer the further it goes. But you also aren't seeing a beam, which is something you were expecting, especially with the brighter flashlight.