Orbiting Frog suggests using the microwave to measure the speed of light. The idea is to use marshmallows or other easily melted stuff (e.g. chocolate chips) to obtain a picture of the standing waves in a microwave oven. By measuring the distance between maximum melting points and comparing that to the specified frequency of the oven, a speed of light can be calculated.
This could get interesting in that there are experimental paths to explore. Marshmallows are rather large compared to chocolate chips. Would the chips provide better precision of measure?
This bring up some other interesting possibilities for the school science teacher. Many students have cell phones in their pockets. Those have signal strength meters. Could those be used with, say, a corner reflector to find the signal wavelength and that used for a similar purpose as the microwave experiment?
yes, indeed, interesting times. What we learn guides what we can build and that can guide what and how we learn.
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