Homemade Spectrometer

You can make a homemade spectrometer to show the different spectrum of colors that make up light from the sun. You can also use your spectrometer to see how pure light looks in other sources, such as zinc.

Construction

Start making your homemade spectrometer by taking a 3-inch by 3-inch piece of black card stock and cutting a 1-inch square in the center. Then break off a piece of a CD big enough to cover the hole, peel the label off the CD piece, then tape the CD piece to your square hole, making sure to keep the window part free of tape. Use black tape for this.

Assembly

Use a second piece of 3-inch by 3-inch black card stock and using an sharp hobby knife, make a very thin slit. Using black tape, tape the slitted piece of card stock to one end of a cardboard toilet paper tube and tape the other piece of the card stock with the CD to the other end of the toilet paper tube.

Testing

Never use your spectrometer to look directly at the sun. Instead, look through the slitted end at a cloud in the sky. You should see a rainbow on the inside of your tube.

References

• Carnegie Mellon.edu: Spectrometer
• Orbiting Frog.com: Make Your Own Spectrometer

Resources

• Carnegie Mellon.edu: Spectrometer