The Vestal location of the Boys and Girls Club of the Tennessee Valley has spent this summer in a four-week program focused on the electromagnetic spectrum, learning about light and its many wavelengths, while also having a large focus on our sun and the summer heat.

The students in the program spent the first week learning the spectrum, forms of radiant energy, types of radiation such as alpha, beta and gamma. They used digital lenses to see forms of light not perceivable to the human eye, used a radiometer to measure radiant energy, and a prism to break the visible spectrum for observation.

Week two brought out the chemistry equipment and personal protective equipment for all to make metal salt solutions, such as lithium chloride, copper chloride, strontium chloride, potassium chloride and sodium chloride. The students then soaked tinder in the solutions and put it to flame so they viewed how the intense energy of the Bunsen burner caused electrons to jump shells and create bursts of light of an unusual wavelength. In short, they created colored fire ranging from deep reds to light greens and blues.

The third week transformed the students from chemists to engineers as both students and proctor built a Fresnel lens on a horizontal hinge, capable of concentrating solar energy of around two square feet to a point of one centimeter. This point was capable of reaching over 2000 degrees Fahrenheit in moments, showing the intensity of solar radiation when magnified.

While this design was able to set fire to most material instantly, or even melt a penny in a few minutes, the group used it to cook hot dogs and enjoy a nice summer day outside.

The final week of the program completed a lesson about electricity, alternating currents, direct currents, electromagnetic induction, and lastly a history lesson on Michael Faraday and Nikola Tesla.

At the end, they broke out the tesla coil, lit up lightbulbs using the electromagnetic field it produced, and altered the frequency and power to cause odd effects in nearby electronic devices.

Oliver Clegg, Vestal B & G program director, provided the details for this article and arranged these amazing activities for this group during the summer.

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