Thrifty Thursday: The Liquid Lens
By Alex Wild
This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American
Thrifty Thursdays feature photographs taken with equipment costing less than $500.
A vial filled with oil (top) and water demonstrates optical properties of each. The oil bends light more strongly than water, resulting in a more compressed image.
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[Apple iPhone 4s - $300]
Light bends as it passes through liquids, and the amount it bends depends on the molecular properties of the medium. I wanted to demonstrate this effect in a single image by contrasting the refractive qualities of oil and water at the same time using a vial half-filled with each.
I set up a mini-studio as below, capturing the image above on an iPhone 4S.
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