BENGALURU: Transparent sticky tape, discarded plastic bottles and lightweight ping-pong balls stepped out of everyday clutter and onto the laboratory table to unlock fundamental laws of physics at the Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium. Bringing complex textbook theories into tactile reality, student volunteers showcased more than 20 dynamic working models at the three-day ‘Science in Action’ exhibition at the Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium (JNP).
Among the key highlights was an experiment titled ‘Birefringence of Cello Tape’, presented by Advika Sree Gowda, Navaketan Krishal Y and Manish Chandra L, Grade 9 students from Rays Academy For Learning. By applying layered patterns of clear tape onto glass placed between two crossed polarisers and shining white light through them, the students split the light rays into two varying refractive indices.
The resulting optical interference produced brilliant bursts of colour, visually demonstrating how light polarisation shifts with material thickness.
Adding an acoustic dimension to the displays, Grade 9 students Ganavi B, Vaishnavi and Ganavi S from Nisarga Vidyanikethana School demonstrated ‘Singing Bottles – Tune with Pressure’ to explore how air pressure shapes sound. Using identical plastic bottles fitted with bicycle valves and inflated with varying amounts of air using a bicycle pump, the trio tapped each container to generate distinct musical notes.