Unboxing the Compact Ripple Tank from Lascells

Dr. Nichola Swann is unboxing the Compact Ripple Tank from Lascells and running through the components that make up this unit and what it can be used for in schools.

This compact unit provides an elegant method of demonstrating the wave phenomena of reflection, diffraction, refraction and interference with none of the setting-up problems usually associated with ripple tanks. The concept has been further developed to offer new features and simplicity in this MkIII design.

The unit is completely self-contained with the translucent viewing screen hinging away to reveal a 12cm water tank. The tank is removable for ease of use and has an integral multi-faceted beach which virtually eliminates unwanted reflections. Illumination is from a high-intensity built-in LED which can be automatically strobed in sync with the waves to give perfectly stationary images or switched to allow the user independent control of the wave and strobe frequencies giving the impression of wave motion across the viewing screen.

The unit is supplied with three robust dippers which can be easily adjusted to suit the depth of water being used. A selection of barrier shapes and lenses are also provided to enable reflection, refraction, diffraction and interference along with the focussing properties of lenses to be demonstrated. All of the accessories can be stored neatly inside the unit when not in use.

Video transcript below:

00:00:09:03 – 00:00:10:20
Hi, I’m Nichola from LaBLiFe,

00:00:10:20 – 00:00:12:21
I’m filming today on location
at Keele University.

00:00:12:21 – 00:00:16:23
And in this video
we are going to be unboxing the Compact

00:00:17:04 – 00:00:19:05
Ripple Tank from Lascells.

00:00:19:05 – 00:00:21:18
Okay, so let’s have a look.

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So first off, we have got

00:00:27:06 – 00:00:30:12
the mains plug, which
we’re going to use to power the unit.

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And then if we get
the rest out in the box…

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There it is

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There we are.

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So to open it, we have to come
to the front and lift it up.

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And then inside you can see
we’ve got lots of extra bits.

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So we have got the water tank

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which fits snugly in the unit here.

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And then we’ve also got

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three plastic shapes
which are made out of nice thick plastic.

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It’d take quite a lot to break one of those,
I think.

00:01:07:06 – 00:01:09:17
So they’re going to have a nice long
lifetime in your lap.

00:01:09:17 – 00:01:12:08
You can see that we’ve got this kind
of truncated triangle shape

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and two little lenses
with concave and convex sides.

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And then we’ve

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also got this nice foam surround

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storage thing for the rest of the bits
that you get with it.

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So you see that
we’ve got this plane wave dipper here.

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We’ve got a single point-source dipper here
and a twin point-source dipper here.

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We’ve also got two little L-shaped
metal plates

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and this curved metal plate here.

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So with all of these bits and bobs,
you’ll be able to observe

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and investigate lots of different wave
phenomena, including

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reflection, refraction,
diffraction and interference.

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So for this standalone
unit, it is really like a little powerhouse

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and for the amount that it costs

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you do get quite a lot for your money.

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This has sold really well
already into UK schools,

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so if you have one in your school

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already, please let us know
in the comments what you think about it.

00:02:02:13 – 00:02:03:11
I’m going to be making lots

00:02:03:11 – 00:02:07:03
more content with this particular unit,
so do stay tuned for that.

00:02:08:01 – 00:02:09:20
So yeah, thank you very much for watching.

00:02:09:20 – 00:02:12:10
We’ll see you next time.

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