Photo by V. Miller
April 5, 2006
Detecting Vortices
Detecting Vortices with Polarized Laser Light
John Bolander, 14, Memphis, Ind.
Discovery Commerce "Sights to See" Award, Discovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge, 2005
Project background: John read an article in Science News that highlighted NASA's efforts to measure air turbulence along the leading edge of an airplane wing. He realized that a better understanding of the physics of turbulence could lead to more-efficient airplanes, lower fuel consumption, and less expensive travel. He set out to find an inexpensive and accurate way to measure swirling air, or vortices, around a wing.
Tactics and results: John built an 8-foot-long wind tunnel and aimed a helium-neon laser through a Plexiglas window in the tunnel's side. He set up a beam splitter and a polarizer in front of the tunnel and a second polarizer and light detector behind the tunnel. He placed a wing in the tunnel and measured the change in the angle of polarization on different parts of the wing. He checked his results with a device called a Pitot tube, which measures changes in wind pressure. The results of the two tests were consistent.
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| Photo by V. Miller |
John took his results to the scientists who operate a wind tunnel at the University of Dayton. They appeared to be interested in the approach.
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