It'll Last Longer

DB 2022
Light, Sound, and Time AP1

Introduction

     This course explores the concept of light, sound, and time. Each is individually looked at in separate units that go into depth into how exactly these aspects of the universe work in the world around us and beyond. This unit in particular is focused on the exploration of light and how it works, along with the degrees that light can extend to, focusing on the color spectrum and beyond that visibility of the naked eye. We looked into the anatomy of the human eye, how refraction works by using a glass of water, how light produces energy by using varying lamps to see what would melt chocolate, and an exploration into geometry once again with triangles. I personally learned how to calculate refractions and the ability to understand and utilize the complexity of the unit circle. This action project is a demonstration of our ability to understand geometry and light through the form of a do-it-yourself camera. The pinhole camera is designed to receive light from a particular spot, aka the “pinhole” part of the name, with no other potential light rays disrupting the focused light that forms the picture. Below you'll find the creative and mathematical process of creating this pinhole camera.

Enjoy.

Creating a Pinhole Camera

Surprisingly, creating a functional pinhole camera isn't as complex as it would first appear. You're going to need four things to begin: cardboard, lots of duct tape, and aluminum/copper with a push pin of some sort, anything to create an actual pin-sized hole.

You're going to want some sort of cardboard box, preferably up to the size of a shoebox, anything past that and you've lost me. I personally used a tissue box, as I had forgotten to find a shoebox the night before and rapidly tossed out a bunch of tissue paper from said tissue box. Nonetheless, it works. 

You're going to want to create one hole (unless you have a shoebox in which case no need) big enough to fit a piece of photograph paper AND your hand. 

Next you'll want to create a shutter door for that hole, this is easily done with a piece of spare cardboard with a piece of tape that can be opened/closed with ease and no risk of falling off. Try to make it secure enough for both when it's closed and open as both are equally important in this process.

Now you'll want to try to decide where exactly you want your pinhole. The pinhole shouldn't be facing the shuttle door of the box, since wherever the pinhole is facing inside your box is where you'll want to put the photo piece. Preferably, just have the shutter

on the left/right side of your pinhole. While you're at this, try to duct tape any other parts of the box that you think light might enter through that isn't your pinhole/shuttle hole. 

To actually make the pinhole itself, grab that push pin and piece of copper/aluminum, try to center it on the exterior of the box as best as possible in where you think the middle of your box it, then push the pin into the aluminum and force it through both the aluminum and cardboard. Hold it there until you've duct taped it onto your box sturdy enough to not fall off. Once all is said and done, remove the pin and now you have the pinhole of your camera. 

Lastly, you're going to want to paint everything that's inside the box black. Literally everything needs to be black, including the side of your shuttle door that faces inside the box. This is so that any light that does manage to sneak in from crevices you didn't spot while covering up your box gets absorbed by the color rather than being reflected onto your photograph and making it a big incomprehensible mess.

Once you've done all that, you're ready to start messing around with the mathematics of your pinhole camera. You wanna start figuring out exactly what you want to be taking a picture of, how far it needs to actually be away from the pinhole camera in order to be captured, and lastly how long you'd reasonably want to hold your shutter open. It's gonna be a little while, so best to set a timer.

As for mathematics, you're going to want to get used to Pythagorean theorem. You're essentially breaking down two triangles with your measurements. As for what you're measuring, it's where the light is projecting from your object to your pinhole camera. You want to break it down into something like this: 

Height of Pinhole: 2.5 in.

Distance from Pinhole to Paper: 4.5 in.

Height of Object: 8 in.

Distance between Lens and Object: 9.9 in.

Smaller Hypotenuse (C1): 5.14

Larger Hypotenuse (C2): 16.47

Angle 1 and 2: 29.05 and 60.95