Science is Magic

31

When you press a remote

control, nothing lights up at

the end of the remote.

However, if you press a button

on the remote while looking

at it through a smartphone

camera, you’ll see a small

flashing light on the

phone screen. Humans

can’t see infrared

light (see below),

but the camera in a

smartphone is able

to pick it up.

Light is made up of a spectrum,

or range, of colors...

We can only see a part of the spectrum,

between blue and red. Beyond red is

infrared light. Your remote control sends

bursts of this light to the TV. The pattern

of bursts tells the TV what to do.

Infrared light can be used to detect heat. Some

snakes have organs to sense this light, which

helps them find prey.

HUMAN VISION SNAKE VISION

LIGHT SPECTRUM Infrared light cannot be

seen by the human eye.

NOW TRY THIS

Put a small mirror in front

of the remote. You need

to angle it so the invisible

beams from the remote

reflect off the mirror toward

the TV. This might take a bit

of practice! When you get it

right, the TV will come on.

Now challenge a friend to try

to do it without revealing the

secret of the mirror. When

they can’t, show them how

it’s done!

2

IT

REFLE

C

T

S

!

SCIENCE

PART...

THE

US_030-031_Invisible_light_beams.indd 31 12/09/2018 15:49