First Place - Natural Category Infinite Reflection Elizabeth Gutting, John Burroughs School, 755 S. Price Rd., St. Louis, MO 63124 Teacher: J. Mark Schober Images are formed in mirrors when light rays reflect off the polished surface. In this photograph, the light rays bounce off one mirror and hit the opposite mirror. The mirror behind my brother shows both his back and his face because the light rays are bouncing between the mirrors. Each additional reflection adds to the image distance, so the suggestive reflections appear farther and farther away. This is also what creates the image of the hallway that seems to keep going back. The reflections would go on forever, but the images fade in the distance because the mirrors are not perfect reflectors; they absorb and scatter some of the light that hits them.
		First Place - Contrived Category Mirror Against a Camera Lens Stephanie Hill, Port Credit Secondary School, 70 Mineola Rd. E., Mississauga, ON L5G 2E5, CANADA Teacher: Alan Hirsch To shoot the photo, a small plane mirror was held almost perpendicular (mirror side up) to the camera lens. The picture affords the observer the illusion of looking across a very foggy, still lake at a tree and its reflection in the water.
		Second Place - Natural Category Refraction of Light Melissa R. Ghrist, Oak Ridge H.S., 27330 Oak Ridge School Rd., Conroe, TX 77385 Teacher: Cathy Ezrailson I took this picture of my cat through a large Ozarka water bottle. The cat is magnified because of the refraction of light through the plastic. When light travels in a vacuum, it travels at the speed of 3.00 x 108 m/s. When light travels through something else, such as plastic, it travels at a lower speed. This change in speed is responsible for the bending of light towards a normal line that is perpendicular at an interface. The curvature in the plastic water bottle caused a refraction of the light, making the image of the cat appear larger.
		Second Place - Contrived Category Optical Elements of Physics Bobby Mantoni, Springbrook H.S., 201 Valleybrook Dr., Silver Spring, MD 20904 Teacher: Nazish Habib The concentric rectangles of light were achieved by having a second rectangular mirror placed on the opposite row of lights, both following the perimeter of the plane mirror. The light emitted from the lights reflects off one mirror, then reflects off the second mirror, and then emerges through the center of the viewer's eye. The second element of optical physics is the circular rainbow surrounding the bright flash of light in the center. This rainbow was caused by the bright flash of light reflecting off the mirror and then being diffracted through the lenses in the camera.
		Third Place - Natural Category Dispersion, Refraction, and Thin Film Interference Jason Evans, International Academy, 1020 E. Square Lake Rd., Bloomfield Hill, MI 48304 Teacher: David Lyons As the sunlight went through the camera lens, it was refracted. As this light went back into the air towards the film, it was bent away from the normal, and, in doing so, was dispersed into colors similar to a prism. These colors appear as different colored packets of light that were printed onto the film. At some points, the sunlight reflected off the lens at an angle greater than the critical angle for total internal reflection, thus white spots appear. Finally, there appears to be a form of thin film interference creating "Newton's rings," which originate from the two elements of the main lens. The light that traverses through the lens is subject to this interference, which causes rings to appear in the upper right hand corner due to varying lengths for the transmitted and reflected rays.
Photo and description unavailable for publication.		Third Place - Contrived Category Reflections in a Glass Ball Codi Williams, Oak Ridge H.S., 27330 Oak Ridge School Rd., Conroe, TX 77385 Teacher: Cathy Ezrailson
		Honorable Mention - Natural Category Examples of Projectile Motion Anna Kathryn Jones, Jackson Preparatory School, P.O. Box 4940, Jackson, MS 39296 Teacher: Marsha Hobbs This photograph demonstrates projectile motion in two dimensions, the X and the Y dimensions. The horse is at the highest point of his path across the jump; therefore, the velocity in the Y direction at this point is zero. The acceleration in the X direction remains zero throughout the path because no external forces are causing the horse to accelerate in the X direction. The horse's path follows a parabolic path across the jump.
		Honorable Mention - Contrived Category Wave Motion Rebecca White, Falls Church H.S., 7521 Jaguar Trail, Falls Church, VA 22042 Teacher: Ben Allen I threw a ball into the pool, and circular waves were formed and moved outward. These waves were moving with a velocity that was determinable. Each water particle oscillated around a point of equilibrium. The water waves were capable of moving over a large distance; however, the water itself had limited movement. Even though the wave was not matter, the wave pattern clearly traveled in matter. The waves contained oscillations that moved without carrying matter with them. In addition, the waves carried energy. The energy was given to the water wave by the basketball thrown into the water. The energy was then transported from the waves to the edge of the pool.
2000 AAPT Video Contest Winners Student Category First Place: Mist Cameron Lister, Shady Side Academy, Pittsburgh, Pa. Second Place: Untitled Jamie Edmonds and Annie Succap, Shady Side Academy, Pittsburgh, Pa. Third Place: Magnetic Fun Rick Blaha, Broadneck H.S., Annapolis, Md. Honorable Mention: Electrostatic Board Brian Kelly and Robert Larsen, Webb School of Knoxville, Knoxville, Tenn.
Thanks     Vernier. Participants in the AAPT High School Physics Photo Contest gain experience, knowledge, and exposure. And what do they gain by winning? Thanks to Vernier Software & Technology, a leader in the production of quality sensors, interfaces, software, and lab books, student winners and their teachers receive money prizes, gift certificates, and plaques. Thanks Vernier. Visit Vernier on the Web at http://www.vernier.com/. Student winners received: First Place - $100 check and plaque Second Place - $75 check and plaque Third Place - $50 check and plaque Honorable Mention - $25 check Teachers of winning students received: For each winning student (First, Second, Third) the teacher receives $100 Vernier Software gift certificate or a plaque with the student's name. For multiple winners the teacher can choose a combination of gift certificate and plaque.