Physics Innovative Uses

An Improvement to the Inverse Square Law Light Experiment Richard Borne (Northern Illinois University) has suggested an improvement to the Inverse Square Law Light Experiment using our  (order code OEK). He noticed that the intensity of our white LED lamp decreases somewhat over time when it is first turned on. Since students doing this experiment may take…

Subjects: Physics

While performing an experiment from the Physics with Vernier lab book, “Energy of a Tossed Ball,” Kathy Morello and her students from St. Joseph’s Academy in Baton Rouge, LA found some perplexing results. In the experiment, a Motion Detector is used to measure the position and velocity of a ball tossed vertically. The relative quantities of gravitational potential energy…

Subjects: Physics

Using a Go!Link, the Instrumentation Amplifier, and Logger Pro software Students at Madonna High School, in Weirton, WV, recently applied Vernier hardware and software to the task of locating a massive black hole believed to exist at the center of our galaxy. Using a short wave radio, some custom circuitry, the Vernier Instrumentation Amplifier, a Go!Link and Vernier Logger Pro software, students were…

Subjects: Physics

By Richard G. Born, Northern Illinois University, Operations Management and Information Systems Increasing interest in going “green” by the use of alternative energy sources makes the study of solar energy especially suitable for students of physics. Solar panel systems on rooftops can cost thousands of dollars with payback periods on the order of decades. Yet…

Subjects: Physics

Jeffrey Wetherhold from Parkland High School, Allentown, PA makes extensive use of video in his physics class. When experiments are difficult to create for the classroom, he has his students collect and analyze data using the video analysis feature of Logger Pro. He recently sent us an activity that he uses with his students. He…

Subjects: Physics

As the cost of energy rises, nearly everyone is looking at ways to improve their homes energy efficiency, and reduce their energy use and costs. Our project focused on finding a method to utilize the roof of a home to be an integral part of the energy system of a home. Model houses built for…

Subjects: Physics

In the book What Einstein Told His Barber, by Robert L. Wolke, there is a section discussing champagne, soda, and pressure. He says, “If I said that shaking a bottle of champagne, beer, or pop raises the gas pressure inside, 99 out of 100 people, even chemists and physicists, would agree. But it’s not true.”…

Subjects: Physics

We recently attended the American Association for Engineering Education meeting in Louisville, KY. While there, we had a free afternoon, so we went to the Louisville Slugger Bat Museum. In the museum, they had an exhibit where they asked you to hold a baseball bat vertically, suspended by the knob, and then to tap it…

Subjects: Physics

Here is an activity that some of your students may find interesting. The goal is to test the cushioning for various shoes and boots. We measured the acceleration in a “heel drop” of standardized height. Shoe with accelerometer in heel We used a 25-g Accelerometer attached to a 500 g mass, placed inside the shoes.…

Subjects: Physics

Attention chemistry and physics teachers! You now have a cool way to display and measure gas discharge tube emissions with our new Spectrum Tube Power Supplies and gas discharge tubes. These products are designed to be safe, convenient, and long lasting. One version of the Power Supply even has a carousel that holds up to…

Subjects: Physics