Archive for the ‘Demonstrations’ Category
More Java Applets
Posted by: Scott on: January 17, 2011
I don’t remember seeing these before. I just got an email that the link to the Java Applet for acceleration had failed. It didn’t take me long to find the gentleman’s page and I realized that he has an extensive list of these physics applets. Here is the main page in English: http://www.walter-fendt.de/ph14e/ There are [...]
Quick Newton’s Laws Demo
Posted by: Scott on: December 3, 2010
I was discussing Newton’s Laws and trying to explain how the tension increases in an elevator cable when it starts moving up. The kids get it that the tension when it’s not moving is equal to the weight of the load, but once it starts moving, they get wacky. Some seem to think the only [...]
Demonstrating Energy Levels of Atoms
Posted by: Scott on: September 29, 2010
I came up with this in my early years of teaching (2002) and I forgot about it until tonight. At the time, I was borrowing a friend’s physics classroom to do a graduate assignment on reading. I prepared an article on how fireworks produce light and color. The concept I was trying to get across [...]
Balloon Rocket Lab
Posted by: Scott on: December 19, 2009
I admit I’ve been holding out on you. Let’s just say I thought this one was a bit too low level. I beefed it up and it’s perfect for my Conceptual Physics classes now. I just did it this week and I like the results. See that rocket shaped balloon on the right… good luck [...]
Predicting the Landing Zone of a Projectile
Posted by: Scott on: October 27, 2009
Let me start by saying that the kids really liked this lab. It made them smile when they succeeded. I kind of made this one up, kind of adapted it from the electronic timer manual. The idea is that we use a ramp to accelerate a steel marble, have it pass through timer gates, measure [...]
Experiments with a van de Graaff Generator
Posted by: Scott on: April 12, 2009
I now feel qualified to put something up on this post. We played for two whole days in my physical science class, and the kids still want more. Another day in my three physics classes, and I’m battle ready. I began by showing the balloon on the bald teacher’s head and sticking it to the [...]
Fun with Dry Ice
Posted by: Scott on: March 18, 2009
Long story short, we went to Penn State, visited the nuclear reactor, toured the school, ate lunch, and purchased two coolers full of ice cream. It’s a 3+ hour ride home, so we also purchased dry ice for $0.75 per pound. The next day, there was still quite a bit of dry ice left over, [...]
The Spool and String and Torque
Posted by: Scott on: March 18, 2009
This is one of my favorite simple demonstrations. I have a plastic spool that came from a pack of rope lights. The spool is about a foot across and I use it regularly to demonstrate a constant horizontal velocity. When we study torque, I attach a pink mason line to the spool and wind it [...]
Powers of Observation
Posted by: Scott on: January 7, 2009
(This was submitted by Duane, a High School teacher in Georgia. Thank you Duane.) One fun “observation vs. conclusion / assumption” demo that I love came from Flinn Scientific’s “A Demo A Day” for Chemistry. I call it the “Potato Candle”. Cut a cylindrical core (apple corers work well) from a potato – rinse it [...]
Momentum and Martial Arts
Posted by: Scott on: January 7, 2009
There is no easy way to demonstrate this in writing, so I will be brief. (Maybe I’ll video this at the gym tomorrow night and post it here.) A key to martial arts is using an attackers momentum against himself. We don’t want to use direct force against an attack when a small redirecting force [...]
Momentum – What I Teach (and skip)
Posted by: Scott on: January 3, 2009
I realized tonight, as I start to plan my lessons for the week, that I don’t have much here on momentum. This is a pretty straight-forward section. It’s easy to teach and should not be confusing to students that do the barest amount of studying. As a quick summary, I teach momentum and impulse, skip [...]
Java Applet for Velocity & Acceleration
Posted by: Scott on: November 2, 2008
http://www.walter-fendt.de/ph14e/acceleration.htm This is an interactive applet that allows the student or teacher to change the velocity and acceleration of a car. There is a graphical representation of the car and the velocity vector as it moves across the top of the screen. On the bottom are three graphs that show the distance v time, the [...]
Crushing a Can and Floating Layers
Posted by: Scott on: October 23, 2008
Today my Physical Science classes did two short labs in one period. Both of these mini-labs came from the book “Super Science with Simple Stuff!” by Susan Popelka. The book is geared towards middle school, but that never bothers me. The first was using air pressure to crush a soda can. I was going to [...]
Kinetic Theory of Matter
Posted by: Scott on: October 16, 2008
Today I had to lecture on the Kinetic Theory of Matter in my Physical Science class. It’s all about how the particles of matter are constantly moving, even in a solid. I came up with three demonstrations that you might want to borrow. First was discussing the nature of atoms being packed together in a [...]
Chemical vs. Physical Change Lab
Posted by: Scott on: October 6, 2008
I created this lab last night and we did it today. Overall it went fairly well. physical-chemical-change-lab I began the lab by lighting a strip of magnesium to demonstrate a chemical change. All that is left after that very bright flare is white powder. They really liked that demonstration. Then on to the lab. The [...]
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