Related papers: Getting the Swing of Surface Gravity
A ball supported by a spring is set on top of a plate which is sinusoidal vibrated. The motion is limited to one dimension motion. It is assumed that the spring is an ideal one with zero mass. The vibrating plate is considered much heavier…
The study of the motion of a rigid body on a plane (RBP motion) is usually one of the most challenging topics that students face in introductory physics courses. In this paper, we discuss a couple of problems which are typically used in…
This study investigates how an urban, high school physics class responded to the inclusion of a classroom set of iPads and associated applications, such as screencasting. The participatory roles of students and the expressions of their…
Vector displacements expressed in spherical coordinates are proposed. They correspond to electromagnetic fields in vacuum that globally rotate about an axis and display many circular patterns on the surface of a sphere. The fields basically…
One of the biggest revelations of 20th century physics, is virtually unheard of outside the inner circles of particle physics. This is the gauge theory, the foundation for how all physical interactions are described and a guiding principle…
Light Polarization has many technological applications and its discovery was crucial to reveal the transverse nature of the electromagnetic waves. However, despite its fundamental and practical importance, in high school this property of…
We establish an instructive experiment to investigate the minimum time curve traveled by a small billiard ball rolling in a grooved track under gravity. Our intention is to popularize the concept of \textit{minimum time curve} anew, and to…
We consider the problem of the motion of a projectile thrown vertically upward from a surface. In addition to gravity, the drag force of the medium is taken into account, which is considered a quadratic function of the relative velocity of…
The solar surface dynamo has become an active area of research in an attempt to understand the origin of a variety of magnetic field structures on the sun. The major modification that needs to be incorporated in the standard dynamo process…
A ball rolled over a shallow step will experience an increase in velocity along the direction perpendicular to the step. This causes a deflection in the ball's trajectory. In this paper we derive the equations that describe the motion of a…
This paper presents results from the design and testing of an educational version of Quantum Moves, a Scientific Discovery Game that allows players to help solve authentic scientific challenges in the effort to develop a quantum computer.…
This paper introduces our gamification of a part of our software design curriculum. Based on typical design principles a motivating learning game is developed to train students in software design. We use Bloom's taxonomy to determine…
Equations are about more than computing physical quantities or constructing formal models; they are also about understanding. The conceptual systems physicists use to think about nature are made from many different resources, formal and…
There has been a recent stimulus in the study of alternative theories of gravity lately, mostly triggered from combined motivation coming from cosmology/astrophysics and high energy physics. Among the proposed theories, one that has…
The African School of Fundamental Physics and Applications is a biennial school in Africa. It is based on the observation that fundamental physics provides excellent motivation for students of science. The aim of the school is to build…
Helping students learn why Gauss' law can or cannot be easily applied to determine the strength of the electric field at various points for a particular charge distribution, and then helping them learn to determine the shape of the Gaussian…
We present a simple experiment that can be run in class or remotely with minimal materials. Students use the principles of geometric optics to create their own versions of the bat signal.
We describe a summer outreach program developed to cultivate interest in physics in particular and physical sciences more broadly among high school and early college students using small projects in the Python programming language. We…
This article is meant as a summary and introduction to the ideas of effective field theory as applied to gravitational systems. Contents: 1. Introduction 2. Effective Field Theories 3. Low-Energy Quantum Gravity 4. Explicit Quantum…
We consider the interaction of gravity, as expressed by Einstein's Equations of General Relativity, to other force fields. We describe some recent results, discussing both the mathematics, and the physical interpretations. These results…