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It can be a challenge to come up with simple demonstrations of circular motion and conservation of energy. One such demonstration consists of a large exercise ball, off of which a small solid or hollow ball is rolled. The small balls are…
The purpose of this paper is to show the magic of physics by showing the physics of magic. What usually makes magic tricks interesting is that something unexpected occurs. Similarly, demonstrations are interesting inasmuch as they produce…
A bouncing rubber ball under a motion sensor is a classic of introductory physics labs. It is often used to measure the acceleration due to gravity, and can also demonstrate conservation of energy. By observing that the ball rises to a…
Particle physics, when taught in the classroom or lecture theatre, suffers from a lack of practical experience by students. Thus, we describe the construction of a fully working small particle physics detector using state of the art…
We present a thermodynamics experiment suitable for first year undergraduate students employing Stirling Engines to create a demonstration of energy transformation and to measure the mechanical efficiency of such engines. Using an…
Popcorn is an extremely popular snack food in the world today. Thermodynamics can be used to analyze how popcorn is produced. By treating the popping mechanism of the corn as a thermodynamic expansion, a method of increasing the volume or…
The plasma is an ionized gas that responses collectively to any external (or internal) perturbations. Introducing micron-sized solid dust grains into plasma makes it more interesting. The solid grains acquire large negative charges on their…
A workshop using dance to introduce particle physics concepts to young children is presented. The workshop is realised in the dance studio, the children assume complete ownership of the activity and dance becomes the means to express ideas.…
The problem of impulsive heating of dust grains in cold, dense interstellar clouds is revisited theoretically, with the aim to better understand leading mechanisms of the explosive desorption of icy mantles. It is rigorously shown that if…
Exciting scientific results such as the discovery of the Higgs boson offer a great opportunity to engage young people in particle physics. International Particle Physics Masterclasses highlight how high school students across the world can…
An explanation is given for two peculiar phenomena - Foo Fighters and microwave oven plasma balls. Both are proposed to arise from the interaction of microwave energy with areas of hot, partially ionized, gas. In the former case it is…
A number of dense particle suspensions experience a dramatic increase in viscosity with the shear stress, up to a solid-like response. This shear-thickening process is understood as a transition under flow of the nature of the contacts,…
We present an educational proposal which aims to illustrate the elegant, refined and coherent physics contained in Thermodynamics, through a path which assigns to the microscopic description of the physical systems a constantly privileged…
Here, I construct an elegant frictional brachistochrone for a mass point motion of a granular material with the Coulomb frictional energy dissipation that inherently includes the evolving path curvature. The simple model reveals several…
High temperature expansion of the partition function for a particle on a segment of a line is found to show an example of the quantum system that thermodynamical functions do not approach the thermodynamical functions of its classical…
This article presents numerical simulations of an iron dust Bunsen flame. The results are validated against experimental results. The burning velocity is extracted from the 3D simulation results, as in the experiments. The agreement of the…
We describe an initiative at the University of Bonn, where the students develop and perform a 2 hour physics show for school classes and the general public. The show is entertaining and educational and is aimed at children aged 10 and…
A conventional stroboscope uses flashes of light to make a rapidly moving object visible. This is achieved by throwing repetitive pulses of white light on the object of specific frequency. Here an alternative approach is given in which two…
Since detonation is the only established theory that allows rapid burning producing a high pressure that can be sustained in open areas, the generally accepted opinion was that the mechanism explaining the high rate of combustion in dust…
We study a flame propagating in the gaseous combustible mixture with suspended inert particles. The gas is assumed to be transparent for the radiation emitted by the combustion products, while particles absorb and re-emit the radiation.…