Two wires exit a black box that has three exposed light bulbs connected together in an unknown configuration. The task for students is to determine the circuit configuration without opening the box. In the activity described in this paper, we navigate students through the process of making models, developing and conducting experiments that can…

Melton demonstrated a surprising disappearance using total internal reflection. When he put a Florence flask filled with marbles into a water tank and looked straight down from directly above the flask, he was only able to see marbles above a certain water level. When he added more water into the tank above the top line of the marbles, all of the…

When students are first introduced to the idea of radioactive decay, a large conceptual hurdle must be overcome. The thought that an object's age has no bearing on the chance it will "die" (decay in this case) on a particular day is completely at odds with biological notions of life and death. Through the use of a simple…

In our science for non-science majors course "21st Century Physics," we investigate modern "Hubble plots" (plots of velocity versus distance for deep space objects) in order to discuss the Big Bang, dark matter, and dark energy. There are two potential challenges that our students face when encountering these topics for the…

There are a number of ways of exciting standing waves in ropes and springs using non-commercial vibrators such as loudspeakers, jigsaws, motors, or a simple tuning fork, including the rhythmical shaking of a handheld Slinky. We have come up with a very simple and cheap way of exciting stationary waves in a string, which anyone, particularly…

Describes the construction of the Reduced-Gravity Demonstrator, which can be used to illustrate the effects of gravity on a variety of phenomena, including the way fluids flow, flames burn, and mechanical systems behave. Presents experiments, appropriate for classroom use, to demonstrate how the behavior of common physical systems change when…

Presents a simple and inexpensive procedure for determining the moment of inertia of a physical pendulum both experimentally and analytically. The simplicity of the apparatus enables students to easily change parameters and obtain a wide variety of measurements. (JRH)

Describes an experiment that involves measuring the intensity of laser light passed by a linear polarizer. Discusses polarization effects, orthogonal polarizations, instrumentation, and further experiments. (JRH)

Presents an analog of radioactive decay that allows the student to grasp the concept of half life and the exponential nature of the decay process. The analog is devised to use small, colored, plastic poker chips or counters. Provides the typical data and a graph which supports the analog. (YP)

Describes an experiment to determine the density of air within a 10 percent error range using a basketball and a triple beam balance. Provides the typical data and a graph. (YP)

Everyone who teaches physics knows very well that sometimes a simple device or experiment can help to make a concept clear. In this paper, inspired by "The Jumping Pencil" by Martin Gardner, I will discuss a simple demonstration device that can be used to start the study of air pressure.

Presents experiments that use Helmholtz resonators and have been designed for a sophomore-level course in oscillations and waves. Discusses the theory of the Helmholtz resonator and resonance curves. (JRH)

Discusses the behavior of the current near the end of the paper in the electric-field mapping experiment and approaches to solving problems associated with this behavior. Presents programs that can be used to model the boundary condition computationally. (JRH)

Describes an experiment to measure the speed of air in the air jet caused by blowing air through a drinking straw. (JRH)

Describes a diffraction experiment that uses circular holes salvaged from nonaerosol hair spray bottles to produce spectacular circular interference fringes. (JRH)