The Cartesian diver is an old and useful demonstration of fluid-related phenomena, including Archimedes' and Pascal's principles. While the diver gets its name from the scientist and philosopher René Descartes, the first written description of the device was given by Raffaello Magiotti. The modified diver presented here is related to Feynman's…

The problem of a disc or cylinder initially rolling with slipping on a surface and subsequently transitioning to rolling without slipping is often cited in textbooks. Students struggle to qualitatively understand the difference between kinetic and static frictional forces--i.e., whereas the magnitude of the former is known, that of the latter can…

An important aspect of science education involves helping students learn to read and communicate scientific information and arguments. In this note, I would like to share a resource that I have come across which I have found to be a useful tool for helping students improve those skills, learn content material, and acquaint them with a great…

There remains a strong movement for Introductory Physics for Life Sciences (IPLS) courses to better integrate physics and biology. Part of the challenge for IPLS educators is to introduce fundamental physical law while simultaneously establishing the relevance of physics to biological science. Life science relevant laboratory experiences are…

Projectile motion is a common phenomenon that is used in introductory physics courses to help students understand motion in two dimensions. Authors have shared a range of ideas for teaching this concept and the associated kinematics in "The Physics Teacher" ("TPT"); however, the "Hoop Challenge" is a new setup not…

Students are better able to understand Newton's first law when they build from their own personal experiences of bicycling, skateboarding, or riding in a car. Most have experienced a tumble when their skateboard or bicycle comes to an abrupt stop. Alternately in a car, your body continues moving when the brakes are applied and you feel the force…

Acoustic levitation uses a resonant ultrasonic standing wave to suspend small objects; it is used in a variety of research disciplines, particularly in the study of phase transitions and materials susceptible to contamination, or as a stabilization mechanism in microgravity environments. The levitation equipment used for such research is quite…

Equilibrium is an essential concept in undergraduate physics curriculum as it integrates Newton's laws and torque. The importance also comes from its wide applications in mechanics and biomechanics. Simulations of Back and Arms are developed mainly for the undergraduates who major in physical therapy and health sciences. They are implemented as…

An ice hockey player can strike a puck at speeds up to about 45 m/s (100 mph) using a technique known as the slap shot. There is nothing unusual about the speed, since golf balls, tennis balls, and baseballs can also be projected at that speed or even higher. The unusual part is that the player strikes the ice before striking the puck, causing the…

In this paper we describe a simple alternative to the telephone book friction experiment, a classic demonstration where a small force (generated for example by the bending of the outer pages) is amplified by the large number of surfaces in contact, resulting in a huge maximum static friction force that has to be counterbalanced in order to…

We propose an easy experiment that allows students to determine the speed of sound through a simple time-of-flight measurement using two smartphones. The concept of using the sensors in mobile phones for physics experiments has become a well-known option for science teachers. Since these devices are readily available to most students and teachers,…

Since the emergence of augmented reality (AR), it has been a constant subject of educational research, as it can improve conceptual understanding and generally promote learning. In addition, a motivational effect and improved interaction and collaboration through AR were observed. Recently, AR technologies have taken a major leap forward in…

Perhaps the most commonly cited student idea about forces in the literature is the notion of an impetus force, defined as the "belief that there is a force inside a moving object that keeps it going and causes it to have some speed," that can then "fade away as the object moves along." According to the literature, even after…

Increasingly, the physics community is attending to issues of equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI), both in language and action. We are more publicly recognizing our individual responsibilities as physicists to address social injustice and systemic oppression. To this end, our physics classrooms are key levers for action. While we have made…

The laser pointer has been widely used to demonstrate some simple optics phenomena, like reflection, refraction, total reflection, and diffraction. However, the rays of laser light cannot be seen in the air because the scattered light is too weak. Many physics teachers use milk or smoke to visualize rays of laser light in physics labs, but it is…