A lab activity for teaching physics students the fundamentals of statistical analysis during the first few weeks of instruction is described. This activity involves students timing a pulse of light generated by an Arduino device of fixed duration with individual timers (e.g. stopwatch, iPhone timer). To select the most precise timing methods and…

There are many physics experiments with long time scales such that they are usually neither shown in the physics class room nor in student labs. However, they can be easily recorded with time-lapse cameras and the respective time-lapse videos allow qualitative and/or quantitative analysis of the underlying physics. Here, we present some examples…

We use analogies to provide introductory laboratory students intuition into measurement uncertainties. Using a battery-resistor circuit we discuss uncertainty concepts and derive expressions for uncertainty of the mean and sums of uncertainties. Finally, we draw attention to the fact that the interpretation of standard deviation as uncertainty…

This research proposes the development of a web-based assessment system to identify students' misconception. The system, named WAS (web-based assessment system), can identify students' misconception profile on linear kinematics automatically after the student has finished the test. The test instrument was developed and validated. Items were…

Waves are a relevant part of physics that students find difficult to grasp, even in those cases in which wave propagation kinematics can be visualized. This may hinder a proper understanding of sound, light or quantum physics phenomena that are explained using a wave model. So-called "human" waves, choreographed by people, have proved to…

Image modelling is a video-based teaching tool that is a combination of strobe images and video analysis. This tool can enable a qualitative and a quantitative approach to the teaching of physics, in a much more engaging and appealling way than the traditional expositive practice. In a specific scenario shown in this paper, the Ollie trick, we…

Instead of solving ordinary differential equations (ODEs), the damped simple harmonic motion (SHM) is surveyed qualitatively from basic mechanics and quantitatively by the instrumentality of a graph of velocity against displacement. In this way, the condition b ? [square root]4mk for the occurrence of the non-oscillating critical damping and…

A smartphone acceleration sensor is used to study two-dimensional harmonic oscillations. The data recorded by the free android application, Accelerometer Toy, is used to determine the periods of oscillation by graphical analysis. Different patterns of the Lissajous curves resulting from the superposition of harmonic motions are illustrated for…

Despite its relevance to all scientific domains, the debate surrounding the teaching of energy is still open. The main point remains the problems students have in understanding some aspects of the energy concept and in applying their knowledge to the comprehension of natural phenomena. In this paper, we present a research-based interdisciplinary…

An alternative method of presenting the second law of thermodynamics in introductory courses is presented. The emphasis is on statistical approaches as developed by Atkins. This has the benefit of stressing the statistical nature of the law.

We have measured blood oxygenation levels in a group of 14 people (8 young people and 6 adults) on a physically demanding expedition to Mt Kenya. Blood oxygenation was measured at 11 different altitudes between 1910 and 4985 m using pulse oximetry. We found that pulse oximetry was suitable for use on a youth expedition and we were able to show…