The typical sound of George Lucas' laser blaster in the "Star Wars" series is well known. What does a laser blaster in "Star Wars" sound like, and why? Here we show a simple way to produce this sound by using low-cost lab material, like a spring or a Slinky. Building on the work of Crawford, who analyzed the sound of a Slinky…

When our school implemented AP Physics 1, I wanted to include a project that would extend over time, use more advanced data analysis, and teach students about handling experimental error. Using a donated 5-inch Newtonian telescope and an entry-level digital camera, the students gathered data from digital images of the four Galilean moons, Io,…

There are several ways in the literature to determine the value of gravitational acceleration. We used an audio plug (3.5-mm jack) that can be reused from types of plugs can also be purchased and are very cheap. In this article, a computer speaker or microphone that are damaged. These value of gravitational acceleration very accurately using…

Ever increasing technological progress opens novel opportunities concerning educational activities, and the ability to use the technology effectively is one of the 21st century's most demanding skills. The Partnership Forum for 21st-Century Skills (P21) states that no organization can achieve satisfying results without using technology and…

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in the spring of 2020 many physics programs were forced to quickly transition all of their classes and laboratories to a completely online learning environment. The need for simple and engaging remote physics laboratories became apparent. One relatively low-cost remote lab system is Macmillan's iOLab device. This…

The popularization of microcontrollers like Arduino bring new possibilities of experiments for physics laboratories. For instance, load cell sensors have been used in experiments on impulse and buoyancy. Here we propose an experimental apparatus using Arduino connected to a load cell to measure surface tension by the du Noüy method (or ring…

Although teaching of environmental physics and energy-related topics has increased in the last several years, only a small portion of that has been for non-science majors. Environmental physical science can be used to teach physics to non-science majors by applying learned physics concepts to current issues of interest such as climate change,…

In the teaching and learning of physics, simulations have many applications. Simulations can help to illuminate concepts (such as the motion of electrons in electric or magnetic fields) that cannot usually be seen with the unaided eye, or to slow down things that happen over short time periods or at high speeds. They can also be used to help…

The phyphox app has demonstrated itself to be useful and impressive for physics teaching. The app is free to download and has so many features that it seems it may be particularly helpful in this time of distance learning. Phyphox (pronounced to sound like "physics") works for Android and Apple phones, and there are many experiments…

This paper reports our work on replacing lab report grading by post-online lab quizzes using Desire2Learn (D2L, an online course management software), specifically, how we circumvent some of the limitations imposed by D2L and the outcomes.

The labs presented here build on a simple speed of sound activity and models medical ultrasound imaging by demonstrating how multiple reflections propagate in a closed system. A short sound pulse is emitted into a pipe that is closed at one end and contains one or more partially reflecting surfaces within the pipe. The variety of reflections and…

Instruments or digital meters with data values visible on a seven-segment display can easily be found in the physics lab. Examples include multimeters, sound level meters, Geiger-Müller counters and electromagnetic field meters, where the display is used to show numerical data. Such instruments, without the ability to connect to computers or data…

Quantum computing is a growing field at the intersection of physics and computer science. The goal of this article is to highlight a successfully trialled quantum computing course for high school students between the ages of 15 and 18 years old. This course was designed to bridge the gap between popular science articles and advanced undergraduate…

As soon as children can see, they observe that objects fall freely. From a young age, we spontaneously construct interpretative models to understand this everyday phenomenon. Over the last three decades, numerous experiments have been developed to help students understand physics concepts regarding free fall. Although there are many…

This article describes an experiment that can be done in the classroom in a simple way, with the support of a "homemade" device or as a laboratory practice with the support of PASCO equipment. Through a theory-practice sequence, kinematic and dynamic equations were checked with qualitative and quantitative analysis, emphasizing the…