In this paper I describe an interactive Gauss's law computer simulation using the GlowScript programming environment. The simulation calculates a point charge's electric field at locations on the surface of a Gaussian cube and displays the electric field in GlowScript's 3D graphics window. The point charge can be moved, and the electric field…

As the use of data in courses that incorporate statistical methods has become more prevalent, so has the need for tools for working with such data, including those for data creation and adjustment. While numerous tools exist that support faculty who teach statistical methods, many are focused on data analysis or theoretical concepts, and there…

Physicists create spreadsheets customarily to carry out numerical calculations and to display their results in a meaningful, nice-looking way. Spreadsheets can also be used to display a vivid geometrical model of a physical system. This statement is illustrated with an example taken from geometrical optics: images formed by a thin lens. A careful…

The effects of substitution on reaction rates are at the heart of both physical chemistry and organic chemistry. In this paper, we present a computational laboratory module to explore the effects of group substitution and isotopic substitution on reaction rates by using a readily accessible graphical interface, a computational engine, and…

This article describes the use of a spreadsheet to reinforce basic calculus that is expected of all university-level chemistry majors. The example provided shows a calculation using Excel to estimate, using a Riemann summation, the radiant exitance of a hot object using Planck's Law of Blackbody Radiation. The approach reinforces the elementary…

Here we present an inexpensive proposal to experimentally study Faraday's law of induction. The experiment uses low-cost materials, a computer with a sound card and a smartphone, both running free software. A value proportional to the induced electromotive force is measured with the computer's sound card and the data related to the magnetic field…

Through the experiments described in this article, students become acquainted with the principles behind ternary liquid-liquid systems and/or Aqueous Two-Phase Systems (ATPS), and their characterization by the determination of the binodal curve, tie-lines, tie-line lengths and critical point, as well as in applying the non-random two-liquid model…

It is hard to imagine that, eight hundred years on, the study of Fibonacci could affect the lives of teenagers in Australia. Or is it? A mathematics class of more able Year 9 students in a regional city of Western Australia feels that it has happened to them. Thirty-two students submitted a Fibonacci task as a mathematics assessment, with many of…

What follows is a description of the procedure for a directed-study in which a student, guided by a faculty member, attempted to identify potentially habitable exoplanets using actual data available online from NASA's "Kepler" Mission.

The classical "brachistochrone" problem asks for the path on which a mobile point M just driven by its own gravity will travel in the shortest possible time between two given points "A" and "B." The resulting curve, the cycloid, will also be the "tautochrone" curve, i.e. the travelling time of the mobile…

This work aims to demonstrate the use of Excel spreadsheets for solving L-L extraction problems. The key to solving the problems successfully is to be able to determine a tie line on the ternary diagram where the calculation must be carried out. This enables the reader to analyze the extraction process starting with a simple operation, the…

The increase in availability of educational technologies over the past few decades has not only led to new practice in teaching mathematics but also to new perspectives in research, methodologies, and theoretical frameworks within mathematics education. Hence, the amalgamation of theoretical and pragmatic considerations in digital tool design…

This article introduces the notion of the quartile-quartile line as an alternative to the regression line and the median-median line to produce a linear model based on a set of data. It is based on using the first and third quartiles of a set of (x, y) data. Dynamic spreadsheets are used as exploratory tools to compare the different approaches and…

Information and communication technology (ICT) is an integral aspect of the current Australian Curriculum: Mathematics. The language, strategies and resources required in mathematics education today can be very different to the mathematics lessons experienced by current teachers when they themselves were at school (Sousa, 2015). Learning…

This case involves actual data from a student managed café that serves as a learning laboratory for a college of business. The student team that manages the café has never had access to precise data from a point of sale system until this semester. However, once they downloaded the raw data from the cash register they were unable to make sense of…