Though central to any pedagogical development of physics, the concept of mass is still not well understood. Properly defining mass has proven to be far more daunting than contemporary textbooks would have us believe. And yet today the origin of mass is one of the most aggressively pursued areas of research in all of physics. Much of the excitement…

Researchers and practitioners alike express concerns about the conceptual difficulties associated with the concepts of momentum and kinetic energy currently taught in school physics. This article presents an in-depth analysis of the treatment given to them in 44 published textbooks written for UK secondary school certificate courses. This is set…

Discusses the applications of the principles of mechanics to rock climbing techniques. Provides illustrations showing the applied force vectors. (YP)

Describes an experiment demonstrating Lenz's law by measuring a magnet falling through a copper tube compared to a nonmagnet falling. Presents diagrams and pictures showing the apparatus. (YP)

Discusses the nature, resolution, focal length, and angle of a pinhole camera. Describes the development and some applications of the camera. Nineteen references are listed. (YP)

Describes several ways to partially levitate permanent magnets. Computes field line geometries and oscillation frequencies. Provides several diagrams illustrating the mechanism of the oscillation. (YP)

Discusses the physics principles applied to the main steps of the photocopying process. Of particular interest (and at the heart of the process) are the ways in which electric charges, or particles carrying charges, are caused to transfer from one surface or medium to another at each stage. (JN)

Discusses the application of the laws of physics to natural phenomena, including Jackrabbit ears, transparent atmosphere, formation of ice, and long-wave radiation. (YP)

Describes a science activity which allows secondary level students to discover the law of refraction. (SL)

Explores the basic physical laws of the juggling activity. Derives some equations involving height, angle, time, and distance for common juggling objects. Describes the relationships among height, length, mass, number of clubs, number of spins, angular velocity, time, and angle in club juggling. (YP)

Describes a high school physics teaching sequence including more modern topics. The first quarter covers cosmology, astronomy, optics, wave mechanics, relativity, gravity, and quantum theory. The second quarter covers classical mechanics. The third quarter covers electromagnetism and electronics. The fourth quarter consists of thermodynamics and…

Discussed are two contrasting views about the nature of scientific thinking including Pearson's and Collingwood's. The contexts of questions, methods, problems, experiments, and history are described as contexts of inquiry. The physical thoughts of scientists from pre-Aristotelian times to the present are outlined in relation to contexts of…

Discusses the use of logarithm and reciprocal graphs in the college physics classroom. Provides examples, such as electrical conductivity, reliability function in the Weibull model, and the Clausius-Clapeyron equation for latent heat of vaporation. Shows graphs with weighting of points. (YP)

Describes Bernoulli's equation and Poiseuille's equation for fluid dynamics. Discusses the application of the combined Bernoulli-Poiseuille equation in real flows, such as viscous flows under gravity and acceleration. (YP)

Four questions related to rain concerning aerodynamic drag force, pressure from the impact of raindrops, impact of wind on the pressure, and stopping force extended on the car by the water are proposed. (YP)