To explain experiences of riders of rotating systems, such as a merry-go-round, some physics educators have employed the concept of 'centrifugal force.' However, others have suggested that the term is unnecessary in explaining experiences in rotating systems and that it encourages misconceptions surrounding circular motion dynamics. Owing to this…

Bounded by the statements of Feynman and Galileo, I describe certain tricks that can be useful for the teaching of physics. In particular, I describe the calculation of the center of mass (centroid) of an arc of circumference and a circular sector. For this purpose, I also use Pappus's theorems. An Appendix is available with Archimedes' method to…

The various aspects of projectile motion have been analyzed many times in this journal. As a sample, over the years, authors have investigated particular details of the path of a projectile and different situations for launching projectiles. Others have written about a nifty way to determine the maximum height of a projectile, finding the range of…

In nature, we often observe interesting phenomena for which we would like to find a physical explanation. One such phenomenon is presented in this paper.

The Physics Teacher has published over the years many inspiring papers with an historical slant and we agree with Thomas B. Greenslade, who recently wrote that teaching physics is about "integrating physics with human culture.… if we are going to leave a lasting impact on our students, we should do more than teach them pure physics."…

This article provides a detailed analysis of the various methods used in physics classrooms to teach oscillation and its related concepts. We thoroughly searched reputable databases, including Scopus and Web of Science. We analyzed 50 articles published between 2018 and 2023 using content analysis techniques such as elimination, classification,…

Network analysis has become a well-recognized methodology in physics education research (PER), with study topics including student performance and persistence, faculty change, and the structure of conceptual networks. The social network analysis side of this work has focused on quantitative analysis of whole-network cases, such as the structure of…

We use a tensile testing machine to create stress-strain plots and determine Young's modulus for some ductile and plastic materials. Supplementary videos are also provided.

We describe a simple, intuitively appealing interpretation of the observed ellipsoidal shape of the rotating Earth: it is that surface everywhere perpendicular to the net force upon it.

Forces and motion are at the heart of physics and children start learning from the moment they are able to interact with the world. Children as young as one year show surprise when a ball does not behave as expected. This is a tremendous bonus to learning physics, but it has hidden dangers: they only learn how things move on the Earth, where we…

The Wilson cloud chamber is an apparatus used for detecting and observing the trails of alpha/beta rays or even cosmic rays in saturated gas conditions. The principle of this device is based upon the powerful ionization of the aforementioned rays within the medium. This article will provide instruction for creating a classic version of the cloud…

A classical mechanical structure with an internal degree of freedom is shown to reflect off a potential well. Such behavior is impossible for point-like or rigid classical particles. This numerical study provides insight for students studying internal energy and degrees of freedom.

If a ball rolls in a circular path on a horizontal surface at constant speed then its horizontal rotation axis changes direction with time. A simple experiment is presented showing that the torque applied to the ball is equal to the rate of change of its angular momentum, even though the magnitudes of its angular velocity and angular momentum…

Enrico Fermi is remembered for his many contributions to theoretical and experimental physics, but from an educational point of view he also popularized the use of the kind of questions we now call "Fermi problems" (or "Fermi questions"). Fermi problems (FPs) are back-of-envelope problems that arose from the need to make order…

Ion transport, involving the diffusion and migration of ions within the electrolyte, stands as a fundamental concept in electrochemistry and serves as the driving force for electrochemical reactions. Electric double layers are critical in the fields of electrochemical energy storage and chemical conversion, constituting a central focus of…