In this article, we construct a very simple double pendulum (the concept of a pendulum should be familiar to all beginning students of classical mechanics). Since a double pendulum has two degrees of freedom, we suggest that this pendulum can be used in the classroom environment to illustrate the concept of normal modes, and we use video software…

Energy is a disciplinary core idea and a cross-cutting concept in the K-12 Framework for Science Education and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). As numerous authors point out, the energy model in these standards emphasizes the connections between energy and systems. Using energy ideas to interpret or make sense of phenomena means…

The image of free-falling bar has been recorded to study the effect of the motion on its observed length. This moving bar image is analysed using the Tracker software to determine its length and the end bar's position. An elongated appearance of the bar has been observed with movement. This effect relies on the speed and the exposure time during…

The article introduces a low-cost Arduino sensor into the Young's modulus determination laboratory for physics university students. A stainless steel ruler is used as a cantilever beam. Its free end attached a mass is slightly bent and released to make it oscillate as a simple harmonic motion. The Arduino sensor detects the moving mass's frequency…

Using a joystick module, we followed the movement of a chaotic magnetic pendulum. The pendulum bar was attached to a joystick that served as a pivot point and biaxial angular motion sensor. Using an Arduino board, we could follow the position as a function of time along both the "x" and "y"-axis and draw a graph showing the…

This paper shows how a freely downloadable and powerful software package, "SMath Studio," can be used to model physical systems in physics teaching. The software can form the basis of lecture demonstrations by teachers or can be used individually by students working in an educational environment or on their own home computers.

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…

This article reports on a case study that aims to help students develop mechanistic reasoning through constructing a model based stop-motion animation of a physical phenomenon. Mechanistic reasoning is a valuable thinking strategy for students in trying to make sense of scientific phenomena. Ten ninth-grade students used stop-motion software to…

During the periods of sudden transition to online education, the opportunity to make applications that might attract students' attention to the course has decreased even more. Although this deficiency tried to be eliminated with videos and simulations, it was not possible to ensure the active participation of students in some cases. In this study,…

This paper presents the usage of an Excel spreadsheet for studying charged particle dynamics in the presence of uniform electric and magnetic fields. The equation of motion of the charged particle is developed under different conditions and the data is obtained in an Excel spreadsheet under variation of parameters such as the velocity of charged…

This research aims to develop a falling chain experiment apparatus using kitchen scales and digital cameras (smartphones). Digital cameras were used to observe and record changes in the mass of falling chains measured using kitchen scales. Video recordings from observations of falling chain masses were analysed using Tracker 5.1.1 software. The…

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,…

In the physics teaching community, Tracker is well known as a user-friendly open source video analysis software, authored by Douglas Brown. With this tool, the user can trace markers indicated on a video or on stroboscopic photos and perform kinematic analyses. Tracker also includes a data modeling tool that allows one to fit some theoretical…

This paper represents a continuation of the theoretical and computational work from an earlier publication, with the present calculations using exactly the same physical values for the lengths L (0.435 m - 2.130 m) for the conical pendulum, mass m = 0.1111 kg, and with the local value of the acceleration due to gravity g = 9.789 ms[superscript…

Countermovement jump (CMJ) height is an important parameter in physical performance. This study compared CMJ height measured using ChronoJump contact mat (CJ) and Myotest accelerometer (MT) systems with a force platform (FP). Thirty recreationally active adults (32.1 ± 10.4 years, 75.9 ± 12.0 kg, 173.2 ± 6.3 cm) completed a CMJ protocol where…