Here, a relatively simple laboratory experiment of a physical pendulum, suitable for students of science and engineering in the first courses of university physics, is presented to illustrate its dynamic behavior and to determine its inertia moment. To this end, a long wooden rod of length L = 99.8 cm and cross-section radius R = 1.73 cm was used…

A 2.7 m long stringless pendulum was set up to measure the coefficient of rolling friction of various balls, at higher rolling speeds than usually observed with a short stringless pendulum. The arrangement is easy to set up and makes an impressive classroom demonstration as well as an interesting laboratory experiment.

In this study, we derived several formulas for the currents induced in a circular loop by a magnet connected to a spring-based simple harmonic oscillation system. In addition, we conducted an experiment for measuring the induced currents and compared the results with the theoretical prediction. It was confirmed that the prediction from the derived…

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…

We have designed a simple Arduino-based experiment to study free fall. The experimental data associated to the free and vertical fall movement of a brass saucer are gathered with the help of an ultrasonic distance sensor and an Arduino board. The position-time curves obtained from different initial heights are then plotted and the acceleration of…

The pendulum was an important scientific instrument in the 17th century. It became a typical textbook problem in the 18th century. After the introduction of vectors in physics in the 1890s, the pendulum problem started to be progressively solved in the manner we know nowadays from introductory mechanics courses. Starting from "F = ma"…

In general, undergraduate experimental physics laboratories do not usually have experiments designed to address rolling friction and to measure the value of the rolling friction coefficient. This work explores an experiment, which has the potential to arouse students' curiosity about rolling friction by addressing a counterintuitive aspect of the…

The dynamic study of pendulum systems is considered an indispensable subject for physics and mechanics students in colleges and high schools. In this paper, a detailed methodology is given concerning the use of smartphones in pedagogical practical work for studying the dynamics of pendulum systems. Whereas, three aspects have been discussed…

We describe an educational activity that can be done by using smartphones to collect data in physics experiments aimed to measure the oscillating period of a spring-mass system and the elastic constant of the helicoidal spring by the dynamic method. Results for the oscillating period and for the elastic constant of the spring agree very well with…

We report the findings of an empirical study that investigated whether the source of data--firsthand or secondhand data gained from lab work experiments--has an influence on students' learning outcomes. Results indicate that students' choice of a correct or incorrect hypothesis for a pendulum lab experiment on the influence of the mass of the bob…

The internal sensors in smartphones for their advanced add-in functions have also paved the way for these gadgets becoming multifunctional tools in elementary experimental physics. For instance, the acceleration sensor has been used to analyze free-falling motion and to study the oscillations of a spring-mass system. The ambient light sensor on…

In introductory physics laboratories, spring constants are traditionally measured using the static method. The dynamic method, via vertical spring-mass oscillator, that uses a stopwatch in order to measure the period of oscillations is also commonly employed. However, this time-measuring technique is prone to human errors and in this paper we…

Traditional school laboratory exercises on a system of moving objects connected by strings involve deriving expressions for the system acceleration, a = (?F)/m, and sketching a graph of acceleration vs. force. While being in the form of rational functions, these expressions present great opportunities for broadening the scope of the analysis by…

A novel method of measuring the coefficients of kinetic and rolling friction is proposed. The method is simple to implement and reliable. Samples of measurements and calculations are presented.

Smartphone-based experimental exercises were incorporated as part of the homework problems in an introductory mechanics course at a university. A quasi-experimental field study with two cohorts design was performed to measure the impact of such exercises on motivation, interest and conceptual understanding. The empirical results on learning…