Although mainly used by the hobby or "maker" crowd, the Arduino microcontroller has made its way into all levels of education, including physics labs. Perhaps the most compelling aspect of the Arduino in this regard is the ease with which it can be interfaced and acquire data from a sensor, using any one of its many analog inputs, SPI or…

This work describes a way to study uniform circular motion (UCM) using a LEGO® MINDSTORMS® Robotics Invention System (RIS) stepper motor with a steel ball attached to a string. The equipment is inexpensive and the resulting motion takes place on a human scale. Times and lengths can be measured with a stopwatch and a meterstick, respectively. In…

In this study, we determined the length correction of the Malaysia pan flute using the harmonic series experiments. The Malaysia pan flute is made from bamboo and consists of eight different bore lengths; 15.50cm, 13.50cm, 12.00cm, 10.30cm, 9.00cm, 7.60cm, 6.50cm and 5.20cm. It is categorized as a one-closed-end resonance tube since it is sealed…

In 1974, Stephen Hawking theoretically discovered that black holes emit thermal radiation and have a characteristic temperature, known as the "Hawking temperature." The aim of this paper is to present a simple heuristic derivation of the Hawking temperature, based on the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. The result obtained coincides…

One author of this article is a particle physics researcher; the other is an artist. Although they come from different sides of the spectrum of liberal arts, what they share in common is that they are both communicators and educators. This article tells the story of how this unlikely pair came together to collaborate and generate creative art that…

Students use a variety of resources to make sense of integration, and interpreting the definite integral as a sum of infinitesimal products (rooted in the concept of a Riemann sum) is particularly useful in many physical contexts. This study of beginning and upper-level undergraduate physics students examines some obstacles students encounter when…

Students will sometimes ask why momentum and kinetic energy concepts are both necessary. When physics teachers demonstrate situations that require both an understanding of kinetic energy and momentum, a favorite is Newton's cradle, or a comparable demonstration of two balls of equal mass hitting each other. However, in addition to the case of two…

The advantages of deriving the coefficient of kinematic friction from measurements of the damping of oscillatory motion have recently been described. The measurement of the acceleration rather than displacement has the advantage that, as well as the linear amplitude decay, the acceleration discontinuities due to the friction reversal can be…

A ball that rolls without sliding down an inclined plane requires a small static friction force to prevent the ball sliding down the incline. The magnitude of that force is investigated by considering the force needed to prevent the contact point from slipping.

Environmental Physiology at Boise State University, Idaho, is a multidisciplinary course that expands students' understanding of human regulatory physiology through acute and chronic responses to environmental extremes. Students explore the physics (pressure, fluid dynamics, gas laws, sound, and light) of the underwater environment, marine flora…

A new diagnostic instrument, the Conceptual Survey on Wave Optics (CSWO), was developed and validated on 224 high school students (aged 18-19 years) in Croatia. The process of test construction, which included the testing of 61 items on the total of 712 students is presented. The final version of the test consists of 26 multiple-choice items which…

In the summer of 2020, due to COVID-19, institutions either canceled or remotely hosted their research experience for undergraduates (REU) programs. We carried out a 16-week longitudinal study examining the impact of these fully remote research experiences on mentees' psychosocial gains (e.g., identity). We studied the phenomenon of a remote…

STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) education is widespread around the globe, with various theoretical frameworks and challenges from practical perspectives. In classroom practice, teacher readiness to conduct STEM learning is essential for its successful implementation. This study explores physics teachers' readiness for STEM…

Quantum technology is an emerging field of physics and engineering and important applications are expected in quantum computing, quantum sensing, quantum cryptography, quantum simulation, and quantum metrology. Thus the need for education in this field is increasing, while still remaining challenging. While the need for basic education in quantum…

Quantum mechanics (QM) has become part of many secondary school curricula. These curricula often do not include the mathematical tools for a formal, mathematical introduction of QM. QM therefore needs to be taught at a more conceptual level, but making secondary school students understand counterintuitive QM concepts without introducing…