The study of buoyancy is common in physics classrooms. In the last 20 years, several educators have described, theoretically and experimentally, buoyant forces and Archimedes' principle, both in "The Physics Teacher" and elsewhere. However, as far as I know, no one has reported on the pedagogical implications and experimental results of…

RC circuits are ubiquitous. They are the most common entities in modern electronics; introductory physics courses typically include a chapter and a lab on RC circuits. Several papers dealing with many aspects of RC circuits have been published in "The Physics Teacher" and other educational journals. An RC circuit contains a series…

An alternative way of introducing magnetism at all levels of education is proposed. It is stressed that magnetism can be introduced through the interaction between current-carrying conductors giving the students, at the same time, the possibility to measure the magnetic permeability [mu][subscript o]. Focusing on currents instead of permanent…

Undergraduate biochemistry students frequently find the quantitative treatment of weak acids and bases troublesome. Given the p"K"[subscript a] of a weak acid "HA," for instance, many students struggle to calculate the pH of a solution of the conjugate base A[superscript -] at concentration "C," pH(A[superscript -],…

Measuring the acceleration due to gravity g is a part of most introductory physics classes. A standard method to do so is by using a ticker tape timer. However, frictional forces are usually not included in the analysis even though friction leads to an acceleration significantly smaller than "g." In this note, we show how to obtain…

Circular motion is embedded in many circus tricks, and is also one of the most challenging topics for both students and teachers. Previous studies have identified several misconceptions about circular motion, and especially about the forces that act upon a rotating object. A commonly used demonstration of circular motion laws by physics teachers…

This article considers to what degree the UK depends on nuclear power for the generation of electricity and examines the problems, environmental and technical, associated with radioactive waste. Historical failings, the waste backlog, classification, modern handling techniques and with decisions about final disposal are outlined to provide an…

Protein PEGylation refers to the covalent binding of polyethylene glycol (PEG) moieties to a protein and has been increasingly applied, mainly in the biopharmaceutical industry. This technique may increase bioavailability and stability by decreasing immunogenicity and proteolytic attack. Given the industrial interest and the relevance of this…

A new method to determine a ternary phase diagram of benzene-acetic acid-water system is provided to upper-division undergraduate students. The partially miscible liquid phase region can be accurately constructed using isothermal titration microcalorimetry (ITC). Compared with the traditional visual method, ITC can provide precise data and more…

The "Harnessing Interdisciplinary Education in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology" education conference was held on November 13-15, 2019 in Manila, Philippines. The conference was sponsored by the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular (IUBMB). With over 400 attendees from 22 countries themes discussed by the speakers and…

Easy and visually appealing demonstrations are precious tools for introducing students to the study of enzymes. However, they most often involve purified enzymes and dedicated techniques. Here, we propose a set of demonstrations, which require only fresh horseradish root and consumer chemicals, to help support biochemistry and enzymology courses…

In this work we study the motion of a small metal ball along an inclined multi-slotted track. Specifically, the effect of the slot width on the ball speed at the lower part of the track is analyzed in detailed both analytically and experimentally. Experimental results are in satisfactory agreement with the theoretical model.

In this article, we describe a fun and engaging card game called Speed Eleusis that teaches the process of scientific discovery and publication, including such practices as replication and retraction. Much like the traditional game of Eleusis and its variant Eleusis Express, this game involves students competing to model a pattern displayed in a…

The author introduces the concept of the quantum volume into thermodynamics teaching. A new derivation of the basic part of the Sackur-Tetrode equation uses the microcanonical ensemble instead of the math-heavy canonical ensemble. Entropy diagrams, based on the binomial distribution, visualize the ratio between the quantum volume and system volume.

This paper describes an experiment with two touching rotating disks, whose movement is followed by video analysis. Within the disks' movements, there are intervals with sliding and intervals without sliding, that is, intervals with frictional forces between the touching surfaces and intervals without it. This system configuration allows for…