Students are better able to understand Newton's first law when they build from their own personal experiences of bicycling, skateboarding, or riding in a car. Most have experienced a tumble when their skateboard or bicycle comes to an abrupt stop. Alternately in a car, your body continues moving when the brakes are applied and you feel the force…

Understanding Physics is a great end in itself, but is also crucial to keep pace with developments in modern technology. Wireless power transfer, known to many only as a means to charge electric toothbrushes, will soon be commonplace in charging phones, electric cars and implanted medical devices. This article outlines how to produce and use a…

Magicians and scientists have a curious relationship, with both conflicting views and common ground. Magicians use natural means to construct supernatural illusions. They exploit surprise and misdirected focus in their tricks. Scientists like to deconstruct and explain marvels. They methodically measure, evaluate and repeat observations. However,…

Acoustic levitation uses a resonant ultrasonic standing wave to suspend small objects; it is used in a variety of research disciplines, particularly in the study of phase transitions and materials susceptible to contamination, or as a stabilization mechanism in microgravity environments. The levitation equipment used for such research is quite…

Paul Hewitt's "Figuring Physics" in the Feb. 2016 issue asked whether it would take a larger velocity change to stop a satellite in a circular orbit or to cause it to escape. An extension of this problem asks: What "minimum" velocity change is required to crash a satellite into the planet, and how does that compare with the…

An essential laboratory exercise for our lower-division electromagnetism course involves the measurement of Earth's local magnetic field from the emf induced in a rotating coil of wire. Although many methods exist for the measurement of Earth's field, this one gives our students some practical experience with Faraday's law. The apparatus we had…

A good understanding of ternary phase diagrams is required to advance and/or to reproduce experimental research in solid-state and materials chemistry. The aim of this paper is to describe the solutions to problems that appear when studying or determining ternary phase diagrams. A brief description of the principal features shown in phase diagrams…

In their articles, Ajay Sharma (Cult Stud Sci Educ, doi:10.1007/s11422-017-9835-z, 2017) and Noel Gough (Cult Stud Sci Educ, doi:10.1007/s11422-017-9834-0, 2017) shed light on the impact neoliberalism has on the teaching of science and suggest ways to ensure that science education remains critical and socially equitable. In this paper, I…

The measurement of the speed of sound in air with the resonance tube is a popular experiment that often yields accurate results. One approach is to hold a vibrating tuning fork over an air column that is partially immersed in water. The column is raised and lowered in the water until the generated standing wave produces resonance: this occurs at…

There are several variations of resonance laboratory activities used to determine the speed of sound. This is "not" one of them. This activity uses the resonance tube idea to teach "resonance," not to verify the speed of sound. Prior to this activity, the speed of sound has already been measured using computer sound-sensors and…

Self-diagnosis (SD) activities require students to self-diagnose their solutions to problems that they solved on their own. This involves identifying where they went wrong and then explaining the nature of their errors--why they went wrong--aided by some form of support. Worked examples (WEs) are often used to support students in SD activities. A…

Understanding how to perform an enzyme assay is a critical learning skill in the undergraduate biochemistry curriculum. Students in biochemistry typically have been exposed to the use of NMR spectroscopy as a tool to determine chemical structure, but rarely are they exposed to the utility of NMR to evaluate enzyme kinetics. Furthermore, coverage…

Most international curricula require students to develop conceptual and procedural understandings along with developing an understanding about the nature of science. Moreover, science education endeavours to produce scientifically literate citizens capable of making informed decisions about the social-scientific issues in their everyday lives;…

The K-12 Science curriculum envisions the development of scientifically, technologically, and environmentally literate and productive members of society who are critical problem solvers, innovative and creative citizens, informed decision makers and effective communicators. To achieve these, higher order thinking skills must be developed among the…

An interactive activity to teach the hot Carbon, Nitrogen and Oxygen (HCNO) cycle is proposed. Justification for why the HCNO cycle is important is included via an example of x-ray bursts. The activity allows teaching and demonstration of half-life, nuclear isotopes, nuclear reactions, protons and a-particles, and catalytic processes. Whilst the…