Describes a laboratory experiment that demonstrates the simultaneous conservation of angular and linear momentum. (Author/CP)

Describes a course in elementary mechanics especially designed for students of athletics and dance. Includes photographs, taken in a gymnasium laboratory, used for analyzing human motion. Student response is described. (Author/CP)

Provides a refinement to the Harvard Project Physics Course handbook exercise "Stepwise Approximation to an Orbit." (CP)

Presents a derivation of the centripetal acceleration formula which does not involve calculus or vectors but uses only simple geometry. (MLH)

Describes an experimental project on boomerangs designed for an undergraduate course in classical mechanics. The students designed and made their own boomerangs, devised their own procedures, and carried out suitable measurements. Presents some of their data and a simple analysis for the two-bladed boomerang. (Author/MLH)

Recent research has shown that serious misconceptions frequently survive high school and university instruction in mechanics. It is interesting to inquire whether Newton himself encountered conceptual difficulties before he wrote the "Principia." This paper compares Newton's pre-"Principia" beliefs, based upon his writings,…

Deals generally with historical errors in science teaching and specifically with Newton's conception of his second law of motion. With reference to Newton's "Principia", the author concludes that Newton would not understand what we today refer to as "Newton's Second Law." (MLH)

Presents a quiz for evaluating student understanding of wave interference utilizing two prong tuning forks. (GS)

Describes an undergraduate experiment. Discusses a model for the behavior of bubbles under differing viscosities and pressure gradients and conditions for failure of the model. (GH)

This paper is addressed to the importance of maintaining rigor (a strict adherence to certain principles of reasoning) in the teaching of mechanics. The importance of a strict interpretation of mathematical formulae and the necessity of rigorous definitions of time, mass, and force are shown through a series of examples. Implications of this idea…

This booklet is one of the "Understanding the Atom" Series. Consisting of three sections, it is an account of the development of the first nuclear reactor by a team of scientists led by Enrico Farmi. The first section briefly reviews the early work on nuclear fission and neutron emission, the impact of Einstein's letter to President…

In this booklet intended for junior high school science students a short story format is used to provide examples of the use of nuclear chemistry and physics in the analysis of paints and pigments for authentication of paintings. The techniques discussed include the measurement of the relative amounts of lead-210 and radium-226 in white-lead…