Describes a demonstration which illustrates that a body moving with constant speed can be accelerating. The students ride in a circle on a cart made with plywood and roller skates and equipped with bubble accelerometers. (MLH)

Describes a one-semester course for visual arts students which emphasizes many demonstrations. Includes faculty and students' opinions of the course. (Author/CP)

Presents information on a centrifugal force apparatus, signal averaging with a minicomputer, and the use of an air track. (MLH)

Describes the steps in writing a computer program to solve radioactive decay problems by a digital method. (CP)

Information is provided on some of the interesting and newsworthy developments in physics and its related fields during 1983. Areas considered include: (1) acoustics; (2) astrophysics; (3) condensed matter physics; (4) crystallography; (5) physics education; (6) electron and atomic physics; (7) elementary particle physics; (8) fluid dynamics; (9)…

This project had three major goals: (1) investigate the extent to which introductory physics students misuse or misunderstand formulas; (2) catalogue the typical ways in which they do this; and (3) begin the larger task of identifying key types of knowledge that successful problem solvers use to give formulas meaning. Exploratory interviews and…

This guide is designed to assist engineering teachers in developing an understanding of fluid mechanics in their students. The course is designed around a set of nine self-paced learning modules, each of which contains a discussion of the subject matter; incremental objectives; problem index, set and answers; resource materials; and a quiz with…

Describes the construction and use of a rotating-room apparatus. The device has a 48-inch diameter platform, seats four at a table, and rotates at four possible speeds. It is easily transported and erected without special arrangements. (Author/MLH)

Derives Kepler's three laws of planetary motion algebraically from conservation principles without introducing Newton's law of force explicitly. This procedure can be presented to students who have had no more than high school algebra. (Author)

Describes an experiment for the undergraduate electricity and magnetism or mechanics laboratory to investigate free and driven oscillations. The RLC circuit is pulsed with a pulse generator when free oscillation is being studied and is driven with a low-impedance sinusoidal generator when driven oscillation is being studied. (Author/MLH)

Describes a model in which a steel ball bounces in synchronism with a vertically oscillating piston. The period of oscillation can be varied over a 3:1 range with the amplitude kept constant. As the period is increased, the ball bounces higher, contrary to the intuition of most observers. (Author/GS)