All too often middle school students equate density with one object simply being "heavier" than another. Even if students are able to accurately calculate the density of an object, that doesn't necessarily mean that they fully understand the concept of density as the ratio of mass to volume. To help change this misconception and more fully…

The study investigated variant and invariant physics teaching patterns across time and topics. It is assumed that the analysis perspective is decisive for identifying variant and invariant teaching patterns. Therefore, we focused on three perspectives: (1) organization of activities, (2) quality of teacher--student interactions, and (3) students'…

An experiment is performed to measure the relative gas-phase basicities of a series of five amino acids to compare the results to literature values. The experiments use the kinetic method for deriving ion thermochemistry and allow students to perform accurate measurements of thermodynamics in a relatively short time.

The similar problems faced by the physics and chemistry teachers are described. The issue of cheating on tests in the classroom can be addressed by the teachers by comparing methods for monitoring the classroom behavior.

Investigates the effectiveness of inquiry-based teaching modules for instructing high school physics students. All modules were in accordance with the South Carolina High School Science standards. Results indicate a significant increase in knowledge level as shown as the difference score between pre- and post-test results. (Author/NB)

Most serious rock climbers are familiar with a counter-intuitive fact about their sport: The force experienced by a falling climber due to the rope as it arrests his fall does not depend simply on the length of the fall, but rather on a ratio called the fall-factor. This article explains, using elementary physics and simple differential equations,…

In his famous quadrature of the parabola, Archimedes found the area of the region bounded by a parabola and a chord. His method was to fill the region with infinitely many triangles each of whose area he could calculate. In his solution, he stated, without proof, three preliminary propositions about parabolas that were known in his time, but are…

Experiments with the simple pendulum are easy, but its motion is nevertheless confounded with simple harmonic motion. However, refined theoretical models of the pendulum can, today, be easily taught using software like CALCODE. Similarly, the cycloidal pendulum is isochronous only in simplified theory. But what "are" theoretically equal intervals…

The capsule histories of physics that students learn in their physics courses stem basically, I believe, from a linear view of history--that physicists in making fundamental discoveries follow a Royal Road to them, as Hermann von Helmholtz put it in 1892. The actual routes they follow, however, are generally nonlinear, and when historians display…

Galileo changed the very concepts or categories by which natural philosophy could deal with matter and motion. Central to these changes was his introduction of time as a fundamental concept. He worked with the pendulum and with the inclined plane to discover his new concept of motion. Both of these showed him that acceleration and time were…

We begin with the pendulum and the curious authority of the expression for the period of its swing,T = 2[pi][image omitted]l/g. That this is not an empirical result--[pi]$ is an irrational number--leads to an examination of the nature of physics. In the course of things, we come to Plato's critique of poetry in "The Republic" and the fundamental…

Not only are rubber bands great for binding objects together, but they can be used in a simple science experiment that involves predicting, problem solving, measuring, graphing, and experimenting. In this article, the author describes how rubber bands can be used to teach the force of mass.

In track and field, gravity and air resistance act on the hammer after it has been released. Both of these forces depend on altitude and latitude. In addition, air resistance also depends on wind, temperature, humidity, and barometric pressure. Often, air resistance and varying gravity throughout the earth are not considered when throwing…

In the activity described in this article, students will explore how variables in a first-class lever, specifically arm length, position of the fulcrum, and placement of the load, affect the effort needed to lift the load. To begin the lesson, demonstrate to the class how a first-class lever works and review what is meant by the terms fulcrum,…

This paper outlines an innovative education project that, by using a cutting-edge racing car physics simulation, will help create the next generation of engineers. The article gives an overview of this genre of games to give a background to the non-games expert. It also identifies key educational methodologies that have helped to form the goals of…