Dynamic and static representations of two-dimensional motion serve to illustrate the possession of persistently incorrect views about Newtonian mechanics among adolescents and adults alike. Several aspects of these views are demonstrated to be strikingly similar to historically held theories, and to arise from perceptual features of motion that…

The interaction of a conductor with a time-dependent magnetic field is an important topic of electromagnetic theory. A computerized classroom demonstration shows how the eddy currents induced in the rotor of an induction motor cause its rotation or braking. Both phenomena are directly related to Lenz's law.

Many simple experiments can be performed in the classroom to explore the physics of vision. Students can learn of the two types of receptive cells (rods and cones), their distribution on the retina and the existence of the blind spot.

This article illustrates how the overhead projector can be used as a light source in some peculiar ways for physics demonstrations. Five examples are included: (1) Study of chromatic aberration; (2) Making giant Newton's rings; (3) Comparison of the rate of heat absorption by different surfaces; (4) Demonstration of greenhouse effect; and (5)…

The importance of the mathematical notion of concavity in relation to thermodynamics is stressed and it is shown how it can be useful in increasing the enthusiasm of physics' students for their mathematics' courses.

An integral, either definite or improper, cannot always be computed by elementary methods, such as reversed usage of differentiation formulae. Graphical properties, in particular symmetries, can be useful to compute the integral, via an auxiliary computation. We present graded examples, then prove a general result. (Contains 4 figures.)

The heat capacity of an ideal gas has been shown to be calculable directly by statistical mechanics if the energies of the quantum states are known. However, unless one makes careful calculations, it is not easy for a student to understand the qualitative results. Why there are maxima (and occasionally minima) in heat capacity-temperature curves…

Through the importance of the number three in our culture and the strange preference for a ternary pattern of our nature one can perceive how and why number theory degraded to numerology. The strong preference of our minds for simple patterns can be read as the key to understanding not only the development of numerology, but also why scientists…

Of the forces commonly encountered when solving problems in Newtonian mechanics, introductory texts usually limit illustrations of the definitions of conservative and nonconservative forces to gravity, spring forces, kinetic friction and fluid resistance. However, at the expense of very little class time, the question of whether each of the common…

The concept of interaction that underlies Newton's Laws of Motion is compared with the students' commonsense ideas of force and motion. An approach to teaching Newton's Third Law of Motion is suggested that focuses on refining the student's intuitive thinking on the nature of interaction.

Electromagnetic phenomena and devices such as motors are typically unfamiliar to both teachers and students. To better visualize and illustrate the abstract concepts (such as magnetic fields) underlying electricity and magnetism, we suggest that students construct and analyse the operation of a simply constructed Johnson electric motor. In this…

Albert Einstein's theory of the Brownian motion, Marian von Smoluchowski's heuristic model, and Perrin's experimental results helped to bring the concept of molecules from a state of being a useful hypothesis in chemistry to objects existing in reality. Central to the theory of Brownian motion is the relation between mean particle displacement and…

This article outlines the history of the high school "general biology" course and details how biology came to be placed first in the traditional order of science subjects (biology-chemistry-physics). The article briefly discusses the implications of the development of this sequence for the present day biology course.

This study examined science textbooks over time to better understand the "science content" expectations that the U.S. educational system deems appropriate for 8th and 9th grade science students. The study attempted to answer the questions: (1) What specific science content has been presented via the textbook from 1952 to 2008? (2) Within…

We investigated whether and how prior knowledge activation improves learning outcomes for high school (less experienced learners) and university students (experienced learners) in a hypertext environment. Map coherence was defined as the extent to which relationships between the concepts in the map were made explicit. Therefore, we classified the…