This article describes an experiment that measures the forces acting on a flying bird during takeoff. The experiment uses a minimum of equipment and only an elementary knowledge of kinematics and Newton's second law. The experiment involves first digitally videotaping a bird during takeoff, analyzing the video to determine the bird's position as a…

A camcorder can be a powerful tool in pedagogical settings, such as in an introductory physics course or in introducing undergraduates to data collection. In this paper, we discuss our experience using a Panasonic PV-GS150 digital camcorder to analyze the motion of a falling steel ball, with the goal of determining the acceleration due to gravity,…

Computer games such as Unreal Tournament (UT2004 and UT3) contain a "physics engine" responsible for producing believable dynamic interactions between players and objects in the three-dimensional (3D) virtual world of a game. Through a series of probing experiments we have evaluated the fidelity and internal consistency of the UT2004 physics…

We developed an alternative electrophilic aromatic substitution reaction for the organic chemistry teaching laboratory. The experiment is an electrophilic iodination reaction of salicylamide, a popular analgesic, using environmentally friendly reagents--sodium iodide and household bleach. Further, we designed the lab as a guided-inquiry…

We present a novel first-year chemistry laboratory experiment that connects solubility, equilibrium, and chemical periodicity concepts. It employs a unique format that asks students to replicate experiments described in different sample lab reports, each lacking some essential information, rather than follow a scripted procedure. This structure is…

Attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy is a useful technique for measuring the infrared spectra of solids and liquids as well as probing adsorption on particle surfaces. Several examples of the use of FTIR-ATR spectroscopy in different undergraduate chemistry laboratory courses are presented here. These…

Equipment for demonstrating Newton's third law and the energy conservation law in mechanics have successfully been constructed utilizing fine spherical plastic beads in place of metal ball bearings. To demonstrate Newton's third law, special magnetized Petri dishes were employed as objects, while to examine the energy conservation law, a…

Sea ice in the polar regions plays a key role in both regulating global climate and maintaining marine ecosystems. The international Sea Ice Physics and Ecosystem eXperiment (SIPEX) explored the sea ice zone around Antarctica in September and October 2007, investigating relationships between the physical sea ice environment and the structure of…

A microscale experiment is presented in which cyclohexene is dihydroxylated under three sets of conditions: epoxidation-hydrolysis, permanganate oxidation, and the Woodward dihydroxylation. The products of the reactions are determined by the use of thin-layer chromatography. Teams of students are presented with proposed mechanisms for each…

One of the principles of sustainable development is to replace chemicals traditionally derived from oil with alternative, renewable materials. For example, phenol and phenol derivatives currently used in the manufacture of wood adhesives can be replaced (at least in part) by biopolymers extracted from biomass. In this work, pine bark (a renewable…

In this article a potentiometric method for reducing sugar quantification is described. Copper(II) ion reacts with the reducing sugar (glucose, fructose, and others), and the excess is quantified using a copper wire indicator electrode. In order to accelerate the kinetics of the reaction, working conditions such as pH and temperature must be…

An undergraduate biochemistry laboratory experiment that will teach the technique of fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) while analyzing protein-induced DNA bending is described. The experiment uses the protein TATA binding protein (TBP), which is a general transcription factor that recognizes and binds specific DNA sequences known as…

For curriculum content-related reasons, inquiry activities can be difficult in classrooms unless the activities are approached in a manner that makes variations among student group findings understandable in the context of the study. Studies of individual animals and plant reactions to stimuli, such as insect exploratory behavior, allow the…

The most recent data on stars orbiting Sagittarius A*, the black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy, have been used in an experiment undertaken by second-year university students to determine the distance R[theta] to the center of the galaxy. Students applied each of Kepler's 17th-century laws, in turn, to 21st-century data. The…

Magnetic braking is a long-established application of Lenz's law. A rigorous analysis of the laws governing this problem involves solving Maxwell's equations in a time-dependent situation. Approximate models have been developed to describe different experimental results related to this phenomenon. In this paper we present a new method for the…