In an earlier article I argued that much of what used to be called "modern physics" stems from the intersection of two earlier technologies: high vacuum and high voltage. In this article I will discuss the induction coil, invented in the 1830s, reinvented in the second half of the 19th century, and still used today to produce the high…

Nearly everyone, including physics students, finds rainbows to be fascinating and much has been written about them. For example, in a 2020 paper, Kenneth Ford sets forth the basic theory of rainbows created by water droplets at the level of geometric optics and uses a graphical approach to address the question of the relative intensities of the…

In this note, the classical Doppler shift for some accelerated mechanical systems is considered under a common graphical approach. In one dimension, we study uniform accelerated motion and simple harmonic motion. In two dimensions, uniform circular motion and pendular motion are considered. In each case, an elementary treatment shows that the…

The most important question for anyone born in London is 'Are you a Cockney?' Only those born within the sound of Bow bells can truthfully answer the question with a resounding 'yes.' 'Cockney' is a term of pride in the heart of the East End, an area recently made internationally famous to a new audience due to the global success of the TV series…

Friction is one of the most important forces studied in classical mechanics, and still is the subject of pedagogical literature. In a small series of problems stated below, we consider a particle sliding down a curve under the actions of gravity and kinetic friction. Unlike many of the referenced sources, we neglect the centripetal force arising…

This ethnographic cross-case study examines five teachers' year-long efforts to implement practice-based physics instruction within the unique organizational context of a no-excuses charter network. The teachers were attempting to adapt their didactic, rigid, and compliance-based instructional approach to include more opportunities for students to…

Quantitative reasoning is an essential learning objective of physics instruction. The Physics Inventory for Quantitative Literacy (PIQL) is a published assessment tool that has been developed for calculus-based physics courses to help instructors evaluate whether their students learn to reason this way. However, the PIQL is not appropriate for the…

Empowering students with a robust Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education, while equipping their teachers with comprehensive training, fosters critical thinking and problem-solving skills, which are important aspects of innovation, social progress, and advancement. The main objective of this study is to investigate how a…

Our research focused on empirically documenting the STEM education research perceptions and practices of K-12 physics teachers in Kazakhstan. We explored how the teachers perceived and engaged with STEM educational research while implementing integrated STEM instruction and content. We recruited 50 physics teachers from a population of teachers…

This study aimed at evaluating how students perceive the linguistic quality and scientific accuracy of ChatGPT responses to physics comprehension questions. A total of 102 first- and second-year physics students were confronted with three questions of progressing difficulty from introductory mechanics (rolling motion, waves, and fluid dynamics).…

Students experience many difficulties learning the fundamental relationships in Newtonian mechanics, partly due to preexisting mental models that originate from their everyday lives. These preconceptions often persist even after instruction in mechanics and lead to a supposed incompatibility between physics lessons in school and personal…

Ballet dancers are exposed to the high likelihood of lower extremity injury due to repeated high-impact jumps under stringent ballet rules. The injury incidences occurring in dancers during jump landings are highly associated with excessive vertical ground reaction forces (vGRF) and the sharp loading rate (LR). The aim of this study was to compare…

Humanizing engineering education is a research-based way to help students understand the origin of concepts and the people who contributed to the field's development. This case study explores an experimental intervention to improve engineering undergraduate student knowledge and interest in fluid mechanics. The intervention incorporates the…

Physicists engage with the public to varying degrees at different stages of their careers. However, their public engagement covers many activities, events, and audiences, making their motivations and professional development needs not well understood. As part of ongoing efforts to build and support a community in the informal physics space, we…

The study outlines the early-stage development of a free-response General Relativity Concept Inventory (GRCI), an educational instrument designed to test for conceptual understanding of General Relativity. Data were collected for the study by having 26 participants from General Relativity courses work through the questions on the GRCI. Interviews…