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All documents are available in MS Word (.doc) format or Adobe (.pdf) format. As always, documents can be viewed with a left mouse-click or downloaded with a right mouse-click (recommended). If you need a copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the PDF files, one can be obtained from the link on the left.
All labs are considered a work in progress, so any comments, suggestions, or modifications are welcome. Feel free to send any modifications to Mike MacMahon for further review, or post your comments in the Physics Teacher Forum.
Trig Preview
A simple worksheet to introduce students to trigonometry.
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Determine the Volume of the Classroom
A laboratory exercise that serves as an excellent introduction to measurement and physics.
This lab is intended as a first day of class activity, to motivate students to participate
in class and further laboratory excercises.
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Roung Things and Their Slope
By measuring the diameter (distance across the center) and circumference (distance around
the outer edge) of several numbered sections of round pipe, we investigate the relationships
that exist between circumference and diameter for round objects. Measuring skills and graphing
techniques will also be explored. This lab can serve as a good introduction to the Graphical
Analysis software. Also, this lab can be utilized very early in the school year, and is beneficial
even without the use of the computer.
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The Shape of Things to Come
A good lab to introduce the Science Workshop software. Allows students review the relationship
between position, velocity, and acceleration. The software is set up to simultaneously plot the
time evolution of all three quantities.
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or .pdf
Vector Addition
Utilizing graphical methods, construct the components of a vector. Then combine
the components to form the resultant and the equilibriant. The resultant of the two or more
vectors is found by drawing a vector from the tail of the first vector to the head
of the second vector. Use the Pythagorean theorem to find the length of the hypotenuse
(magnitude of the resultant), and the tangent function to find the direction (angle) of the
resultant. An equlilibrant has the same magnitude as the resultant above, but is pointed in
the opposite direction. Students are then encouraged to explore their graphical results on
a force table.
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Vector Addition Answers
Answers for the vector addition problems in the Vector Addition lab.
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Force Table Setup Guide for Students and Teachers
Step-by-step instructions for assembly and use of the force tables utilized in the Vector Addition lab. It is suggested that students solve force problems mathematically (or graphically) before using the force tables.
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Projectile Studies
A ball that has been launched horizontally as a projectile moves across the room and is acted upon initially by the launcher and while it is in the air it falls downwards because of the gravitational attraction for the ball and the earth. Once the ball leaves the launcher, the launcher is not able to exert any force on the ball. The ball accelerates downwards because of the gravitational attraction. The time that the ball will be in the air depends not on how fast it was launched but on how high it was launched from. The horizontal distance the ball travels depends both on the horizontal velocity and the time the ball remains in the air.The purpose of this lab is to determine the muzzle velocity with which a projectile is launched. The students will also attempt to verify that objects in free fall take the same amount of time to hit the ground as objects fired from the same height with some horizontal velocity.
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Horsepower Club Lab
One horsepower is defined as the amount of force that a standard horse can exert in doing useful work. In that standard horses are not as common today as one hundred years ago, we often define a horsepower as: 1 Horsepower = 746 Watts. Recall that a watt is defined as 1 Joule of work done in one second 1 W = J/s. A joule is defined as 1 Newton of force acting through a distance of 1 meter 1 J = Nm. Here we will measure the horsepower of humans, with the goal of each student generating one horsepower.
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Newton's Second Law
Add-on data table to the PASCO's Second Law lab.
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On a Roll
How is the acceleration of a car rolling down a hill affected by the steepness of the hill? If a car is allowed to roll down a hill, its velocity tends to increase as it traverses the slope. The steeper the hill , the faster the car accelerates as it moves down the hill. On a flat (horizontal ) surface, or slopeless hill, a car will remain still, acceleration = 0. For a free fall (vertical) drop where the wheels of the car do not touch the hillside and air resistance is so small as to be negligible, the acceleration will equal that of gravity. Varying the angle of the slope changes the acceleration of the car. This lab also explores the effects of changing the angle of slope during this experience.
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Coefficient of Sliding Friction
This lab is designed to explore forces on an inclined plane. The students will attempt to determine the coefficient of sliding friction for wood on aluminum, and try to determine the critical angle for the metal ramp provided.
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Momentum Studies
Momentum, p, is a vector quantity that is in the direction of the velocity. The magnitude the momentum of an object can be calculated by multiplying the mass of the object by its speed: p = m v. The total momentum of more than one object is the vector sum of the individual momenti. The purpose of this lab is to verify the Law of Conservation of Momentum. The law states that for a closed system, the total momentum remains the same. A closed system is one where no forces enter or leave the system. In this excercise, three situations will be examined: a) two carts moved apart by the action of a compressed spring (plunger), b) a collision between two carts that do not stick together after colliding, c) a collision between two carts that stick together after colliding.
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Momentum Studies Data Table I
The first of two accompanying tables for the Momentum Studies lab.
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Momentum Studies Data Table II
The second of two accompanying tables for the Momentum Studies lab.
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Measuring Wavelength of Red and Blue Light
Electromagnetic waves are distinguished by their different wavelengths (or frequencies). In visible light, these differences in wavelength account for different colors. As light travels though a double-slit, it is diffracted. Constructive and destructive interference accounts for the pattern of alternating bright and dark lines. The first bright line on either side of the bright central line (also called the zeroth order line) is called the 1st order line (node); the second, the 2nd order line, etc. Here we will be measuring the distance between the central and first nodes for red and blue light in order to determine their corresponding wavelength.
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Resonance and the Speed of Sound
Standing waves can be set up to occur in a stretched spring if the length of the spring and the wavelength of the vibration are matched so that a node is present at the ends of the spring during vibration.. Similarly, standing waves can be set up in a hollow tube if sound waves wavelength is matched to the tubes length so that a node is produced at the end of the tube. If the tube's length is matched to the sounds wavelength so that a node is produced at tube's closed end and an anti-node is produced at the other open tube end, an increase in the amplitude of the sound is observed. This increase in amplitude occurs because the wave being reflected back from the closed end of the tube meets (or interferes) with another wave traveling towards it. We call this observed increase in volume of the sound resonance. Such increases in the amplitude and the associated distances of the resonant points can be used to determine the wavelength of the sound. For a tube closed at one end and open at the other end, resonance occurs at odd numbered quarter wavelengths of the incident sound. Knowing the frequency of the sound and determining its wavelength allow us, in this experiment, to determine the velocity of sound in air.
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Snell's Law
Snell's law is one of the fundamental laws of physics. Snell experimented with light passing through different media and developed a relationship called Snell's law, which can be used to find the angle of refraction for light traveling between any two media. An important property of transparent substances is the index of refraction. As light passes between air (high speed of light and low index of refraction) and glass (lower speed of light and higher index of refraction), the light rays are bent toward normal (perpendicular). Conversely, when light passes from the glass to the air, the light rays are bent away from normal. We will be measuring the angles at which light enters and leaves the glass or plastic in order to determine the index of refraction of each material.
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Too Small to be Seen, Too Large to be Ignored
This lab serves as an inquiry into Ohm's law and the properties of electrical resistance. Students will explore volts, current, and resistance in parallel and series circuits. Each student will have the opportunity to build and test their own circuit on the circuit board provided.
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Electrical Equivalent of Heat
The purpose of this activity is to heat water and to show that the energy given off by a heating resistor in the water is equal to the energy absorbed by the water. This process is referred to as Joule Heating. From conservation of energy the electrical equivalent of heat can be found. The amount of electrical energy delivered to and dissipated by the heating resistor over a known time interval is measured and calculated. This electrical energy is compared to the amount of thermal energy needed to increase the temperature of a measured sample of water. Analysis of these two quantities (the electrical energy delivered to the resistor and the amount of energy needed to increase the temperature of the water) will be used to determine the electrical equivalent of heat.
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Spectrum Tube Ordering Information
Recommended contact information for ordering your own spectrum tubes.
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