Physics Education

The Standard Model of particle physics is one of the most successful theories in physics and describes the fundamental interactions between elementary particles. It is encoded in a compact description, the so-called 'Lagrangian', which even fits on t-shirts and coffee mugs. This mathematical formulation, however, is complex and only rarely makes it into the physics classroom. Therefore, to support high school teachers in their challenging endeavour of introducing particle physics in the classroom, we provide a qualitative explanation of the terms of the Lagrangian and discuss their interpretation based on associated Feynman diagrams.

OpenAI's ChatGPT, a formidable large language model (LLM) based on a generative pre-trained transformer architecture, has a remarkable, and rather unsettling, ability to solve conceptually challenging physics problems. One of the more impressive demonstrations of ChatGPT's capabilities in this regard is its expert-physicist-level performance on the questions that make up the Force Concept Inventory [CG West, https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.01067]. Motivated by the deep implications of these advances in LLM technologies for student learning, attainment, and assessment, we asked a class of undergraduate physics students (N = 119) to use ChatGPT to solve problems, and write Python code, related to the eigenfunctions of the Hamiltonian of the 1D quantum harmonic oscillator—a staple of introductory quantum mechanics courses. We discuss the significant pitfalls we encountered when incorporating ChatGPT into coursework in this manner, and make recommendations as to how LLMs might be better embedded into the undergraduate physics curriculum.

The aim of this work is to design a user-friendly, illustrative, but also sufficiently accurate experimental setup for the measurement and data analysis, specifically for the determination of the thermal conductivity coefficient of a metal sample. The comparative method was chosen for the measurements, the reference sample was made of aluminium and the measured samples were made of steel and bronze. The measurement data evaluation is performed using LabVIEW software. The results correspond to the tabulated values for these materials, the deviations are less than 1.5%. In addition, a thermal camera can be used in the experiment, which makes the measurement even more illustrative. This method can be used, for example, in teaching in physics laboratories in high schools and technical universities.

With the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence (AI), its potential implications for higher education have become a focal point of interest. This study delves into the capabilities of AI in physics education and offers actionable AI policy recommendations. Using openAI's flagship gpt-3.5-turbo large language model (LLM), we assessed its ability to answer 1337 physics exam questions spanning general certificate of secondary education (GCSE), A-Level, and introductory university curricula. We employed various AI prompting techniques: Zero Shot, in context learning, and confirmatory checking, which merges chain of thought reasoning with reflection. The proficiency of gpt-3.5-turbo varied across academic levels: it scored an average of 83.4% on GCSE, 63.8% on A-Level, and 37.4% on university-level questions, with an overall average of 59.9% using the most effective prompting technique. In a separate test, the LLM's accuracy on 5000 mathematical operations was found to be 45.2%. When evaluated as a marking tool, the LLM's concordance with human markers averaged at 50.8%, with notable inaccuracies in marking straightforward questions, like multiple-choice. Given these results, our recommendations underscore caution: while current LLMs can consistently perform well on physics questions at earlier educational stages, their efficacy diminishes with advanced content and complex calculations. LLM outputs often showcase novel methods not in the syllabus, excessive verbosity, and miscalculations in basic arithmetic. This suggests that at university, there's no substantial threat from LLMs for non-invigilated physics questions. However, given the LLMs' considerable proficiency in writing physics essays and coding abilities, non-invigilated examinations of these skills in physics are highly vulnerable to automated completion by LLMs. This vulnerability also extends to pysics questions pitched at lower academic levels. It is thus recommended that educators be transparent about LLM capabilities with their students, while emphasizing caution against overreliance on their output due to its tendency to sound plausible but be incorrect.

It is well known that the work done by a torque, τ, during a small angular displacement $d\theta$ is given by $\tau d\theta$. The same relation applies if a ball is rolling down an incline, even if the torque arises from a static friction force. However, it is usually assumed that the work done by a static friction force is zero.

Changing acceleration and forces are part of the excitement of a roller coaster ride. According to Newton's second law, $\mathbf{F} = m\mathbf{a}$, every part of our body must be exposed to a force to accelerate. Since our bodies are not symmetric, the direction of the force matters, and must be accounted for by ride designers. An additional complication is that not all parts of the body accelerate in the same way when the acceleration is changing, i.e. when there is jerk. Softer parts of the body provide varying levels of damping, and different parts of the body have different frequency responses and different resonance frequencies that should be avoided or reduced by the roller coaster designer. This paper discusses the effect of acceleration, jerk, snap and vibration on the experience and safety of roller coaster rides, using authentic data from a dive coaster as an example.

A simple experiment is described where a uniform block of wood was supported at rest using a ball near one end and a weighing scale at the other end. When the block is inclined at an angle to the horizontal, the problem is similar to that of a ladder leaning against a wall but is easier to describe theoretically.

The short answer section of the final attainment test for the Advanced Physics I course at the University of Newcastle, Australia was investigated for performance bias based on gender. No overall gender bias was discovered, however there was a small to medium bias for the thermal physics topic. No other topics showed any significant difference by gender. A categorization schema for short answer exam questions was developed and revealed a correlation that if questions contain a majority of categories from the schema then no bias will be observed. Bias observed in the Thermal physics topic may be due to a combination of word density and low visual language.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced introductory lab courses to shift to an online format. This implementation involved a shift in emphasis in learning goals towards transferable lab skills and involved a range of activities, including PhET simulations, video data collection, analysis of data sets, and open-ended free response conceptual questions. In this study, we examined student perceptions of aspects of the online lab activities and learning outcomes. We find that synchronous attendance is more likely to produce positive learning outcomes and that activities associated with data analysis are perceived to be more difficult. We discuss structural flaws with the learning management systems that can exacerbate student perceptions.

Understanding rotational physics is often difficult due to abstract concepts like torque, angular momentum, and moments of inertia, along with the required knowledge of trigonometry and calculus. This paper presents how springboard diving and gymnastics offer real-world contexts for students to explore these topics, focusing on non-twisting somersaults in springboard diving. Video analysis, body modelling, and motion analysis are suggested as student activities to deepen their understanding of biomechanics and rotational physics, specifically in estimating body segment inertia parameters and analysing somersaults.

We present the Cosmic Piano, a scintillator-based muon detector designed for scientific outreach and education. The Cosmic Piano consists of modules made up of plastic scintillators with embedded wavelength-shifting fibres and avalanche photodiode readout electronics. The detector produces a musical note and a flash of light whenever a muon passes through one of its modules, providing an intuitive and engaging visualization of particle physics phenomena. Its compact design, ease of use, and adaptability make it a versatile tool for outreach activities and public engagement. The Cosmic Piano has been demonstrated successfully at high-profile events such as the Montreux Jazz Festival and the EuroScience Open Forum. This paper details the design, construction, and operation of the Cosmic Piano, emphasizing its applications in making particle physics accessible to a wider audience.

Measurement of the negative Poisson's ratio by simple tools is demonstrated on Miura pattern, well known example of an auxetic material. The unusual behaviour of Miura origami is shown in contrast of the normal elastic behaviour of materials. Students can easily verify the negative as well as variable values of Poisson's ratio during elastic deformation by simple means.

According to constructivist theory of learning, learners' initial knowledge is fundamental to the learning process. A better understanding of children's mental representations and reasoning strategies at the beginning of their academic education can help us to teach them more effectively. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with groups of 4–5 children from the first, second, third, and fourth grades (from six to nine years old) of primary school in Hajdúnánás, Hungary. Children were asked to tell their opinions about novel problems that were embedded in a short story. The answers and the following discussions were recorded and analysed separately in case of the different grades. Our main goal was to examine if children are activating and using p-prims similar to those observed in older age groups by many researchers while trying to answer these novel problems. By analysing the recordings, we were able to find out that the features of usage of p-prims change with increasing age and because of the science education in schools. We did not find traces of a large and coherent conceptual framework, or naïve theory, but rather different forms of pre-causal reasoning that are more frequent in earlier ages.

We present an educational activity concerning the experimental investigation of the randomness of the coherer effect observed in granular conducting materials. For this purpose, we built different coherers that allowed us to easily measure their electric resistance. The dispersion of the experimental data have been characterized by calculating the mean, standard deviation, and relative standard deviation of the measured values. The histograms have been compared with the corresponding Gaussian distribution function. The proposed experimental activity can be easily carried out in classroom, at secondary and high school physics laboratory. It gives the opportunity to teach/learn concepts concerning topics of electromagnetic wave transmission and detection at an elementary level and also to contribute to increase student's engagements in physics.

We have developed an activity using simulation hardware called the Quantum Teleportation & Superdense Coding toolkit. The toolkit contains classical electronic components, such as circuit boards and cables, that mimic the behaviour of quantum gates. The activity was designed to be accessible to upper-secondary school students who are not familiar with the mathematical formalism often used for teaching quantum mechanics. Groups of upper-secondary school students that have visited our university during outreach initiatives have participated in the activities, and we report on our experiences of introducing the toolkit for this group of students.

We present an educational activity concerning the experimental investigation of the randomness of the coherer effect observed in granular conducting materials. For this purpose, we built different coherers that allowed us to easily measure their electric resistance. The dispersion of the experimental data have been characterized by calculating the mean, standard deviation, and relative standard deviation of the measured values. The histograms have been compared with the corresponding Gaussian distribution function. The proposed experimental activity can be easily carried out in classroom, at secondary and high school physics laboratory. It gives the opportunity to teach/learn concepts concerning topics of electromagnetic wave transmission and detection at an elementary level and also to contribute to increase student's engagements in physics.

We have developed an activity using simulation hardware called the Quantum Teleportation & Superdense Coding toolkit. The toolkit contains classical electronic components, such as circuit boards and cables, that mimic the behaviour of quantum gates. The activity was designed to be accessible to upper-secondary school students who are not familiar with the mathematical formalism often used for teaching quantum mechanics. Groups of upper-secondary school students that have visited our university during outreach initiatives have participated in the activities, and we report on our experiences of introducing the toolkit for this group of students.

Remarkable advances in quantum information science and technology (QIST) have taken place in recent years. However, they have also been accompanied by widespread misinformation. This paper provides suggestions for how educators can help students at all levels and especially early learners including those at the pre-college and college levels learn key QIST concepts so that they are less likely to be misinformed, e.g. by online unvetted resources. We discuss findings from interviews with five college educators, who are quantum researchers, about their views on countering misinformation in QIST and provide suggestions for how educators can help their students learn QIST concepts so that they do not become misinformed.

If two spherical magnets approach each other on a horizontal surface they will be attracted and either collide head-on or end up spinning around each other. In the latter case, the initial linear momentum is converted to angular momentum.

There are currently more than 9000 active satellites orbiting the Earth (2024 ESA Space Environment Report www.esa.int/Space_Safety/Space_Debris/ESA_Space_Environment_Report_2024). Most of them are used for communications: radio, telephony, televisión and internet. Some of them help ships steer a safer course at sea. Others give us warnings about hurricanes and storms, and do the same for forest fires and icebergs. Some more have military applications. Many observation satellites take photographs of the Earth and then send them to a ground station for processing and dissemination. To take photographs it is first necessary to stabilize the satellite, avoiding oscillations or spins. The aim of this article is to show how to stabilize a satellite using the principle of conservation of angular momentum. Only basic knowledge of classical mechanics is necessary to understand how to achieve it. The applied method is especially relevant for the stabilization of small satellites, which are often used by colleges, universities and even some high schools for many different purposes. Pursuing this goal, we will use the motor with a coupled wheel from an old DVD drive, an angular rate sensor and a microcontroller. The experimental results are shown at the end of the article. Additionally there is a video that shows how stabilization takes place.

In order to extend the available sensors of smartphone experiments with cheap microcontroller-based external sensors, the smartphone experimentation app 'phyphox' has been extended with a generic Bluetooth Low Energy interface. Since its application requires an in-depth understanding of the underlying technologies, the direct use of that interface for educational purposes is limited. To avoid this difficulty, the functionality was encapsulated into an Arduino and MicroPython library. With these, also educators and learners with only rudimentary programming knowledge can integrate an app-based interface into microcontroller projects with only few lines of code. This opens a wide range of new learning opportunities, which are described exemplarily.

A pickleball is a hollow plastic ball with many holes in its surface. An interesting question is whether it floats or sinks in water.

Despite significant recent advances in applied nuclear physics (NP) research, the teaching of these topics in high schools has remained largely unchanged and often marginal. We have developed an educational pathway on NPs for high school students that combines active innovative methodologies including puzzles, questionnaires, inclusive teaching, and an inquiry-based learning approach. The content is presented differently from traditional textbooks and established practices. To evaluate the effectiveness of this approach, we implemented the activity in a final-year high school class (13th grade) composed of low-performing students. We present the outcomes of oral examinations, written tests, and satisfaction surveys.

If a spherical magnet is projected at high speed on a horizontal surface, it travels in a straight line path. A more surprising result is that it follows a random path when launched at low speed, due to its interaction with the earth's magnetic field.

This article presents the design and fabrication of an infrared power meter, based on an Arduino Nano and an MLX90614 sensor, intended to be used by school students to carry out the required practical investigating the emission of infrared radiation from different surfaces using a Leslie cube. Results of testing demonstrate that when the Leslie cube is at a temperature of 81 ^∘C, the matt black surface emits 497 W m⁻², while the shiny metal surface emits only 57 W m⁻². With a low material cost of around $40 and straightforward assembly, this device offers a practical solution for schools. Additionally, it can be easily adapted for other purposes, such as temperature data logging.