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We present a number of simple demonstration experiments recorded with high-speed cameras in the fields of gas dynamics and thermal physics. The experiments feature relatively slow combustion processes of pure hydrogen as well as fast reactions involving oxy–hydrogen in a stoichiometric mixture.

An active learning sequence based on the predict–observe–explain teaching strategy is applied to a lesson on buoyant force. The results obtained clearly justify the use of this teaching method and suggest devising a series of activities to enable more effective removal of students' commonly held alternative conceptions regarding floating and sinking.

Research has shown that students have difficulty understanding the underlying process of the photoelectric effect. Thus, this study sought to utilize an inductively situated lesson for teaching the photoelectric effect, hypothesizing that this type of enquiry would help learners delve deeper into the principles of the phenomenon and provide a better background for its quantification. The lesson was conducted with a group of fifteen high-school physics students and a computerized simulated experiment was utilized as the medium for instruction. Students' responses to a qualitative question about the role of a battery in the photoelectric circuit supported the hypothesis that the lesson was a valuable learning experience. This paper presents an outline for the inductively reasoned learning process.

We have developed an exciting non-traditional experiment for our introductory physics laboratories to help students to understand the principle of conservation of angular momentum. We used electric toy cars moving along a long rotating rod. As the cars move towards the centre of the rod, the angular velocity of this system increases. Alternatively, when the cars move away from the axis of the rotating rod, the angular velocity of the system decreases. This allows the students to grasp the striking effects of the conservation of the system's angular momentum. The experiment illustrates the physical laws underlying fascinating natural phenomena and processes such as the origin of neutron star rotation, the motion of planets and the reaction of a helicopter body to the rotation of its blades. In addition, the effect of air resistance on the angular velocity is measured and discussed in detail, as it adds a significant component of realism to the experiment. Realism is often ignored in traditional experiments of this kind. Even though the air resistance effect is minor, we tackled it in our experiment and found it too substantial to be ignored. It is very enlightening for the students to see the reality of air resistance and it will help them to develop a critical approach to the idealized pictures often used in physics. Our experiment is simple and can be implemented in any introductory physics laboratory at little cost.

Measurements are presented on the rise of a spinning egg. It was found that the spin, the angular momentum and the kinetic energy all decrease as the egg rises, unlike the case of a ballerina who can increase her spin and kinetic energy by reducing her moment of inertia. The observed effects can be explained, in part, in terms of rolling friction between the egg and the surface on which it spins.

Research in science education has recognized the importance of teaching atomic structure within a history and philosophy of science perspective. The objective of this study is to evaluate general physics textbooks published in Korea based on the eight criteria developed in previous research. The result of this study shows that Korean general physics textbooks often lack detail about the history and philosophy of science. This result is quite similar to those published for the USA. Furthermore, chemistry textbooks published in the USA, Turkey and Venezuela are quite similar to the physics textbooks. This is a cause for concern as textbooks present theories as facts and ignore the historical reconstructions based on the development of scientific theories that frequently involve controversies and conflicts among scientists. The inclusion of historical reconstructions of ideas about atomic structure can provide students with a better appreciation of the dynamics of scientific progress.

This paper deals with the comparison of sound speed measurements in air using two types of sensor that are widely employed in physics and engineering education, namely a pressure sensor and a sound sensor. A computer-based laboratory with pressure and sound sensors was used to carry out measurements of air through a 60 ml syringe.

The fast Fourier transform (FFT) was used to find the fundamental frequency of the air column in the syringe, which can be used to calculate the sound speed for the sound sensor case. Meanwhile, for the pressure sensor case the time interval between the first peak and the nth peak of the periodic variation in pressure due to the sound wave travelling up and down the syringe was determined. The obtained average values of the sound velocity in air for the pressure sensor and the sound sensor were 340.9±3 m s⁻¹ and 346.7 ± 3 m s⁻¹, with errors of 0.6% and 1.1%, respectively, compared to the accepted value of 343 m s⁻¹ at room temperature.

We develop an Easy Java Simulation (EJS) model for students to visualize geostationary orbits near Earth, modelled using a Java 3D implementation of the EJS 3D library. The simplified physics model is described and simulated using a simple constant angular velocity equation. We discuss four computer model design ideas: (1) a simple and realistic 3D view and associated learning in the real world; (2) comparative visualization of permanent geostationary satellites; (3) examples of non-geostationary orbits of different rotation senses, periods and planes; and (4) an incorrect physics model for conceptual discourse. General feedback from the students has been relatively positive, and we hope teachers will find the computer model useful in their own classes.

A handheld emitter–receiver device suitable for the direct estimation of the velocity of radio waves in air is presented. The velocity of radio waves is measured using the direct time-of-flight method, without the need for any tedious and precise settings. The results for two measurement series are reported. Both sets of results give an estimate of the velocity of radio waves in air that is within an error of 16% of the accepted value. The method can be used with success during a field-trip or picnic and it is appropriate for both high-school and university-level student projects.

By introducing the mathematical concept of orientation, the significance of the minus sign in Faraday's law may be made clear to students with some knowledge of vector calculus. For many students, however, the traditional approach of treating the law as a relationship between positive scalars and of relying on Lenz's law to provide the information on the direction of the induced electromotive force may be a preferable pedagogical practice.

Although high school physics students solve problems using the expression E = mc², the origin of this expression and its deep conceptual meaning are hardly ever discussed due to students' limited prior knowledge. In 1946, a year after the atomic bombs were first dropped, Albert Einstein published a popular scientific paper explaining the equivalence between mass and energy to the general public and the implications of this principle for our daily lives. This paper describes the utilization of Einstein's paper in a high-school physics lesson on the equivalence of mass and energy, and discusses the instructional affordances of discussing exemplary popular scientific texts in a physics lesson.

With real particle collision data available on the web, the amazing dynamics of the fundamental particles of the standard model can be explored in classrooms. Complementing the events from the ATLAS experiment with animations of the fundamental processes on the quark and gluon level makes it possible to better understand the invisible world of particles and how the Higgs particle is produced in high-energy proton–proton collisions at the CERN Large Hadron Collider.

With the recent discovery of a new particle at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) the Higgs boson could be about to be discovered. This paper provides a brief summary of the standard model of particle physics and the importance of the Higgs boson and field in that model for non-specialists. The role of Feynman diagrams in making predictions for interactions via the electromagnetic, strong and weak forces is also discussed. Finally, an educational tool (Minerva), which provides access to LHC collision data from the ATLAS experiment, is briefly described.

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