A solid ball placed on a rotating turntable is known to roll slowly around a circular path, at a speed 3.5 times slower than the turnable itself. If the ball is located in a straight track across a diameter of the turntable, then it accelerates rapidly to the edge. Both effects were filmed in slow motion using a video camera and a cake decoration…

The falling rod paradox, i.e. the fact that the tip of an almost horizontal rod falls with an acceleration 'higher than g', when the other end is hinged or supported, is a popular physics demonstration. It can be visualized by placing e.g. a coin on the tip of the rod and fixing a cup next to the coin. When the rod is released the free-falling…

A quantitative experiment where we measure the acceleration of spheres of radius "R" rolling on an inclined U-shaped profile of width "2D" is presented. For a given inclination, we examine the behaviour of four solid spheres having different diameters; in contrast to what is usually assumed to be the case, the experimental…

The vertical bounce of a plastic egg was investigated by dropping the egg on a horizontal surface and filming the result with a video camera. If the egg is dropped on one end then it bounces just like a spherical ball. If the top end of the egg is pointing forwards or backwards when it lands on the surface, or if the egg is spinning when it lands,…

Viscous and Coulomb's friction combined contribute to the damping of a pendulum; however, they are usually treated as a silo effect. In this study, we investigate the combination of viscous and Coulomb damping in compound pendulum oscillation, employing two modern instruments that are cheap and handy to quantify the experiments, which are video…

In this paper is presented a pilot study for the investigation of the relevant factors within some experimental works carried out by students, after going through the learning unit "Movement and rest", which can be found in the chapter "Principles and laws in classical mechanics", from the physics curriculum for the ninth grade…

A simple experiment for students is to measure the coefficient of restitution (COR) for a vertical bounce on a horizontal surface. In this paper, measurements are presented of the COR for a tennis ball bouncing at an oblique angle on a horizontal surface. Changes in the horizontal and rotation speeds were also measured, by filming the bounce with…

Dark matter is one of the most intriguing scientific mysteries of our time and offers exciting instructional opportunities for physics education in high schools. The topic is likely to engage and motivate students in the classroom and allows addressing open questions of the Standard Model of particle physics. Although the empirical evidence of…

The pendulum was an important scientific instrument in the 17th century. It became a typical textbook problem in the 18th century. After the introduction of vectors in physics in the 1890s, the pendulum problem started to be progressively solved in the manner we know nowadays from introductory mechanics courses. Starting from "F = ma"…

The real-time graphing of simple harmonic motion of mass on springs with an Arduino based on an experiment set for teaching and learning physics in high schools where students can learn from real experiences. The objectives of this study are to create and develop a real-time measurement for vertical oscillations of mass on springs using the…

The dynamic study of pendulum systems is considered an indispensable subject for physics and mechanics students in colleges and high schools. In this paper, a detailed methodology is given concerning the use of smartphones in pedagogical practical work for studying the dynamics of pendulum systems. Whereas, three aspects have been discussed…

We report the findings of an empirical study that investigated whether the source of data--firsthand or secondhand data gained from lab work experiments--has an influence on students' learning outcomes. Results indicate that students' choice of a correct or incorrect hypothesis for a pendulum lab experiment on the influence of the mass of the bob…

In this paper, we present a novel dynamical approach to teach circular motion. According to the principle of inertia, objects without external influences move in a uniform and straight way. With a kick, one can turn the motion towards one side. By successively continuing these turns, a complete circle can be reached. With the help of standard…

Physics instructors recognize the value of kinesthetic experience in learning fundamental physics concepts. We describe a kinesthetic experiment appropriate for both college and high school physics students. The experiment helps students achieve an intuitive understanding of Newton's second law in a way they find quite enjoyable. It was devised by…

The relative speed concept was chosen since it is linked with the relative nature of motion and it is likely that the students would harbor many alternative conceptions about it. The research objective was to identify the various ways students conceive relative motion. Qualitative data collected in various forms of representation received a…