Large gender gaps in performance on questions involving projectile motion have been observed at high school and university level, even amongst high-achieving students. This gap is particularly problematic because projectile motion is typically one of the first topics formally taught in physics, and this may give girls an inappropriately negative…

A simple experiment, suitable for performing in an undergraduate physics laboratory, illustrates electromagnetic induction through the water entering into a cylindrical rubber tube by detecting the voltage developed across the tube in the direction transverse both to the flow velocity and to the magnetic field. The apparatus is a very simple…

At our university, students in introductory physics classes perform a laboratory exercise to measure the range of a projectile fired at an assigned angle. A set of photogates is used to determine the initial velocity of the projectile (the launch velocity). We noticed a systematic deviation between the experimentally measured range and the range…

An approximate scheme for obtaining the period of a simple pendulum for large-amplitude oscillations is analysed and discussed. When students express the exact frequency or the period of a simple pendulum as a function of the oscillation amplitude, and they are told to expand this function in a Taylor series, they always do so using the…

An analytic approximation of the solution to the differential equation describing the oscillations of a simple pendulum at large angles and with initial velocity is discussed. In the derivation, a sinusoidal approximation has been applied, and an analytic formula for the large-angle period of the simple pendulum is obtained, which also includes…

An anharmonic solution to the differential equation describing the oscillations of a simple pendulum at large angles is discussed. The solution is expressed in terms of functions not involving the Jacobi elliptic functions. In the derivation, a sinusoidal expression, including a linear and a Fourier sine series in the argument, has been applied.…

This paper is concerned with improvements in some exact formulae for the period of the simple pendulum problem. Two recently presented formulae are re-examined and refined rationally, yielding more accurate approximate periods. Based on the improved expressions here, a particular new formula is proposed for the period. It is shown that the derived…

Based on relativistic velocity addition and the conservation of momentum and energy, I present simple derivations of the expressions for the relativistic momentum and kinetic energy of a particle, and for the formula E = mc[superscript 2]. (Contains 5 footnotes and 2 figures.)

The topic of coupled oscillations is rich in physical content which is both interesting and complex. The study of the time evolution of coupled oscillator systems involves a mathematical formalization beyond the level of the upper secondary school student's competence. Here, we present an original approach, suitable even for secondary students, to…

Introducing a four-vector strain and a four-force stress, Hooke's law is written as a four-vector equation. This formulation is shown to clarify seemingly paradoxical results in connection with uniformly accelerated motion, and rotational motion with angular acceleration. (Author/JN)

Demonstrates that the observed path of a particle in quantum mechanics is a fractal curve with Hausdorff dimension two. (Author/JN)

Explores the basic physical laws of the juggling activity. Derives some equations involving height, angle, time, and distance for common juggling objects. Describes the relationships among height, length, mass, number of clubs, number of spins, angular velocity, time, and angle in club juggling. (YP)

Describes making a cardboard frog. Discusses the physics of various motions of the frog. Provides diagrams showing how to make the frog, the motions, and the mechanics formulas. (YP)