As part of the "Car Lab Project," students constructed rubber band cars, raced them, and worked through a number of automotive activities. The students engaged in this project certainly had fun, but they also used high-tech gear such as motion sensors and graphing calculators to gather data on the distance and time cars traveled and to generate…

This project description is designed to show how graphing calculators and calculator-based laboratories (CBL) can be used to explore topics in the physics of sound. The activities address topics such as sound waves, musical notes, and chords. Teaching notes, calculator instructions, and blackline masters are included. (MM)

Presents four examples of physics problems that can be solved with a graphing calculator. Problems included deal with motion, harmonic oscillations, sound waves, and blackbody radiation. (JRH)

Uses a TI-82 graphics calculator to model the air drag of plastic, wood, cork, and foam balls during projectiles experiments. Provides equations and typical data table. (MVL)

Explains how the graphing calculator can be used in simulations of physics experiments and how its use for plotting graphs requires a shift in emphasis from obtaining an experimental result to evaluating that result. (DDR)

Describes the use of the TI-82 graphics calculator as an intermediate step in introducing computers to the high-school physics lab. Discusses linking the calculator with other machines so that students can save data, enter programs on a computer and later download to the calculator, and transfer graphs to a computer for printing. (JRH)

Presents examples of experiments designed for high school students with the help of a microcomputer-based laboratory called Explorer. Argues that these tools enable students to investigate many principles of physics that were not feasible in the past. (DDR)