Teaching special relativity to lower-division students is challenging because results such as time dilation, length contraction, and frame dependence of simultaneity are counterintuitive. The literature is extensive, so only a brief list is given here, with articles divided roughly between discussions of general principles and calculations applied…

A loop-the-loop experiment usually involves a ball rolling around a vertical loop. A different version of the experiment is described where a nut was allowed to slide around a vertical loop. In both experiments there is a large decrease in kinetic energy when the ball or the nut first enters the loop.

A collision of one object with two or more objects is relatively complicated in general, but a simple example is provided by Newton's cradle since all the objects are identical and in line. In the present paper, an experiment is described where a heavy mallet collides head-on with two billiard balls. The two conservation equations indicate that…

Races between moving objects are an engaging way to teach dynamics to introductory physics students. One standard example consists in racing hollow and solid cylinders as they roll down an inclined plane. Another striking demonstration is a race between two marbles on side-by-side tracks that start and end together, but with one track taking a…

In this work, a simple rocking pendulum, in a circular arc shape, is presented. The idea is to put a rigid arc on a clean flat surface of glass and leave it to oscillate under the effect of a little impulse. Then, the periodic time of this arc pendulum's motion is experimentally determined. The mathematical analysis of the arc's motion is derived…

Owing to the presence of the Coriolis effect, the rotation of Earth has a multitude of surprising consequences that make the mechanics of the atmosphere or the oceans different from that of a fluid in a container. Since the Coriolis effect also captures the imagination of screenwriters, contributing to the continual exposure of students to bogus…

Optimization is a component critical to method development. Mathematical modeling of physical phenomena enables an efficient search for the parameters and conditions that optimize methods and systems. Here, optimization of methods in sonoelectrochemistry, electrochemical separations, electrochemical education, and assessment of diabetic status are…

Alternative conceptions become obstacles in physics. However, it is difficult to find instruments that can identify students' alternative conceptions, especially in gases kinetic theory (DIGaKiT). The purpose of this research was to development of diagnostic instrument of DIGaKiT in identifying students' alternative conceptions by Rasch analysis…

Kinetic energy is usually the entry point for the study of energy in physics and is often perceived as unproblematic. We present evidence, however, that some learners who seem to have accepted the concept, from elementary school students to college physics majors and in-service teachers, nevertheless do not consistently attribute kinetic energy to…

We report on an investigation of student thinking about steady-state pipe flow of an incompressible fluid. About 250 undergraduate engineering students were given a test consisting of two hydrodynamics questions, combining multiple-choice format with subsequent open-ended explanations. There is substantial evidence that students have difficulty…

Experimental results are presented on the collision of a superball with two different wood blocks. The results are in reasonable agreement with a simple collision model where kinetic energy is conserved, but better agreement is obtained if a small loss of kinetic energy is assumed, as observed. The physics is slightly more complicated than the…

The video of a free-falling object was analysed in Tracker in order to extract the position and time data. On the basis of these data, the velocity, gravitational potential energy, kinetic energy, and the work done by gravity were obtained. These led to a rather simultaneous validation of the conservation law of energy and the work-energy theorem.…

We investigate the motion of fidget spinners of different configurations with the help of simple devices. Physical quantities associated with the fidget spinner motion like angular speed, moment of inertia and kinetic energy are determined and compared in different configurations. A configurable modification of the fidget spinners is done to…

The success of films such as "Avengers: Endgame," "Black Panther," and "Captain Marvel" has established the superhero genre in modern popular culture. Many students will have seen these films, or at the very least they are familiar with a number of the superhero characters. In the physics classroom, content based on…

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…