Many introductory physics courses begin with the teaching of motion and kinematics. This naturally leads to the use of constant acceleration equations to solve various problems involving common motions (free fall being a notable example). Students can sometimes get the impression that these equations are the only thing they need to remember in…

This work reports a rudimentary approach to teach and measure the kinetic friction coefficient using a smartphone that can effectively be employed for teaching purposes. More specifically, the kinetic friction coefficient, which is rather difficult to teach and measure, between various surfaces was determined by two different approaches using the…

Scientific laboratories are among the most challenging course components to integrate into online instruction. Available technology restricts the design and nature of experiments, and it can be hard to replicate the collaborative lab environment where frequent and immediate instructor feedback is the norm. Here we report on technological and…

Multiple representations, such as experimental data, schemas, tables, and graphs, are an essential resource in science teaching. However, their use in the classroom typically poses a challenge for preservice teachers. The aim of this research is to examine changes in the practices of a group of preservice teachers regarding the use of multiple…

Physics can be a weighty subject, full of substance and gravitas. It is therefore perhaps entirely reasonable that a central topic of the discipline is mass. But what is mass, really? What is the origin and nature of this most essential feature of the world around us? And are there any surprises to be had as we dig deeper into that question? In…

This study aimed to expand PDEODE*E Tasks with the Think-Pair-Share model for reconstructing students' misconceptions on work and energy. The PDEODE*E Tasks with Think-Pair-Share model implemented for students who had not taught the concept of work and energy. The participants include 36 students of tenth grade (22 girls and 14 boys, whose ages…

A novel method of measuring the coefficients of kinetic and rolling friction is proposed. The method is simple to implement and reliable. Samples of measurements and calculations are presented.

A simple throwing task is described to illustrate various aspects of projectile motion. The task was to throw a tennis ball in a waste paper bin about 2 m away. Success depends on skill, but it also depends on the physics of the problem. If the ball is thrown underarm, then success depends primarily on the throw speed, which must be controlled to…

In this paper, we indicate the difference between energy equation and the center of mass equation by an especially example. According to our opinion, in teaching mechanics, we should more clearly an integral of Newton's second law and the energy equation. Maybe this leads to greater clarity in the notions of system, work and energy.

A cylinder rolling down an inclined board is a commonly seen and interesting object to study and it is also easy to experiment with and model. Following what has become a popular practice, we use smartphones to measure the angular acceleration of a cylinder rolling down a plane of different inclining angles. The friction force deviates from the…

The study of buoyancy becomes very interesting when we measure the apparent weight of the body and the liquid vessel weight. In this paper, we propose an experimental apparatus that measures both the forces mentioned before as a function of the depth that a cylinder is sunk into the water. It is done using two load cells connected to an Arduino.…

The word "wave" is part of the daily language of every student. However, the physical understanding of the concept demands a high level of abstract thought. In physics, waves are oscillating variations of a physical quantity that involve the transfer of energy from one point to another, without displacement of matter. A wave can be…

This article describes an experiment that can be done in the classroom in a simple way, with the support of a "homemade" device or as a laboratory practice with the support of PASCO equipment. Through a theory-practice sequence, kinematic and dynamic equations were checked with qualitative and quantitative analysis, emphasizing the…

Theoretical assessment of the upper limit of a star's mass is a difficult problem which lies at the frontier of astrophysical research. In this article we develop a simple and plausible argument to estimate this value. The value at which we arrive is ~228 solar masses; well within the range of predicted accepted theoretical values. Towards the end…

In the physics teaching community, Tracker is well known as a user-friendly open source video analysis software, authored by Douglas Brown. With this tool, the user can trace markers indicated on a video or on stroboscopic photos and perform kinematic analyses. Tracker also includes a data modeling tool that allows one to fit some theoretical…