Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) has become an important optical biosensing technology in the areas of biochemistry, biology, and medical sciences because of its real-time, label-free, and noninvasive nature. The high cost of commercial devices and consumables has prevented SPR from being introduced in the undergraduate laboratory. Here, we present…

This paper describes theory and experiments, taken from biophysics and physiological measurements, to illustrate the technique of signal averaging. In the process, students are introduced to the basic concepts of signal processing, such as digital filtering, Fourier transformation, baseline correction, pink and Gaussian noise, and the cross- and…

We performed experiments in which a soccer ball was launched from a machine while two high-speed cameras recorded portions of the trajectory. Using the trajectory data and published drag coefficients, we extracted lift coefficients for a soccer ball. We determined lift coefficients for a wide range of spin parameters, including several spin…

Enzyme purification projects are an excellent way to introduce many aspects of protein biochemistry, but can be difficult to carry out under the constraints of a typical undergraduate laboratory course. We have designed a short laboratory project for the purification and identification of an "unknown" lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) isozyme that can…

In this paper we address a common misconception concerning the thermal behaviour of matter, namely that the front surface of a very thin plate, uniformly illuminated by a constant light beam, reaches a higher temperature than the front surface of a very thick slab made out of the same material. We present analytical solutions for the temperature…

The pumping mechanism of a swing in a playground is due to the exchange of angular momentum from the rocking movement of the swinger to the swing oscillation around the point from which the swing is suspended. We describe the rocking events as square pulses of short duration. This choice, together with a simplified mechanical model for the…

Natural selection and other components of evolutionary theory are known to be particularly challenging concepts for students to understand. To help illustrate these concepts, we developed a simulation model of microevolutionary processes. The model features all the components of Hardy-Weinberg theory, with population size, selection, gene flow,…

We show the construction of a so-called levitation balance which is capable of measuring the levitation forces between a permanent magnet and a superconducting high-T[subscript c] thin film sample. The underlying theoretical basis is discussed in detail. The experiment is performed as an introductory physics experiment for school students as well…

This paper presents an experiment in which students determine the mass sensitivity of three crystal quartz resonators, designed to be carried out in "Physics Laboratory II" at the Institute of Experimental Physics, University of Wroclaw. The authors discuss the process of setting up the experiment and the results of the measurements.…

Three undergraduate students functioned as teaching assistants in unit ops lab for their senior project, which included developing a purchased size exclusion chromatography experiment, supervising the running of this experiment, and assisting the junior students with their calculations. They also read the reports, graded them, and commented on…

This article provides a detailed description of the use of Nintendo Wii game controllers in physics demonstrations. The main features of the controller relevant to physics are outlined and the procedure for communicating with a PC is described. A piece of software written by the author is applied to gathering data from a controller suspended from…

We report a comparative study using "knowledge space theory" (KAT) to assess the impact of a hands-on laboratory exercise that used molecular model kits to emphasize the connections between a plane of symmetry, Charity, and isomerism in an introductory organic chemistry course. The experimental design compared three groups of…

Successful completion of organic chemistry is a prerequisite for many graduate and professional programs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, yet the failure rate for this sequence of courses is notoriously high. To date, few studies have examined why some students succeed while others have difficulty in organic chemistry. This…

Background and purpose: The aim of this study was to explore the effect of investigative activities with manipulations in a virtual laboratory on students' ability to design experiments. Sample: Fourteen students in a lower secondary school in Greece attended a teaching sequence on thermal phenomena based on the use of information and…

The Wii is a very popular gaming console. An important component of its appeal is the ease of use of its remote controller, popularly known as a Wiimote. This simple-looking but powerful device has a three-axis accelerometer and communicates with the console via Bluetooth protocol. We present two experiments that demonstrate the feasibility of…