Two well-regarded measurements for the expansion rate of the universe disagree, leaving cosmologists very puzzled. It may be that something large has been overlooked in our theory of the Big Bang. This discrepancy is called the Hubble tension and it has led to a very interesting conversation within the cosmology community.

[This paper is part of the Focused Collection in Artificial Intelligence Tools in Physics Teaching and Physics Education Research.] Artificial intelligence-based chatbots are increasingly influencing physics education because of their ability to interpret and respond to textual and visual inputs. This study evaluates the performance of two large…

Analysing graphs, formulating covariational relationships, and hypothesizing systems' behaviour have emerged as frequent objectives of contemporary research in physics education. As such, these studies aim to help students achieve these objectives. While a consensus has been reached on the cognitive benefits of emphasizing the structural domain of…

Along-standing energy lab involves dropping bouncy balls and measuring their rebound heights on successive bounces. The lab demonstrates a situation in which the mechanical energy of a system is not conserved. Although students enjoyed the lab, the author wanted to deepen their thinking about energy, including the connections to motion, with a new…

In learning conceptual knowledge in physics, a common problem is the incompleteness of a learning process, where students' personal, often undifferentiated concepts take on more scientific and differentiated form. With regard to such concept learning and differentiation, this study proposes a systemic view in which concepts are considered as…

The maximum power theorem is a useful extension to work on EMF and internal resistance at school level. Furthermore, a very simple physical collision model can be used to show equivalent mathematical patterns to those found with the maximum power theorem and to emphasize fundamental links to ideas of impedance matching. (Contains 2 tables and 6…

Gibbs-energy profiles are often introduced during the first semester of organic chemistry, but are less often presented in connection with enzyme-catalyzed reactions. In this article I show how the Gibbs-energy profile corresponds to the characteristic kinetics of a simple enzyme-catalyzed reaction. (Contains 1 figure and 1 note.)

Inexpensive video analysis technology now enables students to make precise measurements of an object's position at incremental times during its motion. Such capability now allows users to "examine", rather than simply "assume", energy conservation in a variety of situations commonly discussed in introductory physics courses. This article describes…

My NASA Data (Chambers et al. 2008) is a teaching tool available on NASA's website that offers microsets of real data in an easily accessible, user-friendly format. In this article, the authors describe a lesson plan based on an activity from My NASA Data, in which students explore parts of the United States where they would want to live if they…

The motion of a magnet through a coil is analysed through a model of magnetic monopoles. The magnetic flux of a monopole passing through a loop is explained and also its rate of change. By a superposition of voltages produced by the monopoles on the coils the shape of the voltage versus time graph is explained. Also examined is the interaction of…

This book is designed to be a quick and easy resource for anyone teaching physics for the first time. Written after extensive research, this book is filled with reliable labs, demos and activities that work well in the classroom. Also included are lesson plans, diagrams, and teacher notes for every activity. The book is not the end--it is just a…