The implementation of a modern game-console controller as a data acquisition interface for physics experiments is discussed. The investigated controller is equipped with three perpendicular accelerometers and a built-in infrared camera to evaluate its own relative position. A pendulum experiment is realized as a demonstration of the proposed…

Kinetics constitutes a core topic in both the lecture and laboratory components of lower- level chemistry courses. While textbook examples can ignore issues of time, temperature and safety, the laboratory can not. Reactions must occur slowly enough to be detected by students, occur rapidly enough for data collection in the few hours assigned to a…

This article presents the development of a carbon dioxide fountain. The advantages of the carbon dioxide fountain are that it is odorless and uses consumer chemicals. This experiment also is a nice visual experiment that allows students to see evidence of a gaseous reagent being consumed when a pressure sensor is available. (Contains 3 figures.)…

College students (N = 112) completed the Noctcaelador Inventory, a measure of psychological attachment to the night-sky, and estimated various night-sky watching related activities: frequency and duration of night-sky watching, astro-tourism, ownership of night-sky viewing equipment, and attendance of observatories or planetariums. The results…

The construction and use of a low-cost continuous-flow instrument for measuring the kinetics of fast reaction which include the use of an light emitting diode light source, a photodiode-on-a-chip detector, and a position sensor is demonstrated. The instrument is suitable for the physical chemistry laboratory and could be used to study the kinetics…

A simple, low-cost experiment to demonstrate the wetting dynamics of liquids on solid surfaces is described, where a "Web cam" is used to measure the expansion of the drop as a function of time. The advantage of a Web cam is its low cost, which permits an individual setup per student and the results obtained from the students with these devices…

Describes the construction of a demonstration to show optical activity of table syrup. (Author/CP)

Describes the construction of a flexible coupled-cavity interferometer for student use. A helium-neon laser and phonograph turntable are the main components. Lists activities which may be performed with the apparatus. (Author/CP)

New apparatus and equipment are briefly described. Sources of materials are given. (MLH)

Reports new equipment, techniques, or materials of interest to teachers of physics. (Editor/CP)

The article briefly describes and lists business classroom and laboratory equipment for the following items: office appliances, classroom furniture, and miscellanious materials. (BP)

This is the first inquiry in a series designed to facilitate the exchange of information among members of the National Association of Language Laboratory Directors. This inquiry identifies, by means of a chart, systems used by fifty-nine institutions in their language laboratories. (AM)