Physics Education

The Standard Model of particle physics is one of the most successful theories in physics and describes the fundamental interactions between elementary particles. It is encoded in a compact description, the so-called ‘Lagrangian’, which even fits on t-shirts and coffee mugs. This mathematical formulation, however, is complex and only rarely makes it into the physics classroom. Therefore, to support high school teachers in their challenging endeavour of introducing particle physics in the classroom, we provide a qualitative explanation of the terms of the Lagrangian and discuss their interpretation based on associated Feynman diagrams.

Bouncing on a trampoline lets the jumper experience the interplay between weightlessness and large forces on the body, as the motion changes between free fall and large acceleration in contact with the trampoline bed. In this work, several groups of students were asked to draw graphs of elevation, velocity and acceleration as a function of time, for two full jumps of the 2012 Olympic gold medal trampoline routine by Rosannagh MacLennan. We hoped that earlier kinaesthetic experiences of trampoline bouncing would help students make connections between the mathematical descriptions of elevation, velocity and acceleration, which is known to be challenging. However, very few of the student responses made reference to personal experiences of forces during bouncing. Most of the responses could be grouped into a few categories, which are presented and discussed in the paper. Although the time dependence of elevation was drawn relatively correctly in most cases, many of the graphs of velocity and acceleration display a lack of understanding of the relation between these different aspects of motion.

A workshop using dance to introduce particle physics concepts to young children is presented. The workshop is realised in the dance studio, the children assume complete ownership of the activity and dance becomes the means to express ideas. The embodiement of the physics concepts facilitates knowledge assimilation, while empowering the students with respect to science. Beyond the scientific and artistic benefits of this workshop, this approach aspires to overcome the barriers between art and science; and open new interdisciplinary horizons for the students.

Rotating swing rides can be found in many amusement parks, in many different versions. The ‘wave swinger’ ride, which introduces a wave motion by tilting the roof, is among the classical amusement rides that are found in many different parks, in different sizes, from a number of different makes and names, and varying thematization. The ‘StarFlyer’ is a more recent version, adding the thrill of lifting the riders 60 m or more over the ground. These rotating swing rides involve beautiful physics, often surprising, but easily observed, when brought to attention. The rides can be used for student worksheet tasks and assignments of different degrees of difficulty, across many math and physics topics. This paper presents a number of variations of student tasks relating to the theme of rotating swing rides.

The first direct observation of gravitational waves in 2015 has led to an increased public interest in topics of general relativity (GR) and astronomy. Physics teachers and educators respond to this interest by introducing modern ideas of gravity and spacetime to high school students. Doing so, they face the challenge of finding suitable models that visualise gravity as the geometry of curved spacetime. Most models of GR, such as the popular rubber sheet model, only address spatial curvature. Yet, according to Albert Einstein, gravitational phenomena stem from deformations both in space and time. This paper presents a new model that builds on a relativistic generalisation of Newton’s first law. We use Einstein’s free fall thought experiment and a classical height-time diagram to explain how warped time gives rise to gravity. Our warped-time model acts as a convenient supplement to the rubber sheet model. To support teachers in integrating the model into their classroom practice, we have implemented the model as an interactive simulation that is freely accessible. The model is the result of a three-year period of developing and trialling digital learning resources in Norwegian high schools. Based on these trials, we suggest specific instructional strategies on how to use the warped-time model successfully in science classrooms.

Describing the motion in a vertical roller coaster loop requires a good understanding of Newton’s laws, vectors and energy transformation. This paper describes how first-year students try to make sense of force and acceleration in this example of non-uniform circular motion, which was part of a written exam. In addition to an analysis of the exam solutions by about 60 students, a group interview was performed a couple of weeks later with four students, who had all passed the exam. The interview allowed the students to reflect on assumptions made and information missed.

An amusement park is full of examples that can be made into challenging problems for students, combining mathematical modelling with video analysis, as well as measurements in the rides. Traditional amusement ride related textbook problems include free-fall, circular motion, pendula and energy conservation in roller coasters, where the moving bodies are typically considered point-like. However, an amusement park can offer many more examples that are useful in physics and engineering education, many of them with strong mathematical content. This paper analyses forces on riders in a large rotating pendulum ride, where the Coriolis effect is sufficiently large to be visible in accelerometer data from the rides and leads to different ride experiences in different positions.

When a stethoscope is placed on the chest over the heart, sounds coming from the heart can be directly heard. These sound vibrations can be captured through a microphone and the electrical signals from the transducer can be processed and plotted in a phonocardiogram. Students can easily use a microphone and smartphone to capture and analyse characteristic heart sounds.

We present a new learning unit, which introduces 12 year-olds to the subatomic structure of matter. The learning unit was iteratively developed as a design-based research project using the technique of probing acceptance. We give a brief overview of the unit’s final version, discuss its key ideas and main concepts, and conclude by highlighting the main implications of our research, which we consider to be most promising for use in the physics classroom.

In recent years, general relativity (GR) and gravitational-wave astronomy have emerged both as active fields of research and as popular topics in physics classrooms. Teachers can choose from an increasing number of modern instructional models to introduce students to relativistic ideas. However, the true potential of an instructional model can only be unleashed if teachers know about its scope and limitations and how the model relates to key concepts of the theory. GR is a conceptually rich theory and many relativistic concepts entail subtleties that often elude non-experts. Building on the recent introduction of a digital warped-time model (Kersting 2019 Phys. Educ. 54 035008), this article identifies three potentially confusing concepts in GR. We present three pedagogical pathways to address these concepts and supplement our considerations with quantitative treatments accessible at the upper secondary school level. By interlacing pedagogical and content-specific perspectives, we aim to support teachers who wish to deepen their knowledge of relativistic phenomena. At the same time, we offer specific instructional strategies to make successful use of the warped-time model. Our perspectives contribute to an on-going re-evaluation of practices in modern physics education that can offer new impetus to the physics teaching community beyond the learning domain of relativity.

The sensors in modern smartphones are a promising and cost-effective tool for experimentation in physics education, but many experiments face practical problems. Often the phone is inaccessible during the experiment and the data usually needs to be analyzed subsequently on a computer. We address both problems by introducing a new app, called ‘phyphox’, which is specifically designed for utilizing experiments in physics teaching. The app is free and designed to offer the same set of features on Android and iOS.

The Arduino platform is widely used in education of physics to perform a number of different measurements. Teachers and students can build their own instruments using various sensors, the analogue-to-digital converter of the Arduino board and code to calculate and display the result. In several cases this can mean incautious reproduction of what can be found on the Internet and an in-depth understanding can be missing. Here we thoroughly analyse a frequently used resistance measurement method and show demonstration experiments as well to make it clear.

This paper reports on the measurement of a magnetic field due to the coil carrying current by using the magnetic sensor in a smartphone as an alternate to the relatively expensive magnetic sensor probe. The location of the magnetic sensor in the smartphone was known by mapping the value of the magnetic field due to the permanent magnetic bar so that we could obtain an accurate measurement. The variable parameter examined in this magnetostatics experiment was the distance of coils to the magnetic sensor in a smartphone and the magnitude of the current in the coils. The coils used in this research have 8 cm radii and 30 turns of wire, with a 0.3 A current flowing, and the coils were arranged to make a Helmholtz and anti-Helmholtz configuration. The resulting magnetic fields by a coil, Helmholtz coil and anti-Helmholtz coil were measured and compared with the value from calculations using an analytical and numerical approach. According to these results, it can be confirmed that the magnetic field due to a Helmholtz and anti-Helmholtz coil can be measured accurately using the smartphone’s magnetic sensor in a physics experiment.

This study demonstrated that the constant average speed of a dynamic car could be measured and calculated using the smartphone magnetometer. The apparatus setup was built using a dynamic car, a linear track up to 1.50 m, a bunch of magnets, and a smartphone magnetometer application. The smartphone magnetometer application, ‘Physics Toolbox Suite’, was free for the experiment. The magnet and smartphone magnetometer were attached on a linear track and dynamic car, respectively. When the dynamic car are moving on the car track, the smartphone magnetometer will measure the magnetic field value versus the time relation. The magnetic field value will fluctuate, increasing when close to the magnet or decrease when the distance from the magnet increases. The magnetic field properties (peaks time) versus the magnet distance position were analyzed using linear fitting, and we find the average speed of the dynamic car. We hope that this magnetometer experiment will be valuably used in general physics laboratories.

This paper examines the Torricelli law for the flow of liquid from a small drain hole in a container. It shows how the system can be modelled using either a traditional calculus-based approach or a non-calculus step-wise computer method appropriate to the background of the student group. An experiment to measure the head of out-flowing liquid as a function of time is then described. The conventional method of manual timing is replaced by a pressure-sensing technique involving use of the Arduino microcontroller and MakerPlot graphing software.

A method is described to measure the coefficient of restitution (COR) by dropping a ball on a piezoelectric disk. Multiple bounces can be observed at small drop heights, so the average COR over say ten bounces can be obtained from just one ball drop, without having to measure the bounce height or the bounce speed. The results show directly that the maximum impact force on the ball during each bounce decreases linearly with time until the ball stops bouncing.

The teaching of wave physics has developed over the years, including devices that demonstrate water waves being used effectively for a long time. However, it was not easy to select and display the wave frequencies. This research had developed a DIY Ripple Tank experiment set using a smartphone application to measure the properties of water waves. The vibrations of the source characterized by points and bars with a speaker and a small amplifier (model GF1002) connecting to the source with a wave ball displayed on the screen. The apparatus controlled the wave source by adjusting the frequency ranging from 10–30 Hertz via the PhyPhox application on a smartphone. Waves then were created in two types of liquid: water and a salt solution. Images of waves appearing on the receiver were adjusted to a standstill by the Strobe Light Tachometer application on the smartphone which allows us to adjust flashing light frequencies to match the frequency of the wave and the frequency of the sound source. As a result, we found that this research shows the relationship according to the equation of speed of a sinusoidal wave at different viscosity coefficients of the liquid. The speed of the wave in water and salt solution were found to be 0.079  ±  0.003 m s ⁻¹ and 0.074  ±  0.005 m s ⁻¹, respectively. This research can be applied in school as a demonstration showing that physics of the wave is easy and interesting.

The difficulties students have in blending mathematics and physics are here analyzed, by focusing on the issue of a convergent series. We present an experimental and a theoretical analysis of some phenomena which can be investigated employing series, as the bouncing marble and Zeno’s paradox of Achilles and the turtle. Measurements were carried out by students employing ICT instruments, such as the smartphone microphone, the smartphone camera or online motion sensors and results were the grounds for a deep discussion about the apparent paradox and the sources of students’ misunderstanding. The activities were designed for students on introductory university courses or in advanced high-school classes and was implemented with 90 students of mathematics and physics who are interested in a curriculum addressed to the teaching of mathematics and physics at high school level. Results about their preconceptions before the sequence and some quotes of their metacognitive thinking after the activities are reported.

Light has the most interesting phenomena among physics concepts. We designed the light phenomena conceptual assessment (LPCA) to help teachers measure their students’ conceptual understanding of light phenomena. We expected to measure increases in student understanding of light phenomena after learning about the wave and particle nature of light in Rwandan secondary schools. We analyzed the results of 244 physics students using descriptive and inferential statistics. The data revealed a low understanding of light phenomena, and this low understanding is connected to instructional tools and strategies used by teachers. Students confused reflection and refraction of light. They also struggled with understanding total internal reflection and light scattering. Therefore, teachers should teach optics by allowing students to observe related phenomena in order to more effectively promote student conceptual understanding of light phenomena.

Using an Arduino board, a distance and a pressure sensor, we propose in this paper an experiment to verify Stevin’s law. We measure pressure as a function of liquid depth and show that both parameters have a linear relationship. We did this for water and, by the linear relationship between both parameters, we calculate its density.

When a stethoscope is placed on the chest over the heart, sounds coming from the heart can be directly heard. These sound vibrations can be captured through a microphone and the electrical signals from the transducer can be processed and plotted in a phonocardiogram. Students can easily use a microphone and smartphone to capture and analyse characteristic heart sounds.