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Physics Demonstration

Demonstrations

  • Demonstrations are divided into E&M, Mechanics, Heat, Modern Physics, Waves & Sound, Fluids and Pressure and Miscellaneous.
  • Please contact Sourish Dutta (duttas at vanderbilt) if you need demo support for your classes, or want to request a video
  • Please allow at least 24 hours notice

Demonstration Videos

Title Description
Shoot the Monkey A projectile is fired towards a target, and the target is dropped at the same instant.
Inertia of Rest A short heavy cylinder is inside a plastic tube. As the tube is struck by a hammer, the cylinder remains in place because of inertia.
Newton's 2nd and 3rd Laws Demonstrating Newton's second and third laws using a fan cart.
Ball dropped vs launched A ball is dropped vertically and another ball is launched horizontally from the same height. Both reach the ground at the same time.
Ball launched and caught A ball is projected vertically from a moving cart and caught by the same cart.
Leaky Water Bottle A leaky water bottle in free-fall stops leaking.
Hammer and Feather Heavy and light objects fall together through a vacuum tube.
Spring Balance If two opposite forces of magnitude F are applied to the two ends of a spring balance, the balance reads F and not 2F
Loop The Loop Principles of Energy conservation illustrated with a ball traversing a loop-the-loop.
Water Bucket Swing A bucket of water is swung in a vertical circle. As long as its speed is greater than a certain minimum speed the water does not spill.
Pendulum swing A large pendulum swung to one side and released. As a result of conservation of energy it has to return to the same height it was launched from.
Ball Race Three balls are released from the same height and follow three different tracks, ending up at finish points at the same height. They have the same velocity at the end, but take different amounts of time to get there.
Dominoes Principles of Energy conservation illustrated with a set of dominoes.
Newton's Cradle Experiments with the classic Newton's cradle.
Wrecking Ball When a brick is struck by a wrecking ball, the impact is greater when the ball rebounds vs when it doesn't rebound.
Colliding pendula Two balls with a 3:1 mass ratio are suspended by threads and made to collide repeatedly. The larger ball comes to a complete stop every even numbered collision.
Radiometer A radiometer spins as a result of different impacts of collisions of air molecules with its white vs black vanes.
Softball and Basketball A softball is placed on top of a basketball and both of them are dropped. The softball rebounds to a suprisingly large height.
Deadball and Superball A dead ball and a superball are dropped.
Rocket Cart A cart driven by a fire extinguisher with its nozzle pointed backwards.
Balancing a top-heavy object A top heavy object is easier to balance on one's finger than a bottom-heavy object as a result of differences in moment of inertia.
Leaning Tower of Pisa An object topples over when its center of gravity is not directly above its base of support.
Clown on a Unicycle A toy clown rides a unicycle on a wire illustrating that a lower center of mass leads to stability.
Rolling without Slipping When an object rolls without slipping, a point at the top has a velocity equal to twice the velocity of the center of mass.
Balancing a mop and a rod When two objects are balanced, their weights are not necessarily equal.
Spinning in a chair Demonstrating angular momentum conservation from the fact that the angular velocity of a rotating object changes if the moment of inertia of the object changes
Flipping a Flywheel If one flips a rotating flywheel while sitting in a swivel chair then the chair starts rotating as a result of angular momentum conservation.
Yoyo A Yoyo moves one way when the cord around its axle is pulled horizontally and in the opposite direction when the code is pulled at an angle.
Ring vs Disk A ring and a disk of the same mass race down an inclined plane.
Tangential Velocity An object in circular motion proceeds in a direction tangent to the circle if the centripetal force suddenly disappears.
Lever A simple lever can be employed to lift a heavy object using a force much smaller than its weight.
Mystery batons Two batons with identical masses have different mass distributions. The one with a greater moment of inertia about its axis of rotation is harder to rotate.
Standing on Scales If a weight is positioned on a beam with a scale under each end, the readings on the scale differ depending on the position of the object.
Tangential acceleration If an inclined beam is allowed to fall under gravity, the tangential acceleration of its falling end is greater than g.
Title Description
Soda Can Crush A soda can filled with steam is dipped in water
Archimides Principle An object weighs less under water as a result of the buoyant force of water. The difference in weights can be used to determine the density of the object
Stay-open Balloon A ballon will remain inflated with its mouth open if the pressure outside it is less than the pressure inside.
Atmospheric Pressure Atmospheric pressure is strong enough to lift heavy objects.
Bernoulli's Principle Bernoulli's principle demonstrated with a ball in a jet of air.
Title Description
Slinky Waves Transverse and Longitudinal waves on a slinky.
Transverse Waves on Torsion Rod Apparatus Using a torsional rod apparatus to show the movement of individual points in a transverse wave.
Longitudinal Waves on Torsion Rod Apparatus Using a torsional rod apparatus to show the movement of individual points in a longitudinal wave.
Standing Waves on a Stretched String One end of a stretched string is vibrated at various frequencies to excite different vibrational modes.
Shattered Wine Glass A wine glass is shattered by sound waves of the right frequency.
Dancing Flames Standing sound waves are set up in propane-filled tube with holes. Flames above the holes have varying heights depending on the pressure of the gas underneath them.
Tuning Forks, Resonance and Beats Various Experiments with Tuning Forks
Speaker Improvement The sound quality of a simple speaker is improved substantially using a piece of cardboard with a hole cut in it
Title Description
Frozen RacquetBall A racquetball is placed in liquid nitrogen, cooling it to a point where it shatters upon bring dropped to the floor
Balloon Shrink A balloon placed in liquid nitrogen shrivels up
Stirling Engine A basic Stirling-cycle engine is demonstrated
Title Description
Electroscope Various experiments with electroscopes illustrating properties of positive and negative charges.
Polarization of an insulator A large wooden board can be moved around by the electrostatic influence of a charged rod.
EMF vs Terminal Voltage The difference between EMF and terminal voltage is illustrated.
Series Connections Resistors connected in series.
Parallel Connections Resistors connected in parallel.
Magnetic Boat A piece of magnetic rock in small floating container makes the container move in the presence of a magnetic field.
Magnetic force on a charged particle An electron beam deflected by a magnetic field.
Magnetic lines of a bar magnet Magnetic field lines of a bar magnet illustrated by iron filings suspended in a fluid.
DC Motor A simple DC motor.
Jumping Wire Force on a current carrying conductor in a magnetic field.
Solenoid Visualizing the magnetic field of a solenoid using compass needles.
Electromagnet Using an electromagnet to lift objects.
Eddy Current Braking Pendulums made of various materials are rapidly stopped by magnets as a result of eddy currents.
Magnet falling through Al tube A magnet takes a very long time to fall through an Aluminium tube.
Jumping Rings A conducting ring jumps upon being subjected to a fluctuating magnetic fiel.
Transformer A transformer is used to step up and step down voltages.
LCR Circuits and Electromagnetic Waves Electromagnetic waves are generated by a LCR circuit and picked up by another tuned LCR circuit. RF interference from sparks is also demonstrated.
Radioactive FiestaWare A radioactive FiestaWare bowl is investigated with a Geiger counter.
Photoelectricity The Photoelectric effect is demonstrated
Jumping Rings with Liquid Nitrogen In the basic ring jump experiment, the rings jump much higher when cooled in liquid nitrogen

Demonstration List

Details Physics Run Time
Dropping football can allow one to talk about spin adding to stability of passes. The basketball and softball may be dropped with the softball on top for memorable final motion. Conservation of Momentum and of Energy; Conservation of Angular Momentum 5 min
Collision of unequal mass steel balls shows effect of first demo 3:1 mass ratio. Conservation of Momentum and Energy 5 min
A ball hits a brick, and then hits the brick with a lump of clay added to the brick to make the collision inelastic. Conservation of Momentum 5 min
A cannonball is hung on a cord attached to the ceiling and then pulled back to one's nose and released. Conservation of Mechanical Energy 5 min
Ball bearings race along three tracks joining two sets of end points ,which are at the same height and equal horizontal distances apart. Conservation of Mechanical Energy and Utility of Viewing motion in two perpendicular directions. 10 min
Use a chair free to rotate about a vertical axis, a weighted bicycle wheel , and some hand weights to illustrate angular momentum effects. Conservation of Angular Momentum 10 min
Drop cords are set up to have weights attached in specific spacing intervals to illustrate free fall. Use the disappearance of water streaming from a bottle under free fall conditions to make a point. Kinematics of Constant Linear Acceleration 15 min
Use a bed of nails and a sledgehammer to make points about inertia and pressure. Inertia and Distribution of Force over a Large Number of Contact Points Shown as Concepts Allowing Non Fatal Use of Nail Beds 10 min
Float a red plastic bowl in a container of water under differing amounts of load in the bowl. See amount of water displaced change accordingly. Buoyant force is equal to the weight of the water displaced by the submerged part of the boat hull. 5 min
Make use of a paper falling freely; then let the paper drop simultaneously with a book while it is on top of the book. Drop a soda bottle full of steel bearings at the same time as an empty identical bottle. Show that light objects fall at same rate as heavy ones if the effects of air resistance can be adjusted. 5 min
Use a fire extinguisher to propel yourself across the lecture room floor. Newton's 3rd LawConservation of Momentum 5 min
Use the rocket cart (minus its motor )to illustrate concepts of friction and inertia. Friction and Inertial Effects in Vehicle Motion 5 min
Roll a basketball along two 2-meter sticks. Rolling Motion of Rigid Bodies 5 min
Counter intuitive behavior of a claw hammer hanging from a hinged board is shown. Newton's 3rd Law 5 min
A giant economy size Cradle is set up with bowling balls. Conservation of Momentum and Energy 5 min
Corks floating inside water filled jars can be used to show experimental facts of uniform circular motion. Centripetal Acceleration 5 min
A tug-of-war with one contestant on wheels can illustrate the strategy for winning such a contest. Friction and the 3rd Law of Motion 5 min
Controlling the breaking of threads attached above and below a hanging mass can be achieved by judicious gradual increase of tension or impulsive jerk increase of tension in the threads. Inertia - Newton's 1st Law 5 min
Place a Plate and glass of water on a slick piece of cloth on the lecture table and jerk the cloth out without disturbing the place setting. Inertia - Newton's 1st Law 5 min
*Drop 2 balls, to observe that one bounces back, one does not bounce back.* Conservation of Mechanical Energy 5 min
  3rd Law of Motion 5 min
Hang an irregularly-shaped body by a single point to locate its center of mass. Center of Mass 5 min
Change theheight of a model Leaning Tower of Pisa to find that the center of mass no longer resides over the base of the model. Center of Mass 5 min
Using a cut mop and inequality of the weight on each side to show center of mass Center of Mass 5 min
Use the track and carts as needed. Newton's Laws of Motion 5 min
Two holes in bottle will not spill water when tossed in the air. Gravitational acceleration is constant at all times during free fall of the bottle. 5 min
Move a wheel chair using a rope Newton's 3rd Law 5 min
Move a chair with wheels using a rope Newton's 3rd Law 5 min
Project and drop two objects simultaneously Projectile Motion 5 min
Rotate batons in a vertical plane about a horizontal axis Moment of Inertia 5 min
Coupled oscillations (rotational and longitudinal) in a Wilberforce Pendulum Coupled Oscillations 5 min
Use short, rapid pecking forces in contrast to small, timed forces to create an oscillating motion of big amplitude. Resonance build up may be achieved by properly timed small driving forces. 5 min
A torsional rod apparatus shows particle movement in a transverse wave. Transverse Waves 5 min
Race different aluminum disks down inclined planes. Rotational Inertia 5 min
Measure the tension in a string using mass, pulley, and a tubular-spring-balance scale. Newton's Laws, String Tension 5 min
Collide two different balls with a plastic domino under controlled conditions. Conservation of Momentum Conservation of Energy or Not 5 min
A variety of motion in one dimension examples can be shown easily. Kinematics and Dynamics in One Dimension 5 min
One may stand on a board which spans two sets of scales. Quantify Equilibrium Calculations 5 min
Use A Ball Bearing and Two 6.5 Inch Diameter PVC Rings on Overhead Uniform Circular Motion Ceases If Central Force Disappears 5 min
Demonstrate Coefficient of Friction Calculations From Measurements Friction Force = [Mu]Times {Normal Force] 5 min
Tennis Ball Tethered To A Cork Cylinder For Convenient Safe Rotation Tension Lets Cork Describe Horizontal Circles At Constant Speed 3 min
Dedicated Track for Allowing Ball to Navigate Vertical Circle Without Free Falling Conservation of Energy and Centripetal Force 5 min
Set Up Physics Stand Roller Coaster Board Exchange of Potential and Kinetic Energy for Rolling Ball 5 min
Shoot Ball upwards From Moving Cart and Watch It Return To Launching Cup Independence of Horizontal and Vertical Motion For Projectiles 5 min
Run Fan Cart On Low friction Track Constant Force, Varying Mass, Varying Direction Of Force Studied 10 min
Stack Scaled Set of Dominos and Knock Huge One Over With Tiny Input Energy Exponentially Increasing Release of Gravitational Potential Energy 5 min
Matchbook-String-Cup. Keep Cup From Falling to Floor By Matchbook Wrapping Several Times Around Finger Shortening Lever Arm of Particle Moving in Circle on String , Speeds it Up 5 min
Sit In Barber Chair and Throw Medicine Ball Along Two Carefully Chosen Horizontal Lines Linear Momentum Can Also Be Angular Momentum 5 min
Hook Up Sensors As Outlined In This Write Up and The Next and Take High Tech Data Position Time Curves For Constant Applied Forces 15 min
Continuation Of Methods Of Previous Experiment Checks on Kinematic Relations 10 min
Use The Small Angular Momentum Bike Wheel to Wind a String With Attached Mass Around Show That A Linear Acceleration of A String Unwinding from Around the Axle of A Wheel is Directly Associated With The Angular Acceleration of The Wheel 5 min
Spinning The Heavy Bike Wheel Up To A Large Angular Speed by Hand ,Gives it Enough Energy To Run For Several Minutes Use The Heavier Angular Momentum Bike Wheel To Show Constant Angular Velocity in The Absence Of Frictional Torque 5 min
Simulate The Static Condition Of a Ladder Leaning Against A Wall Sum of Torques and of Forces Must Be Zero For Static Equilibrium 5 min
Use an old Mechanical Apparatus For Producing a Torsional Mode of Vibration Torsional Simple Harmonic Motion 5 min
Use the Pasco Mini-Launcher With Its High -Tech Accessories To Show Independence Of Horizontal And Vertical Components Of Motion In The Gravitational Field In The Lab Projectile Motion Of Particles 10 min
Stick the Hoop Apparatus On A Mechanical Rotator And See It Squashed Down At The Top Rotation Effects On Rigid Bodies 5 min
Hook Various Bodies Which Weigh A Few Newtons To the Balance To Give A feel for the Magnitude Of One Newton Perhaps An Apple Did Inspire Sir Isaac Newton 5 min
A Block Of Wood, An Old Toy Car, and A Smooth Inclined Plane Helps Conceptualize Newton's Third Law You Cannot Touch Without Being Touched 10 min
A Ball Riding Above A Pocket In A Cart Is Released While The Cart Is Coasting At Constant Speed Parabolic Trajectories In Lab Frame May Be Straight Line Trajectories In Moving Systems 15 min
Verify Hooke's Law By Measurement Of Spring Extensions For Given Loads Show Stretching Results For Given Loads In A Graphic Manner 5 min
Use Lemmon Impact Apparatus Steel Balls (3:1) Mass Ratio To Make Point For Two Objects Colliding, Can Get Interesting Outcomes 10 min
*Dueling students: Holding Platforms and pushing against each other(Push-of-War)* Newton's Third Law 10 min
*One may show oscillations of springs and deflection of structures by normal forces using the items in this Kit.* *Harmonic motion of loaded springs, and flexure of structures under applied loads* 10 min
*Swing a bucket in vertical circles to show stability of contents for sufficiently large rotational velocity.* Central forces can hold objects in place relative to their rotating lab frame for motion in a circle. 3 min
*Use two specially constructed fixtures to show concepts of stable, unstable and neutral static equilibrium of bodies.* *Small perturbations of the center of mass can lead to widely different final states .* *5 min*
Arrive at an Illustration of Inertia with the Aid of a Brass Plug, a Rubber Hammer, and a Plastic Pipe * Hammer the brass plug upwards with only downwards blows on the pipe surrounding the plug.* *5 min*
*A ball shot upwards from the vertical barrel of a cannon on a moving cart will return into the barrel* *Independence of vertical and horizontal components of motion is verified yet another way.* *5 min*
Improved Rotating Chair, Bike Wheel and Wheel Spinner Conservation of Angular Momentum Using Spinning Bike Wheel 10 min
Support a meter stick (which might have a weight on it) on two fingers and bring the fingers close together. The fingers will alternately slip and stick (which has an interesting explanation) and eventually converge below the CM of the weighted stick Center of mass, Equilibrium, torque, friction 5 min
A Toy Clown Rides The High Wire on A Unicycle Stability of Bodies Hanging Under a Support 5 min
Details Physics Run Time
Use a flame tube to demonstrate a standing wave in gas. Standing Sound Waves;Line of Fire is Consistent with Analogies Used by Some to Motivate deBroglie wave length of atomic particles by Rings of Fire *5 min*
A speaker is placed against a cardboard baffle with a hole in it. Sound Waves 5 min
Two speakers are hooked in series to a function generator and placed about 1 m apart on the lecture table. *Waves from two fixed sources overlap to give lines of constructive and destructive interference.* 5 min
A whistle on a horizontally rotating beam doppler-shifts with each rotation Doppler Shift 5 min
Talking with a lungfull of helium can alter the quality of one's voice. Sound generated by a person's vocal box depends on the density of the gas in the lungs. 5 min
Create distinct sound waves with tuning forks and organ pipes. Resonance 5 min
Spring Coupled Vertical Rods Simulate Longitudinal Waves Nodes, AntiNodes, Standing Waves for Longitudinal Waves  
Let Various Masses Hang From Spring and Observe Oscillations Properties of Simple Harmonic Motion 5 min
Set Up Large Ripple Tank and Try To Achieve Visible Patterns For Class Disturbing A Water Surface Leads To Waves 20 min
Light A Burner and Lower The Big Ceramic Tube over the Flame Suitability of Open Tubes To Amplify Sounds 2 min
Use A Long Spring To Set Up Pulses and Waves by Hand Show Properties of Mechanical Waves 5 min
Use A Slinky As A Medium In Which To Set Up Compressional Pulses See Differences Between Transverse and Compressional Pulses 5 min
Use A Science Workshop Interface and Sound Detector To Show Waveforms And Fourier Transforms To Students Mathematical Form of Typical Pure Sound Waves & Frequency Components of More Complex Waves 10 min
Feed A Common Signal to Two Small Speakers and Listen To the Interference of Their Outputs Sound waves generated by two small speakers placed side by side can interfere with each other in a fashion detectable by the human ear. 5 min
Use a Dedicated Apparatus For Showing A Real Compressional Spring and Some of Its Possible Excitations Resonant Frequencies of Mechanical Systems 5 min
A Motor-Driven Rod Apparatus has been Streamlined and Put on A Dedicated Cart for Producing Transverse Waves in a Rubber Cord Standing waves Can Be Realized in a Cord fixed at one end and driven by a Transverse Periodic Pulsing at the other end, if an appropriate tension is maintained in the cord. 10 min
*A mechanical driver powered by an acoustical speaker cone and a function generator is used to excite standing waves on a circular loop of stiff wire.* Standing waves on a circular wire may be used to motivate the notion of wave-particle duality. 5 min
Hold a wooden box in one hand and rap sharply on its rubber sheet back face to send a vortex ring flying out the front face. Vortex Rings can Carry Energy and Momentum Through the Room 5 min
By positioning a wineglass appropriately near a powerful speaker one may induce resonance and effect a catastophic failure of the internal structure of the the glass. Sound waves can transport enough energy into a target to destroy it. 15 min
Details Physics Run Time
Propane heat is applied to a Stirling-cycle engine to power a fan. The Stirling Cycle 5 min
A variety of thermometers are available for show and tell props. Temperature Scale 5 min
One achieves boiling of a liquid with heat input from his/her hands. Heat Transfer 5 min
Heat A Ball and A Ring With A Torch and See Evidence Of Dimension Changes Linear Expansion Upon Heating 5 min
Use A Torch ,Two Metal Tubes ,and A Bi-Metallic Strip To Show Some Of the Properties Of Heat Conduction and Expansion of Size With Temperature Rise Thermal Conductivity and Coefficient of Linear Expansion 5 min
A Flywheel Type Stirling Cycle Heat Engine can be powered by a Propane Torch Working Model of a Heat Engine Using the Stirling Cycle 5 min
Fan 90x66x30 cm is Powered By a Stirling Cycle Heat Engine A Working Model Heat Engine With Useful Real World Applications 5 min
* One may run the demonstrator as a heat engine converting energy to electrical potential and current.* * Subsequent mixing of the temperature baths to reach thermal equilibrium destroys ability to extract work* 10 min
Details Physics Run Time
Move a large beam using electrostatic forces. Electrostatic force shown to be larger than gravitational attraction force between 2x4 and lead brick. 10 min
Measure the resistance of an incandescent light bulb filament as a function of temperature Resistance of a material changes with temperature. 8 min
Deflection of an electron beam. Electromagnetic Forces 5 min
Use shell-type pillboxes and a cylinder to illustrate concepts of flux and application to Gauss's Law. Gauss's Law For Field Calculations 5 min
A charged rod charges a parallel plate capacitor. Charge, Mechanical work, and Potential Difference 5 min
Use a battery to send current through 2 parallel wires. Magnetic Force, Biot-Savart Law 5 min
A super-cooled disk levitates a magnet. Superconductivity 5 min
Use rods, furs, silk, and electroscopes to discuss electrostatic concepts. Electric Charges and Forces 5 min
Use the Vandegraaff generator with the aid of pie tins, rice crispies, whirligigs, and rods to display shocking outcomes. Electric Potential and Fields 5 min
Rings are ejected due to induced currents in the rings interacting with driving currents in a coil. Lenz's Law 5 min
Stop swinging metal plates by letting them pass through a magnetic field. Motional EMF 5 min
In one hand, hold a tesla coil. In the other hand hold a neon tube to light it up. High frequency current can safely flow over the surface of one's body. 5 min
A current-carrying wire is forced out from between magnetic poles Electromagnetic Forces 5 min
A strong spark jumps from two ice picks LR decay of current 5 min
A capacitor is attached to a battery, then an inductor. Electromagnetic Oscillations 5 min
Separate the primary coil from the secondary and the flux guide. Electromagnetic Induction 5 min
Connect a bulb in series to a battery to light the bulb up. Circuits Fundamentals, Direct Current 5 min
A lodestone floating in water is moved around by an external magnet. Magnetism 5 min
Three Light Bulbs in Dedicated Socket Apparatus with moveable wires Series and Parallel Circuits 5 min
Use a capacitor,to show both an RC rise in voltage and an RC decay. RC Rise and Decay 5 min
Use Long Garland Magnets to Spice Up Discussion of Permanent Magnets Properties of Permanent Magnets 5 min
Small Coil of Wire Driven by A 9V Transistor Circuit Battery Properties of Electromagnets 5 min
Use A Battery and Set Up A Couple Of Simple DC Circuits To Quantify/Verify Some Basic Circuit Theory Ohm's Law 10 min
Put Device On Overhead And Watch Small Compass Needle Respond To Currents In Wire Rules Of Magnetic Field Lines For Current Carrying Wires 5 min
Thrust Bar Magnet In and Pull Out at Slow And Small Speeds and Vary Number Of Coil Turns Induced Emf's 5 min
Crank Slowly or Fast, Show Easier to Turn When Load removed Generator Action 5 min
Use Capacitor and Electroscope To See Effect of Dielectric Insertion Between The Plates Parallel Plate Capacitors 10 min
Use fur and silk patches to charge rods and explore their properties with the aid of pith balls, insulated spheres, electroscopes, and electrometers. Basic Concepts of Modeling Materials and their Constituent Charges 15 min
Show Huge Disparity Between Vertical Transit Times of Two Seemingly Identical Bodies Down The Inside Of A Long Aluminum Tube Eddy Current Damping Effects 2 min
Put A Permanent Bar Magnet on The Overhead Projector and See The Field Lines With Iron Filings Nature Of Magnetic Field Pattern For A Bar Magnet 2 min
Show What Some of The Solid State Family of Electrical Devices Look Like Show and Tell For Identifying A Few Solid State Physics Devices 3 min
Use Two Shop Improved RLC Breadboarded Type Units to Generate and Detect Radio Waves Sparking Generated in one Tuned Circuit Can Generate a Signal in another Tuned Circuit Which is Manifested as A Neon Bulb Flashing 5 min
Lenz's Law Popper In Another Version Induced Currents Interacting With Changes That Set Them Up 5 min
Use A Hand -Operated Generator to Power A Small Motor and Store Energy in A Capacitor Electrical Energy Stored And Converted To Other Forms 5 min
Base Tray Contains Tiny Dipole Elements in Solution That Can Line Up Along Electric Field Lines of Charged Metallic Overlay Electrodes Show Experimental Indications Of Electric Field Lines 10 min
6 Volt Battery Spins The Rotor Quite Briskly Current Loops In Magnetic Fields Experience Torques, Allowing Conversion Of Electric Energy To Mechanical Energy by Motors 3 min
Show Complex Spinning Interactions Between Powerful Small Magnets, Including Magnetic Levitation On A Pole Permanent Magnets Can Exert Large Forces On Each Other 5 min
Show Effects Of Induced EMF's By Flux Change In Circuits Rudiments Of Generator Action 5min
Transformer Action At A Fundamental Level Faraday's Law At Work 15 min
Look At The Pattern Of Bar Magnets In Three Dimensions May Hold Some Clues For Medical Imaging 5 min
Illustrate Concept Of Magnetic Domains With This Array Of Tiny Compass Needles Groups Of Needles Move In Sync With Each Other 5min
Show Eddy Current braking in small pendula. Show induced voltages. Electromagnetic braking and induced voltages can result from conductors in a changing magnetic field. 5 to 10 min
Charge a white sheet of teflon with a fur by rubbing. Then charge a metal plate by induction using the charged plate. Arbitrarily large charges may be accumulated by charging by induction with an Electrophorus. 5 min
By using the dedicated coil with friction free mounting and convenient power source , one can show the interaction of the coil with a permanent magnet. Solenoids can act as permanent bar magnet replacements. 5 min
Use PVC and Steel Bar Apparatus to Pass Wall Outlet Current Through A Hot Dog There is enough moisture in a hot dog to allow it to pass current from a wall outlet through it for cooking. 5 min
Send Music from Computer to Lecture Hall Interface Wirelessly Send Signals by transformer Coupling 10 min
Two Grapes Skewered on a Light Rod are Hung With One Grape the Poles of A Strong magnet Diamagnetism 10 min
Demonstrate series and parallel combinations by hooking up 9 Light Bulbs Series and Parallel Circuits 10 min
Use a battery, magnet and wire coil to make a homopolar motor Torque on a current carrying loop; Principle of a motor 5 min
Send AC and DC current through the filament of a lightbulb (shaped like a loop) and watch how it behaves in the vicinity of a magnet. Magnetic Force on a current carrying wire 5 min
Small bar magnet gymballed so it can rotate in 3D used to probe the magnetic field of various configurations of magnets Magnetic Fields; magnetic lines of force 5 min
Positioning a Faraday cage over a radio, one can block the incoming radio waves. Electromagnetic Shielding 5 mins
Details Physics Run Time
Smoke box , mirror, and water tank used to show plane mirror reflection and refraction of laser beam. Snell's Law and Angles of Incidence, Refraction, and Reflection 5 min
Use dedicated slit sets and a 5 mW HeNe laser to produce diffraction patterns on a screen. Single and Double Slit Diffraction 10 min
Look at interference from reflections of strong light from a soap film. Thin Film Interference 5 min
*Show a beam of laser light reflecting from a plane mirror with the aid of chalk dust.* Incident and reflected rays form equal angles with the normal to the mirror at the point of impingement and are contained in a plane along with that normal to the surface. 5 min
Create an image of a coin using a positive lens. Image Formation 5 min
Use a laser with a spatial filter, shining upon a small ball bearing. Bright Spot at Center of Shadow 15 min
Observe the action of an ultraviolet light on detergent. Fluorescence 5 min
Laser light is carried out in a stream of water from a hole in a bucket. Total Internal Reflection 5 min
Guide a laser beam light inside a Coiled Plastic Tube Total Internal Reflection 5 min
Use prisms to disperse white light into a spectrum then recombine the light. Prism Dispersion 5 min
Show that laser ight is not broken up into a spectrum with a prism. Laser Light 5 min
Black light on a phosphorescent mask gives a highly visible effect. Quantum mechanical effects 5 min
Apparent levitation of professor is achieved with the aid of a plane mirror hidden in a cubical framework. Reflection 5 min
A Pink Pig inside two concave mirrors has herself duplicated in three dimensions. Concave Mirrors 5 min
Real images from curved mirrors and diffuse and specular reflections of laser light can be realized with this apparatus. Image Formation from Curved Mirrors 5 min
A stick is placed in a container of water and appears to be bent. Index of Refraction 5 min
Place smoke box sections together, with lenses and mirrors inside, and activate the smoke source. Live ray diagrams are created for lenses and mirrors. 5 min
A laser beam sent through a water/syrup refractive index gradient follows a curved path. Index of Refraction 5 min
Use Various Optical Elements To Produce and View Polarized Light Polarized Light Properties and Uses 10 min
Shine The Big Laser Off The Dedicated Rule and Fixture Diffraction Can Yield Wavelength 15 min
Set Up Smoke Box With a Tray of Soapy Water inside And Watch The Refraction Snell's Law and Scattering Of Laser Beam 5 min
New Setup Allows Rapid Attainment of Interference Pattern on Wall Light Follows Different Paths From Front and Back Surfaces and Interferes With Itself 10 min
Use Microwave Generator and Receivers To Study Waves Through A Set Of Prisms Evanescent Wave Tunneling 10 min
Set Up Two Carts, Two Force Sensors, and Fiddle With The Electronics Graphic Newton's Third Law 10 min
Shine A Laser Across The Front of Room and Make it Visible By Introducing Chalk Dust In Its Path Light Needs Scattering From Obstacles To Be Seen in Many Situations 2 min
  Heating Effect Of The Infrared 5 min
Use A Large Plastic Block and The 5 mw Demonstration Laser To Show Brewster's Angle Linear Polarization Of Reflected Light 5 min
Use Fine-Meshed Sieve To Diffract Laser Light Into An Interference Pattern Light Squeezing Through Small Spaces Can Be Made To Interfere With Itself 2 min
Power Supplies And Tubes Give Out Light Which Students Can View In Handout Gratings Different Materials Have Characteristic Emission Lines 20 min
Hands-On ,Conceptually-Transparent View of the Lasing Process Laser Action 10 min
*Show double refraction of a beam of light passing through a pinhole on an overhead- projector- baffled- stage by means of a Nicol prism.* Some materials transport light at two different speeds. 3 min
*Shine a laser beam through a 35mm slide to see a holographic image of a telephone hand set on a screen.* *A suitably exposed piece of photographic film can reconstruct an image of an object with the aid of laser interference.*  
*Three plastic square discs are spaced at 17, 34, and 51 cm from a 'point source' on a framework.* *Rays passing through one unit of area at unit distance, pass through 4 units of area at double that distance, etc.* *5 min*
Lay Plastic Lenses and Blocks on White Backdrops and View Laser Beams Modifications with the Aid of The Document Camera Show Ray diagrams Involved in Image Formation Live. 10 min