Energy and Momentum

Introduction

Don't discard your school's empty 3D filament reels.  There's a good chance that you and your students could come up with some interesting physics lab investigations using these reels.  Attach Voyager or PocketLab One to the reel and the possibilities are endless!  This lesson describes a unique experiment in which periodic motion is investigated using an empty 3D filament reel.  Depending on the teacher's goals and amount of detail in the analysis of collected data, this lab could be used from the 4th grade through high school.  The

The NGSS Seismic Basketball Challenge

This NGSS seismic basketball challenge fits well in the study of motion for high school physics students.  Here is a statement describing the challenge:

Place PocketLab Voyager on a wood floor with accelerometer data being captured. Drop a basketball onto the floor near Voyager and let it bounce several times, being careful to not let it hit Voyager.  From the recorded accelerometer data, determine the original height from which the basketball was released.  

Introduction

Have you ever been told not to follow too close to the driver ahead of you?  To keep a safe distance?  To abide by the "3-second rule"?  To keep a distance of at least one car length for every ten miles per hour of speed?  These questions all deal with the issue of stopping distance versus speed in order to avoid crashes.  A great way to investigate the relationship between stopping distance and speed is to interface Voyager with an "intelino® smart train".   Designed for all ages, intelino is intuitive with its app, has bui

Introduction

While driving at 40 mph, you see a red stop light ahead.  You press your brakes for several seconds, gradually coming to a stop.  A little later on the same road at 40 mph, you approach another light, this time green.  While approaching this light, it suddenly changes to yellow.  You make a split-second decision to put on your brakes to avoid going through a red light.  With the brakes applied quite hard, you quickly stop, waking up your sleeping friend in the front passenger seat.

Introduction

This lesson features Voyager and the "intelino® smart train" in a lab for AP physics students.  Designed for all ages, intelino is intuitive with its app, has built-in sensors to provide an interactive experience for the user, and is easily programmed with color snaps that allow the user to control intelino's actions.  Students are challenged to design and carry out an experiment to show that impulse is equal to change in momentum when Voyager is mounted to an intelino smart engine that suddenly reverses itself.

In these two design challenges, students will design and construct their own thermos/storage device using craft materials and measure its effectiveness to insulate a liquid with a PocketLab temperature probe. These activities are aligned with two middle school NGSS standards and are a great open-ended, hands-on project for students to engage their critical thinking and engineering skills. 

Introduction

Resonance can be defined in a number of ways.  The most common definition is that resonance occurs at the frequency at which forced oscillations produce maximum amplitude.  When the driving forces of oscillation are removed, friction gradually decreases the amplitude.  This is known as damped harmonic motion.  Most young children experience resonance as well as damped harmonic motion in schoolyard playgrounds.  They experience resonance while pumping the swing at the right frequency--the natural frequency of the swing.  They experience dampe

The Momentum Pendulum

The momentum pendulum is shown in Figure 1.  A frame (red) to hold the pendulum was printed on a 3D printer.  The STL file in included with this lesson.  The frame is solidly attached to the PocketLab HotRod with three damage-free hanging strips.  A roughly 3" diameter  wood ball with a screw eye attached to the top of the ball is hung from a bifilar suspension so that the ball will swing in a plane.  Two small holes at the top of the frame provide an easy way to prepare the string suspension.  The smaller set of wheels are used with the HotRod, and

The PocketLab Voyager Swing

The PocketLab Voyager swing, 3D printable from the accompanying .STL file, offers your physics students a way to study a plethora of physics concepts in a single experiment. Figure 1 shows a closeup up the swing, approximately 5½ inches tall, 1¾ inches wide, and 1¾ inches deep.

Competing Pendulums

The two pendulums shown in Figure 1 were printed on a 3D printer.  The .STL file is included with this lesson so you can print them with your 3D printer.  They have the same length, same mass, and same thickness.  They swing about a piece of metal rod from a coat hanger.  To provide a rigid support, the rod has been attached to a ring stand.  A tiny magnet has been taped to the bottom of each pendulum.  PocketLab Voyager's magnetic field sensor keeps track of the motion as the pendulums swing back-and-forth.  What is your prediction as to which one has