U2 Physics

This simple lab allows the students to practice on the concept of work and power using their own body. Students will calculate the work done when lifting a 500g metal cylinder several times. Students will collect and graph data and determine the power of their hand by determining the slope of the line in the Work vs. time graph.Students then will use the information from the data and the graph to calculate the number of repetitions needed to use the energy equivalent to a hot dog.

Use frictionless ramps, and and a dynamic cart to test the relationship between the change in the kinetic energy of a system and the work done to stop it. Let the students discover the physics describing the flow of energy on a mechanical system. Use the power of technology to measure the position, velocity, and acceleration of the system and make calculations with precision and accuracy.

There is always a misconception between mass and weight. Are they the same thing or different concepts? In this lab students have the opportunity to explore the relationship between mass (amount of matter) and weight (pull of gravity) and understand the connection between both concepts using simple low tech lab equipment. Students are able to understand why we can use a spring scale to measure the mass of an object.

Students can track the motion of a pull-back car and study its acceleration, Students will plot a velocity - time graph and calculate the acceleration of the car from the slope of the line. Students can measure the uncertainty of the measurements, and calculate the percent error of their experimental result. This lab can be used in high school, or college level.

Use an ammeter and a voltmeter to measure the current and the voltage in several resistors connected in series, and in parallel. Explore how the currents and the voltage are related in each configuration, and use ohm's law and the law of conservation of charge to derive the equations for equivalent resistance in both series and parallel configurations. CPO physics equipment was originally used, but you may use any standard resistors.

Use the law of conservation of momentum to predict the velocity of a ball before it collides with a stationary lab cart. The ball and the cart will stick together and continue to move together after colliding. this lab uses an added part made on a 3D printer. I used a 4.8 cm diameter metal ball from the energy ball kit used for physics. Caution is required when handling heavy objects, do not use open toe shoes and use eye protection.

Create velocity vs. time graphs using the information from the given position vs. time graphs. The velocity is calculated from the slope of the line in the position vs. time graph.

Practice on solving problems related to conservation of linear momentum for inelastic and elastic collisions, and practice on determining the impulse, and final velocity of a ball bouncing off a wall

Use an ultrasonic sensor controlled by an Arduino Nano board to measure the speed of sound in air by determining the roundtrip time for an ultrasound wave to travel a pre-determined distance. Use the generic equation for speed to calculate the speed of sound in air. The code for the Arduino, a connection diagram, and sample data are included.

Use logger pro or any other data logger, a pipe, and a microphone to measure the speed of sound on air. Students will calculate the speed of the sound wave by measuring the round trip distance sound makes inside a pipe 1m long os more and measuring the round trip time using a microphone connected to a data logger like vernier logger pro, lab quest, pasco capstone, or an arduino board connected to a microphone. The speed of the sound is calculated as the round trip distance over the round trip ti

What is the difference between static friction and kinetic friction, are they the same, are they different? In this lab students have the opportunity to measure the friction force between a wooden block and a horizontal surface. Students will create force vs. time graphs to observe the differences between static friction and kinetic friction, and determine experimentally the coefficients of friction in each case. Students will also be able to perform the experiment for different conditions in or

How is the intensity of light changing with the distance for a point-like source like a light bulb, or the flash light in your cell phone? explore the inverse square low and how it can be applied to different kinds of light sources. build a simple light sensor to be used with the arduino based U2Logger or use equipment from other suppliers. there is another packet available in my TPT store U2Physics explaining how to build and use the U2Logger to make low cost measurements in science using ardu

Determine the factors affecting the period of a pendulum. The activity includes factors like mass, starting angle, and string length, but the list may be extended to other factors if desirable, for example students may explore with changes in temperature, location, frame of reference, air resistance, and other factors.

Students review the basic concept for ionization energy and the periodic trends, and then answer several questions related to it.

Explore how the electric force on a test charge changes as you move the test charge from the source, the equation for electric force predicts an inverse squared relationship between force and distance, similar to gravitational forces, and how the intensity of light changes with distance. Use a Van der Graaf generator and a small piece of styrofoam to explore this important relationship expressed in the equation for Coulomb's law.

Students will practice on adding the following force vectors using the components method, graphically and analytically. Students may determine the percent difference between the numerical results to compare the values. Teachers may give extra credit to students with e percent difference less than 2%, or so. Students may work on this activity in groups to make it more competitive. This activity is target to students in Pre AP Physics or AP Physics class.

Measure the wavelength and frequency of various colors using different light sources. Students will calculate the transition energy,wavelength, and frequency for the electrons moving from upper energy levels to level 2 (Balmer's series) and compare the experimental results to the theoretical values by determining the percent error for each color frequency.

Students collect the temperature of ice as it melts into liquid water, and boils. Students will also calculate the amount of heat absorbed for each section of the graph, Identify each section, label the graph, and answer questions related to the interaction between the molecules about the phase changes for water. In this lab is important for teachers to put emphasis in the fact that no chemical bonds are broken during the changes in phase of water, and all explanations may be made from the point

What factors affect the period of a spring-mass system? explore the relationship between the mass, and the period, and the spring constant and the period for a spring-mass system. You may extend the activity by using springs of different length or by submerging the system into different fluids if you want to explore more, but that is beyond the scope of the original document.

Students will be able to determine the relationship between the distance to the object, the distance to the image, and the focal distance for a converging lens.