Physics Experimental and Practical Activities

Practical Activity / Description / Equipment
Thermal Physics
Using a Thermistor / Measure a property that changes with temp / Thermistor, multimeter
'Metho' on wrist / Observe cooling due to evaporation / Metho, cotton wool
Electric fan and a wet thermometer / Observe cooling due to evaporation / Electric fan, 2 thermometers, beaker of water, stand with two bossheads
Thermal conductivity / Observe different rates of heat flow / Star of four metals with waxed ends, bunsen burner, tripod, mat, stop watch
Bimetallic strip / Observe different rates of linear expansion / Bimetallic strip, bunsen burner, mat
Newton's law of cooling / Observe the rate of change of temperature / Beaker of hot water, thermometer, stand, bosshead, stop watch or temp probe with datalogger.
Thermal conductivity of ice and water / Compare conductivities of ice that is not wet and partially melted ice / Thermos of ice
Body as thermometer / Can hands measure temperature / Bowls of hot water, cold water and water at room temp
Radiometer / Observe effect of infra red radiation / Radiometer, infra red source
Thermoelectricity / Observe conversion from electricity to temp diff and vice versa / Thermoelectric device, two beakers, hot and cold water, two thermometers, multimeter, DC power source
Practical Activity / Description / Equipment
Electricity Unit 1
Voltage Drops around a circuit / Done as self paced exercise / Box of components, wires and meters
Ohmic Resistors / as above / as above
Series and Parallel Circuits / as above / as above
Light Globe Resistance / as above / as above
LDR / as above / as above
Thermistor / as above / as above
Voltage Dividers / as above / as above
Diodes / as above / as above
Household Electricity / as above / Board
Practical Activity / Description / Equipment
Motion Unit 2
Forces in balance / Add force vectors together using components and vector addition / Force table. Board with stand and slotted weights with strings to a centre
Newton's 2nd Law / Vary angle to show effect of force component / Newton's cart
Newton's 2nd Law / Investigate relationship:
net F = ma / Air track, glider, pulley system, masses, ticker tape, photogates or datalogger
Conservation of momentum / Investigate momentum before and after collision for variety of collisions / Air track, 2 gliders, masses, photogates or datalogger
Conservation of momentum / Pull one or more balls aside and release. / Newton's cradle
Forms of energy and energy transfer / Round robin of short activities / Energy kits
Forces and energy in a bouncing ball / Display velocity and acceleration time graphs for a bouncing ball / basketball, ultrasound, Tain and computer
Forces and energy in a bouncing ball / From drop height, rebound height and impact time, determine energy loss, efficiency, change in momentum on impact and impact force / basketball, electronic timer, alfoil, wires and ruler
Practical Activity / Description / Equipment
Motion Unit 3
Hooke's Law: Energy change / Investigate energy conversion between GPE, KE and Elastic PE / Stand with bosshead and clamp, spring with a set of masses, a ruler
Collisions / Investigate momentum and energy conservation in s range of collisions including sticky, explosive and elastic / Air track, gliders and photogates for datalogger
Circular Motion / Investigate T vs net force for fixed R and T vs R for fixed net force / Centripetal acceleration kit
Practical Activity / Description / Equipment
Electromagnetism
Magnetic field of Solenoid / Use current balance kit to determine magnetic field of a solenoid / 1 Current balance kit, 1 Solenoid, 2 Ammeters, 2 rheostats, 2 power packs
Turning Effect in a meter / Investigate meter mechanism with small compass / Demonstration Meter
Dissection of DC Meter / Dissect a small DC motor then reassemble / DC Motor
Electromagnetic Induction / Investigate Lenz' Law / 1 Induction apparatus, 1 Bar magnet, 1 Galvanometer or CRO
Practical Activity / Description / Equipment
Unit 4 Waves & Light
Transverse and Longitudinal Waves / show properties of waves on a slinky / Slinky
Standing waves / Reflection and superposition / Slinky
Interference / Twirl tuning fork at the ear and notice variation in intensity due to cancellation at corners of tuning fork / One tuning fork per student
Interference / Nodal line in front of two speakers when out of phase / Two speakers, one out of phase to the other
Standing wave (transverse) / Oscillate the timber vertically, setting standing waves of different modes / Long flexible strip of timber
Refraction of light / Observe bending of light through glass block / Glass block, four pins, pin board
Apparent Depth / Measure apparent depth / Glass block on small edge, two pieces of graph paper
Rainbow / Observe order of colours / Prism, light box
Polarisation / Rotate one filter over the other / Polaroid filters
Diffraction through a Single Slit / Observe diffraction of blue and red through slits of different width / Diffraction box
Interference of light through a Double Slit / Observe interference of blue and red through double slits of different width and different spacing / Diffraction box
Practical Activity / Description / Equipment
Light and matter
Photoelectric Effect / Perform PE Effect experiment / PE Effect apparatus
Light Sources and Spectra / Observe spectral lines for different elements / Spectral lamps, power source, spectroscopes
Planck's Constant and LEDs / Determine Planck's constant with different coloured LEDs / LEDs, power supply and meters

Physics Demonstrations: Electromagnetism

Practical Activity / Description / Equipment
Properties of magnets / Investigate Force between magnets and magnetic field of bar and horseshoe magnets / 2 bar magnets, 1 horseshoe magnet, 10 see-through magnetic compasses, 1 Iron filings in fluid
Oersted's Experiment / Show magnetic effect of an electric current in magnetic field / Oersted apparatus, Power pack
Left Hand Rule / Show magnetic force on current loop / Bar magnet, Power pack or battery, Copper wire (U shaped) in clamp
Left Hand Rule / Show movement of Al rod on rails with horseshoe magnet / Magnetic Force kit
Left Hand Rule / Show slow oscillation of loudspeaker cone / Signal Generator, Loudspeaker (large)
Deflection of moving charge / Deflect electron beam in CRO with a magnet / CRO, Bar magnet
Deflection of moving charge / Deflect electron beam in evacuated chamber / Ruhmkoff coil, Evacuated chamber, Bar magnet
ModelDC Motor / Show motor principle with models / DC Motor model
Electromagnetic Induction / Show generation of induced EMF by magnet in solenoid / Solenoid, Bar magnet, CRO
Model Generator / Show components / Model generator
Electromagnetic Induction / Drop strong magnet thru Al cylinder / 1 Eddy current apparatus
Transformer / Show effect of Turns ratio on voltage / current / Demountable transformer
Transmission Lines / Show the effect of transformers on Power loss and voltage drop / T'n Lines model