Data Analysis Activity Using MATLAB
Michael Ray, California State University-Sacramento
In this activity students will develop a model of air resistance, then perform an experiment using coffee filters, rulers and a stopwatch to test it. They will collect the data, then analyze it and produce a high ...

Virtual Pendulum Experiments & Mechanical Oscillations
Jeremy Riousset, Florida Institute of Technology-Melbourne
The pendulum motion is one of the first encounters with the concept of a harmonic oscillator. This activity seeks to complement a traditional, rigorous, theoretical approach with a rigorous numerical model. It ...

LRC Circuit Calculation
Michele McColgan, Siena College
This is a homework assignment in a course in electronics for sophomore-level physics students on the topic of AC circuits. It includes 3 questions to calculate the reactance, total impedance, and voltage across ...

Modeling a voltage divider
Michele McColgan, Siena College
This is a homework assignment in a course in electronics for sophomore-level physics students on the topic of voltage dividers. At the start of the semester, students receive a kit of electronic components ...

Kinetics of Herbicide Photodegradation
Kristi Closser, California State University-Fresno
This lab activity is designed to connect student's knowledge of reaction rates to actual data and an unfamiliar system (photodegradation of phenylurea herbicides in the presence of various catalysts). Students ...

Scaling sizes of sports field
Benjamin Bratton, Vanderbilt University
This is a MATLAB live script that guides students to learn about the kinematics of thrown balls in various sports. It helps the students learn about simple numerical methods to solve differential equations, as well ...

Cool Roof
Eugene Mahmoud, Mt. San Antonio College
This project is a hands-on, open-ended, collaborative assessment of students' abilities to collect numerical data, and develop mathematical models of naturally occurring phenomena. Students design physical ...

Bouncing Ball Explorer
Duncan Carlsmith, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Exploration of the sound of a bouncing ball dropped on a hard surface, the sound recorded with a mobile phone or laptop microphone, is the basis for an accessible experiment in elementary mechanics. For ...

Projectile Motion and Circular Motion
Michele McColgan, Siena College
4 MATLAB Grader (previously Cody Coursework) problems assigned to freshmen physics majors in a general physics course are described. The physics concepts are projectile motion and circular motion.

Relaxation Method for a real parallel-plate capacitor
Sean Bartz, Indiana State University
Students learn to solve Laplace's equation for the potential in free space under the influence of a variety of boundary conditions that would be difficult to solve analytically, using the method of relaxation. ...