Acoustic Levitator

 My Holiday Job. I am going to build an acoustic levitator. My wife bought my the kit for Christmas so now I have a little time to see if I can build one of these things to demonstrate to the students. It might not be in the syllabus but its what makes science interesting and fun.

How many students do Physics without Maths.

One of the things I struggle with is the number of students that study Physics without studying Maths. Those students seem to really struggle and when some schools choose the level 3 certificate to help them is beyond my understanding. For those students who then realise that Maths was really essential to learning and understanding Physics then I have to try to help my teaching them the right bit of Maths to help them do well in Physics.

@chatphysics

#iteachphysics

Back to Work

 Back to work today with more A level Physics, looking at terminal velocity in a long tube of water and using a @pascoscientific rotary motion sensor to calculate the velocity. #iteachphysics #Science #STEM

More Maths

Last lesson before Christmas and its A Level Maths. I have been teaching more Maths this year, its the demand from the students having missed so much. I thought it would be science but its not...

Barton's Pendulums

 Looking at Barton's Pendulums. An interesting problems on why they move the way they do. Amazed at how many nearly right explanations I got. #iteachphysics #Science #STEM

Determining the speed of sound

 Determining the speed of sound using a tube and tuning fork. We were impressed with the speed that we got - we repeated the experiment three times and managed similar values.

Seismograph

Seismic Waves are easy to understand but the fact that a seismograph pen stays where it is whilst the machine moves isn't. #iteachphysics #Science #STEM

Notes and lengths of tube

 How does the length of a tube affect the note. Yes I could use a sonometer but the trombone is much more fun. #iteachphysics #Science #STEM

Speaker and square plate

 I always enjoy this experiment with the speaker, square plate and some salt or sand vibrating #iteachphysics #Science #STEM

Video of the Space Tube in Action

 

Getting Old and Hearing loss

 I am seeing how becoming more mature (ok old) that when I put the lid on the Space Tube I can't hear the sound let alone when I remove the air. Fortunately the students still have good hearing and tell me. #iteachphysics #Science #STEM

Fractional Distillation

 Crude Oil fractional distillation. Looking at many different types of fuels and why to use or not use them.

Vacuum

I can't understand why I can't pull these apart. There is nothing in there holding them together.

Electrical Conductivity

This is not usually the first sensor I think of to use but for many physical and chemical reactions the @pascoscientific electrical conductivity probe provides an insight into the composition of the solution. #STEM #Science

Air Pressure in a Balloon

 What is the air pressure inside a balloon? The students were amazed at the answer using a @pascoscientific wireless pressure sensor and Capstone to prove the pressure didn't really change. #teachphysics #STEM #Science

The power of air pressure

 The power of a little air pressure. A few pumps was enough to lift this full 15kg Cannister of Butane by a few centimetres.

Investigating Photosynthesis

 Investigating Photosynthesis and the distance of the light source and the inverse square law. I find you have to get the light very close to get bubbles that you can measure.

Making own resistor sets

 Making up our own resistors using Locktronics by @MatrixTSL Predicting The total resistance and then measuring it to see if correct using Ohms Law. #iteachphysics #STEM

Simple Distillation

 Doing a distillation in organic chemistry to separate the products. Explaining why the water has to go up the condenser - seemed so strange to the students.

Specific Heat Capacity

 Using @pascoscientific Capstone to look at specific heat capacities Graphs showed the different uptakes of of the heat in the same time, which gave a better idea of this concept of specific heat capacity. #iteachphysics @chatphysics #STEM

Practical uses of a thermistor

 #Physics Investigating the properties of a thermistor using Locktronics by @MatrixTSL and then having to turn this into a make shift digital thermometer using some coding on a Raspberry Pi and some Python. #iteachphysics #Science #STEM

Resistors give off heat

 #Physics trying to show that resistors give off heat is fairly difficult, but with this device it is easy. The students loved it. #iteachphysics #Science #STEM

mass spectrometer

 Teaching how a mass spectrometer works. It one of those machines I have always wanted but I don't really know what I would do with it if I had one. #iteachphysics

What is difference between theory and practical?

 What is difference between theory and practical? Practical should lead to theory and then better learning and understanding. But many students don't do practicals and some don't see demos. #iteachphysics #Science

How the National Grid Works

 #Physics Teaching how the National Grid works https://youtu.be/P0j5VeRtGKo using a step up and a step down transformer or not and watching it fail. My pylons I am told make the difference. #iteachphysics #Science #STEM

Fermentation

 Turning all that sugar into alcohol and Carbon dioxide. One of the fun practicals learning about microbes and fermentation.

https://youtu.be/S1FhTzup-Cc #STEM #Science

Trying out electronics

 #Physics Learning about electricity is learning what does work and what doesn't. Here practical work, seems far better than doing the theory. The students learn more and faster, here using Locktronics #iteachphysics #Science #STEM @MatrixTSL