Exploring the Analog Thing

 Playing with the Analog Thing. Setting up the Oscilloscope and then investigating what the different parts do. Experimenting with the integrators and summers

Ready for teaching

Coronation day for the Kings, but students are still stressing about upcoming exams and what they don't know. No worries, I'm here to help fix that today. #examprep #studentsuccess

Exothermic Reaction

 Making a big bang using an old paint tin and some icing sugar. Just managed to catch the lid coming off in mid-flight as the icing sugar met the flame. Fun demo Everyone had a go and lots of slo-mo videos captured.

Pasco Drop Counter

 

Producing very accurate and quick pH curves using the @Pascoscientific drop counter. Calibration is straightforward, and then it takes minutes to get a pH curve and a temp curve for an acid-alkali neutralisation. Just the thing for revision #ScienceMadeEasy

Ways of doing the same experiment - Measuring the Speed of Sound

 I may do an experiment one way, but the exam papers may show the investigation another way. Getting the students to do the same experiments differently and compare all the results to find the most accurate. Round robins work well.  #ScientificMethod

One example of this is measuring the speed of sound.

1. Make a deafening sound and smoke simultaneously and have the students spread across the school field with arms up. as they hear the sound, they put their arms down. This a very effective demo, and knowing the distance and the time, the students can work out the speed of sound. The results are usually appalling, but it is a great demo to watch and participate in. This is great as an introduction.

2.

Using a tube and a tuning fork. This can be done in several ways - varying the tube length in water.

Resonance Tube Experiment:
a) Set up a long cylindrical tube vertically with a movable piston at the top. b) Adjust the position of the piston to create a resonant sound wave inside the tube. c) Measure the distance between the piston and the water level in the tube and the frequency of the sound produced.

d) Using the formula v = f * λ, where v is the speed of sound, f is the frequency, and λ is the wavelength, calculate the speed of sound.


Time of Flight Experiment:
a) Stand at one end of a long hallway or corridor and have another person stand at the opposite end. b) Use a stopwatch to measure the time it takes for a sharp sound, such as a clap or a pop, to travel from one end to the other.
c) Measure the distance between the two positions. d) Divide the distance by the time to obtain the average speed of sound.




Kundt's Tube Experiment:
a) Set up a transparent tube filled with fine talcum powder with a loudspeaker at one end. b) Generate a continuous sound wave using the loudspeaker.
c) Observe the formation of patterns or nodes in the powder as the sound wave travels through the tube. d) Measure the distance between consecutive nodes and calculate the wavelength.
e) Use the formula v = f * λ to determine the speed of sound, where v is the speed of sound, f is the frequency, and λ is the wavelength.

Getting the calculators ready for exams

Upgraded most of my A-level Maths student's fx-CG50 calculators to Version 3.8, ready for the exams. Not much new here, but is better for exam mode. Taught them how to set up exam mode as well.
 

MBPBC: Making a Mixing Bowl Ping-pong Ball Cyclotron

MBPBC: Mixing Bowl Ping-pong Ball Cyclotron 🌀 A mini LHC for your tabletop experiments! #SMBPBC #TabletopCyclotron #PhysicsFun

To create a Mixing Bowl Ping-pong Ball Cyclotron (MBPBC), follow these steps:

You will need

A large Mixing bowl. A transparent one is best

Some flat copper tape that is adhesive on one side

Some leads

A spare Van de Graaff generator

1) Take a ping-pong ball and cover it in graphite from a pencil

2) Create the charging strips

First make a cross from one side to the other. All the copper must make good contact with one another. These will be connected to one side of the Van de Graaff generator, say the +ve side

3) Now make another set of conducting strips. These must not touch the cross and must all be linked together. These form the -ve side. The copper wires therefore go -ve,+ve -ve +ve all around the mixing bowl, as in the picture below

4) Connect to the Van de Graaff Generator and put the ping  pong ball in, and switch on.

The ball will spring around the bowl

A different type of cyclotron

To create a Mixing Bowl Ping-pong Ball Cyclotron (MBPBC), follow these steps:

1. Materials:

   • A large, smooth mixing bowl
   • Ping-pong balls
   • Hairdryer or leaf blower
   • Optional: food colouring and water

2. Preparation:

   • Place the mixing bowl on a flat surface.
   • Optional: Add a thin layer of coloured water to the bowl's bottom to visualize the motion better.

3. Building the MBPBC:

   • Position the hairdryer or leaf blower with its nozzle pointing at a tangent to the bowl's inner surface near the rim.
   • Turn on the device at its lowest setting and gradually increase the speed until you see the desired circular motion.
   • Drop a ping-pong ball into the bowl, and observe how it accelerates around its inner surface, mimicking a cyclotron's particle acceleration.
   • Adjust the airspeed to maintain a stable circular motion of the ping-pong ball.

4. Experiment:

   • Try adding multiple balls, adjusting the airspeed, or tilting the bowl slightly to observe how these changes affect the motion.

Enjoy your homemade MBPBC! Remember, this is a simplified model for fun & educational purposes and doesn't replicate the exact functioning of a real cyclotron. #DIYPhysics #MBPBC #CyclotronFun