Prepare your students for real-world problem solving and open-ended lab experiments. Experienced educators and curriculum specialists have developed each of these lessons, and we have tested them in real classrooms. PocketLab physics lessons cover introductory and advanced topics from one-dimensional motion to electricity and magnetism to simple harmonic motion. Browse all the high school and AP-level physics lessons below or use the filters to search for specific content.
High School Physics
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intelino/PocketLab: Impulse & Change in Momentum
Introduction
This lesson features Voyager and the "intelino® smart train" in a lab for AP physics students. Designed for all ages, intelino is intuitive with its app, has built-in sensors to provide an interactive experience for the user, and is easily programmed with color snaps that allow the user to control intelino's actions. Students are challenged to design and carry out an experiment to show that impulse is equal to change in momentum when Voyager is mounted to an intelino smart engine that suddenly reverses itself.
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intelino smart train/Voyager: Angular Velocity
Introduction
In a previous lesson the "intelino® smart train" was introduced, and an activity on speed for 4th grade through middle school students was presented. In that lesson Voyager was "on board" the intelino train and collected data for measuring the speed of the train. With students at the 4th grade level learning angle measurements in degrees and also having a solid foundation in multiplication and long division, there is
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Damped Simple Harmonic Motion
Introduction
Damping causes oscillatory systems to dissipate energy to their surroundings. Frictional losses are quite common in mechanical systems and result in damped simple harmonic motion. For example, when a child stops pumping a swing, the amplitude of the oscillations gradually decay toward zero. The same thing happens to a mass that hangs from an oscillating spring. It is quite common for the amplitude of such oscillations to exhibit a behavior that is negative exp
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The Negative Exponential Nature of Damping
Introduction
Damping causes oscillatory systems to dissipate energy to their surroundings. Frictional losses are quite common in mechanical systems. For example, when a child stops pumping a swing, the amplitude of the oscillations gradually decay toward zero. The same thing happens to a mass that hangs from an oscillating spring. It is quite common for the amplitude of such oscillations to exhibit a behavior that is negative exponential over time, as shown in Figure 1. The graph indicates that if we take the amplitude at time t=0 to be 1, then the amplitude at time
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Resonance and Damped Harmonic Motion
Introduction
Resonance can be defined in a number of ways. The most common definition is that resonance occurs at the frequency at which forced oscillations produce maximum amplitude. When the driving forces of oscillation are removed, friction gradually decreases the amplitude. This is known as damped harmonic motion. Most young children experience resonance as well as damped harmonic motion in schoolyard playgrounds. They experience resonance while pumping the swing at the right frequency--the natural frequency of the swing. They experience dampe
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Periodic Motion: Weights vs. Springs
Introduction
In a well-known 1938 book entitled "Demonstration Experiments in Physics", editor Richard Sutton describes a setup for producing periodic motion of a cart using weights instead of springs. With today's technology this experiment can be done using an air disk, and data can be collected with PocketLab Voyager's rangefinder. The data clearly shows that not all periodic motions are simple harmonic. The restoring force when weights are used is constant, while the restoring force with springs is proportional to the displacement. Springs produce simple harmonic
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Momentum Pendulum Rides the PocketLab HotRod
The Momentum Pendulum
The momentum pendulum is shown in Figure 1. A frame (red) to hold the pendulum was printed on a 3D printer. The STL file in included with this lesson. The frame is solidly attached to the PocketLab HotRod with three damage-free hanging strips. A roughly 3" diameter wood ball with a screw eye attached to the top of the ball is hung from a bifilar suspension so that the ball will swing in a plane. Two small holes at the top of the frame provide an easy way to prepare the string suspension. The smaller set of wheels are used with the HotRod, and
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Vehicle Braking Study with the Mini Hot Rod
Introduction
"The brakes on my car have failed and I can fix either the front or rear brakes. Which set of brakes should I fix if I am concerned with stability against spinning while braking?" This quote is from an article by W. G.
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Physics Galore with the PocketLab Swing
The PocketLab Voyager Swing
The PocketLab Voyager swing, 3D printable from the accompanying .STL file, offers your physics students a way to study a plethora of physics concepts in a single experiment. Figure 1 shows a closeup up the swing, approximately 5½ inches tall, 1¾ inches wide, and 1¾ inches deep.
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Competing Pendulums
Competing Pendulums
The two pendulums shown in Figure 1 were printed on a 3D printer. The .STL file is included with this lesson so you can print them with your 3D printer. They have the same length, same mass, and same thickness. They swing about a piece of metal rod from a coat hanger. To provide a rigid support, the rod has been attached to a ring stand. A tiny magnet has been taped to the bottom of each pendulum. PocketLab Voyager's magnetic field sensor keeps track of the motion as the pendulums swing back-and-forth. What is your prediction as to which one has
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