This article describes an experiment to show the reason why alternating currents are rated according to their heating power (for sinusoidal currents, the r.m.s. value). The luminosities of a 6V filament lamp are compared when it is powered by a battery and by a transformer, […]
The students are guided to take infrared photos with a modified computer webcam, and to understand why on the monitor figures can be shown, which are invisible for the eye. […]
With an educational purpose, the analogy between rotational and translational quantities is explained by comparing the behaviours of a flywheel and of a trolley moving along a rail. The inertia of the two compared systems is measured in the same framework. […]
The Thomson ring experiment is revisited obtaining higher and higher jumps. The ring’s inductance and the phase lag between the primary magnetic flux and the current are determined using a new procedure. New configurations that produce an electromagnetic cannon that fires aluminium disks are presented. […]
The rotation of the Earth produces an effect on the behaviour of a sufficiently long pendulum, as in Foucault’s experiment in 1851. This article illustrates an easy method to measure the Earth’s angular velocity with acceptable accuracy and in less than 20 minutes. […]
A series of three simple experimental activities with bycicle lamps allows a determination of the temperature of the filament, an evaluation of the light emission of the lamp. and an examination of the law for the dependence of the illumination on the distance from the source, […]
The article describes a simple but effective experiment on energy conservation. The experiment was performed in the school physics lab using the Tracker program and an archers’ bow. […]
Home-made one-stage, two-stage and three-stage water rockets were launched at an exhibit on “Physics for… flight”. The design details of the two-stage rocket are described. […]
In the 2014/2015 school year, the Respighi Scientific High School started the “Fare Fisica: Planck 2.0” (Making Physics: Planck 2.0) project, aiming to challenge our best students thanks to the use of the laboratory. For this purpose we chose a modern physics experiment: the measurement of the Planck constant by means of the characteristic voltage – current of a LED. […]
After describing the working principles of the crystal radio, the author puts them into practice designing, assembling and testing a simple radio system. Didactic suggestions are given. […]