Teaching Resources

Physics teaching resources

17 March

Newton’s 2nd Law Applet

Seng Kwang Tan 03 Dynamics, GeoGebra, IP3 03 Dynamics 0 Comments

For a full-screen view, click here.

<iframe scrolling="no" title="Dynamics Problem" src="https://www.geogebra.org/material/iframe/id/uthszwjq/width/640/height/480/border/888888/sfsb/true/smb/false/stb/false/stbh/false/ai/false/asb/false/sri/false/rc/false/ld/false/sdz/true/ctl/false" width="640px" height="480px" style="border:0px;"> </iframe>

This applet was designed with simple interactive features to adjust two opposing forces along the horizontal direction in order to demonstrate the effect on acceleration and velocity.

19 February

Famous Physicists according to topic

Seng Kwang Tan Teaching Resources 0 Comments

To incorporate elements of the Nature of Science in our teaching, we often talk about some of the scientists who have contributed to the discoveries that led to an understanding of the universe, the circumstances and constraints they face, and their attitudes and values. This is an incomplete list of some of the scientists who have their names prominently featuring either as a unit of measure or in a law of physics, classified by the A-level topics. I am compiling this as a quick reference for lesson planning purposes.

Dynamics

  • Sir Isaac Newton (1643-1703 English) – Newton’s laws of motion, Newton’s law of gravitation

Forces

  • Archimedes of Syracuse (287-212 BC Greek) – principle of the lever, law of buoyancy
  • Robert Hooke (1635-1703 English) – Hooke’s law

Energy, Work and Power

  • James Watt (1736-1819 Scottish) – improved efficiency of steam engines
  • James Prescott Joule (1818-1889 English) – discovered mechanical equivalent of heat

Thermal Physics

  • Anders Celsius (1701-1744 Swedish) – proposed (an inverted form of) the Centigrade temperature scale
  • Robert Brown (1773-1858 Scottish) – botanist who observed Brownian motion
  • Amedeo Avogadro (1776-1856 Italian) – formulated Avogadro’s law
  • Lord Kelvin (1824-1907 British) – formulated first and second laws of thermodynamics
  • Ludwig Eduard Boltzmann (1844-1906 Austrian) – statistical explanation of second law of thermodynamics, defined entropy

Wave Motion and Superposition

  • Étienne-Louis Malus (1775-1812 French) – discovered polarization of light by reflection, double refraction of light in crystals
  • Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen (1845-1923 German) – discovered X-rays by accident
  • Heinrich Hertz (1857-1894 German) – proved the existence of the electromagnetic waves
  • Lord Rayleigh (1842-1919 English) – Rayleigh’s criterion for angular resolution

Electric Fields, Current Electricity and DC Circuits

  • Charles-Augustin de Coulomb (1736-1806 French) – discovered Coulomb’s law
  • Count Alessandro Volta (1745-1827 Italian) – invented first electric battery
  • Andre Marie Ampere (1775-1836 French) – electrodynamics
  • Georg Ohm (1789-1854 German) – discovered that current flow is proportional to p.d. and inversely proportional to resistance
  • Benjamin Franklin (1785-1788 American) – discovered principle of conservation of charge, kite experiment

Electromagnetism

  • Hans Christien Oersted (1777-1851 Danish) – discovered that electric currents create magnetic fields
  • Sir John Ambrose Fleming (1849-1945 English) – professor of electrical engineering, establised right-hand rule

Electromagnetic Induction

  • Michael Faraday (1791-1867 English) – discovered principle of electromagnetic induction
  • Heinrich Friedrich Emil Lenz (1804-1865 German) – formulated Lenz’s law

Alternating Current

  • Nikola Tesla (1856-1943, Austrian/American) – designed modern AC supply system

Modern Physics

  • Max Karl Planck (1858-1947 German) – quantum theory
  • Albert Einstein (1879-1955 German/Swiss/American) – mass-energy equivalence, photoelectric effect, etc.
  • Louis de Broglie (1892-1987 French) – wave nature of electrons
  • Werner Karl Heisenberg (1901-1976 German) – pioneer in quantum mechanics, uncertainty principle

Nuclear Physics

  • Henri Becquerel (1852-1908 French) – discovered evidence of radioactivity
  • Pierre Curie (1859-1096 French) – pioneer in radioactivity
  • Marie Curie (1867-1934 Polish/French) – pioneer in radioactivity, only woman to win Nobel Prize twice

12 February

Equation of Motion App

Seng Kwang Tan 02 Kinematics, GeoGebra, IP3 02 Kinematics 0 Comments

Access the app in full screen here: https://www.geogebra.org/m/mfvvhjrj

This app is designed to give students practice in interpreting velocity-time graphs with various scenarios, such as more complex examples involving negative velocity and acceleration. Answers will be given if student is wrong.

Use this to embed into SLS or another LMS.

<iframe scrolling="no" title="Equations of Motion" src="https://www.geogebra.org/material/iframe/id/mfvvhjrj/width/700/height/480/border/888888/sfsb/true/smb/false/stb/false/stbh/false/ai/false/asb/false/sri/false/rc/false/ld/false/sdz/false/ctl/false" width="700px" height="480px" style="border:0px;"> </iframe>

08 February

Bouncing Ball Animation using Python

Seng Kwang Tan 02 Kinematics, IP3 02 Kinematics, Python, Simulations 0 Comments

For a fullscreen view, visit https://www.glowscript.org/#/user/wboson2007/folder/MyPrograms/program/Bouncing

Modified this python simulation from Dr Darren Tan’s work at https://sciencesamurai.trinket.io/a-level-physics-programming#/collisions/bouncing-ball

Wanted to try out a different way of creating simulations. Added the acceleration-time graph in place of his energy-time graph, in preparation for the teaching of kinematics. Also assuming no energy loss during collisions for simplicity.

For Singapore teachers, I have submitted a request to SLS for this URL to be whitelisted for embedding. Once approved, glowscript simulations can be embedded as part of the lesson. For the time being, a URL link out to the simulation will have to do.

03 February

3D Virtual Experiment – Simple Pendulum

Seng Kwang Tan 10 Oscillations, GeoGebra, IP4 Practical, Simulations 2 Comments

This is a simple virtual experiment with a 3D view, allow teachers to explain the simple concepts of an oscillation experiment, such as which view is best to measure timing of the oscillation from.

To access this simulation directly via GeoGebra, go to : https://www.geogebra.org/m/d3yxgjfp

To embed it in SLS or other platforms, use the following code:

<iframe scrolling="no" title="Pendulum" src="https://www.geogebra.org/material/iframe/id/d3yxgjfp/width/640/height/480/border/888888/sfsb/true/smb/false/stb/false/stbh/false/ai/false/asb/false/sri/false/rc/false/ld/false/sdz/true/ctl/false" width="640px" height="480px" style="border:0px;"> </iframe>
26 December

3D Virtual Experiment on Torsional Pendulum

Seng Kwang Tan 10 Oscillations, GeoGebra, Simulations 0 Comments

In preparation for HBL in 2022, I designed a simple virtual experiment that will allow for students to collect data on oscillations using their own stopwatches and investigate the relationship between the period of oscillation and two separate variables. To access the simulation on GeoGebra, visit https://www.geogebra.org/m/jhc4xvpe.

Based on the given relationship $$T = cm^aL^b$$ where a, b and c are constants, students will be tasked to find the constants a, b and c. Students will then attempt to “linearise” the equation such that the independent variables m and L can be tested one by one.

Examples of data collected can be plotted using Excel to give the following graphs from which the gradients and vertical intercepts can be obtained instantly.