In this article we find the thermodynamics of some large N particles systems and some small N particles classical systems using micro canonical ensemble. Small N particle systems are seldom done in textbooks, since statistical mechanics(SM) systems work for large N systems. We show that small N systems will help the students to get an insight…

In this research, an educational approach to the concept of energy is proposed. It is based on the history of physics. In 1854 Hermann Hemlholtz gave a popular lecture on the recent discovery that energy is conserved. Such lecture is used as a guide to introduce the pupils within several nuances of this concept. Not much mathematics is used, so…

What happens when a perfectly elastic ball collides with a completely inelastic ball? It is shown that the outcome depends on the stiffness of each ball. A standard textbook problem in mechanics is to calculate the outcome of a head-on collision between two balls using conservation of momentum and kinetic energy. It is easily shown that the…

The trajectory of a ball in air is affected by aerodynamic drag and lift. In general, the trajectory needs to be calculated numerically since the acceleration varies with time in both the horizontal and vertical directions. If the trajectory remains approximately parabolic, then simple analytical solutions can be found, giving useful insights into…

The well-known artificial intelligence-based chatbot ChatGPT-4 has become able to process image data as input in October 2023. We investigated its performance on the test of understanding graphs in kinematics to inform the physics education community of the current potential of using ChatGPT in the education process, particularly on tasks that…

Teaching special relativity to lower-division students is challenging because results such as time dilation, length contraction, and frame dependence of simultaneity are counterintuitive. The literature is extensive, so only a brief list is given here, with articles divided roughly between discussions of general principles and calculations applied…

Simulation of physics phenomena is an indispensable part of experimental studies. Undergraduate and postgraduate physics students are often introduced to the simulation of various phenomena as one of the most important pedagogical tools. In this document, we demonstrate the simulations of the two-body decay of a particle and equilibrium states in…

The problem of an electrically charged pendulum above a grounded conducting surface is examined using traditional analyses, such as forces, energy, and torque. The system was numerically modelled using a finite difference method and analysed. A number of classroom activities have been suggested.

A loop-the-loop experiment usually involves a ball rolling around a vertical loop. A different version of the experiment is described where a nut was allowed to slide around a vertical loop. In both experiments there is a large decrease in kinetic energy when the ball or the nut first enters the loop.

An alternative method for obtaining analytical solutions of the time-independent Schrödinger equation (TISE) is developed and applied to 1-dimensional model quantum systems of interest in atomic and molecular physics. The method is based on proposing a wave function that is a product of two functions, one of them an integrating factor. The…

In this article, we will present the HEC BB bag, a simple but elegant model originally invented to help students imagine how air molecules move around in vacuum. The HEC BB bag is made by packing 20 to 30 BBs in a resealable plastic bag of several tens of square centimeters (see Fig. 1). When inflated fully via a straw, the volume of the bag is…

Statistical mechanics has received limited attention in physics education research and remains a relatively underrepresented topic even in research on upper-division physics courses. The purpose of this study was to explore potential challenges that physics students encounter when they solve statistical mechanics problems in groups. Adopting a…

Bounded by the statements of Feynman and Galileo, I describe certain tricks that can be useful for the teaching of physics. In particular, I describe the calculation of the center of mass (centroid) of an arc of circumference and a circular sector. For this purpose, I also use Pappus's theorems. An Appendix is available with Archimedes' method to…

The various aspects of projectile motion have been analyzed many times in this journal. As a sample, over the years, authors have investigated particular details of the path of a projectile and different situations for launching projectiles. Others have written about a nifty way to determine the maximum height of a projectile, finding the range of…

About 30 years ago I taught a series of summer enrichment programs for high school physics teachers, using funding from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes. I deliberately chose teachers from smaller cities and towns who were unlikely to have contact with other physics teachers. One of my more interesting teachers came from a rural area in a far…