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7/30/2019 Fun and Games in Physics
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P H Y S I C A L S C I E N C E S M A G A Z I N E
Its not all fun and gameshonest!Kevin McCormick, Moyne Community School, Co. Longford.
Astro blaster:Several balls arethreaded on a wire. When the
apparatus is dropped straightdownward onto a hard surface, thetop ball can rebound to a height equalto five times the original drop. Leadsinto an interesting discussion ofwhat's happened to the Law ofC f
Sometimes the demos for physics can be a little bit far removed from what students may be used to seeing in theireveryday lives. The following is a list of some of the gadgets and gizmos that Ive found to grab the attention of my
students. The list here is only a sample of what is available and unfortunately many others can only be on my wish list.The equipment below could possibly be used in Junior Cert, Leaving Cert, and Transition Years or in all three.
The three sites below are the sources of where this equipment can be purchased over the Internet. Of the three the
Educational Innovations site was the one I found to be the best, and Klein Bottle to be the best value for the spoutingbowl. I found there were problems with the PayPal method of paying the 4physics site so I ended up wiring the money
through at an extra cost. All guide prices are in US dollars and are taken from the Educational Innovations catalogueunless otherwise stated. The addresses of the sites are as follows:
http://www.teachersource.com/ (Educational Innovations site)
http://www.kleinbottle.com/ (Chinese Spouting Bowl-well worth a look and cheapest here!)http://www.4physics.com/
Mechanics Optics
M icro Light Wand:Uses three
individually coloured LED's, one foreach of the primary colours of light(red, green, and blue) to produce aseries of coloured lighting effects.Instructions are included. Because it iscompletely controllable, this devicecan be used in place of a 'light mixingb ' f i t d
7/30/2019 Fun and Games in Physics
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P H Y S I C A L S C I E N C E S M A G A Z I N E
I ce mel t i ng blocks:Place
an ice cube on each of thesetwo identical looking blackblocks at room temperature.One ice cube instantly beginsto melt and is totally gone inabout 90 seconds. The otherice cube shows no evidence of
melting whatsoever. Great forshowing the difference in heatconductivity in differentmaterials.
Guide price: $18.95
Heat
Chinese Spout i ng Bow l :Fillthe 38 cm diameter bowl halfwaywith water and rub the handlesvigorously with wet hands. Theresonance set up within the bowl ispowerful enough to actually 'spout'water up and out of the bowl!
Guide price: $ 125 for large bowl fromthe Klein Bottle website, $163 including post+packaging
Waves and Sound
Dynamo Hand-Pow ered
Flashlight:Change kinetic
energy from your hand into light
energy. This hand-held "dynamo" iscompletely visible. It clearlydemonstrates how moving an
electrical conductor through a magnetic field - a discoverymade by Michael Faraday, can produce electrical energy.
Guide price: $11.95
Electromagnetism
Touch and See Square:Place
your hand on this black plasticsquare and create a thermalhandprint. Each colour represents adifferent temperature. Can be usedover and over again.
Guide price: $8.95