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Physics Demonstrations and Equipment

Physics Demonstrations and Equipment

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Red and yellow meter stick held horizontal by a bench clamp pivot at left end, with a string running from the stick up to a pulley at the top of the vertical rod and across to a large circular Newton force meter dial. A mass hangs from the right end of the stick.

The Derrick

Demonstrates the trigonometric dependence of torque and tension in static equilibrium. Students see how the tension in a support string changes with angle, and practice applying with adjustable geometry.

Angular acceleration machine with white pulley wheel on central shaft, two arms with movable brass weights, string with hanging mass, clamped to bench edge with purple Irwin Quick-Grip clamps on wooden blocks

Angular Acceleration Machine

Demonstrates that mass distribution, not just total mass, determines angular acceleration. Students compare the acceleration when the arm weights are close to the shaft versus out at the ends, directly …

Top: projected image of capillary tubes showing water at different heights. Bottom: the apparatus -- five glass capillary tubes of increasing diameter mounted on a clear base with a wide reservoir tube on the right.

Capillary Tubes

Water rises to different heights in a set of glass tubes with increasing diameters, directly showing the inverse relationship between capillary rise and tube radius.

Four white foam cups glued base-to-base and rim-to-rim, forming a column with two bulges at the rims and narrow waists at the bases, standing vertically on a green surface

Foam Cup Curveball

Demonstrates the Magnus effect: a spinning object falling through air experiences a lateral force due to asymmetric pressure from the interaction of rotational and translational flow. Connects directly to curveballs, …

Glass bell jar on round vacuum platform with Energizer battery, buzzer with metal bell, and red wire clip, sitting on a wooden disc spacer; vacuum valve visible at base

Bell in Vacuum

Demonstrates that sound requires a medium for propagation. As air is evacuated from a bell jar containing a buzzer, the sound diminishes to near-silence, then returns when air is readmitted.

Two signal generators, a Behringer Eurolive B205D powered monitor speaker, an Agilent oscilloscope, and a microphone on a lab bench

Range of Hearing

Demonstrates the range of human hearing by sweeping from 20 kHz downward. Students raise their hands when they hear the tone, vividly showing that high-frequency hearing declines with age — …

Fog Flask

Demonstrates adiabatic cooling through cloud formation: rapid expansion of air in a flask drops the temperature below the dew point, and smoke particles serve as condensation nuclei for visible water …

Tear-shaped conductor on insulating stand (left), proof plane and Teflon rod on bench, and projection electroscope (right) projecting closed leaf shadow onto screen on chalkboard

Charge Distribution

Demonstrates that surface charge density on a conductor depends on local curvature. Students sample charge at different points on a tear-shaped conductor with a proof plane and compare electroscope deflections, …

Iron wire coil on wooden stand with lower half submerged in water in a 4000-ml beaker, blue variac at left, empty beaker at right

Temperature Coefficient of Resistance

Demonstrates the positive temperature coefficient of resistance in metals. An iron wire coil glows uniformly at dull red; adding water to cool the lower half drops its resistance, increasing current …

Three views of the projection electrolysis apparatus: projected image showing gas collection chambers with electrodes (top left), full setup with horizontal projector and battery eliminator (top right), and close-up of cell mounted on projector (bottom)

Electrolysis of Water (Projection)

Projects the electrolysis of water onto a screen so the entire lecture hall can observe gas collection. Students see the 2:1 volume ratio of hydrogen to oxygen develop in real …

Copper plank inclined on a wooden block, with a cylindrical magnet and stainless steel cylinder at the top and a clear plastic catch box at the bottom

Eddy Current Braking

Students observe Lenz's law in action: a rare-earth magnet rolls at constant (very slow) velocity down a copper ramp while a non-magnetic cylinder accelerates normally. A second configuration shows a …

Three semiconductor devices: photronic cell (left), silicon solar cell in case (center), and Hall effect probe on metal bracket (right)

Semiconductor Devices

Three semiconductor devices illustrate photovoltaic energy conversion and charge carrier behavior. Students observe how light generates current in solar and photronic cells, and how the Hall effect distinguishes electron from …

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Gray metal stool seated inside a wooden rotating turntable, with two gray dumbbells on the stool seat

Rotating Table

Demonstrates conservation of angular momentum. A person on a rotating platform changes speed by moving hand weights inward (faster) or outward (slower), showing the inverse relationship between moment of inertia …

$Spectroscopy cart in a darkened room with all discharge tubes lit vertically, and their diffracted spectra visible to the right — discrete line spectra and continuous spectra from different sources$

Spectroscopy Cart

Students view discrete emission line spectra from multiple gas discharge tubes using handheld diffraction gratings. Provides direct visual evidence for quantized energy levels and element-specific spectral fingerprints.

Small and large Hoberman spheres side by side on a surface, both partially expanded, made of rainbow-colored interconnected plastic struts

Hoberman Sphere

A spinning Hoberman sphere dramatically speeds up when contracted, demonstrating conservation of angular momentum. The sphere shrinks from 137 cm to 43 cm diameter, producing roughly a 15× increase in …

FLIR camera display showing false-color thermal image of an ice cube tray (cold, dark) and activated heat pack (hot, bright), with spot temperature 23.9°C and scale from -7.0 to 46.5°C

Infrared Camera

An infrared camera reveals thermal radiation from everyday objects, showing that all objects emit electromagnetic radiation and that materials have strikingly different optical properties in the infrared vs. visible spectrum. …

Five parallel light rays from a ray projector on the left passing through a biconcave (diverging) lens mounted on a magnetic board, diverging outward on the right side

Blackboard Optics Lenses

Uses a multiple-ray projector on a magnetic board to show ray behavior through converging and diverging lenses. Students see focal points, ray tracing rules, compound lens systems, and aberrations in …

Van de Graaff generator with large polished sphere on column above white base unit, smaller grounded discharge sphere on tripod stand to the right, connected by red clip lead

Van de Graaff

Demonstrates electrostatic charge accumulation, high-voltage generation, and dielectric breakdown. On a dry day, the generator produces sparks up to ~11 cm (~275 kV), allowing quantitative voltage estimation from spark length.

Two bicycle wheels on a green bench — one with black mag-style spokes and cylindrical axle handle, one with traditional wire spokes and extended axle

Bicycle Wheels

Demonstrates angular momentum conservation, gyroscopic precession, and resistance to axis reorientation. Students observe how angular momentum transfers between a spinning wheel and a person on a rotating platform, making the …

Black bowling ball suspended by a thin green cable with carabiner, hanging at seat height next to a gray metal stool in a lecture hall

Bowling Ball Pendulum

A bowling ball pendulum released from a volunteer's chin swings away and returns to exactly its release height, dramatically demonstrating conservation of mechanical energy. The volunteer's safety depends entirely on …

Rope stretched across the full length of the lecture bench, with motor driver at the far left end and pulley assembly with hanging mass at the right end

Standing Waves on Rope

A motor-driven rope stretched across the lecture bench displays standing wave patterns at resonant frequencies. Students observe nodes, antinodes, and harmonics, and see how changing tension shifts the resonance frequencies.

Needle electroscope with metal sphere and pointer inside a circular ring, flanked by a clear rod on yellow silk cloth (left) and a white rod on black felt cloth (right)

Charging Rods

Students observe that rubbing different materials together separates charge, producing positive or negative static electricity detectable with an electroscope. Demonstrates the triboelectric series and conservation of charge.

PASCO air track on demo bench with yellow measurement tape along the rail, two gliders with pink and green flag markers, and corrugated air hose at right

Air Track

A nearly frictionless glider on an air track demonstrates constant velocity motion (Newton's First Law) and elastic collisions. The track is marked at regular intervals for quantitative measurement of position …

Green laser beam trapped inside a curved stream of water flowing from an acrylic tank, with bright reflection points visible along the stream's parabolic arc against a dark background

Water Light Pipe

A laser beam follows a curved stream of water flowing from a tank, trapped by total internal reflection at the water-air boundary. A striking visual analogy for fiber optics — …