Philosophy for classroom demonstrations
A technique I employ towards cultivating a stimulus for physics inside the classroom is the deployment of carefully crafted practical demonstrations. These are short experiments performed inside the classroom during regular lecture time. I consider these practical demonstrations as one of the last gasps of breath of a dying art where visualizations and remote virtual experiments inundate the Internet.
Given below are some demos I’ve built and employed in the classroom to enliven the teaching of physics. I have assembled photographs and in many cases, video recordings for these demos. Feel free to re-hash this material. Some feedback will however be most appreciated.
Title |
Category |
| PhysFactory |
Classroom Demo |
| Operation of semiconductor diodes |
Electricity and Magnetism, Modern Physics |
| Mutual induction and path dependent electric fields |
Electricity and Magnetism |
| Magnetic Braking |
Electricity and Magnetism |
| Electromagnetic Induction |
Electricity and Magnetism |
| RC Circuit |
Electricity and Magnetism |
| Barkhausen Effect |
Electricity and Magnetism |
| Meissner Effect |
Electricity and Magnetism, Solid State Physics |
| Motional EMF |
Electricity and Magnetism |
| Forces on conductors inside magnetic fields and between current carrying conductors |
Electricity and Magnetism |
| Oersted’s law |
Electricity and Magnetism |
| Temperature Dependence of Resistivity of a Metal Wire |
Electricity and Magnetism |
| Semiconducting behaviour of thermistor |
Electricity and Magnetism, Solid State Physics |
| Galton Board |
Probability and Statistics |
| Triboelectricity, Gauss’s law and Van de Graaf Generator |
Electricity and Magnetism |
| Wimshurst Machine |
Electricity and Magnetism |
| Magic eye |
Modern Physics |
| Electron diffraction |
Modern Physics, Solid State Physics |
| Michelson Interfrometer |
Modern Physics, Optics |
| Statistics of natural radioactivity |
Modern Physics |
| Data analysis with capacitor |
Electricity and Magnetism |
| Optical tunneling |
Modern Physics, Quantum Physics |
| Hall effect in Semiconductor materials |
Modern Physics, Solid State Physics |
| Fluorescence from quantum dots |
Modern Physics, Spectroscopy |
| Energy-time uncertainty exemplified by lifetime broadening |
Atomic Physics, Modern Physics |
| Demonstrating diffraction of light |
Modern Physics, Optics |
| X-rays as probes of atomic structure |
Modern Physics |
| Modern version of J.J. Thomson’s experiment |
Modern Physics |
| Energy quantization |
Modern Physics |
| Franck-Hertz experiment |
Modern Physics |
| Excitation by electric fields |
Modern Physics |
| Phonon modes in a linear lattice |
Solid State Physics |
| Close packing of atoms |
Solid State Physics |
| Eddy current and Lenz’s law |
Electricity and Magnetism |
| Bicycle gyroscope |
Mechanics |
| Monitoring the ECG |
|
| Candle in the Wind |
Electricity and Magnetism |
| Surface Charges on Current Carrying Conductors |
Classroom Demo, Electricity and Magnetism |
