In this lab exercise, students practice correctly using measurement tools, recording data, calculating density, using significant figures, and exploring the concepts of accuracy and precision.
Students investigate whether a bowling ball will float or sink in an aquarium of water after measuring the ball and determining the density. This is meant to be an investigative inquiry of the concepts of density and significant figures.
Students investigate whether a bowling ball will float or sink in an aquarium of water after measuring the ball and determining the density. This is meant to be an investigative inquiry of the concepts of density and significant figures.
The Fourier sine series model displays the sine series expansion coefficients of an arbitrary function on the interval [0, 2?].
This activity is a whole group guided inquiry activity/lecture where students will learn what dimensional analysis is, how to use dimensional analysis and learn more about why it is so important. It will provide the foundation for moving into stoichiometry.
The Linear Congruent Number Generator Model The method generates a sequence of integers xi over the interval [0, m-1] by the recurrence relation
x[i+1] = (ax[i]+c) mod m
Where the modulus m is greater than zero, the multiplier a is greater than zero and less than m, and the increment c is greater than zero and less than m. All numbers are integers and all arithmetic is integer arithmetic. The initial value x0 is known as the seed.
The butterfly-like Lorenz attractor is a simplified model of two-dimensional convective fluid flow and is one of the best known images of chaos. Embedded in this attractor are unstable periodic orbits described by Viswanath and this model computes a number of these orbits. Each periodic orbit is classified by the number of times the trajectory orbits the A and B fixed points before it repeats. Note that because the attractor is chaotic and because of numerical errors and the finite precision of the initial conditions, errors accumulate and the trajectory leaves the vicinity of a periodic orbit after a half dozen cycles.
Modeling a Changing World written by mathematics professor Tim Chartier and his student Nick Dovidio presents curricular material in an OSP Launcher package to motivate the need for numerically solving ordinary differential equations. The package discusses such applications as a mass-spring system and its connection to computer simulation for movies. An interactive model that simulates a two-body gravitational model of the moon and earth allows for exploring the topic of numerical error. Other models explore topics that include slope fields, numerical integration and numerical solvers for ordinary differential equations.
The Scalar Field Gradient Model displays the gradient of a scalar field using a numerical approximation to the partial derivatives. This simple teaching model also shows how to display and model scalar and vector fields using EJS.
This is an introductory physics lab where students will review scientific measurement concepts, and then develop a procedure, in which they will use the concepts of proper precision in measurement and significant figures, to determine the density of a marble.
