New Series of Videos: "Try This Experiment Right Now"

I have recently uploaded several videos in a new series called "Try This Experiment Right Now," a series that I created for the AAPT Films project. 

In this series, we introduce our talented new host Anna Spitz!

These quick and easy ideas can liven up your physics classroom in the new school year and enhance student participation in simple physics experiments!

If you are too lazy to get up from your computer, you can still try many of these experiments RIGHT NOW (hence the title of the series :))!

Get ready for Anna Spitz to teach you about the concept of "beats."




  For example, you don't have to get up from your computer to try this experiment, Easy Beats, but you do need a working set of computer speakers and Internet access. 



You may want to bookmark this website so you can try the beats experiment with your class once the new school year begins: http://onlinetonegenerator.com/

I will feature more of these videos on the blog every day this week!

UV Light: Demos and Experiments

Ultraviolet Light: Demos & Experiments Video is organized into several sections, including Absorbing UV Light, Fluorescence and Ultraviolet Light, Three Colors of Ultraviolet Light (UV-A, UV-B, and UV-C), The Discovery of UV Light, the Mercury Spectrum, and Phosphorescence. 

Through this video, you will learn about UV (ultraviolet) light, and it might save your life. Why? Ultraviolet light is more energetic than regular light—we sometimes call it “ionizing radiation” because it has the power to ionize the electrons in molecules, like DNA, and cause damage. In the video, surely you will be interested to see an original sunblock demo!

Absorbing UV Light

UV light is invisible to us, but its energy can make other objects glow. You will see white socks glowing under UV light, but it is actually the detergent residue that glows, not the socks themselves.

It doesn’t always take UV light to make things glow. These liquids [below] will glow under a blue light, but not all will glow under a red light.

Blue and violet lights are different from other colors, because they are more energetic, higher in frequency. Their higher frequency light is absorbed and re-emited as lower energy light.

These plastic beads are sensitive to ultraviolet light, and below you will see them glowing and colorful and UV light and in sunlight.

However, you will see that under a pane of window glass [below], the beads no longer change color.

Flowers Transformed--Through an Insect's Eyes

The video is almost ten minutes long which makes it a double video, power-packed with information. You will want to pause and re-watch segments and demos. 

First Official Video: AAPT Films: Genecon Hand Crank Generator

I am excited to announce that the first official AAPT Films video is complete. 

You can watch the video here or just click play (below).

What is a genecon hand crank generator?

Here's how it works: you turn the handle and it generates current that you can use for anything you want, such as making a lightbulb glow.  The faster you crank, the higher the voltage output.  

My video covers awesome experiments that you can do using the hand crank generator. 

Some other tools you may need for the experiments will include:

1) a voltmeter

2) an ammeter

Let's Get Sustainable!

The genecon presents us with a chance to feel the cost of producing electric energy.  For example, if you hook one to a parallel circuit, you will appreciate that this circuit is using a lot of power, because you are the source of that power.  The more light bulbs that are screwed in, the more difficult it becomes to keep up with the demand.  

You can also appreciate how efficient LED lights are at producing energy, here I am easily able to power all of these LEDs.   If I send the current the other way, they don’t light up.  Cranking a genecon is an excellent way to communicate this message.  

Final Thoughts

All of the experiments you will see in the video make interactive lab stations for students. Every student should have the chance to generate electricity!