Waves: Case Studies Concept Builder

The Waves - Case Studies Concept Builder focuses on an understanding of how a wave pattern is affected by changes in the properties of a wave (such as frequency and speed) and by the properties of a medium (such as tension and linear density of a string). There are 36 total questions organized into 12 different Question Groups and spread across three different activities. In Activity 1 - Wavelength and Amplitude - learners are presented with a wave pattern and asked to identify a wave pattern that has two times or one-half the wavelength or amplitude. In Activity 2 - Frequency, Speed, and Wavelength - learners are presented with one wave pattern and asked to identify a second wave pattern resulting from two times or one-half the speed or frequency. In Activity 3 - Speed, Tension, and Density - learners are presented with one wave pattern and asked to identify a second wave pattern that results from four times or one-fourth the tension or density. The built-in score-keeping makes this Concept Builder a perfect candidate for a classroom activity.

https://www.physicsclassroom.com/Concept-Builders/Waves-and-Sound/Waves-Case-Studies

Decibel Scale Concept Builder

The Decibel Scale Concept Builder sharpens a learner's understanding of the logarithmic nature of the deciBel scale. Learners are told the deciBel level os Sound Source A and are told that Sound Source B is 10ⁿ time more or less intense. The learner must use this information and an understanding of deciBels in order to determine the deciBel level of Source Source B. There are 36 total questions organized into 12 different Questoin Groups and spread across three difficulty levels. The built-in score-keeping makes this Concept Builder a perfect candidate for a classroom activity.

http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Concept-Builders/Waves-and-Sound/Decibel-Scale

Do Cell Phones Cause Brain Tumors?

It's a fair question! And I wouldn't draw a conclusion too quickly. Because if cell phone radiation does cause cancer, a whole lot of us are in trouble. Join Derek Mueller of the Veritasium YouTube channel as he "takes it to the streets" and dissects the various studies and possible means by which this question can be reliably answered. Join Derek at ... 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wU5XkhUGzBs

And for the teachers among us: why not make plans to present the question to your classes using the Science Reasoning passage present at our website that is titled Cell Phone Radiation. The passage presents both sides of the question to students and challenges them to analyze the arguments and draw some conclusions.

http://www.physicsclassroom.com/reasoning/light

We recommend that you challenge your students to the Reading Passage first and then use the Veritasium video as the follow-up.

Hot Hits at The Physics Classroom

Every Saturday we highlight three resources that have received particularly heavy traffic from website visitors during the past week. This week's winners are …

1.Frequency and Period of a Wave at The Tutorial

The Waves chapter has been showing some rather significant traffic in the past few weeks. Pages such as the Frequency and Period of a Wave have begun to show up among the most popular of pages on our website. Like all our Tutorial pages, concepts are introduced in an easy-to-understand language and supported by informative graphics. The page ends with a Check Your Understanding section that allows learners to conduct a self-assessment.

https://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/waves/Lesson-2/Frequency-and-Period-of-a-Wave

2. Interference Concept Builder

The Wave Interference Concept Builder targets student understanding of what interference is, of the distinction between constructive and destructive interference, and of how the principle of superposition can be used to determine the shape of the resultant wave (or wave sum) that results from the interference of two waves. There are 20 total questions organized into 10 different Question Groups and spread across three different activities. The activities are titled To Construct or To Destruct, The Principle of Superposition, and Sum It Up.

https://www.physicsclassroom.com/Concept-Builders/Waves-and-Sound/Interference

3. Simple Wave Simulator at The Physics Interactives

This week's top Interactive was the Simple Wave Simulator Interactive. This Interactive is part of our Waves and Sound collection. The Interactive allows learners to explore wave mathematics and concepts. The simulator depicts a traveling wave on a rope or a sound wave moving through a column of air. Users can alter the frequency, speed and amplitude of the wave and see immediate changes in the simulation. The distinction between particle motion and wave motion is immediately obvious as learners watch the disturbance move and three "tagged" particles vibrate about a fixed position. The Interactive works well on tablets such as the iPad, on Chromebooks, and on mobile devices.

https://www.physicsclassroom.com/Physics-Interactives/Waves-and-Sound/Simple-Wave-Simulator

Wave Addition Simulation

When two or more waves meet up with each other while moving through the same medium, interference occurs. When you try to observe this phenomenon in real life, the two waves become lost in one another and it becomes difficult to perceive the principles that underlie the phenomenon. But this simulation comes to the rescue, allowing the learner to step through in slow motion and view the individual waves and the resulting shape of the medium. So drop that Slinky for a moment; you can get back to it later. But for now, take some time to explore the Wave Addition simulation and find out what is happening when you and your friend give each end a shake.

The Interactive provides the learner with a rich environment for exploring nearly all things that one might want to know about basic waves and their interference phenomenon. Study quantitative relationships and patterns between wavelength, frequency, speed, and amplitude. Compare longitudinal and transverse waves. Study constructive and destructive interference. Learn how a standing wave is formed. View beat patterns and manipulate them by altering the frequency of the interfering waves. These are just a few of the variety of things that you can do with this virtual wave environment. Launch it and explore.

https://www.physicsclassroom.com/Physics-Interactives/Waves-and-Sound/Wave-Addition

Concept Builders - Version 2 is Now Ready

It was this past Monday that we had an email conversation with a high school teacher from New York. He begged to be included the Beta Testing trials. We told him we were keeping the testing closed because we weren't happy with all the details. He begged and begged again to be included. He didn't need it to be perfect. He just plain needed it. The fact is that we had a lifesaver and he wanted to grab the rope. 

It was that conversation that moved our schedule forward about two weeks. We were always of the opinion that the first thing that the public sees with our Version 2 Concept Builder had to be near perfect. But that was a pre-COVID19 opinion. It was all of a sudden obvious that our Physics teaching and learning communities were in a bit of a crux. To put it simply, we just are not prepared for distance learning. Nor should we be since very few of us have ever done it. So our response at The Physics Classroom was to open the Beta Testing up to the general public. Come one, come all. 

Whomever wants to try it, can try it. Version 2 is not currently perfect. But it does work. And it will work better a week from now than it works today. And it work better two weeks from now that it works a week from now. Because it does work, you are welcome to join us. Just excuse our "pixel dust" along the way because it is a work in progress. The process of joining in requires that a teacher first registers. Head off to our website, download the MS Word document, fill it out, and send it back. You will find everything you need to know at ...

https://www.physicsclassroom.com/Concept-Builders/Version-2

"Just grab the rope. We'll do the pulling."

Electromagnetic Spectrum - The Ultimate Infographic

One of our all-time favorite posts is this post about the EM Spectrum infographic. And from time to time, we repost it here on our social media sites. Nearly every high school physics course has a unit on the topic of light. And a central part of that unit is the behavior of light as a wave - an electromagnetic wave. A centerpiece of this discussion is usually a graphic showing the electromagnetic (EM) spectrum. The entire spectrum is divided into regions with popular names such as X-ray region, ultraviolet region, visible light region, infrared region, microwave region, etc. The most elaborate representation of the spectrum can be found on Flickr at 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/llnl/9403051123/sizes/l/

The infographic portrays the various regions, their wavelengths and frequencies, the characteristics and uses, the source and origin, and so much more. There is enough physics in this graphic to fuel several weeks’ worth of studies.

Finally, if you would like to see the infographic come alive, visit the interactive version of it at the Physics Interactives section of our website.

http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Physics-Interactives/Light-and-Color/Electromagnetic-Spectrum

Concept Builders 2.0 - a Distance Learning Solution

Our work on Concept Builders Version 2 has continued over the past couple of weeks. We believe that we very close to completion and will be able to announce an "opening day" date very soon. What we think to be our 'last bucket list" was sent to the web design fim this past Saturday. When the estimated 20 hours of work is completed, we will be ready to open our doors. While the web design firm is working on back end changes and interface issues, our developer will be completing Version 2 upgrades for all remaining Concept Builders. (He also claims that it's time for him to get back to producing more Video Tutorials.)

With the Coronavirus-19 spreading rapidly through the United States, many schools are being forced to transition from face-to-face instruction to distance learning plans. This transition raises plenty of questions regarding how to deliver instruction, provide practice, help students, and assess their learning. We have always believed that Concept Builder provided so much support for students as they approached the middle to the end of the learning cycle of a given topic. As such, we believe that Concept Builders can play a vital role iin your distance learning plans. And now wih Version 2, teachers will be able to create accounts and classes, populate the classes with students by inviting students to join the class, and then creating assignments with point values and due dates. And for students, once they log on to the system, the Concept Builder will post their progress to our servers for teachers to view. It's easy. It's simple. And it's effective.

We are inviting anyone and everyone to try Concept Builders, Version 2. We will be announcing opening day here on Facebook and will begin to develop support for its use on our website. Learn more at ...

https://www.physicsclassroom.com/Concept-Builders

In the meantine, stay in. Stay healthy. And keep your spirits up. We're all going to get to the other side of this COV-19 crisis.

Hot Hits at The Physics Classroom

Every Saturday we highlight three resources that have received particularly heavy traffic from website visitors during the past week. This week's winners are …

1.Potential Energyat The Tutorial

One of the most visited pages at The Physics Classroom this week was the Potential Energy page found in the Work, Energy, and Power chapter of The Physics Classroom Tutorial. This Tutorial page helps learners to understand the various forms of potential energy and the variables that affect the amount. It is the third page in our 5-page lesson on Work, Energy, and Power. 

https://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/energy/Lesson-1/Potential-Energy

2. Rocking the Boat Concept Builder

The Rocking the Boat Concept Builder presents the learner with a problem about two boats anchored in a harbor and rocking up and down in the presence of waves that are entering the harbor. Given a description of the motion of the two boats, learners must determine the wavelength, frequency, period, amplitude, and speed of the water waves. There are 27 total questions that are organized into nine different Question Groups and spread across three difficulty levels. The three different levels of difficulty are distinguished from one another in terms of the number of problems and the degree of variation from one problem to the next. The built-in score-keeping makes this Concept Builder a perfect candidate for a classroom activity.

https://www.physicsclassroom.com/Concept-Builders/Waves-and-Sound/Wave-Properties

3. Put the Charge in the Goal at The Physics Interactives

Our Static Electricity Interactives received a lot of attention this past week. One of the top Interactives was our Put the Charge in the Goal. This simulation offers students a rigorous mental challenge as they attempt to use electric fields created by test charges in order to guide an electrically charged puck around obstacles and into a goal. A take-off on the Electric Field Hockey simulation, Put the Charge in the Goal includes several levels that differ in terms of the intricacy of the obstacles. Give your students a gamification experience with Put the Charge in the Goal at ...

https://www.physicsclassroom.com/Physics-Interactives/Static-Electricity/Put-the-Charge-in-the-Goal

Wavelength Concept Builder

The Wavelength Concept Builder is a tool that guides a learner through the meaning of wavelength as the length of the repeating pattern towards being able to calculate the wavelength if given a pattern and the length of the pattern. There are three activities included in this Concept Builder. The first activity - Wave Anatomy - provides the learner practice with identifying crests and troughs in a transverse wave pattern and compressions and rarefactions in a longitudinal wave pattern. In the second activity - Counting Waves - learners must determine the number of waves displayed in a transverse wave pattern. In the third activity - Determining Wavelength - learners calculated the wavelength of a wave when provided a transverse wave pattern and the length of the given pattern. Question-specific help is provided for each of the 12 situations. The built-in score-keeping makes this Concept Builder a perfect candidate for a classroom activity.

http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Concept-Builders/Waves-and-Sound/Wavelength

Three Great Waves Interactives

Watch it. Interact with it. Change a variable and observe the result. Explore and learn. These are the types of tasks that learners engage in when they're face-to-face with one of our Interactives. These variable-rich environments allow a learner to observe physics principles and draw their own conclusions about the manner In which the physical world operates. Today we feature three such simulations pertaining to the topic of Waves and Sound:

1. Slinky Lab

Grab a particle on a string and start wiggling it back and forth. Watch as the disturbance you create travels from particle to particle. Explore the result of wiggling more or less frequently or with a smaller or larger amplitude. Change the amount of damping effects and other variables. You'll have so much fun with Slinky Lab that you might forget that you're learning physics.

http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Physics-Interactives/Waves-and-Sound/Slinky-Lab

2. Wave Simulator

Prepare yourself because you are about to observe a virtual wave machine. You can set it vibrating at any frequency and any amplitude you wish. You can even view it simulating a sound wave. Watch it vibrate in slow motion. Watch it in fast motion. Watch it in real time. And watch the clock because you're going to be so captivated that you might be late for your next class.

http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Physics-Interactives/Waves-and-Sound/Simple-Wave-Simulator

3. Standing Wave Maker

If you have ever seen a standing wave demonstration, then you have seen the definition of groovy (excuse the 80s term). And groovy is what you will see when you open this simulation. Make standing waves from several pre-set conditions or set the conditions yourself. View two waves traveling in opposite directions and the standing wave pattern that results from their interference. Don't forget to say Groovy!

http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Physics-Interactives/Waves-and-Sound/Standing-Wave-Patterns

Hot Hits at The Physics Classroom

Every Saturday we highlight three resources that have received particularly heavy traffic from website visitors during the past week. This week's winners are …

1.Momentum Conservation Principle at The Tutorial

One of our top Tutorial pages this week was our page on the Momentum Conservation Principle. This is a second page of a six-page lesson focusing on how to understand and analyze a collision or an explosion. The page begins with a logical presentation of the basis for the law of momentum conservation. It then explains the meaning of momentum conservation using an analogy with money conservation in a financial transaction. The two characteristics of momentum conservation are clearly described: the momentum change of one object is equal and opposite to that of a second object and the total system momentum is the same before and after the collision or explosion. The page combines graphics, tables of numerical data, examples, videos and a Check Your Understanding section to bring learners to a clear understanding of what momentum conservation involves.

https://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/momentum/Lesson-2/Momentum-Conservation-Principle

2. Wavelength Concept Builder

The Wavelength Concept Builder is a tool that guides a learner through the meaning of wavelength as the length of the repeating pattern towards being able to calculate the wavelength if given a pattern and the length of the pattern. There are three activities included in this Concept Builder. The first activity - Wave Anatomy - provides the learner practice with identifying crests and troughs in a transverse wave pattern and compressions and rarefactions in a longitudinal wave pattern. In the second activity - Counting Waves - learners must determine the number of waves displayed in a transverse wave pattern. In the third activity - Determining Wavelength - learners calculated the wavelength of a wave when provided a transverse wave pattern and the length of the given pattern. 

https://www.physicsclassroom.com/Concept-Builders/Waves-and-Sound/Wavelength

3. Collision Carts at The Physics Interactives

This week's top Interactive was the Collision Carts Interactive. This Interactive allows learners to explore the conservation of momentum for collisions and explosions. The pre-collision mass and velocities can be set and the post-collisions velocities can be used to determine the total system momentum. A couple of ready-to-use exercises are available for teachers who wish to use the Interactive with their classes. The Interactive works well on tablets such as the iPad, on Chromebooks, and on mobile devices, making it a perfect tool for the 1:1 classroom.

https://www.physicsclassroom.com/Physics-Interactives/Momentum-and-Collisions/Collision-Carts

Have you used Desmos - an online graphing calculator - to demonstrate physical principles? You might wish to try The Physics Classroom's Standing Wave Formation Desmos file to demonstrate the formation of standing waves by the superposition of two interfering waves. It's HTML5 - works on tablets such as the iPad, Chromebooks, and smart phones. See

https://www.desmos.com/calculator/65ycbghqli‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

Simple Wave Simulator Interactive

 

The Simple Wave Simulator Interactive provides the learner with a virtual wave machine for exploring the nature of a wave, quantitative relationships between wavelength, frequency and speed, and comparisons between transverse waves such as those traveling through a rope and longitudinal waves such as sound. The Interactive is accompanied by a classroom-ready activity that guides students to an understanding of strategic wave concepts.

https://www.physicsclassroom.com/Physics-Interactives/Waves-and-Sound/Simple-Wave-Simulator

Hot Hits at The Physics Classroom

Every Saturday we highlight three resources that have received particularly heavy traffic from website visitors during the past week. This week's winners are …

1.Newton's Third Law at The Tutorial

Pages on Newton's Laws are always popular pages on our website. This week, the Newton's Third Law page at our Tutorial was particularly popular. This is the first of a two-page lesson describing Newton's so-called law of action-reaction. There are so many misconceptsions among students regarding the topic; the lesson addresses common misconceptions and difficulties. Force is described as a push or pull that results from an object's interaction with another object. As the page puts it, "forces always come in pairs" - action-reaction force pairs (or better yet, interaction force pairs).

https://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/newtlaws/Lesson-4/Newton-s-Third-Law

2. Interference Concept Builder

The Wave Interference Concept Builder targets student understanding of what interference is, of the distinction between constructive and destructive interference, and of how the principle of superposition can be used to determine the shape of the resultant wave (or wave sum) that results from the interference of two waves. There are 20 total questions organized into 10 different Question Groups and spread across three different activities.

https://www.physicsclassroom.com/Concept-Builders/Waves-and-Sound/Interference

3. Roller Coaster Model at The Physics Interactives

One of this week's hottest simulations was the Roller Coaster Model. This Interactive allows a learner to study the interplay between forces, accelerations, velocities, and kinetic and potential energies for a roller coaster car. The track can be modified by lowering and raising strategic locations and by changing the amount of curvature of loops and hills. The simulation is accompanied by a classroom-ready exercise. It is an HTML5, mobile-friendly Interactive that suits itself as an ideal accompaniment to any classroom, but especially for the 1:1 classroom.

https://www.physicsclassroom.com/Physics-Interactives/Newtons-Laws/Free-Body-Diagrams

Concept Builders Version 2.0

We have been working very hard on Concept Builders these past two months. We are about to release Version 2.0 of the program. Our developer, who is also a high school Physics teacher, has been testing Version 2 with his own students. He reports that it is working very well. There are some improvements needed with the Teacher module. Once done, Version 2 Concept Builders will be available for "public consumption."

So what is a Version 2 Concept Builder? A Version 2 Concept Builder is like a typical Concept Builder with some added functionality. The additions allow students and teachers to use an account and log-in system in combination with the Concept Builders, allowing student progress on a Concept Builder to be automatically saved and retrieved during the session. So with Version 2, a teacher creates an account, makes courses, adds students to the courses (a very easy task), and decides on what Concept Builders will be assigned to each class. The chosen Concept Builders then populate an Assignment Board that students can view. Students then log into our website and view their assigned Concept Builders. Once they start the Concept Builder (by a click on a link on their Assignment Board), the Concept Builder opens and their username is atuomatically displayed in the Name Entry field. When the Main Menu screen opens, the trophies for any previously completed Difficulty Levels will be displayed. As the student complete Difficulty Level,s the details are stored in a database, allowing teachers to view progress for each student on each assignment. 

We have never recommended using Concept Builders as out-of-the-classroom assignments. There has simply been no means of keeping track of student completion of the work. With Version 2, all that will change. Teachers who love CBs and who have been desparate to assign them have typically resorted to a screen-shot method ("Take a screen of your Main Menu with the trophies displayed.") As we feared, students of such teachers typically learned that such screen shots can be easily PhotoShopped. Now with Version 2 Concept Builders there will be no more need to screen shot one's trophies. Simply acquire an account, populate your classes with students, and confidently assign Concept Builders for homework. (But don't forget, they still work great in the classroom as well.)

So in a few short weeks, we will be announcing the opportunity to try out Version 2.0 for FREE. Stay tuned. And once announced, please join in and see why we are so excited about Version 2.0 Concept Builders. Learn more about Version 2 on our website at:

https://www.physicsclassroom.com/Concept-Builders/Version-2

Standing Wave Demonstration

With some duct tape, $2 worth of candy, and some skewer sticks from the local party store, you can make a real "sweet-looking" wave machine. Shake it at just the right frequency and you can get it to vibrate with one of its harmonic patterns. It's a demonstration that students will remember and the machine is probably just as effective as the $600 commercial version.

View our YouTube video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWcrOW-mlwY

Hot Hits at The Physics Classroom

Every Saturday we highlight three resources that have received particularly heavy traffic from website visitors during the past week. This week's winners are …

1.Kinematic Equations - Sample Problems and Solutionsat The Tutorial

This is the fifth page of a 6-page lesson that provides a considerable amount of detail on kinematic equations, their connections to graphs, and their use in solving problems. This page includes 20 problems of varying degree of difficulty. Each problem is accompanied by an answer and a solution. Being the fifth page in the lesson, it provides users ample opportunity to practice the concepts and practices that preceed it. For Physics students having troubles with solving kinematic problems, this page is a must read.

https://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/1DKin/Lesson-6/Sample-Problems-and-Solutions

2. Charge and Charging Concept Builder

The Charge and Charging Concept Builder engages the learner in exploring the manner in which objects become electrostatically charged in terms of protons and electrons. There are 38 total questions that are organized into 16 different Question Groups and spread across three Activities. The three activities include Particle Count, Get Into the Flow, and Analyze This! Activity 1 - Particle Count challenges learners to compare the relative number of protons and electrons for neutral, positively-charged, and negatively-charged objects. In Activity 2 -Get Into the Flow, learners identify how objects beome charged positively or negatively and how they become neutral if previously charged. And in Activity 3 - Analyze This!, learners must apply what they have learned in the first two activities to analyze an electrostatic phenomenon. 

https://www.physicsclassroom.com/Concept-Builders/Static-Electricity/Charge-And-Charging

3. Free-Body Diagram Interactive at The Physics Interactives

Like all our Interactives, the Free-Body Diagram Interactive gained a lot of ground as one of our most popular Interactives. With its challenging questions, immediate feedback, chances for correction, and built-in scoring, it's not surprising that it was. 

https://www.physicsclassroom.com/Physics-Interactives/Newtons-Laws/Free-Body-Diagrams

Electromagnetic Spectrum Interactive

The Electromagnetic Spectrum Interactive Infographic is full of information about electromagnetic waves. There's so much to explore and digest that it will take several sittings before you're satisfied. And even then, you're likely to return for more. Originally created in 1944 as a wall-sized poster distributed by the W.M. Welch Scientific Company (a scientific supply house that has sinced closed its doors). This timeless piece of science and art is now available as an interactive app that allows learners to tap and explore its many layers of information.

https://www.physicsclassroom.com/Physics-Interactives/Light-and-Color/Electromagnetic-Spectrum

Resistance Ranking Tasks Concept Builder

The Resistance Ranking Tasks Concept Builder is a tool that challenges the learner to identify the effect that wire length and cross-sectional area have upon wire resistance. There are 36 total questions that are organized into 12 different Question Groups and spread across three different activities: Resistance and Length, Resistance and Area, and Putting It All Together. Each question presents the learner with a graphic depicting three different wires of either varying length, varying cross-sectional area, or both. Learners tap on buttons in order to rank the three wires according to their relative resistance. Question-specific help is provided for each of the 12 Question Groups. The built-in score-keeping makes this Concept Builder a perfect candidate for a classroom activity.

https://www.physicsclassroom.com/Concept-Builders/Circuits/Resistance-Ranking-Tasks