This article explains how to acquire digital data from the parallel port of an IBM-compatible PC. Several experiments in the field of Mechanics, involving time measurements, may be done this way by simply connecting suitable switches (mechanical or optical) to the control lines of the port. […]
This paper describes the construction of a computer-based diagnostic module on the comprehension of the concept of average velocity. In the module, different kinds of mistakes are referred to a model of the users’ possible reasoning patterns. Accordingly the users are lead along different paths. […]
A computer conference dealing with special relativity is presented and the involvement in the course of Physics students at the University of Pavia is briefly described. […]
This paper describes a measurement of the acceleration due to gravity done using a simple device connected to a computer on line. […]
ORVICO, a system for collecting data on moving objects, is briefly described. The system uses a videocamera and a computer. Examples of interest to physics teaching include studying the motion of a snowball, a jumper, a pendulum and a disc on an air-table. […]
This article presents a simple experiment on the conduction of heat in a metallic bar. Temperatures vs time are measured on-line and plotted in real time with a PC. We discuss me data, then we evaluate heat losses along the sides of the bar and we calculate the heat transmission coefficient using a finite difference algorithm. […]
The results of a low cost on-line experiment on calorimetry are analysed in order to deduce both the thermal capacities of the liquid samples under study and the heat losses of the apparatus. […]
We describe a temperature data acquisition system for the educational laboratory. Real-time plotting of the outputs of up to 4 sensors allows to easily perform traditional and non-traditional experiments, for example on non-equilibrium states. We suggest a few experiments and discuss the educational uses of the system. […]
The article describes three programs, which simulate three physical events: (1) radioactive decay, (2) the motion of a ball in a basketball game, and (3) the launching of an earth satellite. […]
It is well known that high school students meet difficulties in visualizing the motion of an object in different frame of reference and in understanding how observations made by different observers are related. This paper presents a package, based on computer simulations, […]