In this article radiant energy flux is measured referring the temperature of a small blackened body to the temperature of a similar reflecting body. The reliability of the method is checked using electric lamps of different power output. Then the apparatus is used for measuring the efficiency of a solar cell, […]
A very simple experiment allowing to measure π is presented. No particular equipment or theoretical knowledge is required. The experiment could be performed during one of the first laboratory activities in a physics course. […]
A simple electrolytic experiment suited to students’ practical work allows to find an approximate value for the charge of the electron in a relatively short time and without having to make sensitive direct measurements of mass with 1 mg scales, not easily found in school labs. […]
Although irreversibility is an intuitive concept in many respects, formal approaches to entropy in secondary school physics are difficult to understand. The paper illustrates an historical approach based on Sadi Carnot?s hydraulic analogy (1824) between spatial and thermal levels. In analogy with a reversible hydraulic wheel, […]
In 1666 Newton used a glass prism to decompose white light and make the so-called “rainbow” colors appear. The next step was to get the white light back from that “rainbow”. To do this, different techniques can be adopted, we will examine one in particular, […]