The Boston University Physics Department is pleased to be able to offer a variety of physics labs to high school students. Teachers may sign up to a bring a group of up to 24 students for a learning experience in a university lab setting. These programs will begin at 9:00 am and end at 1:00 pm. They will include an introductory talk, a lab of 2-3 hours duration, and conclude with a wrap-up and pizza session. These labs will be available at various times during the semester. Below is a schedule of available labs followed by a brief description of each lab with links to more complete information.
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Forces Between Carts |
Collisions |
Projectile
Motion |
Interference and
Diffraction |
Faraday's Law
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Week of Feb. 24th
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Week of Feb. 24th | Week of Feb. 24th | ||
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Week of March 3rd
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Week of March 3rd
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Week of March
3rd |
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Week of March 10th
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Week of March 10
(except Friday 14th) |
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Week of March 10th
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Week of March 10th | Week of March 10th |
| Week of March
17th |
Week of March
17th |
Week of March 17th | |||
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Week of March
24th |
Week of March 24th |
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| Week of March 31st |
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Week of March 31st | |||
| Week of April 7th | Week of April 7th | ||||
| April 17th and 18th | April 17th and 18th | April 17th and 18th | |||
| Week of April 21st | Week of April 21st |
Charge to Mass Ratio of the Electron
In the experiment students will make a very fundamental measurement - the ratio of the charge of the electron to its mass. To do that they will use a magnetic field to cause electrons to follow a circular path. If they know v, the speed of the electrons, B, the magnitude of the field, and r, the radius of the circular path, they will be able to find the charge-to-mass ratio.
To view a full PDF write-up of the lab, click here. To view the Pre-Lab, click here.
Students investigate whether momentum and kinetic energy are conserved in different kinds of collisions that take place between carts on a track. All types of collisions are possible (elastic, inelastic, completely inelastic, super-elastic), which should get the students thinking about when momentum is conserved and when energy is conserved. A computer is used to record the motion of the carts before and after each collision.
Diffraction and Interference
In this experiment students will demonstrate the wave nature of light by investigating how it bends around edges and how it interferes constructively and destructively. Students will use a laser and a set of narrow slits to investigate interference and diffraction. Waves exhibit interference and/or diffraction when they encounter openings and/or obstacles that are comparable in size to the wavelength. Students will observe these effects in a variety of situations and use the wave theory of light to measure wavelength.. In this experiment you will u
To view a full PDF write-up of the lab, click here. To view the Pre-Lab, click here.
Faraday's Law of Induction
In this lab students will investigate different aspects of Faraday's Law of Induction. Magnetic flux is the measure of the number of magnetic field lines passing through an area. Faraday's Law states that a change in magnetic flux can induce a voltage in a coil of wire. This is known as the induced emf. They will drop a magnet through a coil, inducing an emf and use a computer to collect the data.
To view a full PDF write-up of the lab, click here. To view the Pre-Lab, click here.
In this experiment students will examine various situations where two carts on a track are exerting forces on one another, such as when they collide or when one is pushing or pulling the other.. The force of each cart is measured by a force sensor mounted on top of each cart. Students will make some predictions about these forces, and come up with situations to test in the lab.
To view a full PDF write-up of the lab, click here. To view the Pre-Lab, click here.
Projectile Motion
The purpose of this lab is to study the properties of projectile motion. The experiment consists of measuring the range R of a small ball fired form a spring gun at various angles from the vertical. Students will determine the initial velocity of the ball from the measured range. For a given initial velocity, they will then determine the projectile range for various angles, calculated by applying the theory for motion with constant acceleration.