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Displacement and Vector Addition

Advantages

Easy experiment to carry out

Gets pupils out of the classroom

A good starter to the topic of vectors

Disadvantages

Getting the hypotenuse line of the triangle straight was difficult

Changes

Use rope or string to get a straight hypotenuse line

Give pupils 2 sides of the triangle, as them to work out the hypotenuse side and
then do the experiment to confirm their results – uses their maths skills

Resolving Vectors

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Advantages

Works on the maths skills of the pupils

Was an easy experiment to set up

Disadvantages

Some pupils may find the maths difficult in this experiment

Getting the angle was difficult and may be frustrating for some pupils

Changes

Could use light gates to get better results

Measuring g in lots of different ways

Advantages

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Good selection of different experiments

Easy to set up

Good to use as a starter to the topic

Disadvantages

Difficult to get cardboard through light gates

Falling Cupcakes

Advantages

Get pupils out of the classroom

Good for lower ability classes

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Good for lower school classes

Disadvantages

It is not easy to know when to start and stop the stop watch

It is difficult to get the cupcake cases to fall from the same height each time

Freefall

Advantages

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Disadvantages

Newton’s Laws

Advantages

An easy experiment to set up

An open experiment – get pupils to predict the results before doing the
experiment

Disadvantages

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Takes time to set up

If not set up properly then pulley and car could fall off and results could become
invalid

Why wear seatbelts?

Advantages

A fun experiment to carry out

Can be used for all abilities

Easy to set up

Disadvantages

Timing was difficult to get right

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Changes

This can be made into a project, maybe combined with another subject, such as
business studies

Observing Collisions

Advantages

It uses light gates for better results

A good way to show how collisions happen

Disadvantages

Not too easy to set up

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Changes

Use runway method as this is easier to set up than the air runway

Free Transport

Advantages

Can be used for a high ability class

Tries to show the conservation of energy

Disadvantages

Couldn’t get the experiment to work well as there was too much friction

It was very difficult to set up

Care needs to be taken with the rods as they are glass and can break

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Changes

Try replacing the glass rods with something else, but also need to reduce the
amount of friction

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Kicking a Football

Advantages

Works on maths skills

A good experiment to show impulse

Disadvantages

The maths may be difficult for lower ability classes

It was not easy to get contact right but when it works there were good results

Changes

Compare the impulse and force of all pupils in the class

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Electrical Characteristics

Advantages

An easy experiment to set up

A good way to show how components conduct electricity

Disadvantages

There are a lot of results to get through

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Energy transferred by a lamp

Advantages

A good demonstration for any class

Could be done by the pupils in small groups as a small investigation

Disadvantages

It was difficult to get readings. It was decided to take the reading after 30
seconds.

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The filament lamp

Advantages

An easy experiment to set up and follow

Uses the P = IV formula – works on maths skills

Disadvantages

Had to wait for lamp to heat up to give off light

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Internal resistance of a source of emf

Advantages

Very easy to set up

Disadvantages

Some students may find it difficult to understand how a potato is a source of emf
– they might think that a potato contains electricity

Changes

Can be used as a basis of a project

Different food could be used

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Internal resistance of a C cell

Advantages

An easy experiment to set up

Disadvantages

Changes

Could use a computer to plot results in real time

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Introduction to resistivity using conducting paper

Advantages

A good introduction to resistivity

An easy experiment to set up

Disadvantages

Resistivity is a difficult topic – some students may find the physics difficult to
understand

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Resistivity

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Getting a feel for materials 1

Advantages

A good introduction to the topic

Can use a selection of materials

Disadvantages

Could take a while to set up during a lesson

Getting a feel for materials 3

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Advantages

A good introduction to the topic

A quick and easy experiment

A good experiment for low ability classes

Disadvantages

Can be hard to see the indentation, so therefore difficult to measure

Getting a feel for materials 6

Advantages

A good introduction to the topic

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Can be carried further, using other materials

Disadvantages

Difficult to get good measurements

Left with hot metal at the end of the experiment

Young’s Modulus

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Temperatures everywhere

Advantages

A good experiment to introduce the topic

Good at showing a range of temperatures

Can help some pupils visualize and use a number scale

Disadvantages

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Temperatures can vary depending on the source of information

Some pupils may find putting the information on the temperature scale difficult,
as it uses very large numbers

Slow motion syrup

Advantages

If this experiment had worked it would be a good demonstration

Can be used to compare with oil in cars, as its the same physics

Disadvantages

The syrup needed to be in the tube before the lesson started

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Bigger tubes were needed

Didn’t work too well, the tubes rolled down in stages

Liquid crystal film

Advantages

An easy experiment to carry out

Good set of results were obtained

Disadvantages

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Race depending only on chance

Advantages

A very easy experiment

A good way to show how much luck is needed for a particle to get a lot of energy

A good experiment for all abilities

Disadvantages

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Multilevel energy shuffling

Advantages

A good way to show energy in a group of particles

Disadvantages

Some pupils may find if confusing as to which counter is moved at the start

Need a computer for a random number generator

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Ball Bearing

Advantages

A large range of materials can be used in this experiment

Disadvantages

Some of the objects fell through the medium too fast

It was difficult to get the correct times as it was difficult to get the 3 stopwatches
to stop at the right time, as they were used by different people and everyone has
a different view as to whether or not the object it in the right position to stop the
stopwatch

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Measuring a molecule

Advantages

Pupils can see how the size of one molecule is determined

Can have the wow factor when putting the drop of oil in the water

Disadvantages

It is not the easiest experiment to do

The maths may be difficult for some pupils

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Specific heat capacity and latent heat capacity

Advantages

The 3 experiments test the maths skills of the pupils

They were easy to set up

A selection of experiments to do with pupils

Uses equipment that pupils don’t usually use

Disadvantages

Some pupils may find it difficult to read off the thermometer

Would not be able to get through all 3 experiments in 1 lesson

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Energy needed to evaporate a molecule of water

Advantages

An easy experiment

Good experiment to show how scientists can work out how much energy is
needed to evaporate 1 molecule of water

Disadvantages

The mass balance can switch itself off if not used for a while – need to keep
pushing the balance quite frequently to stop this occurring

The maths may be difficult for some

It can take a while to do

Uses boiling water so care must be taken

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Conduction in a semiconductor

Advantages

An easy experiment to carry out

Disadvantages

The maths may be difficult for some lower ability pupils

It was difficult to keep the water at one temperature

It can take a while to carry out

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Absolute zero

Advantages

A great way to show how absolute zero is determined

Disadvantages

Some pupils may find it difficult to read the ruler / length of the column

The graph which needs to be drawn is not the usual “L” shape graph as pupils
are most aware of and may find drawing a graph with a negative x axis, as well
as a positive x axis, a little confusing

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Flow rate and thickness of a molecule

Advantages

Disadvantages

More than 1 spring

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Advantages

An easy experiment for pupils to do

Can be used as a small extended experiment / project

Disadvantages

Pupils may find it difficult as to where to measure from – as long as it is the same
place each time it does not matter

Boyle’s Law

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Charging and discharging capacitors

Advantages

A good experiment to get the pupils to do

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Shows that capacitors are charged and discharged

Shows that the larger the size of capacitor the longer the duration of current and
magnitude of current

Disadvantages

Charging some capacitors took too long

Difficult to time how long some capacitors took to charge as they charged too
quickly

Capacitor design

Advantages

An easy way to make a capacitor and alter its dimensions and see what how this
affects the capacitor – a project?

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Good for all abilities and ages

Disadvantages

Not very easy to get the exact dimensions

Electric field lines

Advantages

A good visual way to show electric field lines

Easy to set up

A quick experiment

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Disadvantages

Too much semolina was put in the first try so could not see the electric field lines

Not easy for the whole class to see if used as a demonstration – pupils need to
be near to be able to see the electric field lines

Plotting equipotentials

Advantages

When it worked, it worked well to show the equipotentials and their relationship
to the field

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Disadvantages

Not an easy experiment to set up and get working

How does a simple motor work?

Advantages

It shows how simple a motor can be

Disadvantages

It was difficult to get the nail to stay to the nail before the experiment started

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When the experiment worked it was difficult to keep the nail attached to the
battery as if flew off quite easily

A simple electric motor

Advantages

Pupils can see what a motor looks like and how simple it is

Pupils can see what part of a motor does which job

Disadvantages

It can take a long time to build; students may take a whole lesson or more to
make it so maybe something for A-Level students or top GCSE students

It is not the easiest experiment to do

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Faraday’s Law

Advantages

A good demonstration and can be done individually as well

Easy to do

Disadvantages

It may be hard to see any changes on the microvoltmeter

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Electromagnetic induction

Advantages

A good demonstration

Easy to set up and carry out

Disadvantages

It was difficult to get the CRO to work well – very small movements

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Potential near a sphere

Advantages

A good way for pupils to be able to visualise the potential changes near a sphere
when a flame is near it

Disadvantages

Using a flame probe is dangerous and trust is needed with the class as there is
also a needle as part of the equipment

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Potential and field strength in a uniform electric field

Advantages

A good demonstration

A good experiment to help pupils visualise the potential and field strength in a
uniform electric field when a flame is introduced

Disadvantages

Using a flame probe is dangerous and trust is needed with the class as there is
also a needle as part of the equipment

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