I had some information on what lab equipment they had here before I arrived, but I wasn't sure how I was going to put together lab activities for the monks to do. I requested that spring scales (specifically the ones that can measure both a push and a pull) be bought, knowing that I could do multiple labs with them.
It turns out that the monastery already had a number of spring scales, but all of them were only of the pulling kind. Additionally, they ranged in how many Newtons they could measure, and the newer ones could only measure 5 N. The spring scales that were brought (for me) from Emory can measure 50 N.
The lab that used these was very successful. Students were able to test Newton's 3rd law, looking at pairs of forces when pulling and pushing on each other. This is a challenging topic, and during the lecture they hadn't really believed me. Students usually think that one person will be able to push harder than the other.
I also wanted them to drag objects to learn more about the friction force, but I wasn't sure what sort of objects could be pushed or pulled. I hadn't seen anything here that would work. The monks assisting me came up with the idea of using reams of paper tied with string - it worked great!
My lab activities are getting better - some of it is finding better structures and realizing what types of questions go better than others. The final question I put on this lab wasn't very good, but the others were quite successful. I'm especially glad that this lab went well, since I had demanded this equipment.
Today's lab will explore what affects the motion (period) of a pendulum: mass, string length, and starting angle. I am not going to have them do any calculations with it. Tuesday will be a variation of the "static equilibrium" lab that we do at Agnes Scott, where students balance different masses to see the torques balance.
It turns out that the monastery already had a number of spring scales, but all of them were only of the pulling kind. Additionally, they ranged in how many Newtons they could measure, and the newer ones could only measure 5 N. The spring scales that were brought (for me) from Emory can measure 50 N.
The lab that used these was very successful. Students were able to test Newton's 3rd law, looking at pairs of forces when pulling and pushing on each other. This is a challenging topic, and during the lecture they hadn't really believed me. Students usually think that one person will be able to push harder than the other.
I also wanted them to drag objects to learn more about the friction force, but I wasn't sure what sort of objects could be pushed or pulled. I hadn't seen anything here that would work. The monks assisting me came up with the idea of using reams of paper tied with string - it worked great!
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| Pushing a mass at different constant speeds and seeing the force is the same. |
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| A little tug of war - it isn't possible to pull on another person harder than the person pulls on you. |
Today's lab will explore what affects the motion (period) of a pendulum: mass, string length, and starting angle. I am not going to have them do any calculations with it. Tuesday will be a variation of the "static equilibrium" lab that we do at Agnes Scott, where students balance different masses to see the torques balance.
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