Prepare your students for real-world problem solving and open-ended lab experiments. Experienced educators and curriculum specialists have developed each of these lessons, and we have tested them in real classrooms. PocketLab physics lessons cover introductory and advanced topics from one-dimensional motion to electricity and magnetism to simple harmonic motion. Browse all the high school and AP-level physics lessons below or use the filters to search for specific content.
High School Physics
PocketLab Joins Ozobot to Study Position, Velocity and Acceleration Concepts
Ozobot (ozobot.com) is a tiny one inch diameter line-traveling robot that can be used in conjunction with PocketLab to easily study the physics concepts of position, velocity, and acceleration and their time graphs. PocketLab is simply taped to the top of an Ozobot using double-sided mounting tape. In other words, Ozobot gives Pocket lab a ride. The photo below shows this setup, with Ozobot following a 1/4" heavy black line drawn with a chisel tip marking pen.
A Momentum Conservation Experiment for an Inelastic Collision Between Two Carts
Do you have two PocketLab Maker Kit carts, and do you have the free VelocityLab app? Then you are all set to do some experiments in conservation of momentum with PocketLab! This lab discusses how to setup and perform an inelastic collision in which one cart (A) is moving toward another cart (B) that is at rest. When cart A hits cart B, they stick and move off together. The photo below shows the two carts shortly before the collision would occur. PocketLab is mounted on a front wheel of cart A. Small pieces of wood are stuck to the carts and protrude further than the wheels. Some thic
A Classic Conservation of Momentum Experiment with PocketLab
A well-known conservation of momentum experiment that has been around for many years involves dropping a brick onto a horizontally moving cart. With PocketLab and the VelocityLab app, your students can perform this experiment easily with the cart from the PocketLab Maker Kit and a small block of wood. The snapshot below shows the setup with the author about to drop the block of wood onto the cart coming from the left. A pair of rails, with inside separation just a little larger than the axle of the carts, was constructed with thin balsa wood sticks. This is optional but does help to kee
Conservation of Momentum When Two Carts "Explode"
Do you have two carts from the PocketLab Maker Kits? Do you have two PocketLabs? You probably have at least two students in your physics class with iPhones. Do they have the VelocityLap app installed on their iPhones? Then you have the major components for your students to investigate conservation of momentum when two carts on a track "explode".
PocketLab Investigation of Fuel Efficiency
With gas prices as high as they are and having a growing concern for the environment, Americans today are becoming conscious about things they can do to improve fuel efficiency. Many realize that driving at the posted speed limits promotes both safety and reduces the rate at which fuel is consumed. With these things in mind, some have purchased hybrid vehicles including the Toyota Prius, all-electric vehicles such as the Nissan LEAF, or range-extending vehicles such as the Chevy Volt. Those with EV's soon realize that they get more miles per charge if they avoid driving at excessively hi
The Inverse Cube Law for a Neodymium Dipole Magnet
PocketLab makes is quite easy to investigate and verify the inverse cube law for the magnetic field of a neodymium magnet as a function of distance from the magnet. All that is needed in addition to The PocketLab is a centimeter ruler, small neodymium magnet, a small block of wood and a little double stick tape. The photo below shows how the neodymium magnet is taped to the block of wood with the magnet located at the 10 cm mark on the NSTA ruler. The height of the center of the magnet is at about the height of the circuit board inside of PocketLab. The X on the front face of PocketLab
Investigating Ampere's Law for a Long Current Carrying Wire
One of the classes of problems dealing with magnetic fields concerns the production of a magnetic field by a current-carrying conductor or by moving charges. It was Oersted who discovered back in the early 1800's that currents produce magnetic effects. The quantitative relationship between the magnetic field strength and the current was later embodied in Ampere's Law, an extension of which made by Maxwell is one of the four basic equations of electromagnetism.
Magnetic Field on the Axis of a Current Loop
In this lesson students will find that a current-carrying loop can be regarded as a magnetic dipole, as it generates a magnetic field for points on its axis. The figure below shows a diagram and the equation for the magnetic field B. Derivation of this equation requries knowledge of the Biot-Savart Law, calculus and trigonometry. But in this lesson we are interested only in comparing experimental results from PocketLab's magnetometer to the theoretical equation in the figure below. More advanced students can consider derivation of the equation, if they wish.
Negative Exponentially Damped Harmonic Motion from a PocketLab Pendulum
This experiment allows one to do a quantitative investigation of the damped harmonic motion of a swinging pendulum. The pendulum is a piece of wood about a yard long from a Michael's hobby shop one end of which has been attached to a PocketLab by a rubber band. The other end is taped to the top of a doorway, allowing the resultant pendulum to swing back-and-forth as shown in the image below.
PocketLab on an Oscillating Cart
An oscillating cart with a PocketLab provides an interesting way to study Newton's Second Law of Motion as well as some principles of damped harmonic motion. The apparatus setup is shown in the figure below. The small dynamics cart that can quickly be made from parts included in the PocketLab Maker Kit is shown in its equilibrium position. Rubber bands are attached to each side of the cart and to two ring stands weighted down with some heavy books. It is best to use rubber bands that provide as small Newton/meter as possible. PocketLab is attached to the cart with its x-axis parallel t