The Department of Physics at MIT pushes back the frontiers of human understanding of space and time and of matter and energy in all its forms, from the subatomic to the cosmological and from the elementary to the complex.
A wire frame is dipped in bubble solution and placed in front of a speaker. At certain frequencies, the soap film oscillates in symmetrical patterns called normal modes. A light is reflected off the soap film through a lens onto the wall to show these normal modes as the frequency of the ...
A cart moving at constant velocity shoots a ball straight upwards. Since the ball has the same translational velocity as the cart, it is caught when it comes back down.
Subatomic particles such as cosmic ray muons, alpha particles, and high energy electrons are striking our bodies all the time. In the cloud chamber, these particles ionize air molecules, creating delicate cloud trails by condensing supersaturated alcohol vapor. This is similar to the way ...
An air puck is attached to a string that passes through the center of an air table. A weight is attached to the end of the string. The ball is set into rotation in a horizontal circle. When the weight is released, creating a constant force inwards, the radius of the path is shortened and the ...
Two pucks of the same mass are slid at each other on an air table, and their resulting collisions demonstrate conservation of momentum. Notice on the first collision, for example, that when a moving puck hits a stationary puck dead-on, that the second puck leaves with the same velocity as the ...
Odd-shaped objects with their centers of mass marked by orange paint are thrown. While the objects appear to follow very wobbly trajectories when viewed under bright lights, under black lights you can see that their centers of mass travel in smooth parabolas. Then center of mass is not ...
Two or more air carts are connected by springs on an air track. When this system is at resonant frequency, symmetrical patterns called normal modes appear. The normal modes are shown in both undriven and driven cases. In the undriven examples, the normal modes are found by placing the carts ...
Rubbing the rim of a wine glass with a wet finger will cause it to resonate at its resonant frequency. The glass is placed in front of a speaker playing a sine wave, created by the function generator, of this same frequency. When the amplitude is turned up, we can see by shining a strobe ...
A laser is directed at an adjustable single slit and then a pinhole and the resulting diffraction patterns can be seen on a screen. A laser directed at two slits spaced closely next to each other creates an interference pattern within the diffraction pattern. Shining lasers of different ...
In the electric field of a Van de Graaff generator, an unprotected Ben Franklin feels electrostatic forces. However, when a metal cage surrounds him, he is completely shielded against any electricity or electrostatic force. This is due to the fact that all charges in a conductor reside on the ...
First, an adjustable parallel-plate capacitor is held at a constant voltage. As the separation between the plates is widened, the electrometer shows charge (or current) flowing off of the plates, while the electroscope shows no change in voltage. Notice (by the deflection of the needle) that ...
This demonstrates the ideal gas law (PV=nRT) which states that a drop in temperature with fixed mass and external pressure will result in a smaller volume, and vice versa.
Leyden Jars, an early style of capacitor, can be connected to the two electrodes of the Wimshurst Machine. They will store charge as it is generated, giving a much stronger spark across the gap. Next we have a three-piece dissectible Leyden Jar consisting of two metal cups separated by a ...
A light bulb is connected in series with a coil of very fine copper wire and a DC power supply. The voltage is adjusted so that the bulb glows dimly. When the coil is immersed in liquid nitrogen the resistance of the wire decreases causing the current to increase and the bulb to glow ...
First, a dipole consisting of two conducting balls connected by an insulating rod swings at the end of a long plexiglass rod. The two balls are charged oppositely by touching it to a conducting rod in the field of a Van de Graaff generator. The generator is negatively ...
Paper confetti is placed atop a Van de Graaff generator and flies off when the grounding rod is removed. When turned on, a Van de Graaff generator builds up lots of negative charge on its large metal sphere. A grounding rod is used to protect the demonstrator and control the amount of charge. ...
A plexiglass rod rubbed with fur picks up a positive electric charge, while a rubber rod rubbed with fur picks up a negative electric charge. When either rod is brought in contact with hanging tinsel, the tinsel becomes charged and flares out. The other rod, however, ...
Two identical metal balls are dropped from the same height using an electromagnetic release. One ball is dropped freely, while the other hangs from a string, acting as a simple pendulum. Using two photogates, we see that the vertical velocity of the dropped ball is identical to the horizontal ...
Lecture 13 (23 October 2008): Rotational Motion & definition of angular momentum & torque, orbital motion & Kepler's laws
Lecture 14 (28 October 2008): Moment of Inertia, Rotational Energy (plus a fire alarm!). There seem to be some long pauses in this video.