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Category: Physics Teaching

A knotty problem

How does the length of a piece of string or rope vary with the number of knots tied in it? I came across this question a few months ago and decided to try it out as an investigative activity to help A-level Physics students revise some basic practical skills. I’ve since seen other Physics teachers, like Frank Noschese, tweet about using it in class. What’s the relationship between the number of knots and the length of the rope? Great #modphys graphing lab I learned from @hbarphysics! pic.twitter.com/jPlA1xdp1o — Frank Noschese… Read more A knotty problem

Finding acceleration due to gravity: take 2

I’m teaching the AS content for the AQA Physics A-level for the second time this year, and have recently had my students carry out the core practical to “find a value for g using a free fall method”. I used the same approach as I used last year, using a “g-ball” as shown in the video below, but have simplified the worksheet that I used. (The one I used last year asked the students to carry out parts of the uncertainty analysis as they were going along, whereas this one… Read more Finding acceleration due to gravity: take 2

Standard Form and Prefixes

It’s important that A-level Physics students can handle numbers in standard form and use prefixes with units. Below are some resources students can use to help them revise these skills: Video on how to convert numbers into / from standard form: Click here for online questions to practise converting to and from standard form. Video on how to use prefixes with units: Click here for practise questions using prefixes.