." . . dipping into this collection is much like opening a holiday gift
and discovering a marvelous little toy that then holds your attention by
some curious performance. . . . This book precisely reflects the way
science education should be, especially at the introductory level."
--From the foreword Here is a collection of physics demonstrations
costing very little to produce yet illustrating key concepts in
amazingly simple and playful ways. Intended for instructors, students,
and curious lay readers, these demonstrations make use of easily
accessible, everyday items: food coloring and glycerine swirled and then
"unmixed" in a container demonstrate aspects of the entropy law; raw
eggs thrown with full force at a sheet but not breaking illustrate
Newton's second law (f=ma); and the reflection off a glass Christmas
tree ball is the focus of an explanation on "turning the world inside
out." Many of the demonstrations are either new or include innovative
twists on old ideas, as in the author's simplified version of the
classic "Monkey and Hunter" problem, which substitutes "diluted gravity"
on an inclined plane for large apparatus. Each demonstration outlines
the objective, the equipment needed, and the procedure, including, in
many instances, ways for a teacher to perform the demonstration on an
overhead projector. Throughout the book concrete examples are
accompanied by enough theoretical background to enhance a reader's basic
understanding of physical principles. Lab instructors will find that
demonstrations containing a quantitative component work well as mini-
experiments and as ways to illustrate the results of calculations. These
diverse and flexible demonstrations will serve awide range of
educational levels, from middle school physical science to university
physics.
