Presenting Physics Concepts to the Public

The Physics Instructional Resource Team performs live demo shows at many Department of Physics events including the Fall Welcome, ASU Homecoming, and ASU Open Door. 

Example Demo Show

The following demos were part of a show presented for a 5th grade class from a local elementary school: 

1. Nose Basher: a bowling ball hung from the ceiling is swung across the lecture room. Demonstrates how energy is conserved and the confidence in our understanding of physics concepts. 
2. Pail of Water on a Greek Waiter: a glass of water is placed on a small tray and swung over head. Demonstrates how the centripetal force will hold the glass of water in place when swung vertically or even horizontally.
3. Bicycle Wheel Precession: a bicycle wheel is spun up to speed and hung from a hook tied to the ceiling. Demonstrates Newton's 1st law using a rather unintuitive example.
4. Tablecloth Pull: various items are stacked on a cloth which is both slowly and rapidly pulled out from underneath. Demonstrates friction forces and the property of inertia.
5. Cathode Ray Tube: a tabletop device which generates an electron beam on a small screen. Demonstrates the surprising relationship between magnetic fields.
6. Simple Electromagnet: a small handheld electromagnet powered by a 1.5V battery is used to hang masses until the electromagnet fails. Demonstrates the strength of electromagnetic force compared to the gravitational force.
7. Short a Capacitor: a tabletop power supply is used to create bright electrical arcs on a small aluminum plate. Demonstrates how electricity can be used to bind metals together. 
8. Fire Tornado: a small alcohol fire is spun on a turntable to show how airflow affects the chemical reaction rate.
9. IR Camera: an infrared camera is used to show heat transfer between objects of varying temperature.
10. Rubens Tube: a long aluminum tube is filled with propane and ignited to show how standing pressure waves affect flame heights. 

Hands-on Activity Examples

Below are some examples of interactive physics demonstrations typically featured at Department of Physics events. For the full collection of physics demonstrations see the Demo Catalog.

Classical Mechanics

• Wobble Tops: tops which flip over when spun, illustrating the complex interplay between rotational motion and frictional forces. 
• Balancing Birds: bird-shaped toys that can balance on a small point, demonstrating stable equilibrium.  
• Newton’s Cradle: a small apparatus with four or more suspended balls which demonstrates conservation of energy and conservation of momentum in a fairly elastic collision.
• Toy Gyros: handheld gyroscopes spun up to speed by an electric motor to demonstrate the gyroscopic effect. 

Electrostatics

• Van De Graaff Generator: a tabletop electrostatic generator is used to create large voltages and electrical arcs. Typical demonstrations include showing how arcs are created with a grounded wand, like charges repel in a pom-pom, pie tins can "levitate", and a fluorescent bulb can be lit when interacting with the Van De Graaff generator. 
• Rods & Cloths: a PVC rod, felt, acrylic rod and cellophane are used to generate positively and negatively charged materials.

Electromagnetism

• Musical Coils: a small piano, battery-powered speaker, and a pair of copper coils are used to demonstrate how magnetic fields are created from electrical current and can be transmitted over short distances. 
• Eddy Current Tube: a small tabletop copper tube and small magnet are used to show how magnetic fields in a conductor create induced magnetic fields which resist the motion of the magnet.  
• Phantom Pendula: a pair of large copper coils are set up as swinging pendulums, where the coils are placed inside of large horseshoe magnets. When the coils are electrically connected, moving one coil moves the other regardless of the distance between them.  
• Eddy Current Pendulum: an aluminum plate is swung between the poles of a powerful magnet. When the aluminum plate is solid, a force is generated resisting the motion of the plate through the magnet.    

Electromagnetic Waves

• IR Camera: an infrared (IR) camera is used to observe how infrared light acts compared to visible light. A black garbage bag is used to demonstrate infrared light transmission, Pyrex glassware is used to demonstrate infrared light absorption, and a whiteboard is used to demonstrate infrared light reflection.
• Large Lightbulb w/ Diffraction Viewers and Color Gels: an incandescent lightbulb with a long filament is viewed through diffraction gratings producing the full light spectrum. Color filters are used to see how different parts of the light spectrum can be "removed" by pre-filtering the light entering the diffraction viewer.
• Linear Polarizers: small handheld discs with polarized lenses used to demonstrate how light intensity changes at different angles.

Waves and Resonance 

• Shive Oscillators: a series of metal rods of are interconnected and suspended along a long torsional spring. Moving a single rod produces a wave along the outer edges of the rods which may transmit along various barriers or reflect at the boundaries demonstrating wave reflection and transmission. 
• Tibetan Singing Bowls: a pair of specially shaped bowls are filled with water. Upon rubbing ones hands on their handles, wave patterns are generated on the surface of the water.  
• Chladni Plates: a Chladni plate is used to visualize standing wave patterns on a vibrating surface. The patterns created by the vibrating surface demonstrate the resonance modes of the plate and the fundamental principles of wave interference and vibration.
• Cloud Chamber: a large diffusion cloud chamber filled with supersaturated alcohol vapor allows for the observation of the tracks left by ionizing radiation particles.