"If I could only get 1 piece of equipment for each AP Physics course, what would it be?" This question always seems to pop up when budgets open or close for the school year. As physics teachers, we are always looking for another way to engage students and bring abstract concepts to life. With how many options there are to choose from, here is what I would pick for each course.
AP Physics 1
For AP Physics the course that introduces students to physics for the first time, I would choose Constant Velocity Cars (Tumble Buggy). These cars are versatile and allow students to investigate distance, displacement, speed,and velocity.
When using these in the classroom, students can model dot diagrams by placing bingo chips behind the car to recognize that the cars are moving at a constant rate.
These cars can also be used to model position vs time and distance vs time graphs, so students can begin to learn how to determine the speed of the car. Additionally, students can use two cars one with a dummy cell battery and one with two full batteries to determine when the slower car can pass the faster car, or where the two cars will collide. All of these activities allow students to use the cars, practice the essential skill of graphing and help them experience the joy in physics. Additionally we can use the “tumble” feature to get students more familiar with displacement so the car can go in the positive and negative direction when students sketch the displacement vs time graph, introducing positive and negative velocity in a fun and visual way.
AP Physics 2
When students have successfully completed AP Physics 1, we hope that they enjoyed the content as much as we did so they come back for more, and personally AP Physics 2 has some of the most fun content, in my opinion. In AP Physics 2 students finally get to experience the struggles and triumphs of learning about circuit diagrams and building their own circuits. The Investigating Electrical Circuits kit is the one piece of equipment I would be disappointed if I did not have in class.
Students need to interact with circuit materials so they can visualize what they are solving and how the flow of electricity works. With the circuit kit, students can create simple and complex circuits and easily learn how to attach a voltmeter and ammeter into their circuits to get quantitative data to support what they visually see happening to a lightbulb. The circuit kit lets students easily connect the pieces together and build as complex a circuit they would like. Students can also learn about how capacitors work in series and parallel, in a low risk environment that isn’t just a simulation. After students have taken AP Physics 1 they can choose to take AP physics C Mechanics but they have already seen a number of different Newtonian physics lab equipment and physics toys. One that I’ve especially enjoyed is the Gravity Well. This allows students to visualize the effects of gravitational fields. It’s the perfect way to show students that moving away from the source of a gravitational field does not mean a planet can’t be affected.
AP Physics C Mechanics
After students have taken AP Physics 1 they can choose to take AP physics C Mechanics but they have already seen a number of different Newtonian physics lab equipment and physics toys. One that I’ve especially enjoyed is the Gravity Well. This allows students to visualize the effects of gravitational fields. It’s the perfect way to show students that moving away from the source of a gravitational field does not mean a planet can’t be affected.
The gravity well is a great addition to a section of physics that can be heavily mathematical and abstract. The gravity well gives us a way to visually see the inverse square law, gravitational energy, and orbital motion. This is a great addition because it gets students up and moving all around an intriguingly large object and gets the conversation flowing.
AP Physics C E&M
The last piece of material I want would be the Daedalon e/m apparatus. This is a dream to have in a classroom because it is something most universities have, and it give students a great visual connection to JJ Thompson's 1897 experiment.
Students can see an electron enter a uniform magnetic field and be affected by the Lorentz force, which causes circular motion.
They can see this curvature and ultimately calculate the charge to mass ratio by using the Helmholtz coil number and the radius of the coil, increasing the voltage across various trials. This brings a rather abstract topic to light, and students can even see how the magnetic field is effected when the machine turns on for another great visual with magnetism.
AP physics allows for so many cool activities and demonstrations that hopefully students remember for years to come. I hope that your students enjoy some of these as much as mine do!
Meghan DiBacco
Meghan DiBacco teaches AP Physics at Jordan High School in Katy ISD. She is actively involved with both the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) and the Texas Section of AAPT (TSAAPT), where she supports high school physics education, teacher collaboration, and professional learning. Meghan is passionate about creating engaging, student-centered physics experiences and strengthening the physics education community.
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