WARNING! Goggles should be worn and care taken in the launching of the Air-Powered Projectile as it launches at a high velocity! Do not lean over the launch pad when pumping the air-pump.

With help from Joe Spaccavento, Science Supervisor/Physics Teacher of North Arlington High School in New Jersey and Section Rep, of NJAAPT, we would like to give you some real ideas for experiments and activities with the Air-Powered Projectile (APP).

Unlike solid-fuel rockets and water rockets, which have too many variables for accurately studying Newton's Laws, this safe, chemical-free air-powered projectile is ideally suited for exploring projectile motion.

Saw this at the last regional AAPT meeting. From grade school through college, you talk about energy transformations. Where does the energy go in a collision? There is no such thing as a perfectly elastic collision, so some of the energy always gets transformed.  Take a Newtonian Demonstrator (Newton's cradle). Place a piece of paper between the first and second ball.  Pull the first ball up as high as you can and let go. After the collision, pull the paper out. You will see a hole that has been burned through the paper. Where does the energy go as the balls slow down?  One place is heat. If you have a very small version of the device, you may not see much of a hole.  If you can get some, it works really well holding a piece of paper between two large (2 inch diameter or greater) ball bearings or stainless steel balls and banging them together with your hands.

Laser pointers can be used to show many properties of light. You can show reflection and refraction with lenses and mirrors. You can show how color is absorbed. We believe that they can and should be used in the science classroom for light demonstrations. Yes, you do need to be careful with them. Don’t shine them in anyone’s eyes. Make sure that the principal knows what you are doing. Here are some fun activities to teach about light:

We are not suggesting trying to tag each other with the laser. Make a target. It can be virtually anything, as long as it will reflect the red laser light. Put it or hang it somewhere in the room.

Place the laser pointer on a steady object and use a clothes pin or clip to keep the pointer on. Place a mirror on a desk and have the students move the mirror so that the laser light falls onto the target. (Putting on the desk keeps it steadier than holding it.) Move the target, the laser, or the mirror and try again. Have the students draw the relationship between the three objects. Add another mirror. Use chalk dust to show the beam as it reflects off the mirror and show that the incident angle and the reflected angle are equal.

For advanced students or physics students, you can place the laser and the target first and have the students calculate where to put the mirrors and at what angle before they try it. You can also have them hit the target without using mirrors or lenses (think windows, water, internal reflection, the floor, etc.)

To make this easier, try our new Laser Tripod. It holds a standard pen-style laser pointer. It adjusts to almost any angle and will hold the button on. It even comes with a Velcro^® strap to attach it to a steady object like a ring stand.

Did you know that you can find the mass of air? Using a Pressure Pumper, you can pump up a two-liter bottle and find the mass of the air that you have added. This is a concept that is difficult for students to grasp – that air is matter and has mass. Click below to view the full activity.