Abstract

The study of electricity and magnetism is fundamental to all first-year physics courses. Developing simple electricity laboratory experiences that are open ended and inquiry based can be difficult. We wished to create a lab experiment where the students have some control over the experimental design, data analysis is required, and students investigate the concept of resistivity as found in Halliday Resnick, and Walker.1 This experiment uses modeling clay or Play-Doh™ to demonstrate the properties of ohmic materials and resistivity. We were familiar with the paper “Resistance Measurements on Play-Doh™” by Jones2 and we have worked to more accurately explain the physics of the experiment. We have also further developed the experiment to better understand how the resistivity of Play-Doh changes with time. This lab is an exciting, fun experiment that connects a new concept with a familiar childhood toy.

Full Text
Published version (Free)

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call