Resources by School Physics

Gamma ray absorption

An investigation looking at how gamma radiation is absorbed when it passes through different thicknesses of lead.  From this you can then calculate the absorption coefficient for aluminium.  When doing this investigation please ensure you have followed CLEAPSS guidance or the safety body for your country.

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Geiger tube characteristics

This is a simple investigation where you connect a Geiger Muller tube to a variable voltage supply. You then place an alpha source in front of it and record the count rate for a variety of supply voltages to see how this impacts the count rate.

This resource has been provided by Keith Gibbs.

GHz oscillations

In this investigation you will use a GHz oscillations transmitter and receiver to see how different factors affect the signal received. The two main ways are altering the distance between the transmitter and receiver, or keeping this distance the same and altering the angle of the transmitter. An example of graphs...

Half-life dice

This is the classic investigation which demonstrates the idea of radioactive decay and half-life. There are lots of variations of this, but this one looks at using dice and removing those with a number 6. You then plot the graph to work out the ‘half-life’ of the blocks. This is a good investigation to make ...

Lees disc

This investigation is to find the thermal conductivity of a poor conductor in the form of a flat disc.  It is linked to specific heat capacity so follows on well from work done at GCSE, and gives students a good opportunity to test their maths skills using a complex equation.

This resource has been provided...

Liquid density using a loaded test tube

For this investigation students will be calculating the density of a liquid (usually water) by using the loaded test tube method.  By adding mass to the test tube, you work out how far it has sunk then by substituting results into an equation, work out the density of the liquid.  This is a good experiment for...

Measuring instruments

This is a good introductory lesson to get students used to using a variety of measuring devices they might be unfamiliar with and which one you would select for a certain job.  The measuring devices are:

• vernier callipers
• micrometer screw gauge
• travelling microscope
• a metre...

Mechanical resonance

In this investigation students use a mass of plasticine on top of a hacksaw blade to see how the mass of the plasticine affects the resonance frequency that the...

Melde’s experiment

This is a standard standing waves investigation, where you hang masses off an elasticated piece of wire/string to see how this impacts the vibrations.  It is good to provide this in the everyday context of a guitar or violin string and you can look at altering the length of the wire or the masses hung on it.

Moment of inertia of a flywheel

An interesting investigation to see what factors can affect the moment of inertia of a flywheel.  This is good to discuss errors in measurements (such as counting rotations) and would be good to develop improvements.

This resource has been provided by Keith Gibbs.