Solar Storms & B-Fields
Solar Storms and B-Fields
Magna AR Featured in NASA HEAT Activities
Physics Toolbox's Magna AR has been used extensively this summer as part of outreach by the American Association of Physics Teachers' NASA HEAT team to model solar activity, with activities relating to planetary magnetism and solar flares. One particularly effective demo uses pairs of magnets taped to the underside of a print-out of the solar surface with sunspots.
A teacher at the AAPT NASA HEAT Space Physics Ambassador Summit in Boulder, CO, interacts with Magna AR to visualize magnetic field lines on the surface of the sun.
In the Classroom
Tiffiny Costello Explores B-Fields
This informative reel by physicist and artist Tiffany Costello shows how Physics Toolbox can be used to explore environmental magnetism.
Core of Sustainability Education
This practitioner article proposes a concept framework for teaching climate science in physics classes, including the use of Physics Toolbox for studies in Beer's law, which can be completed by the use of the Beer's Law Lab PhET simulation.
Tracking Toy Car Acceleration
Students in the Philippines in the MPNAG STEM program used smartphone accelerometers attached to toy cars to carry out analyses. See the reel below!
Engineering Applications
Pedestrian Bridge Safety Tests
How a bridge vibrates in response to stressors can change over time, indicating it health and safety of those who use it. Smartphone sensors can measure a bridge's natural frequency through direct testing. Additional work is needed for improved indirect testing with vehicles.
Gdansk Tramway Analysis with Smartphones
Cities with limited budgets can use smartphones to test tramways for balance, minimizing wear and tear, and increasing passenger comfort.
Pavement Surface and Elevation Rating with Smartphones
Municipal road quality analysis with smartphones may be a feasible and more economical solution than commercial options.
Identifying Pavement Type with Accelerometer-Mounted Bicycles
Machine learning can be applied to accelerometer data from a bicycle to predict the kind of surface the rider is on.
Physics with Phones
@ Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
On July 22, we collaborated with a new professional society in the Washington, DC area, STEMteachersDMV, American University, and the DC Space Grant Consortium, to co-facilitate a day-long workshops with Riley Christopher, an AIP Society of Physics Students 2025 Lawrence Livermore National intern.
The workshop featured some resources from the Lawrence Livermore "Physics with Phones" extensive resource collection.
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