General suggestions/questions/comments

[admin]

We have provided opportunities below to comment on the What Do You Think or the For You to Do or the Physics Talk.  If that level of organization is not suitable for you for comments, then please use this thread.  Do you have any general suggestions/questions/comments that you would like to make about this Activity?

[Jeff Briggs]

  To get the best results from this activity a vcr with a jog/shuttle capability is very useful.  The jog-shuttle allows you to watch the tape in frame by frame mode.  While you can buy a new one for $100 or so, look on the used market for Sony, JVC or Panasonic studio players.  I found a used Panasonic AG-DS840 vcr on Ebay for $200 delivered - these were $1200 just a few years ago.

  With the advent of DVD, the high end tape machines are going for pennies on the dollar, so you can get excellent value for little cost.

[Carla Taylor]

Do you have a suggestion for the best apparatus for the best results?

[Amy Stewart]

Science Kit Inc. sells a video motion package that includes an electrostatic grid that fits a tv screen, with grid lines about every cm.  Students can identify the position of moving objects every 1/30 sec, plot points on the grid using overhead markers and view their graphs back at their lab stations.  It's cheap and effective for using video technology to quantify motion. 

[John Scholtz]

I feel as if choosing me to participate in this activity was unfair to the common man.  I do have the ability to defy gravity, for I am a decendent of Clark Kent and Wonder Woman.

[Donna Wolz]

Science Kit Inc. sells a video motion package that includes an electrostatic grid that fits a tv screen, with grid lines about every cm.  Students can identify the position of moving objects every 1/30 sec, plot points on the grid using overhead markers and view their graphs back at their lab stations.  It's cheap and effective for using video technology to quantify motion. 

Amy, thanks for this information. I have a tv in my room but the vcr I have is about useless. I am going to look into getting this piece of equipment.

[KathyLucas]

Do you have a suggestion for the best apparatus for the best results?

I gender group when I do hang time because I found that the guys enjoyed watching the girls jump.  I just use a meter stick, pen, and paper. 

[Matt Anthes-Washburn]

  To get the best results from this activity a vcr with a jog/shuttle capability is very useful.  The jog-shuttle allows you to watch the tape in frame by frame mode.  While you can buy a new one for $100 or so, look on the used market for Sony, JVC or Panasonic studio players.  I found a used Panasonic AG-DS840 vcr on Ebay for $200 delivered - these were $1200 just a few years ago.

  With the advent of DVD, the high end tape machines are going for pennies on the dollar, so you can get excellent value for little cost.

http://craigslist.org is another great place to find used equipment. Make a post and tell them you're a teacher. You can even ask for it as a donation!