Introducing Science Students to the Use of Computers For Data Acquisition

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9352662 Hart The purpose of this project is to introduce science students to the use of personal computers and transducers as laboratory measuring instruments. The students are encouraged to explore setting their own parameters for the data acquisition procedures and then to explore in greater depth problems which particularly interest them. The project is being implemented in the two semester General Physics class, which is taken by all Physics, Chemistry and Biology majors. Each pair of students provided with a computer interface setup which consists of a Macintosh LCII computer and a Vernier Universal Lab Interface with the appropriate transducers. These setups are being used in new experiments to study the details of collision dynamics, phase change, Newton's Law of Cooling, and waveform analyses related to the Doppler shift and electromagnetic induction. These setups are also being used to improve existing experiments on moment of inertia and the pendulum. This project is significant because it provides the only opportunity in our curriculum for science students to gain experience with data acquisition by computers. Some of the new experiments also contain innovative elements which may be incorporated into laboratories at other schools. ***