Asif Shakur

Measurement of Coriolis Acceleration with a Smartphone

Undergraduate physics laboratories seldom have experiments that measure the Coriolis acceleration. This has traditionally been the case owing to the inherent complexities of making such measurements. Articles on the experimental determination of the Coriolis acceleration are few and far between in the physics literature. However, because modern smartphones come with a raft of built-in sensors, we have a unique opportunity to experimentally determine the Coriolis acceleration conveniently in a pedagogically enlightening environment at modest cost by using student-owned smartphones. Here we employ the gyroscope and accelerometer in a smartphone to verify the dependence of Coriolis acceleration on the angular velocity of a rotatingtrack and the speed of the sliding smartphone.

Introduction of mechatronics concepts in a robotics course using an industrial SCARA robot equipped with a vision sensor

Abstract In the new millennium the disciplinary boundaries within engineering education will be diffused as engineering education responds to growing number of innovations and product development at the interfaces of traditional disciplinary boundaries. Industrial robots provide an excellent teaching tool for introducing students to the burgeoning field of “Mechatronics” which integrates mechanism design and analysis, soft computing, sensing and electronics from a holistic perspective. A team-based student project in a senior level interdisciplinary “Robotics” course is discussed in this paper. The project is designed to demonstrate flexible and agile manufacturing concepts to students by integrating imaging and motion using an industrial selective compliance articulated robot arm (SCARA) robot.

Bullet-Block Science Video Puzzle.

A science video blog,1 which has gone viral, shows a wooden block shot by a vertically aimed rifle. The video2 shows that the block hit dead center goes exactly as high as the one shot off-center. (Fig. 1). The puzzle is that the block shot off-center carries rotational kinetic energy in addition to the gravitational potential energy. This leads a majority of the bloggers to claim that the block shot off-center should not go as high as the one shot dead center. Others have claimed that the energy tied up as rotational energy is insignificant and the two blocks should rise to the same height within experimental error.

The PASCO Wireless Smart Cart: A Game Changer in the Undergraduate Physics Laboratory

With the introduction of the Wireless Smart Cart by PASCO scientific in April 2016, we expect a paradigm shift in undergraduate physics laboratory instruction. We have evaluated the feasibility of using the smart cart by carrying out experiments that are usually performed using traditional PASCO equipment. The simplicity, convenience, and cost-saving achieved by replacing a plethora of traditional laboratory sensors, wires, and equipment clutter with the smart cart are reported here.

Debunking Coriolis Force Myths

Much has been written and debated about the Coriolis force.1–8 Unfortunately, this has done little to demystify the paradoxes surrounding this fictitious force invoked by an observer in a rotating frame of reference. It is the purpose of this article to make another valiant attempt to slay the dragon of the Coriolis force! This will be done without unleashing the usual mathematical apparatus, which we believe is more of a hindrance than a help.

The Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen Paradox, Bell’s Theorem and Nonlocality

In this chapter we turn to the paradox of Einstein, Podolsky and Rosen, and Bell’s Theorem.

Schrödinger’s Paradox and Nonlocality

In the previous chapter, we reviewed the Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen paradox and Bell’s Theorem. EPR is a very powerful result, and when its logical content is distilled, this famous analysis leads to a striking conclusion—the existence of physical properties lying outside the purview of the quantum description.