The Physics Teacher
December 2025
Volume 63 Issue 9
This Month's cover...shows a volcanic eruption on Io, one of Jupiter’s largest moons, in an image taken by NASA’s Galileo spacecraft in 1997. See the article by Michael LoPresto “What's Cool About That Moon?” for details about why such eruptions are so prevalent on this moon, along with many other tidbits that you might find useful for tomorrow’s classroom
Columns
AI Physics Tools, And the Survey Says..., Astronotes, Fermi Questions, Figuring Physics, For the New Teacher, iPhysicsLabs, Just Physics, Little Gems, Physics Challenge for Teachers and Students, Talkin' Physics, Technology In The Classroom, Tricks of the Trade, TCY Tidbits, Visual Physics, and Websights.
PAPERS
A Hands-On Activity for Introducing Gauss’s Law by Benjamin E. Levy; Stephanie N. Cudo; Anthony N. Kuchera; Mario Belloni. DOI: Phys. Teach. 63, 720–722 (2025) https://doi.org/10.1119/5.0226414
Understanding Electric Fields Using a 3D Interactive Applet by Xintong Wang; Yingchen Mao; Jichun Zhang. DOI: 10.1119/5.0207860
What’s Cool About That Moon? by Michael C. LoPresto. DOI: 10.1119/5.0203549
Recipe for Baked Scaled Models of the Inner Planets by Barbara Rovsek. DOI: 10.1119/5.0196800
Rolling down a Spiral Incline by Rod Cross. DOI: 10.1119/5.0221880
Comparing Sliding vs. Rolling to Determine Moments of Inertia of 3D-Printed Cylinders by Rebecca Cree; Robert Everly; Carl Faust. DOI: 10.1119/5.0227729
“Sound Bulbs”: Audible Light Bulb Replacements for Introductory Circuit Labs by Karen Mayumi Chinchihualpa Paredes; Richard Darwin Chinchihualpa Paredes; Dean A. Stocker. DOI: 10.1119/5.0221971
Optimizing Particle Visualization in the Classroom: Design, Construction, and Evaluation of Cloud Chambers and Their Use with a Cathode Ray Tube by Jorge Pozuelo-Muñoz; Lidia Ranz; Eva Terrado Sieso; Esther Cascarosa Salillas. DOI: 10.1119/5.0220105
Hovering by Flying Animals: How Often Did Quetzalcoatlus northropi, the Largest Pterosaur, Flap Its Wings? by Scott A. Lee. DOI: 10.1119/5.0223350
Mechanics in Engineering and Physics: Differences and Lessons by Matthew J. Moelter; Brian Self; Stamatis Vokos; Dominic Dal Bello; Brian Youngblood. DOI: 10.1119/5.0191267
Problem-Based Learning via X-Shaped Diffraction Patterns Using Everyday Objects by Jin Tao; Rubing Zhou; Yang Zhiqiang; Qian Cheng; Xingfeng Zhu. DOI: 10.1119/5.0263662
Experiments Using Highlighter Ink to Show 3D Light Paths by Tae Hee Kim; Hyukjoon Choi; Jung Bog Kim. DOI: 10.1119/5.0237479
Redesigning Student Learning Outcomes for Introductory Physics with 7.5-Week Semesters and Flipped Classrooms by Kim Arvidsson; Doug Monk. DOI: 10.1119/5.0220404
Ethnophysics in Project-Based Seamless Learning About Temperature and Heat by Sri Wahyu Widyaningsih; Dedi Kuswandi; Punaji Setyosari; Saida Ulfa; Irfan Yusuf. DOI: 10.1119/5.0274490
Exploring the Impact of Active Learning Strategies on the Attitudes of Physics Education Student Teachers: A Study During Their Internship at Farhangian University by Fatemeh Arbabifar. DOI: 10.1119/5.0249267
Using a Remote Control to Determine the Infrared Absorption Coefficient in Water by Santiago Ortuño-Molina; Adrián Garmendía-Martínez; Francisco M. Muñoz-Pérez; Juan C. Castro-Palacio; Juan A. Monsoriu. DOI: 10.1119/5.0223941
Probing the Optical Properties of Planar Light Sources Using Smartphone Sensor Devices by Marcello Campione; Antonino Pietropaolo; Gianlorenzo Bussetti. DOI: 10.1119/5.0218659
Smartphone-Assisted Demonstration of Hydrophobicity and the Electrowetting Effect by Amit Kumar Sharma; Diwakar Singh; Gurpreet Singh; Rahul Vaish. DOI: 10.1119/5.0192687
GPT’s Application in Physics Education: A Rapid Review by Huihui Wu; Dazhen Tong; Zhihao Li; Yu Tao; Shengyan Deng; Hongmei Ren. DOI: 10.1119/5.0259592
Using Smartphones to Perform Kinematic Analysis in Sports with the FizziQ App: Example of the Pole Vault by C. Chazot; U. Delabre. DOI: 10.1119/5.0174195
OpenPoll: A Free and Open-Source Classroom Response System by Glenn Lo; Chadwick H. Young. DOI: 10.1119/5.0205007
Maxima in Projectile Motion and Quadratic Air Drag by Hasan Yıldırım. DOI: 10.1119/5.0210998
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