Lab activities and experiments are included in the "Labs" section of most lesson pages in this course. Below is a list of all of the labs in this course to help you plan which ones to do and what materials you may need. Most lesson pages include a lab but you don't have to do all of them. All of the lab instructions are from free sources but you may need to purchase some materials.

Labs are organized into three categories:

• Virtual labs - These labs use an online physics simulation and include instructions on how to do the lab and use the simulation. Most of the simulations are from PhET.
• At-home labs - These labs use materials that can be found around the house or are easy to purchase. These are generally easier to do than the classroom labs and are generally meant for homeschool students, but teachers and other students may find them useful as well.
• Classroom labs - These labs use materials and equipment that might be found in a physics classroom, but some additional equipment may need to be purchased. These require more time and materials than the at-home labs and are generally meant for physics teachers to use in the classroom.

Estimated time for each virtual or at-home lab: 20-40 minutes

Most of the labs are from these sources (not all of the labs are used in this course):

• PhET - Physics Simulations
• Openstax - High School Physics Lab Manual - Student Version
• Openstax - College Physics for AP Courses Lab Manual - Student Version
• Holt Physics - Laboratory Experiments

These are the materials that you'll need for the at-home labs.

• 2 eggs
• Action figure/doll or other object
• Ball
• Block or other object to slide on incline
• Blocks or other objects to place in tray of water
• Books
• Bowl
• Coin
• Colored food dye
• Colored pen/pencil (optional)
• Disposable plastic cup
• Drinking glasses
• Empty 2L plastic bottle with cap
• Empty soda cans
• Forks
• Glass eyedropper (optional)
• Graph paper
• Hair dryer
• Hammer
• Ice
• Inclined plane (book, board, etc)
• Index card/cardstock
• Large hardcover book
• Marble
• Masking tape
• Measuring tape
• Metal washers/weights
• Meterstick
• Paper
• Paper clips
• Papers with various roughness (sandpaper, etc)
• Pen/pencil
• Ping pong ball (or other light ball)
• Plastic straws
• Protractor
• Rubber bands
• Ruler
• Salt
• Scale
• Scissors
• Sink
• Slinky (long spring toy)
• Stopwatch
• Stove
• String
• Tongs
• Toothpick/nail and a base
• Toy car
• Track for marble
• Tray for water (clear is better)
• Tubes of different lengths (or more bottles of different sizes)
• Water
• Wrench

The Moving Man (PhET) (Tom Reeve, Steve Reeves)
The Moving Man (PhET)

2. Motion (Holt Physics - Laboratory Experiments, pg 7-9)
toy car, graph paper, masking tape, marble, track for marble, meterstick, stopwatch

1. Graphing Motion (Openstax - College Physics for AP Courses Lab Manual, pg 9-17)
straight track, cart with spring, stopwatch, masking tape, meterstick, ring stand or blocks

Vector Addition (PhET) (Jeremy Smith)
Vector Addition (PhET)

5. Motion in Two Dimensions (Activity 1) (Openstax - High School Lab Manual, pg 50-53)
protractor, ruler, graph paper, pen/pencil, colored pen or pencil (optional)

Projectile Motion (PhET) (Jeremy Smith)
Projectile Motion (PhET)

5. Motion in Two Dimensions (Activity 2) (Openstax - High School Lab Manual, pg 54-57)
table, books, marble, track for marble, masking tape, paper, meterstick, stopwatch

1D and 2D Kinematics (College Board - AP Physics 1 and 2 Inquiry-Based Lab Investigations, pg 45-59)
ramp, track, stopwatch, meterstick, steel ball, carbon paper, bubble level, toy car that accelerates

There are currently no labs for this topic page.

There are currently no labs for this topic page.

There are currently no labs for this topic page.

Forces and Motion Basics - Newtons 1st Law (PhET) (Jeremy Lessard)
Forces and Motion: Basics (PhET)

4. Discovering Newton's Laws (An object at rest, An object in motion) (Holt Physics - Laboratory Experiments, pg 19-20)
drinking glass, water, coin, index card/cardstock, toy car, action figure/doll or other object, rubber band

Forces and Motion Basics - Newtons 2nd Law (PhET) (Bean Burr)
Forces and Motion: Basics (PhET)

Newton's Second Law (College Board - AP Physics 1 and 2 Inquiry-Based Lab Investigations, pg 61-75)
dynamics track, cart, assorted masses, mass hanger, pulley, string, meterstick, stopwatch

4. Discovering Newton's Laws (Newton's third law) (Holt Physics - Laboratory Experiments, pg 21)
2 carts with spring plunger, assorted masses, meterstick, stopwatch

Gravity Force Lab (PhET) (David Kennedy, Dr Akhlaq Ahmad)
Gravity Force Lab (PhET)

Measuring "g" (Weber)
ball, stopwatch, measuring tape

Forces and Motion Basics - Friction (PhET) (Russell Lella)
Forces and Motion: Basics (PhET)

Physical Science 1 Lab: Friction (Mark Montgomery)
inclined plane (book, board, etc), protractor, block or other object to slide on incline, papers with various roughness (sandpaper, etc), scale

4. Forces (Openstax - College Physics for AP Courses Lab Manual, pg 29-33)
rubber bands, block, spring scale or force gauge, carts, inclined plane, pulley, string, protractor, stopwatch, meterstick

Masses and Springs (PhET) (Clark Andersen)
Masses and Springs (PhET)

6. Hooke's Law (Activity 1) (Openstax - College Physics for AP Courses Lab Manual, pg 40-44)
springs, assorted hanging masses, ring stand, meterstick/ruler

Atwood's Machine (BU) (Andrew Duffy)
Atwood's machine (BU)

Atwood Machine (Richard Barrans)
pulley, stand, assorted hanging masses, string, meterstick, stopwatch

8. Torque and Center of Mass (Rotational force and a wrench) (Holt Physics - Laboratory Experiments, pg 35-36)
wrench, bolt, nut and board with a hole (or anything that has a bolt and nut that you can easily adjust)

Balancing Act (PhET) (Amy Carpinelli)
Balancing Act (PhET)

10. Rotational Motion (Openstax - College Physics for AP Courses Lab Manual, pg 67-72)
meterstick, fulcrum, assorted masses, ramp, assorted cylindrical objects, clay, stopwatch

Center of Mass (BU)
Center of mass (BU)

Center of Mass (Recommended activities: 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10) (Ellen McHenry)
toothpick/nail and a base, ruler, pen/pencil, scissors, index card/cardstock, string, metal washer/weight, forks, drinking glass, hammer, empty soda can

7. Circular Motion (Holt Physics - Laboratory Experiments, pg 31-34)
rubber bands, scale, meterstick, disposable plastic cup, scissors, stopwatch

5. Circular Motion (Openstax - College Physics for AP Courses Lab Manual, pg 34-39)
flying toy, meterstick, stopwatch, glass tube, rubber stopper with holes, string, hanging mass

Gravity and Orbits (PhET) (Meg Tredinnick)
Gravity and Orbits (PhET)

There are currently no labs for this topic page.

Energy Skate Park (PhET) (Louie Klein)
Energy Skate Park (PhET)

7. Work and Energy (Openstax - High School Lab Manual, pg 71-87)
two meter sticks, tape, binder clip, 10 identical marbles, level, stopwatch, pen, ruler, balance/scale, string, pennies, staircase

There are currently no labs for this topic page.

Collision Lab (PhET) (Andrew Konkov)
Collision Lab (PhET)

8. Conservation of Momentum (Openstax - College Physics for AP Courses Lab Manual, pg 55-61)
two lab carts of different mass, ruler, scale, chalk, stopwatches or video camera

Masses and Springs (PhET) (Ferdinand Bautista)
Masses and Springs (PhET)

Pendulum Lab (PhET) (Ferdinand Bautista)
Pendulum Lab (PhET)

12. Pendulums (skip Spring waves) (Holt Physics - Laboratory Experiments, pg 47-49)
string, metal washers/weights, meterstick, paper clip, protractor, stopwatch

9. Simple Harmonic Motion (Openstax - College Physics for AP Courses Lab Manual, pg 62-66)
string, assorted masses, stopwatch, meterstick, protractor, support rod

Waves Intro (PhET) (Solmaz Khodaeifaal, Kristin Mandsager)
Waves Intro (PhET)

Waves on a String (PhET) (Solmaz Khodaeifaal, Kristin Mandsager)
Waves on a String (PhET)

10. Waves (Openstax - High School Lab Manual, pg 113-124)
slinky (long spring toy), string, large hardcover book, tray for water (clear is better), water, colored food dye, graph paper, index card/cardstock, blocks or other objects to place in water

11. Mechanical Waves (Openstax - College Physics for AP Courses Lab Manual, pg 73-77)
slinky (long spring toy), video camera, meterstick, tank of water, notecard

Sound Waves (PhET) (PhET, William McCormick)
Sound Waves (PhET)

Wave Interference (PhET) (PhET, William McCormick)
Wave Interference (PhET)

13. Resonance and the Nature of Sound (Fundamental frequency) (Holt Physics - Laboratory Experiments, pg 54-55)
empty 2L plastic bottle, tubes of different lengths (or more bottles of different sizes)

11. Sound Waves (Openstax - High School Lab Manual, pg 125-135)
two different tuning forks, sound generator, two identical glass bottles, golf ball, resonance tube filled with water, marker, meterstick

States of Matter (PhET) (Joko Susilo)
States of Matter (PhET)

Under Pressure (PhET) (Shawn Templin, Louis Wong)
Under Pressure (PhET)

Upside Down Glass of Water (Cool Science Experiments HQ)
drinking glass, water, index card/cardstock

Soda Can Crusher (Steve Spangler)
empty soda cans, stove, tongs, bowl, ice, water

A simple manometer demo (MrGrodskiChemistry)
u-tube manometer, syringe, water

Syringe hydraulic system (Rhett Allain)
2 syringes with different diameters, connecting tube, water

Buoyancy (PhET) (Jared Schmidt, Diana Lopez)
Buoyancy (PhET)

DIY Buoyancy Demo - The Cartesian Diver (Rhett Allain)
empty 2L plastic bottle with cap, drinking glass, water, plastic straw, scissors, paper clips, glass eyedropper (optional)

Floating Eggs (Math and Science)
2 drinking glasses, 2 eggs, salt

18. Fluid Dynamics (Activity 3) (Openstax - College Physics for AP Courses Lab Manual, pg 123-124)
scale, object that sinks in water, object that floats in water, water and three other liquids with different densities, graduated cylinder, at least four objects with irregular shapes

Buoyant Force (Pasco)
force sensor with hook, support for force sensor, overflow can, brass cylinder, aluminum cylinder, scale, thread, beakers, glass stir rod, pen, dish soap, water, meterstick

Fluid Pressure and Flow (PhET) (Shawn Templin)
Fluid Pressure and Flow (PhET)

Observing the Effect of Water Pressure (Next Generation Science)
empty 2L plastic bottle, scissors, masking tape, water, sink

Bernoulli's Principle: Floating Ball (Exploration Place)
ping pong ball (or other light ball), plastic straw, hair dryer

Bernoulli's Principle: Paper on Table (Physics Demos)
paper, masking tape, table, hair dryer

18. Fluid Dynamics (Activities 1-2) (Openstax - College Physics for AP Courses Lab Manual, pg 117-122)
plastic bucket, 2-liter bottle, tool for creating a hole, meterstick, water