Using Hexbugs™ to model gas pressure and electrical conduction: A pandemic-inspired distance lab

We describe a pandemic-inspired, modern physics distance lab course, focused both on engaging undergraduate physics majors in scientific research from their homes and on building skills in scientific paper reading and writing. To introduce the experimental and analytic tools, students are first asked to complete a traditional lab assignment in which collections of Hexbugs™, randomly moving toy automatons, are used to model gas molecules and to confirm the ideal gas law. Subsequently, after consulting the literature, students propose and implement semester-long experiments using Hexbugs™, smartphones, and materials commonly found at home to model various concepts in statistical mechanics and electrical conduction. A sample project focused on the Drude model, in which Hexbugs™ on a tilted plane are used to model electrical conduction, is described in detail. Alongside the research projects, students write...