High-Speed Video Analysis in a Conceptual Physics Class Available to Purchase

The use of probe ware and computers has become quite common in introductory physics classrooms.¹ Video analysis is also becoming more popular and is available to a wide range of students through commercially available and/or free software.^2,3 Video analysis allows for the study of motions that cannot be easily measured in the traditional lab setting and also allows real-world situations to be analyzed. Many motions are too fast to easily be captured at the standard video frame rate of 30 frames per second (fps) employed by most video cameras. This paper will discuss using a consumer camera that can record high-frame-rate video in a college-level conceptual physics class. In particular this will involve the use of model rockets to determine the acceleration during the boost period right at launch and compare it to a simple model of the expected acceleration.