What do you get when you cross a rubber band with a photocopier? You get a whole series of physics lessons and some great images! It’s easy to get this activity up and running, be amazed, and apply it to any number of scientific concepts. It lends itself to a whole host of investigations. This easy-to-do activity can also be aligned to NGSS outcomes and three-dimensional learning. It’s science, art, and fun, and your results may be surprisingly…. well, surprising.
References and online resources
1.
Matt
Parker
, “Rolling Shutter Explained on the Cheap
,” YouTube, standupmaths Channel (July
12, 2017
), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nP1elMR5qjc.2.
Destin
Sandlin
, “Why Do Cameras Do This? (Rolling Shutter Explained) - Smarter Every Day 172
,” YouTube, Smarter Everyday Channel (June
30, 2017
), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNVtMmLlnoE.3.
Dan
MacIsaac
, “Smartphones in a guitar redux
,” Phys. Teach.
53
, 190
(March
2015
), .4.
Udi
Tirosh
, “Everything You Wanted to Know About Rolling Shutter
,” DIY Photography (Sept.
24, 2012
), https://www.diyphotography.net/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-rolling-shutter/.5.
Eric
Muller
, “Falling for Gravity
,” Exploratorium Science Snacks (Sept.
9, 2016
), https://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/falling-gravity.6.
You can find examples and photos of additional activities at TPT Online, https://doi.org/10.1119/1.5084918 , under the Supplemental tab or at http://www.exo.net/∼emuller/copierscience/.
© 2019 American Association of Physics Teachers.
2019
American Association of Physics Teachers
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