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Tag: vacuum cannon
Breakthrough Technologies III: Graphics Tablets
Robin and Rosie are joined by former physics teacher Thomas to talk tech… After making the case for peer tutoring (low-cost, high impact according to the EEF), we turn our attention to EdTech for the 3rd time.
Dr David Boyce returns for the last in our series of chats about seismic technological shifts driven by EdTech. I hope you have checked the two previous episodes on 3d-printing and AI. Today, David makes the case for graphic tablets as an alternative to blackboards, whiteboards and smartboards. This has real resonance with the team – and hopefully will give you another option to consider when you are planning tech for the classroom. David’s point that the limited functionality makes it more appealing is a tantalising one.
David’s ReMarkable – using FIFA (Formula, Insert Values, Fine Tune, Answer) Rosie says hello via Wacom Links
- EEF – Peer tutoring
- ReMarkable / ReMarkable 2
- Wacom
- SLOP Episode
- GCSE Long Answers Episode
- Simply Piano
- MyEdSpace
Join in!
Please share ideas or successes – or indeed questions by messaging us on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/physicstp.bsky.social . You can also message us via our website contact form on every page of the web site at the.physicsteachingpodcast.com, or email using the address given in the podcast (if we remember). We are moving away from X but can be found there as @physicstp.
Music
- Season 7: Physics Is Our Business by Miracles of Modern Science.
- Seasons 5 and 6: Crescents by Ketsa.
- Seasons 3 and 4: Disco Sheik by Podington Bear.
- Seasons 1 and 2: One legged equilibrist polka by Circus Homunculus.
- Occasionally we also use Cantina Rag by Jackson F. Smith.
The music is used under the Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License
3D Printing
An overdue visit at last from the one and only Dr David Boyce (@DrDavidBoyce). David is a force of nature: physics teacher, mountain leader, chalk advocate, technician champion, the list goes on. An all round enthusiast and he will be joining us in the coming weeks to talk about three of the potentially transformational developments that teachers should know about.
The first of these is 3d-printing, and if you’re a bit fuzzy: “3D printing or additive manufacturing is the construction of a three-dimensional object from a CAD model or a digital 3D model. It can be done in a variety of processes in which material is deposited, joined or solidified under computer control, with the material being added together, typically layer by layer.” Thanks Wikipedia!
David points out that you may well have this technology in school in your tech department, so if you want to flex your creative muscle and craft your own fiducial marker, you may not need to look far.
See the weblinks below for more about David, and 3d printing. More from David soon…
Links
- Mirror holder blueprint
- The Time and Space of Uncle Albert
- Thingyverse
- Printables
- Dr David Boyce on YouTube
- Buy a vacuum cannon
- https://www.appropedia.org/3D_printable_science_equipment
Join in!
Please share ideas or successes – or indeed questions by messaging us on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/physicstp.bsky.social . You can also message us via our website contact form on every page of the web site at the.physicsteachingpodcast.com, or email using the address given in the podcast (if we remember). We are moving away from X but can be found there as @physicstp.
Music
- Season 7: Physics Is Our Business by Miracles of Modern Science.
- Seasons 5 and 6: Crescents by Ketsa.
- Seasons 3 and 4: Disco Sheik by Podington Bear.
- Seasons 1 and 2: One legged equilibrist polka by Circus Homunculus.
- Occasionally we also use Cantina Rag by Jackson F. Smith.
The music is used under the Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License
A Couple More Nuggets
Thomas doesn’t know which week it is; thinking there is one more week of term he drags Robin to his garage to test some vacuum cannon upgrades. Thomas and Robin also look back through the podcast’s second season, and forward to a possible season 3.
A Tight Collar
Thomas has been experimenting with the collars that are used to join vacuum cannon spec pipes. After initial excitement (described in the podcast) Thomas does some further testing (described in an addendum) and finds that they don’t seal perfectly when pushed on dry and that the hole in the middle is slightly smaller than a table tenis ball (which probably doesn’t matter). The collars can be cut in to slices to make round flanges with three benefits:
- Greater surface area for the tape to grip
- The potential for “reloading” the tape off-line whilst another shot is prepared (one of the issues with the cannon is the pfaff of taping it up in the lesson
- Easier reloading when you forget the ball!
The slices can also be used as a mechanical support for the “gold standard” flange – if you have managed to persuade tech. to make you them.
Thank you. It’s Been… Emotional
There are so many people to thank. We would not do this without *you* dear listener. The emails we get cheer us up and keep us going. We have had so many guests; thank you to you for giving up your time and being so flexible. (Special mention here to Miss Neutrino who happily rerecorded the podcast after Thomas didn’t press the right button). Thanks to Patrick Kaplo, who has become a good friend and who we were very disappointed not to meet face to face this Spring. Finally, thanks to our families, who think we are bonkers but wave us off to our respective cupboard and garage each week.
…but most of all, thank YOU for taking time to listen and – far more importantly – for teaching physics. We are privileged to teach the engineers, physicists, geologists … of the future, and it’s a future that is a lot brighter thanks to your hard work. Have a great summer!
Join in!
Please share ideas or successes – or indeed questions by messaging us on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/physicstp.bsky.social . You can also message us via our website contact form on every page of the web site at the.physicsteachingpodcast.com, or email using the address given in the podcast (if we remember). We are moving away from X but can be found there as @physicstp.
Music
- Season 7: Physics Is Our Business by Miracles of Modern Science.
- Seasons 5 and 6: Crescents by Ketsa.
- Seasons 3 and 4: Disco Sheik by Podington Bear.
- Seasons 1 and 2: One legged equilibrist polka by Circus Homunculus.
- Occasionally we also use Cantina Rag by Jackson F. Smith.
The music is used under the Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License
Uses for a Vacuum Cannon and Deconstruction of Energy
Happy New Year! Thomas and Robin reflect on some questions from the Dulwich IoP Physics Conference and are joined by Patrick Kaplo to talk about uses for the Vacuum Cannon and whether teaching just two energy stores is the way forward.
Timestamps
- New Year Resolutions @ 00:35
- We’re going on tour! @ 03:51
- Uses for the Vacuum Cannon @ 06:40
- Dr Ben Still’s views on Energy @ 19:23
Summary
Happy New Year dear listener! Do you make New Year’s resolutions, then share them in the vain hope you will keep them up? Thomas asks Robin and Patrick to share theirs. Robin has been inspired by the podcast and Patrick is going to be more sharing. Thomas has set a low bar.
The exciting news of the week is that Thomas, Robin and Thomas are heading to Boston USA to run a session at the NSTA conference. Entitled “Podcasting and Professionalism – A British Twist”. We plan to run a hands-on session and not wear bowler hats… we’ll look forward to seeing you in Boston in early April. If you aren’t in America then, why not let us know your favourite physics CPD event and we’ll see if we can make it along.
Friend of the Podcast Jonathan Shaw loves his vacuum cannon but was wondering about how to use it to full-physics effect, and Patrick was more than happy to oblige. We got to five tips before we moved away from a soda-can-annihilation and in the end, we did answer Jonathan’s question.
Dr Ben Still, author of Particle Physics Brick by Brick shared an interesting insight in to Energy when talking at the Conference – that there are really only two energy stores – motion and field shape. Thomas is delighted by this and puts it to Patrick and Robin for their opinion. What do you think? Should we tell our KS3 students that there is only movement and field?
Join in!
Please share ideas or successes – or indeed questions by messaging us on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/physicstp.bsky.social . You can also message us via our website contact form on every page of the web site at the.physicsteachingpodcast.com, or email using the address given in the podcast (if we remember). We are moving away from X but can be found there as @physicstp.
Music
- Season 7: Physics Is Our Business by Miracles of Modern Science.
- Seasons 5 and 6: Crescents by Ketsa.
- Seasons 3 and 4: Disco Sheik by Podington Bear.
- Seasons 1 and 2: One legged equilibrist polka by Circus Homunculus.
- Occasionally we also use Cantina Rag by Jackson F. Smith.
The music is used under the Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License
19. The “New” Model of Energy
Thomas and Robin feel the pain of Physics teachers all over the UK and attempt to get to grips with the new model of energy as promoted by the IoP. No more energy types, just energy stores that increase and decrease in magnitude and transfer processes that are allowed by the energy differences.
Timestamps
- Philae lander found @ 00:30
- Shooting nuclear waste in to the Sun @ 2:00
- What is energy? @ 3:25
- Energy Stores and the IoP’s different model @ 5:34
- Tom Norris talking explaining the “new” model of energy @ 7:59
- Robin helps Thomas talk about energy @ 17:27
- Thomas and Robin grapple with a roller-coaster example @ 24:31
- Precision of language @ 29:53
- Common language with Brian Lane @ 30:32
- A new T-shirt @ 34:33
- The elephant in the room @ 36:00
- Vacuum Cannon back in stock soon @ 36:56
Summary
After discussing the recent spotting of the lost Philae Lander and the folly of firing nuclear waste in to outer Space Robin and Thomas finally (and after much procrastination) bite the bullet and talk about Energy. The IoP has been pushing a “new” model of electricity in an effort to standardise the way it is talked about. Thomas’ understanding of this at the start of the episode is, to say the least, hazy. Robin talks him through it with the help of Tom Norris (from Episode 10: Ways to teach… Electricity). Moving away from “types of energy” to energy as the currency of force interactions that lets things happen does seem more sensible, but it is quite a change in thinking. W. Brian Lane, a professor from the USA mulls over his response to a student from the UK explaining energy with the new model before Thomas announces that there is a new t-shirt design and the vacuum cannon will soon be back in stock.
Join in!
Please share ideas or successes – or indeed questions by messaging us on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/physicstp.bsky.social . You can also message us via our website contact form on every page of the web site at the.physicsteachingpodcast.com, or email using the address given in the podcast (if we remember). We are moving away from X but can be found there as @physicstp.
Music
- Season 7: Physics Is Our Business by Miracles of Modern Science.
- Seasons 5 and 6: Crescents by Ketsa.
- Seasons 3 and 4: Disco Sheik by Podington Bear.
- Seasons 1 and 2: One legged equilibrist polka by Circus Homunculus.
- Occasionally we also use Cantina Rag by Jackson F. Smith.
The music is used under the Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License
Vacuum Cannon Tips
After sending out a few cannons, I decided to send out a “Tips” sheet in the cannon packaging to help people get started. I’m reproducing it here for those who didn’t get it:
Vacuum Cannon Tips
- The pipe suppliers are used to providing for large scale filtration systems. They care not about little nicks and scratches on the pipes. I sand off the more obvious burrs (so the pipe might look a bit battered) but they will have no effect on the performance of your cannon.
- Please don’t underestimate how loud it is close up; it makes your ears ring for some time afterwards if you fire it with no protection. The shooter DEFINITELY needs ear defence of some sort because they won’t have their hands free to cover their ears.
- Flanges (pictured) do make it easier to prepare and fire. There are many ways to obtain some. You can use cardboard, old mini-whiteboards, 3D printing… Thomas found that his tech department were very happy to be involved, knocked out laser cut flanges within a day and enjoyed the test firing process!
- The tapered holes for the valve make a very good seal, but if in doubt PTFE plumbing tape will make the seal even better. Thomas has not needed it apart from the early prototype.
Firing
Please warn your colleagues! You don’t want an evacuation because of a suspected shooter on the premises. This has happened. “Duds” are possible, but can be mostly avoided with the following approach:
- Don’t forget to roll the ping-pong ball all the way down the tube. This is easier before you add the tape because of the ball’s tight fit.
- It is worth taking care with the taping of each end. The rear just needs to be secure. The front needs to be secure but not too secure! Take care on the front, cut a square piece of tape and carefully fit it to the front of the tube. Try to fold back and stick as little as possible. You want the least folding and sticking that will support the vacuum. Trial and error will help you work out the optimum. We believe the tape blows off, so you want that to happen before the ball arrives.
(If you have flanges, this step is much easier, just cut a square and make sure it is securely pressed all round the circle of the tube and gently stuck to the flange.) - Let the pump run for a while. You know very quickly if you have a bad seal because you will hear cracks from the tape and then the frustrating hiss of air being sucked in. If it is working nicely it gets to a pretty good vacuum very quickly but if you wait 10 seconds or so it continues to increase.
- Pierce the rear tape. Scissors are fine. It fails catastrophically and very very loudly. It is worth checking there is no tape hiding in the tube before loading the next ball.
- Please share your experiences on twitter @physicstp or Facebook.
16. The Vacuum Cannon!
Thomas, Robin and Patrick Kaplo discuss the amazing vacuum cannon and how it can be used to make physics thrilling. The cannon is now available in the shop. Buy it and you’ll be supporting the podcast while you have a BLAST!
It is half term next week in the UK so it will be two weeks until episode 17.Timestamps
- Mars rover named for Rosalind Franklin @ 00:47
- Introducing the Vacuum Cannon @ 1:20
- Robin and Thomas test the cannon @ 4:43
- A joyful enterprise @ 11:40
- Safety considerations @ 13:14
- Tips and tricks for firing it @ 14:46
- Ways to calculate speed @ 17:06
- Selling the cannon @ 23:52
Summary
Patrick Kaplo joins the team to talk about the brilliant Vacuum Cannon. This is a recognised piece of equipment, although Thomas and Robin had not heard of it. Thomas built one and tested it with spectacular results. All schools should have one! The cannon is actually covered in detail by CLEAPSS and they give full instructions (with links to where to buy parts) on how to make one (CLEAPSS login needed).
Thomas was so keen to spread the joy, he decided to sell the cannon in our shop and you can pick one up for £20 (including P&P but you need to enter the code BOOM at checkout). You can also support the podcast by purchasing a small upgrade that includes a £5 donation.
Patrick Kaplo rocks the tptp look. Ways to teach… Distance, Speed and Acceleration
Episode 20 (assuming we make it) will be all about ways to teach distance, speed and acceleration (or displacement, velocity and acceleration). How do you do it and what works best for you?
Join in!
Please share ideas or successes – or indeed questions by messaging us on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/physicstp.bsky.social . You can also message us via our website contact form on every page of the web site at the.physicsteachingpodcast.com, or email using the address given in the podcast (if we remember). We are moving away from X but can be found there as @physicstp.
Music
- Season 7: Physics Is Our Business by Miracles of Modern Science.
- Seasons 5 and 6: Crescents by Ketsa.
- Seasons 3 and 4: Disco Sheik by Podington Bear.
- Seasons 1 and 2: One legged equilibrist polka by Circus Homunculus.
- Occasionally we also use Cantina Rag by Jackson F. Smith.
The music is used under the Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License
Making a Vacuum Cannon
The Tube
The tube does not need to be super strong (the tape will fail long before the tube), but it does need to be close in diameter to a table-tennis ball (40mm). The right tube is known as Imperial 1½ inch PVC, common in the USA but not so much in the UK. I collected it from Koi Logic for £5.05 a metre since delivery is quite expensive and it is not too far away. CLEAPSS suggest the plastic pipe shop where it is about the same cost but you get a longer length (so more expensive and a lot of waste).
1m of tube is fine, it is easy to transport and store. You can get tremendous speeds from a 1m tube. CLEAPSS recommend that you do not go longer than 1.5m. I chose 1m because above that, the delivery charges get silly.
The valve and its Hole
You need a way to connect the vacuum pump to the tube. Patrick Kaplo sent me a link to the hose elbow he used in the USA and CLEAPSS suggests a metal schrader valve that you just self tap (force in to the PVC) and glue in to the pipe. Their instructions here are a bit vague on the size of drill bit you need. A very unscientific poll of physics teacher friends suggested that they all had rubber hoses on their vacuum pumps so the elbow is much more sensible.
Being a bit of a perfectionist I thought that tapping it in to a tapered thread would allow for cheaper components, a better seal and for replacing components if needed. I found some cheap nylon fittings at Wreking Pneumatics, all they needed was a correctly threaded hole.
For pneumatics I learned you really should used tapered thread (BSPT) holes to get a good seal with no need for tape, glue or sealant. Tracy tools are helpful on the phone and sell reasonably priced tap, dies and drills. I wasn’t sure what would work best so bought a plug tap and the correct size drill (8.4mm for the ⅛” plug tap) for both ¼” and ⅛” tapered thread holes. The prototype has ¼” BSPT but I learned that the schrader valves suggested by CLEAPSS and potential vacuum gauges all use ⅛” BSPT so the ¼” tap I bought was redundant. (I actually bought another but it took so long to come in the post via amazon I gave up on it; Tracy Tools delivered within 24 hours of ordering.) Tapping PVC is a doddle compared to steel.
The Tape
Tape too thin The tape was the cheapest “three inch” (78mm wide) tape I could find on eBay, just bought in bulk. The prototype used “two inch” and worked, but barely covered the width of the tube (see photo).
The Balls
The balls are practise balls from eBay, bought in bulk. “Real” balls are much stiffer and about twice the mass. I bought 300. Softer balls expand a little in the tube I think, so possibly get more push, and being lighter can accelerate faster? This is worth investigating perhaps?
No Flanges ?
Flanges make a great stand for the cannon and provide a good surface for the tape to adhere too. The best I could find was £8 a flange, but that would almost double the cost of the cannon. Robin and I tested the cannon with no flanges with very good results. My tech department whipped two up for free with no problem and you can make basic ones out of cardboard or 3D print them. There are many options. Our tube’s diameter was 48mm (Officially 48.26mm according to the Standard). This is a good opportunity for the school to personalise their cannon!
Adding a Pressure Gauge
I found pressure gauges on eBay for £7 including postage. They come with a ⅛” BSPT (taper) male and screw straight in to another ⅛” tapped hole. Just search for:
1/8″ BSPT pressure gauge.If you make one, do let us know how you get on:
Selling a Vacuum Cannon
We are selling Vacuum Cannons in the shop. I am setting it up with some trepidation: if nobody buys one I will be several tens of pounds out of pocket. If everyone buys one I will be unable to make them fast enough to keep up with demand. Of course, the most likely thing is somewhere in-between. Being part-time I can respond quite fast, and I can limit the number I have to make and dispatch by setting the stock levels in our shop software. And through the piss-poor planning you have come to expect, we are releasing them a day before I go away for a week over half-term. Oops.
The pay-off is that more people will get to
playdemonstrate with this fantastictoypiece of equipment. I had never heard of it, nor had Robin, but CLEAPSS are all over it so it must be pretty well known. When I tested the prototype in the kitchen I didn’t really think through the consequences of a ball travelling at several hundred miles an hour vs my kitchen wall. There was ball debris everywhere; I found one shard 5m away on a high window sill two weeks later.I have set up stock of 2 in the shop but with unlimited back orders. Once I know what the demand is (or indeed if there is any!) I will start making and shipping them in batches. I intend to keep doing them at £20 until I lose the will to go through all the guff of making, packing and dispatching them. Then I will either give up or raise the price. So buy now to avoid disappointment.
Anyone with access to a vacuum pump can of course make their own. If that is your plan, you could use the CLEAPSS guidance I mentioned above. I also made my own “How To” notes which includes links to where I purchased things.
If you make one, please let us know how it goes.