Fringe benefits
A few weeks ago I bought 36 mini slinkies so that I could make a wave machine. Unfortunately it didn't work but today I had a new idea. I gave my students two mini slinkies and a wooden beam as a design experiment. Its a new twist on the rod and string experiment I've been doing for some years. There are many interesting variations both with movement and static. Good job I didn't throw them away, however it has to be said that the drawers in my desk are getting rather full of my eBay purchases.
I find it quite interesting that even though I think of many possible research questions some students still struggle to find one. It's probably that teaching physics for over 30 years has changed the way I think. For example I noticed that the two of the students whose photographs appeared on our intranet today (due to the fact that it was their birthday) had fringes of equal gradient.
Well almost.
I'm not sure if this is a very useful skill though.