Faculties & Departments

Department of Experimental Physics

Schools Information

The Experimental Physics Department organises a series of laboratory sessions for Leaving Certificate 6th Year Physics students in the Lab students. These sessions are part of an initiative begun in 2000 to promote Physics among second-level students and to assist schools that may have difficulty providing for certain experiments on the Leaving Certificate syllabus. From 10.00-12.00 (morning session) or 2.00-4.00 (afternoon session), students can undertake a variety of experiments from the Leaving Certificate syllabus. Demonstrators will be on hand to explain the experiments and to assist students in analysing their results. Teachers can obtain a copy of our comprehensive laboratory manual by contacting us by email if they would like to do any preparatory work in the weeks leading up to the visit (manuals will be provided on the day for students). A list of the experiments and demonstrations that were used last year follows, but further suggestions are also welcome. If you would like the opportunity to bring a class to NUI, Maynooth, please email, phone or write indicating

the number of students in the class (max 36).
dates for which you are available in January, listing any dates that are definitely unsuitable. (bookings accepted from late September-October on)

and we will do our best to facilitate you.

Our experience has been that students gain a lot from their time in the laboratory and have found it a most enjoyable experience. If you would like any further information please do not hesitate to contact Mr. Ian McAuley or the Experimental Physics Department.

Experiments and Demonstrations

The programme includes experiments from the Leaving Certificate syllabus, and demonstration experiments.

Manual Cover 07

Experiments

Linear Air Track / Force and Acceleration
Speed of Sound
g by Free-fall
Vibrating String - Melde's Experiment
Fundamental frequency with tenson
Wavelength of monochromatic light
Verification of Joule's Law
Variation of resistance with temperature
Current and voltage variation of conductor, filament, copper sulphate and semiconductor diode.

Demonstrations

Measurement of Half-life of short-lived radioactive source

We would also like to know if you would like us to include any specific demonstration or experiment in our programme that would prove useful for your students.