IN
PHYSICS
WITH
DR. FRANK
OPPENHEIMER
Episode 1: Simple Magnifier Location
Episode 7: Wave and Group Velocity
Episode 8: Variable Spacing Capacitance
Episode 10: Force Between Two Wires
Episode 11: Electric Field Mapping
Episode 12: Force Between Charged Plates
Episode 14: Induced EMF in a Solenoid
Episode 20: Forced Harmonic Motion
Episode 22: Inelastic Collisions
Episode 23: Angular Acceleration
Episode 25: The Ratio of Specific Heats of Gasses
Episode 26: Acceleration Measured by an Accelerometer
Episode 28: Impedance Capacitors Inductors
Episode 30: Resonant Air Columns
Episode 33: Composition of Perpendicular Vibrations
Episode 34: Michelson Interferometer
Frank Oppenheimer demonstrating Snell's Law
The "Library of Experiments" at the University of Colorado, Boulder
In this series, Frank Oppenheimer demonstrates many of the "Library of Experiments" he and others set up at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Frank wanted students to wander in to this always-open lab room and be able to "play" with the equipment before they formally used it in a lab class. Unlike most student physics labs, the Library was open from 8:30AM to 9:00PM most days. In this way, the students could become familiar and comfortable with both the equipment and the phenomena they would explore in their formal physics lab experiments.
In many ways, this "Library of Experiments" planted the seeds for a new kind of "informal" education, which ultimately led to the creation the Exploratorium in San Francisco in 1969. Frank Oppenheimer was its founding director until his death in 1985.
To accompany the Library of experiments, this series of videos were shot to document many of the "Laboratory of Experiments" experiences.
These videos were produced by University of Colorado Television. These videos do not cover all of the Library of Experiments, only the ones the University of Colorado have generously restored, and only the ones featuring Frank Oppenheimer. The videos have been trimmed to remove the 16mm film sprockets and sound track from the video.