Analysis of Strobe Photographs Using a Desk-Top Computer

Two experiments are described in which a desk-top computer has been used in the introductory physics laboratory as an aid in the analysis of strobe photographs. Applications to the collision of two pucks on an air table and to the motion of a ball on a stretched rubber band are presented to illustrate that the desk-top computer can eliminate many of the mechanical aspects of data handling required in strobe photograph analysis, allowing the student to concentrate on the physical significance of the problem. The effectiveness of the desk-top computer in large laboratory classes and in classroom demonstrations is discussed