Kepler’s Second Law

Photo shows the demonstration used at the U.T. Austin Physics Dept.

Concepts Conveyed:

Safety Procedures:

This demo contains Sulfur powder. Under no circumstances should the instructor or demo worker operate this demo without gloves. Lab coats can also be worn.
The MSDS is with the demo at all times.
DO NOT touch your skin or clothing when wearing gloves.

Faculty Instructions:

Verify that the demo is plugged in and that the power strip is on.
Release the pendulum such that an elliptical orbit is made.
Stop the pendulum and rest the chain on the tripod stand.
Use the time markers to measure the sections of the orbit that are equal in time.

Photos show the demonstration used at the U.T. Austin Physics Dept.

Demo Staff:

Wear proper PPE before handling the demo.
Place the black board in between the tripod stand.
Pour small amount of sulfur powder from the small glass container labelled "used" onto the black board. Use about as much sulfur shown in the figure on the left below.
Use the brush and spread the powder thinly onto the board. The board should look like the figure shown on the right below.
Plug one end of the cable into the black board and the other end into the tripod stand. When delivering, plug in the power source.

Disposal Procedures:

Once the demo is returned, pour the remaining sulfur powder into the glass container labelled for sulfur powder disposal as best as you can (pictured below).
Wash the remaining remnants off of the black board in the sink with soap and water.
Wash the table that the demo was used on with soap and water.
Wash the brush with soap and water.
Dry the table and black board and store in the designated demo container.
Put all cleaning materials that came into contact with the sulfur in a ziplock bag and attached a waste tag with "Trace contamination of sulfur" on it (percentage should say "trace" as well). Dispose of the ziplock bag in the black bucket designated for solid waste.

Last updated on October 14, 2024