How to create a physics experiment
A good physics experiment follows a method: question, hypothesis, variables, protocol, measurements, analysis, conclusion. Here is how to design one — and how FizziQ helps at every step.
1. Start from a question
Every experiment answers a question: does the period of a pendulum depend on its length? How does sound level decrease with distance? A good question is measurable and can be answered in one session.
2. Formulate a hypothesis
Ask students to predict the outcome before measuring. The hypothesis gives the experiment a direction and makes the conclusion meaningful, whether it confirms or refutes the prediction.
3. Identify the variables
What do you change (independent variable)? What do you measure (dependent variable)? What must stay constant? This step decides the structure of the protocol.
4. Write the experimental protocol
Numbered steps, one instruction per step, feasible with the available equipment. In the FizziQ experiment creator, the protocol is written directly in the experiment and travels with it.
5. Choose the measurement instruments
FizziQ turns smartphones and tablets into more than 50 instruments: sound level meter, accelerometer, lux meter, frequency meter, video motion analysis... The experiment can even pre-select the right instrument when students open it.
6. Collect and analyse the data
Measurements are recorded in the experiment notebook: tables, formulas, XY graphs, statistics and curve comparison. Students confront the results with their hypothesis.
7. Conclude — and share
The conclusion answers the initial question and discusses uncertainties. With FizziQ, the whole experiment is shared with the class by QR code: students scan it and everything opens on their device, with no account and no Internet.