Re: 2-Dimensional Air Table

[Stan Dodds <dodds@RICE.EDU>]

I would respectfully disagree with Ray's statement. We bought a large
air-hockey table from Brunswick, the main manufacturer, for use in
lecture demo. It does work as long as the collisions are fairly rapid,
but some faculty won't use it because it is not really flat. Sliders
wander and curve at low speeds, and quantitative analyses
fail. Depending on your needs, therefore, an air-hockey table may or
may not be adequate.

In the student labs we have used Ealing air tables for over 25 years
with good success. They are very flat, easily leveled and quite
robust. Ealing is no longer in the education business, but there is an
apparently similar product in the current Cenco catalog, item 33570N.

If you do decide to do air tables, think carefully about data
acquisition. We use polaroid film, which is cumbersome and
expensive. Video analysis should be much better, if the resolution is
good enough for quantitative results, and if you have the money.

Good luck.

Stan


> Quite frankly if you can find an old air-hockey table, maybe by
> advertising in a local paper, they will work just as well.
>
> Ray Rogoway