(National Experimental Teaching Demonstration Center, School of Physics and Astronomy,
Shanghai JiaoTong University, Shanghai 200240, China)
Abstract: In the experiment of “Measuring the specific latent heat of vaporization of liquid nitrogen” in the Physics Experiment II for engineering students, there are several issues, such as the simplicity of the curriculum content, low utilization rate of class hours, insufficient cultivation of students′ innovative thinking, and excessive explanation of data processing software. To address these problems, we introduce extended content such as LabVIEW programming, the differential method for measuring the specific latent heat of vaporization of liquid nitrogen, and the mixing method for measuring the heat released by a copper column in groups. A questionnaire survey is conducted among 149 engineering students regarding their experimental experiences. The results show that the mixing method for measuring the heat released by a copper column is appropriately challenging and rich in physical concepts. It not only ensures the satisfaction of experimental teaching but also enhances the hierarchy of the experimental content, which helps students to gain a deeper understanding of the experiment and significantly improves their experimental performance.
Key words: liquid nitrogen’s specific latent heat of vaporization; extended content; teaching effectiveness