'Exploring' the response of an LC circuit to the stimuli of external electromagnetic energy pulses through MBL

Microcomputer-based laboratory (MBL) tools have been developed which interface with a great variety of computers. Students use these tools to collect physical data in real time which can later be manipulated and analysed. This new investigative method together with a high standard of precision enables students to investigate many principles of physics that have heretofore not been feasible. In this paper, we describe some examples of experiments designed for college students in an introductory physics course, in which energy pulses were transferred to an LC circuit. We mainly show the response of the circuit to low -frequency external energy pulses and the influence of the distance between the source and the absorbing LC circuit on the energy absorbed by the circuit in its resonant state. The data obtained were analysed by taking advantage of the wide range of facilities a the Explorer MBL.