Investigating power, work and effective values in an AC resistive circuit through a microcomputer-based laboratory

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 not previously been feasible. In this article we describe some examples of experiments designed for high-school students with the help of the MBL Explorer. We mainly analyse power, work and effective (RMS) values in an AC resistive circuit.