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Sep 1999

Volume 37, Issue 6, pp. 324-384

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Speckle noise or dust diffraction?

Pietro Ferraro

The Physics Teacher -- September 1999 -- Volume 37, Issue 6, pp. 324

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01.40.Di Course design and evaluation
42.25.Fx Diffraction and scattering
41.20.Jb Electromagnetic wave propagation; radiowave propagation

Revitalizing physics teaching?

D. C. McCollum

The Physics Teacher -- September 1999 -- Volume 37, Issue 6, pp. 324

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01.40.G- Curricula and evaluation

Measuring illumination

Thomas D. Rossing

The Physics Teacher -- September 1999 -- Volume 37, Issue 6, pp. 324

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01.40.Di Course design and evaluation
01.40.G- Curricula and evaluation

In principle

Deva D. Sharma

The Physics Teacher -- September 1999 -- Volume 37, Issue 6, pp. 325

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01.40.Di Course design and evaluation

A unique meteorology course

Michael C. LoPresto

The Physics Teacher -- September 1999 -- Volume 37, Issue 6, pp. 325

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01.40.Di Course design and evaluation

Clarifying confusion

John Clement

The Physics Teacher -- September 1999 -- Volume 37, Issue 6, pp. 326

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01.40.Di Course design and evaluation
01.40.G- Curricula and evaluation

Comments from Woolf

Lawrence D. Woolf

The Physics Teacher -- September 1999 -- Volume 37, Issue 6, pp. 326

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01.40.Di Course design and evaluation
01.40.G- Curricula and evaluation

More on bullets and blocks

Charlie Swanson

The Physics Teacher -- September 1999 -- Volume 37, Issue 6, pp. 327

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01.40.Di Course design and evaluation

Easy to do

Se-yuen Mak

The Physics Teacher -- September 1999 -- Volume 37, Issue 6, pp. 327

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01.40.Di Course design and evaluation

Let’s make a deal—#1

Robert A. Cohen

The Physics Teacher -- September 1999 -- Volume 37, Issue 6, pp. 328

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01.40.Di Course design and evaluation

Let’s make a deal—#2

Daniel J. Sukle

The Physics Teacher -- September 1999 -- Volume 37, Issue 6, pp. 328

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01.50.My Demonstration experiments and apparatus

Let’s make a deal—#3

Jacob Futterman

The Physics Teacher -- September 1999 -- Volume 37, Issue 6, pp. 328

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01.50.My Demonstration experiments and apparatus
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Demise of a shibboleth

Clifford E. Swartz

The Physics Teacher -- September 1999 -- Volume 37, Issue 6, pp. 330

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I was startled the other day to receive a manuscript describing a new teaching method that is being carried out in a “constructivist atmosphere.” It suddenly occurred to me that I had not heard anything about constructivism for a long time. I always had trouble with that word. When it was becoming popular, I couldn’t figure out what the methodology was or why it was unique.
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01.40.G- Curricula and evaluation
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Rayleigh-Taylor instability–fascinating gateway to the study of fluid dynamics

Robert F. Benjamin

The Physics Teacher -- September 1999 -- Volume 37, Issue 6, pp. 332 | Cited 1 time

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A series of low-cost simple, “kitchen-physics” experiments demonstrates Rayleigh-Taylor Instability (RTI), the growth of ripples at an interface between fluids when the higher-density fluid is on top. We also describe the importance of RTI in ocean dynamics and commercial products.
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01.40.Di Course design and evaluation
01.50.My Demonstration experiments and apparatus
47.20.-k Flow instabilities
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Another surprise in mechanics: Styrofoam™ and toys

Ed van den Berg, Nestor Bonifacio, Renante Embalzado, and Mike Ravelo

The Physics Teacher -- September 1999 -- Volume 37, Issue 6, pp. 338

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Here is a follow-up on an experiment described in this magazine in which bullets were shot into wooden blocks from below. We wondered if the experiment would work with toy guns, plastic arrows, and blocks cut from Styrofoam.
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01.40.Di Course design and evaluation
01.50.My Demonstration experiments and apparatus

A lesson in curve fitting

Scott Calvin

The Physics Teacher -- September 1999 -- Volume 37, Issue 6, pp. 340 | Cited 1 time

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An exercise is presented in which temperature data for New York City is fit to a sinusoidal model and then extrapolated to later times. This exercise requires students to demonstrate understanding of how physical constraints enter into curve fitting.
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01.40.Di Course design and evaluation
01.50.My Demonstration experiments and apparatus

The retrograde motion of Mars

Herman Erlichson

The Physics Teacher -- September 1999 -- Volume 37, Issue 6, pp. 342

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This paper describes the opening laboratory activity in our liberal-arts physics course entitled “Galileo to Newton and Beyond.” The students first draw the orbits of Mars and Earth as seen in a heliocentric reference frame and then examine their drawing from a geocentric reference frame. It is in this frame that they observe the retrograde motion of Mars.
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01.40.Di Course design and evaluation
01.50.My Demonstration experiments and apparatus

Detecting the polarity of an electric charge

Xiang Yong Chen and Xing Wang

The Physics Teacher -- September 1999 -- Volume 37, Issue 6, pp. 344

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In experiments on electrostatics, we often obtain charge by friction or induction. How do we determine the polarity? Is the static electric charge positive or negative? We can solve the questions with a small neon tube.
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01.40.Di Course design and evaluation
01.50.My Demonstration experiments and apparatus

Hands-on magnetic field measurements with a GMR sensor

Joseph Priest

The Physics Teacher -- September 1999 -- Volume 37, Issue 6, pp. 345

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Magnetic field sensors based on giant magnetoresistance (GMR) are becoming increasingly useful in laboratory exercises for students taking a beginning course in electromagnetism. We describe three simply conceived, hands-on exercises involving magnetic field measurements that require only a GMR sensor, a 5-V power supply, and a voltmeter having millivolt accuracy.
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01.50.My Demonstration experiments and apparatus
07.55.Ge Magnetometers for magnetic field measurements

Measuring the diameter of your blind spot

Jeff Sanny

The Physics Teacher -- September 1999 -- Volume 37, Issue 6, pp. 348

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A simple experiment to determine the diameter of the blind spot is described. Students are divided into groups of three and work together to perform the experiment. The procedure takes about 15 minutes and seems to be quite enjoyable to the class.
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01.50.Pa Laboratory experiments and apparatus
42.66.Ct Anatomy and optics of eye
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Sound science—A simple and robust hands-on loudspeaker activity

Molly Johnson and Virginia Stonick

The Physics Teacher -- September 1999 -- Volume 37, Issue 6, pp. 350

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This article describes a simple and very robust loudspeaker, comprising nothing more than a cream-cheese tub with lid, a screw, a magnet, wire, and tape. When plugged into a boom-box speaker output, it generates “high-fidelity” sound and much student enthusiasm.
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01.50.My Demonstration experiments and apparatus
01.50.Pa Laboratory experiments and apparatus
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Can a west wind impede a cyclist’s northward motion?

Gilbert H. Ward

The Physics Teacher -- September 1999 -- Volume 37, Issue 6, pp. 352

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This paper explains why a wind at right angles to a cyclist’s motion does impede the motion. The situation is compared with that of a boat, where no constraining force is available to counter a sideward current.
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01.40.G- Curricula and evaluation

Vectoring backwards

Frederick H. C. Schultz

The Physics Teacher -- September 1999 -- Volume 37, Issue 6, pp. 353

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From the 50 years I taught college physics, I have the memory of one perfect demonstration. It was unplanned, unrepeatable, and 100% successful. It will never be forgotten by me and probably not by any of the fellows who were in the class.
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01.40.G- Curricula and evaluation

Simple kinematics and traffic flow

C. H. Wörner, S. Romero, and A. Romero

The Physics Teacher -- September 1999 -- Volume 37, Issue 6, pp. 354

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This note, prompted by recent papers, addresses the relationship between car speed and the safe distance between cars in a linear flow of traffic.
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01.40.G- Curricula and evaluation

Cooperative learning: An inside story

Kathleen M. Andre

The Physics Teacher -- September 1999 -- Volume 37, Issue 6, pp. 356 | Cited 1 time

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Cooperative learning is one innovative technique used in an engineering physics course at Ohio State. Student opinions on the cooperative element were solicited near the end of the course. These comments provide useful insight into why students believe cooperative learning is helpful in learning physics.
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01.40.G- Curricula and evaluation
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Wind car

John C. Salzsieder

The Physics Teacher -- September 1999 -- Volume 37, Issue 6, pp. 359

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A pinewood “derby” car like those used by the Boy Scouts is modified to demonstrate the addition of the force vectors that are important in sailing.
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01.50.My Demonstration experiments and apparatus
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The five-legged table

Philippe M. Binder, Paola Sinisterra, and Felipe Esguerra

The Physics Teacher -- September 1999 -- Volume 37, Issue 6, pp. 360

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A small model of a table with five easy-to-cut legs can stimulate discussions about statics and stability.
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01.50.My Demonstration experiments and apparatus
01.50.Pa Laboratory experiments and apparatus
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Tension on a clothesline

Paul Hewitt

The Physics Teacher -- September 1999 -- Volume 37, Issue 6, pp. 361

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01.50.My Demonstration experiments and apparatus
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Folded-path doppler and the measurement of blood flow

H. Richard Crane

The Physics Teacher -- September 1999 -- Volume 37, Issue 6, pp. 362 | Cited 2 times

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Everyone who has listened to a train go by while blowing its whistle has heard the Doppler frequency shift. The practical problem is finding the velocity of something moving at some distance that neither transmits nor receives.
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01.50.Pa Laboratory experiments and apparatus
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More Fermi questions

Karen Bouffard

The Physics Teacher -- September 1999 -- Volume 37, Issue 6, pp. 364 | Cited 1 time

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“Fermi” questions are a popular component of most Physics Olympics meets. Asking students to make a reasonable assumption about a problem and give answers in terms of order of magnitude is not only a great challenge for a competition, but is also a valued teaching strategy in the classroom.
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01.50.Kw Techniques of testing
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Doing physics blind

Augden F. Windelborn

The Physics Teacher -- September 1999 -- Volume 37, Issue 6, pp. 366

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Originally intended as aids to a visually impaired student, these laboratory ideas are also a learning tool for sighted students and valuable experiences for those seeking to become physics teachers.
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01.50.-i Educational aids

Reminder about Hooke’s Law and metal springs

Peter Froehle

The Physics Teacher -- September 1999 -- Volume 37, Issue 6, pp. 368

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When finding the spring constant for metal springs, it is not enough to measure the relationship between the stretch of the spring and the force (weight) applied to the spring.
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01.50.Pa Laboratory experiments and apparatus

A pedagogical note on the relativistic velocity addition formula

William E. Dibble, Grant W. Hart, and Harold T. Stokes

The Physics Teacher -- September 1999 -- Volume 37, Issue 6, pp. 369 | Cited 1 time

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The velocity addition formula for special relativity in one dimension (along the direction of relative motion of the two coordinate systems) is easier to apply if written using the same subscript notation usually used with classical relative velocity vectors.
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01.40.G- Curricula and evaluation
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Galileo on the World Systems—A New Abridged Translation and Guide, by Maurice A. Finocchiaro

Donald H. Kobe, Reviewer

The Physics Teacher -- September 1999 -- Volume 37, Issue 6, pp. 370

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Abstract Unavailable
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01.30.Vv Book reviews

Enrico Fermi and the Revolutions of Modern Physics, by Dan Cooper

John L. Hubisz, Reviewer

The Physics Teacher -- September 1999 -- Volume 37, Issue 6, pp. 370

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01.30.Vv Book reviews
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Raw eggs—moving target

Doug Forrest

The Physics Teacher -- September 1999 -- Volume 37, Issue 6, pp. 371

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High school physics students often have difficulty with understanding when and where to use an appropriate calculation to solve a problem. In this activity students have to solve a real problem using formulas they have seen before, but in a context with which they are unfamiliar; namely dropping a raw egg on a moving target—their instructor.
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01.40.G- Curricula and evaluation

Beats on a vibrating string

James H. Larson

The Physics Teacher -- September 1999 -- Volume 37, Issue 6, pp. 373

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I showed Derrick Boucher’s acoustic demonstration of beats and interference to a colleague, and as we were talking I mentioned that the function generator could be hooked to mechanical wave drivers to obtain nice standing waves. Then it’s possible to verify that law of vibrating strings. However, we kept coming back to the concept of beats. Could we “see” beats on strings?
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01.40.G- Curricula and evaluation
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News clippings for introductory astronomy

Matthew Bobrowsky

The Physics Teacher -- September 1999 -- Volume 37, Issue 6, pp. 374 | Cited 1 time

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Most students entering our introductory astronomy course for nonscience majors arrive not merely lacking scientific facts—they also have misconceptions about the nature of science, and many have a handicapping “science anxiety” (in addition to math anxiety). So I have added a “current science” requirement to our introductory course. Each student must compile a file of five astronomy news articles taken from readily available sources.
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01.40.G- Curricula and evaluation
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Looking for scaling laws, or physics with nuts and shells

H. David Sheets and James C. Lauffenburger

The Physics Teacher -- September 1999 -- Volume 37, Issue 6, pp. 376 | Cited 1 time

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Scaling laws relating the volume of a class of objects to a characteristic dimension of the object appear commonly in physics, chemistry, and biology. In this laboratory exercise for an introductory physics course scaling laws are derived for machine nuts and clam shells. In addition to covering a standard problem in physics, determining volume of the object by measuring the buoyant force on it, the biologically interesting idea of scaling laws are incorporated into the same lab.
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01.50.My Demonstration experiments and apparatus
01.50.Pa Laboratory experiments and apparatus
01.40.G- Curricula and evaluation

Power requirements for rollerblading and bicycling

Chris Waltham and Brian Copeland

The Physics Teacher -- September 1999 -- Volume 37, Issue 6, pp. 379 | Cited 2 times

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This article describes a simple analysis of two common modes of human-powered locomotion—rollerblading and bicycling. Straightforward measurement techniques are used to understand the types of opposing force encountered. Practical and pedagogical implications are examined.
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01.50.My Demonstration experiments and apparatus
01.50.Pa Laboratory experiments and apparatus
01.40.G- Curricula and evaluation
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Match penetration

Martin Gardner

The Physics Teacher -- September 1999 -- Volume 37, Issue 6, pp. 382

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This physics trick uses a match and a safety pin to create a similar illusion to that created by an owl rotating its head.
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01.50.My Demonstration experiments and apparatus
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Showing forces in the terrestrial magnetic field

Stanislaw Bednarek

The Physics Teacher -- September 1999 -- Volume 37, Issue 6, pp. 383

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Two demonstrations showing emf induced in the Earth’s magnetic field are described. A long wire is shaken or twirled and the current induced can be detected by a milliammeter.
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01.50.Pa Laboratory experiments and apparatus
01.50.My Demonstration experiments and apparatus
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