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Dec 2001

Volume 39, Issue 9, pp. 516-562

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Equations and conceptual physics

Paul G. Hewitt

The Physics Teacher -- December 2001 -- Volume 39, Issue 9, pp. 516 | Cited 2 times

Online Publication Date: May 2002

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01.40.G- Curricula and evaluation

What's wrong with this course?

Paul J. Camp

The Physics Teacher -- December 2001 -- Volume 39, Issue 9, pp. 516

Online Publication Date: May 2002

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

More on teaching intro astronomy—science as a way of knowing

Mike Seeds

The Physics Teacher -- December 2001 -- Volume 39, Issue 9, pp. 517 | Cited 2 times

Online Publication Date: May 2002

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01.40.G- Curricula and evaluation

Early 19th-Century measurements

Elroy O. LaCasce

The Physics Teacher -- December 2001 -- Volume 39, Issue 9, pp. 518

Online Publication Date: May 2002

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01.30.mp Textbooks for undergraduates
01.40.E- Science in school
01.65.+g History of science
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What and how to teach?

Karl C. Mamola

The Physics Teacher -- December 2001 -- Volume 39, Issue 9, pp. 520 | Cited 1 time

Online Publication Date: May 2002

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At first I was a bit skeptical about devoting two whole pages to the opinion pieces by Pasachoff and Caton in our September issue. But judging from the number of thoughtful and spirited responses we’ve received, it was space well used.
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01.40.G- Curricula and evaluation
01.40.Di Course design and evaluation
01.40.E- Science in school
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Aiming a 730-km long neutrino beam

J. Frank, M. Serifovic, J. Stewart, and C. H. Holbrow

The Physics Teacher -- December 2001 -- Volume 39, Issue 9, pp. 523

Online Publication Date: May 2002

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A plan to send a neutrino beam through the Earth provides an interesting context in which to present the problem of calculating the displacement vector between two geographic locations.
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01.52.+r National and international laboratory facilities
14.60.Lm Ordinary neutrinos

Inverted images and noninverted shadows

Bill Layton

The Physics Teacher -- December 2001 -- Volume 39, Issue 9, pp. 530

Online Publication Date: May 2002

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The shadow of an object placed very near our eye will appear inverted due to the way the eye-brain system corrects the inverted real images formed on our retina. However, very nearsighted individuals may not experience this effect.
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01.50.My Demonstration experiments and apparatus
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Kinetic energy of a soda can

Paul Hewitt

The Physics Teacher -- December 2001 -- Volume 39, Issue 9, pp. 533

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01.50.My Demonstration experiments and apparatus
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Installing studio physics

T. E. Furtak and T. R. Ohno

The Physics Teacher -- December 2001 -- Volume 39, Issue 9, pp. 534 | Cited 1 time

Online Publication Date: May 2002

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We describe how we implemented studio teaching at the Colorado School of Mines. This includes our solution to the problem of how to develop computer-assisted learning units and how to manage independent learning groups.
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01.40.Di Course design and evaluation
01.40.G- Curricula and evaluation
01.50.ht Instructional computer use

Obtaining the length and width of a rotating box with a motion detector

Tom Lough and David Gibson

The Physics Teacher -- December 2001 -- Volume 39, Issue 9, pp. 540

Online Publication Date: May 2002

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A motion detector is faced toward a rectangular box on a rotating horizontal turntable at an arbitrary distance. The form of the resulting data is anticipated and compared with actual results. The question of determining the length and width of the box solely from the motion detector output is addressed.
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01.50.My Demonstration experiments and apparatus
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Wave propagation

Robert P. Bauman

The Physics Teacher -- December 2001 -- Volume 39, Issue 9, pp. 545 | Cited 1 time

Online Publication Date: May 2002

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Before relativity and quantum theory, a classical model of wave propagation was developed by Huygens, Fresnel, Maxwell, and Kirchhoff that provides insight into why propagation is linear and why the refractive index is usually, but not always, greater than 1. The model also explains other phase shifts that can be experimentally verified.
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42.25.Bs Wave propagation, transmission and absorption
42.65.Re Ultrafast processes; optical pulse generation and pulse compression
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Feeling the Coriolis force

Fred T. Pregger

The Physics Teacher -- December 2001 -- Volume 39, Issue 9, pp. 552

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01.50.My Demonstration experiments and apparatus
01.55.+b General physics

Kundt's tube and an air track blower

Robert P. Barrett

The Physics Teacher -- December 2001 -- Volume 39, Issue 9, pp. 552

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01.50.My Demonstration experiments and apparatus
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Broken record

Boris Korsunsky

The Physics Teacher -- December 2001 -- Volume 39, Issue 9, pp. 553

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01.50.My Demonstration experiments and apparatus
01.55.+b General physics

U will be shaken

Boris Korsunsky

The Physics Teacher -- December 2001 -- Volume 39, Issue 9, pp. 553

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01.55.+b General physics

The block schedule

Boris Korsunsky

The Physics Teacher -- December 2001 -- Volume 39, Issue 9, pp. 553

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Abstract Unavailable
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01.55.+b General physics
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Choosing between teaching helioseismology and phases of the moon

Philip M. Sadler

The Physics Teacher -- December 2001 -- Volume 39, Issue 9, pp. 554 | Cited 3 times

Online Publication Date: May 2002

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In my opinion, the last two decades of cognitive research can help to resolve the debate between Pasachoff and Caton in The Physics Teacher over what and how to teach physics.
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01.40.G- Curricula and evaluation
01.40.Fk Research in physics education
95.90.+v Historical astronomy and archaeoastronomy; and other topics in fundamental astronomy and astrophysics; instrumentation, techniques, and astronomical observations
96.60.Ly Helioseismology, pulsations, and shock waves
96.20.Br Origin and evolution
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Small inexpensive diamagnetic levitation apparatus

Charles A. Sawicki

The Physics Teacher -- December 2001 -- Volume 39, Issue 9, pp. 556 | Cited 5 times

Online Publication Date: May 2002

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A small, inexpensive (5 x 5 x 9 cm and $17) diamagnetic levitation apparatus is described in which a cubic NdFeB magnet 0.476 cm on a side is suspended in a potential energy well created using small ceramic disk magnets and two graphite plates.
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01.50.My Demonstration experiments and apparatus
01.50.Pa Laboratory experiments and apparatus
75.20.-g Diamagnetism, paramagnetism, and superparamagnetism
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The Physics Teacher

Andrew Graham

The Physics Teacher -- December 2001 -- Volume 39, Issue 9, pp. 559

Online Publication Date: May 2002

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Abstract Unavailable
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01.50.My Demonstration experiments and apparatus
01.50.Pa Laboratory experiments and apparatus
89.70.-a Information and communication theory

Science, Optics and You

Andrew Graham

The Physics Teacher -- December 2001 -- Volume 39, Issue 9, pp. 559

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Abstract Unavailable
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01.50.My Demonstration experiments and apparatus
01.50.Pa Laboratory experiments and apparatus
89.70.-a Information and communication theory

Bizarre stuff

Andrew Graham

The Physics Teacher -- December 2001 -- Volume 39, Issue 9, pp. 559

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Abstract Unavailable
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01.50.My Demonstration experiments and apparatus
01.50.Pa Laboratory experiments and apparatus
89.70.-a Information and communication theory
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Obtaining equipment and resources for teaching physics

Patricia Blanton

The Physics Teacher -- December 2001 -- Volume 39, Issue 9, pp. 560

Online Publication Date: May 2002

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The author offers suggestions for beginning teachers of physics who may be feeling a bit frustrated and disillusioned.
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01.78.+p Science and government (funding, politics, etc.)
01.50.-i Educational aids
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Mysterious siphon

Martin Gardner

The Physics Teacher -- December 2001 -- Volume 39, Issue 9, pp. 561 | Cited 1 time

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Here is a physics trick that involves a glass tube and a container of water. The tube acts as a siphon.
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01.50.My Demonstration experiments and apparatus
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The Charm of Strange Quarks: Mysteries and Revolutions in Particle Physics, R. Michael Barnett, Henry Mühry, and Helen R. Quinn

Robert Beck Clark, Reviewer

The Physics Teacher -- December 2001 -- Volume 39, Issue 9, pp. 562

Online Publication Date: May 2002

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01.30.Vv Book reviews
14.65.-q Quarks
95.30.Cq Elementary particle processes
98.80.Cq Particle-theory and field-theory models of the early Universe (including cosmic pancakes, cosmic strings, chaotic phenomena, inflationary universe, etc.)
26.35.+c Big Bang nucleosynthesis
98.70.Vc Background radiations
12.10.Dm Unified theories and models of strong and electroweak interactions
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