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American Journal of Physics

The Physics Teacher»
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
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EDITORIAL
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FIGURING PHYSICS
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APPARATUS FOR TEACHING PHYSICS
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PHYSICS CHALLENGE FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS
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Volume 43

Issue 9 | Dec 2005 | pp. 566-624

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Dec 2005

Volume 43, Issue 9, pp. 566-624

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

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The Evolution of Intelligence

Art Hobson

The Physics Teacher -- December 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 9, pp. 566

Online Publication Date: Nov 2005

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Abstract Unavailable

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01.70.+w	Philosophy of science
01.40.J-	Teacher training

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Figuring Inertia and Acceleration

Bruce Gregory

The Physics Teacher -- December 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 9, pp. 566

Online Publication Date: Nov 2005

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01.40.J-	Teacher training
01.55.+b	General physics
45.20.D-	Newtonian mechanics

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Hewitt's Response

Paul Hewitt

The Physics Teacher -- December 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 9, pp. 566

Online Publication Date: Nov 2005

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Abstract Unavailable

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01.40.J-	Teacher training
45.20.D-	Newtonian mechanics
01.55.+b	General physics

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Kinematics and Graphs

Dileep V. Sathe

The Physics Teacher -- December 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 9, pp. 566

Online Publication Date: Nov 2005

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Abstract Unavailable

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01.55.+b	General physics
01.40.J-	Teacher training
01.40.G-	Curricula and evaluation

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Speed of Sound in Air

Don Easton

The Physics Teacher -- December 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 9, pp. 567 | Cited 2 times

Online Publication Date: Nov 2005

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Abstract Unavailable

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01.55.+b	General physics
01.40.J-	Teacher training
01.40.G-	Curricula and evaluation
43.58.Dj	Sound velocity

CORRECTIONS

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Correction: Paul Gluck, “Moving Sources: Doppler Beats and Mach Cones,” Phys. Teach. 43, 371 (Sept. 2005)

The Physics Teacher -- December 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 9, pp. 567

Online Publication Date: Nov 2005

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Abstract Unavailable

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01.40.J-	Teacher training
01.50.My	Demonstration experiments and apparatus
01.55.+b	General physics
99.10.Cd	Errata

EDITORIAL

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The City of Lights and Flowers

Karl C. Mamola

The Physics Teacher -- December 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 9, pp. 568

Online Publication Date: Nov 2005

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Abstract Unavailable

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01.10.Fv	Conferences, lectures, and institutes
01.10.Hx	Physics organizational activities

AAPT AWARDS

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Excellence in Undergraduate Physics Teaching Award for 2005

Jim Nelson, Past-President AAPT

The Physics Teacher -- December 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 9, pp. 569

Online Publication Date: Nov 2005

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Abstract Unavailable

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01.10.Cr	Announcements, news, and awards
01.40.-d	Education

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Excellence in Pre-College Physics Teaching Award for 2005

Jim Nelson, Past-President AAPT Awards

The Physics Teacher -- December 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 9, pp. 570

Online Publication Date: Nov 2005

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Abstract Unavailable

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01.10.Cr	Announcements, news, and awards
01.60.+q	Biographies, tributes, personal notes, and obituaries

FIGURING PHYSICS

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UP THE INCLINE

Paul Hewitt

The Physics Teacher -- December 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 9, pp. 572

Online Publication Date: Nov 2005

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Abstract Unavailable

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01.40.Fk	Research in physics education
01.40.J-	Teacher training
01.55.+b	General physics

PAPERS

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Photographing Auroras

Harry Manos

The Physics Teacher -- December 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 9, pp. 573 | Cited 1 time

Online Publication Date: Nov 2005

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A propos of the January 2006 AAPT Winter Meeting in Anchorage, AK, this paper will provide techniques for photographing auroras using film and digital cameras, and information for either the beginning or amateur photographer who has never photographed an aurora and would like to get good pictures the first time out. It will also provide general pedagogical information about auroras. A variety of Internet sources is presented at the end of this paper.

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01.40.J-	Teacher training
01.50.F-	Audio and visual aids
92.60.hw	Airglow and aurorae
07.68.+m	Photography, photographic instruments; xerography

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A Low-Cost Sounding Balloon Experiment

Marcelo M. F. Saba, Luiz G. B. Mirisola, and Marcio Iguchi

The Physics Teacher -- December 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 9, pp. 578

Online Publication Date: Nov 2005

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Watching the meteorological balloons customarily launched from our city, we wondered how we could develop an experiment to allow our students to effectively gather data about the low atmosphere and at the same time ke6ep our limited financial budget. When you hear about atmospheric balloons, you usually think about balloons with large envelopes of nylon or mylar with payloads between 1 or 10 kg. They ascend to very high altitudes, have a data radio transmitter, and are not recoverable. This setup would be too expensive for us. In order to keep the cost low, the payload containing the data recorded had to be recovered, and therefore, the balloon must not go tens of kilometers away. We ruled out tethered balloons, which would not have recovery problems but can hardly go beyond 100 m high because of the weight of the tether and of lateral winds. Based on some estimates of ascension speed for small balloons and probable horizontal wind intensities, we decided that in order to easily recover the payload we had to limit its ascension to about 2 km high. At this altitude, the payload would have to be released from the balloon by means of a timer.

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01.50.Pa	Laboratory experiments and apparatus
93.85.-q	Instruments and techniques for geophysical research: Exploration geophysics
43.58.+z	Acoustical measurements and instrumentation

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Einstein in My Hometown

Karl Mamola

The Physics Teacher -- December 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 9, pp. 582

Online Publication Date: Nov 2005

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During the 22 years Albert Einstein lived and worked in the United States, he frequently took long summer vacations. Generally he chose quiet, out-of-the-way vacation spots, and because of his love of sailing, places close to bodies of water. Among other locations, he vacationed at Saranac Lake in upstate New York, the Rhode Island coast, and, during the summers of 1937–39, at Nassau Point on the North Fork of Long Island. Nassau Point is a part of the small town of Cutchogue¹ and is located on Peconic Bay, about 90 miles from New York City. It was an ideal spot for Einstein both because it was off the beaten path and because of the outstanding sailing conditions on Peconic Bay. Einstein rented a cabin just a stone's throw from the bay. I myself have a special interest in Cutchogue because it's the place where I was born and where I spent the first few years of my life. Unfortunately, I came along five or six years too late to have actually seen Einstein there, but he did have encounters with some of my older friends and relatives.

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01.60.+q	Biographies, tributes, personal notes, and obituaries
01.65.+g	History of science

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Teaching Physics with Physlet®-Based Ranking Task Exercises

Anne J. Cox, Mario Belloni, and Wolfgang Christian

The Physics Teacher -- December 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 9, pp. 587

Online Publication Date: Nov 2005

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In this paper, we describe how we use a pedagogical tool, Physlets®, in combination with a complementary pedagogical method, Ranking Task (RT) exercises, to enhance students' interactive engagement in introductory physics.

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01.40.Fk	Research in physics education
01.55.+b	General physics
01.50.ht	Instructional computer use

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Integrating Web-Based Teaching Tools into Large University Physics Courses

David Toback, Andreas Mershin, and Irina Novikova

The Physics Teacher -- December 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 9, pp. 594 | Cited 2 times

Online Publication Date: Nov 2005

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Teaching students in our large, introductory, calculus-based physics courses¹ to be good problem-solvers is a difficult task. Not only must students be taught to understand and use the physics concepts in a problem, they must become adept at turning the physical quantities into symbolic variables, translating the problem into equations, and “turning the crank” on the mathematics to find both a closed-form solution and a numerical answer. Physics education research has shown that students' poor math skills and instructors' lack of pen-and-paper homework grading resources, two problems we face at our institution, can have a significant impact on problem-solving skill development.^2–4 While Interactive Engagement methods appear to be the preferred mode of instruction,⁵ for practical reasons we have not been able to widely implement them. In this paper, we describe three Internet-based “teaching-while-quizzing” tools we have developed and how they have been integrated into our traditional lecture course in powerful but easy to incorporate ways.⁶ These are designed to remediate students' math deficiencies, automate homework grading, and guide study time toward problem solving. Our intent is for instructors who face similar obstacles to adopt these tools, which are available upon request.⁷

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01.40.G-	Curricula and evaluation
01.50.ht	Instructional computer use
01.40.Di	Course design and evaluation

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Early NYC High School Physics and Development of the Science Magnet School

Walter Hellman

The Physics Teacher -- December 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 9, pp. 598 | Cited 2 times

Online Publication Date: Nov 2005

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The Bronx High School of Science opened in 1938 and is often considered the premier science magnet school in the country. While Bronx High may be one of the most successful science magnet schools, it was not the first such school even in New York City. It owes its existence almost entirely to the development of the science magnet program in an earlier New York City school, Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan, and in particular to one of its early principals, physicist Dr. Ernest R. von Nardroff (1864–1938).

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01.40.E-	Science in school
01.60.+q	Biographies, tributes, personal notes, and obituaries

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The von Nardroff Color Mixing Apparatus

Thomas B. Greenslade, Jr.

The Physics Teacher -- December 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 9, pp. 602 | Cited 2 times

Online Publication Date: Nov 2005

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Ernest von Nardroff gave his name to the color mixing apparatus shown in Fig. 1. The basic idea behind this demonstration is to produce three beams of colored light that may be projected onto a white surface. If beams of red, blue, and green are overlapped to produce a figure like a three leaf clover or a Venn diagram, the region of complete overlap will appear white, and the three regions of overlap of two colors produce the three false primaries: yellow, magenta, and cyan. A straightforward technique is to use three slide projectors, each with a colored filter. Von Nardroff's apparatus, displayed at the educational exhibit of Erasmus Hall High School at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis in 1904, permits the use of only one projector.

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01.55.+b	General physics
01.65.+g	History of science

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Water Nozzles

Richard Humbert

The Physics Teacher -- December 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 9, pp. 604 | Cited 2 times

Online Publication Date: Nov 2005

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The following type of nozzle problem is found in some introductory-level physics textbooks.^1–3 The (average) flow speed of water through and out a hose with a cross-sectional area A_H is v_H. If a nozzle with an exit area A_N < A_H is attached to the hose, what is the speed v_N of the water out of it? The books simply apply the continuity equation A_Hv_H = A_Nv_N to the nozzle to obtain v_N = (A_H∕A_N)v_H. This solution is not correct because it does not take account of the fact that attaching the nozzle to the hose reduces the flow speed in it. So the books' values of v_N must always be too high, sometimes by large amounts. It should not seem surprising that it takes more time to fill a watering can with a garden hose when there is a nozzle at the end of it than when there isn't. This paper will explain how a water nozzle actually works, and for a situation with a simple water source, the correct flow speed from a nozzle will be derived.

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01.40.Fk	Research in physics education
01.55.+b	General physics
47.27.wg	Turbulent jets

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School Architecture and Physics Education

Mirjana Božić, Dejan Pantelić, Leposava Vušković, Slavica Nikolić, and Vigor Majić

The Physics Teacher -- December 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 9, pp. 608 | Cited 1 time

Online Publication Date: Nov 2005

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With the rise of consciousness about the importance of education, ideas and attempts to entangle architecture with education have appeared. The new engineering building at Utah State University was designed¹ to be a learning tool for the structural engineers who will study in it. “Education by Design” and the “Use of Metaphors for Teaching” are principles advocated by Bernal in designing² the building for the Design and Architecture High School in Washington, D.C.

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01.40.Fk	Research in physics education
01.50.My	Demonstration experiments and apparatus
01.75.+m	Science and society

APPARATUS FOR TEACHING PHYSICS

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PSSC Turbo Ring Flinger

Aaron McAlexander

The Physics Teacher -- December 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 9, pp. 613 | Cited 2 times

Online Publication Date: Nov 2005

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This is a description of an inexpensive version of the Thompson's jumping ring demonstration apparatus, which provides for a spectacular demonstration of Lenz's law. The device has the additional capability of being used to demonstrate the opposing nature of inductive and capacitive reactance.

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01.50.My	Demonstration experiments and apparatus
01.55.+b	General physics
41.20.Gz	Magnetostatics; magnetic shielding, magnetic induction, boundary-value problems
85.70.Rp	Magnetic levitation, propulsion and control devices

FROM OUR FILES

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A Double Wheel

Gerard Lietz, Tony Behof, and Robert Horton

The Physics Teacher -- December 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 9, pp. 616

Online Publication Date: Nov 2005

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Abstract Unavailable

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01.50.Pa	Laboratory experiments and apparatus
01.40.J-	Teacher training
01.55.+b	General physics

LITTLE GEMS

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Faraday's Law and the Constant Velocity Car

John E. Carlson

The Physics Teacher -- December 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 9, pp. 618

Online Publication Date: Nov 2005

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Abstract Unavailable

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01.50.My	Demonstration experiments and apparatus
01.40.G-	Curricula and evaluation
01.55.+b	General physics

PHYSICS CHALLENGE FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS

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The Slide Rule

Boris Korsunsky

The Physics Teacher -- December 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 9, pp. 619

Online Publication Date: Nov 2005

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Abstract Unavailable

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01.40.J-	Teacher training
01.55.+b	General physics
01.40.Fk	Research in physics education

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Challenge Solvers

Boris Korsunsky

The Physics Teacher -- December 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 9, pp. 619

Online Publication Date: Nov 2005

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Abstract Unavailable

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01.40.J-	Teacher training
01.40.Fk	Research in physics education
01.55.+b	General physics

FOR THE NEW TEACHER

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Marketing Science to Our Students

Kristin T. Rearden and Rosemary Calvert

The Physics Teacher -- December 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 9, pp. 620

Online Publication Date: Nov 2005

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Kristin T. Rearden is an assistant professor in science education at the University of Tennessee. Rosemary Calvert is a high school science teacher at Powell High School, Powell, TN.

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