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Apr 2005

Volume 43, Issue 4, pp. 196-256

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Mini-Bungee Cords

Thomas B. Greenslade, Jr.

The Physics Teacher -- April 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 4, pp. 196

Online Publication Date: Mar 2005

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01.50.Pa Laboratory experiments and apparatus

More on Damped Oscillators

Daniel Hoyt

The Physics Teacher -- April 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 4, pp. 196 | Cited 1 time

Online Publication Date: Mar 2005

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01.50.Pa Laboratory experiments and apparatus

Author's Response

M. I. Molina

The Physics Teacher -- April 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 4, pp. 197

Online Publication Date: Mar 2005

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01.50.Pa Laboratory experiments and apparatus

Learning from Our Students

John F. Goehl, Jr.

The Physics Teacher -- April 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 4, pp. 197

Online Publication Date: Mar 2005

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01.40.Di Course design and evaluation
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Stereotypes

Karl C. Mamola

The Physics Teacher -- April 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 4, pp. 198

Online Publication Date: Mar 2005

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01.75.+m Science and society
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2005 Distinguished Service Citations Awarded to: Patricia Allen, George Amann, David Maloney, and Robert H. Romer

Charles H. Holbrow, Awards Committee Chair

The Physics Teacher -- April 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 4, pp. 200

Online Publication Date: Mar 2005

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01.10.Hx Physics organizational activities

2005 Distinguished Service Citations Awarded to: Patricia Allen, George Amann, David Maloney, and Robert H. Romer

Charles H. Holbrow, Awards Committee Chair

The Physics Teacher -- April 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 4, pp. 200

Online Publication Date: Mar 2005

Full Text: Read Online (HTML) | Download PDF

Abstract Unavailable
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01.10.Hx Physics organizational activities

2005 Distinguished Service Citations Awarded to: Patricia Allen, George Amann, David Maloney, and Robert H. Romer

Charles H. Holbrow, Awards Committee Chair

The Physics Teacher -- April 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 4, pp. 201

Online Publication Date: Mar 2005

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Abstract Unavailable
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01.10.Hx Physics organizational activities

2005 Distinguished Service Citations Awarded to: Patricia Allen, George Amann, David Maloney, and Robert H. Romer

Charles H. Holbrow, Awards Committee Chair

The Physics Teacher -- April 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 4, pp. 201

Online Publication Date: Mar 2005

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01.10.Hx Physics organizational activities
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General Relativity

Paul Hewitt

The Physics Teacher -- April 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 4, pp. 202

Online Publication Date: Mar 2005

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01.40.-d Education
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Measuring Distances with Walkie-Talkies

Marcelo M. F. Saba and Rafael Antônio da S. Rosa

The Physics Teacher -- April 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 4, pp. 204 | Cited 1 time

Online Publication Date: Mar 2005

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This paper describes how big distances in open areas can be calculated using the speed of sound and a pair of walkie-talkies. This low-cost experiment challenges the students to solve a very common problem and at the same time uses some basic concepts like the speed of sound and of electromagnetic waves. The idea was partly inspired during an outdoor activity with a group of students. The class was divided into two groups, each one working at opposite sides of a lake. We could see each other and communicate using walkie-talkies. Suddenly, a student asked: “How far away do you think they are?” After some guesses and suggesting ideas to find the answer, we realized that we could use walkie-talkies to solve the problem.
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01.50.Pa Laboratory experiments and apparatus
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Einstein in Western Maryland

Francis M. Tam

The Physics Teacher -- April 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 4, pp. 206

Online Publication Date: Mar 2005

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Albert Einstein vacationed for two weeks in September 1946 at Deep Creek Lake in western Maryland. It was a well-kept secret. This paper describes his ordinary and yet so extraordinary visit, its historical context, his daily routine, and some interesting stories that reveal his simplicity, humanity, and unique sense of humor.
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01.60.+q Biographies, tributes, personal notes, and obituaries

An Affordable Wireless Microcolor Cam

Jeffrey M. Wetherhold

The Physics Teacher -- April 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 4, pp. 210

Online Publication Date: Mar 2005

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Readily available low-cost wireless microcolor cam systems are now small enough to mount in or on small toys and they are durable enough to withstand typical radio-controlled airplane crashes. These cams are an invaluable tool for the physics classroom in that they allow students to visually place themselves in the “shoes” of the bodies physics teachers describe and use everyday in the physics classroom.
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01.50.My Demonstration experiments and apparatus
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Organize Your Own Road Show for WYP 2005 and Beyond

Stanley Micklavzina

The Physics Teacher -- April 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 4, pp. 212 | Cited 1 time

Online Publication Date: Mar 2005

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We know from our summer meetings how entertaining and educational a demonstration show can be. During this World Year of Physics, we need to encourage and support educators in taking physics out of the classroom and into the public arena. Performing a public physics demonstration show is a great way to gather the public's attention, but putting together a show from scratch can be overwhelming and very time consuming. In hopes of getting more shows to the public, I have developed and scripted a show with a theme for 2005 to be used as a template to inspire others to organize their own shows.
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01.50.My Demonstration experiments and apparatus
01.10.Hx Physics organizational activities

The Frozen Lake: A Physical Model Using Calculator-Based Laboratory Technology

Isabella Soletta and Mario Branca

The Physics Teacher -- April 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 4, pp. 214 | Cited 1 time

Online Publication Date: Mar 2005

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We have created laboratory conditions similar to those present in a lake when the external temperature falls below 0°C. Glaciation in lakes is described in school textbooks and classroom demonstrations.1,2 It is pointed out how the anomalous behavior of water, which reaches maximum density at about 4°C,3 makes life possible on Earth. The proposed model thus describes a physical system that, apart from being of interest in itself, is relevant to the study of biological mechanisms.
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01.50.Pa Laboratory experiments and apparatus
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The Speed of Sound in Air: An At-Home Experiment

Wilton Pereira da Silva, Jürgen W. Precker, Diogo D. P. S. e Silva, and Cleiton D. P. S. e Silva

The Physics Teacher -- April 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 4, pp. 219 | Cited 3 times

Online Publication Date: Mar 2005

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This paper describes a simple experiment that students can do at home to determine the speed of sound in air. A set of audio files with selected frequencies is first created and stored on the student's computer. Resonances are obtained in a straight pipe partially inserted into a bucket of water. The length of the air-filled part of the pipe is changed by raising and lowering the pipe. Resonances are detected by ear. We present some typical results obtained by students at home. All are in good agreement with the expected value.
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01.50.My Demonstration experiments and apparatus

Understanding Plutonium Production in Nuclear Reactors

B.Cameron Reed

The Physics Teacher -- April 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 4, pp. 222 | Cited 2 times

Online Publication Date: Mar 2005

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The amount of plutonium produced annually in a nuclear reactor can be estimated based on some simplifying assumptions and knowledge of the relevant reaction cross sections. For a typical commercial nuclear plant, one finds a production rate of about 200 kg∕yr, a figure entirely in line with published estimates.
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28.41.Ak Theory, design, and computerized simulation
28.50.Hw Power and production reactors
27.90.+b A ≥ 220

The Baker Street Irregulars Meet Archimedes

Thomas J. Ritter, Jr.

The Physics Teacher -- April 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 4, pp. 226

Online Publication Date: Mar 2005

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This paper describes a lab experiment on buoyancy. A plastic garbage bag is filled with helium and fitted loosely into an empty 55-gallon drum. A cardboard piston (Fig. 1) is used to square off the free end of the bag, forming an easily measured right circular cylinder. The gas is at ambient pressure since it is not compressed as it would be in a constricting balloon. Students generally find that the measured lifting force agrees with the theoretical value to within 5%.
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01.50.Pa Laboratory experiments and apparatus
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Hands-on Experiments on Faraday's Law

Eduardo E. Rodríguez

The Physics Teacher -- April 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 4, pp. 228

Online Publication Date: Mar 2005

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This paper describes a physics laboratory activity aimed to illustrate Faraday's law in a hands-on fashion. By winding two coils of copper wire on a pen, students can construct a transformer in a short time. The induced emf in the secondary coil is observed as a function of the primary current for different waveforms. I describe how the device is constructed and show the experimental results obtained with the device.
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01.50.Pa Laboratory experiments and apparatus

The Potentiometer

Thomas B. Greenslade, Jr.

The Physics Teacher -- April 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 4, pp. 232 | Cited 1 time

Online Publication Date: Mar 2005

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The word potentiometer originally meant a device for measuring electric potential differences. Later, it also was applied to a tapped resistance used as a voltage divider. Although the measuring instrument is no longer used in undergraduate labs, it is the only truly perfect voltmeter, drawing no current and thus appearing to have an infinite impedance. There is some good physics and history connected to it, and so it is an appropriate subject for a historical tutorial.
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84.37.+q Measurements in electric variables (including voltage, current, resistance, capacitance, inductance, impedance, and admittance, etc.)

Tautochrone as a Harmonic Oscillator

Mikolaj “Mik” Sawicki

The Physics Teacher -- April 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 4, pp. 236

Online Publication Date: Mar 2005

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A tautochrone is a curve down where a bead will slide to the bottom under the influence of gravity in the same amount of time regardless of where you initially place it. Huygens was first to prove that such a curve is an arc of an inverted cycloid.1
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45.50.Jf Few- and many-body systems

Water in a Coiled Hose

Peter Lemaire and Charles Waiveris

The Physics Teacher -- April 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 4, pp. 239 | Cited 1 time

Online Publication Date: Mar 2005

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Sometimes things just don't work the way that you think they should. The problem “Coming up Empty,” described in Bet You Can't! Science Impossibilities to Fool You by Vicki Cobb and Kathy Darling is a perfect example.1 In this problem, when water is poured into the top open end of a coiled garden hose, common sense tells us that it should eventually come out of the other end. However, in this case the water will overflow from the top instead of coming out of the other end!
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01.50.My Demonstration experiments and apparatus
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Computerized Physical Pendulum for Classroom Demonstrations

Yaakov Kraftmakher

The Physics Teacher -- April 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 4, pp. 244 | Cited 4 times

Online Publication Date: Mar 2005

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An inexpensive driven physical pendulum is described for classroom demonstrations, which clearly shows free and forced oscillations, as well as the transient process leading to the steady-state regime of forced oscillations. An advantage of this pendulum is that it is possible to control the decay constant by the use of magnetic braking. A data-acquisition system1 collects the data and displays the oscillations on a computer screen.
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01.50.My Demonstration experiments and apparatus
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Using an Expandable Toy in Discussing Rotational Motion

Blane Baker

The Physics Teacher -- April 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 4, pp. 247 | Cited 1 time

Online Publication Date: Mar 2005

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01.50.My Demonstration experiments and apparatus
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More Rolling Magnets

Michael Gore

The Physics Teacher -- April 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 4, pp. 248 | Cited 3 times

Online Publication Date: Mar 2005

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01.50.My Demonstration experiments and apparatus
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The Bicycle Fender Spectrometer

Roy H. Biser

The Physics Teacher -- April 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 4, pp. 249

Online Publication Date: Mar 2005

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01.50.Pa Laboratory experiments and apparatus
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back to top A WORLDWIDE PROBLEM-SOLVING CONTEST
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The Power of Two (A1)

Boris Korsunsky

The Physics Teacher -- April 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 4, pp. 250

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01.40.-d Education
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Don't Ask, Don't Tell (A2)

Boris Korsunsky

The Physics Teacher -- April 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 4, pp. 250

Online Publication Date: Apr 2005

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01.40.-d Education
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Out of the Loop (A3)

Boris Korsunsky

The Physics Teacher -- April 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 4, pp. 250

Online Publication Date: Apr 2005

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01.40.-d Education
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Ring, Ring, Ring…(A4)

Boris Korsunsky

The Physics Teacher -- April 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 4, pp. 250

Online Publication Date: Apr 2005

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Abstract Unavailable
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01.40.-d Education
FREE

WYP Physics Challenges Contest

Boris Korsunsky

The Physics Teacher -- April 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 4, pp. 250

Online Publication Date: Mar 2005

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01.40.-d Education
01.10.Hx Physics organizational activities
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Minimize Your Mistakes by Learning from Those of Others

Carl Wieman

The Physics Teacher -- April 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 4, pp. 252

Online Publication Date: Mar 2005

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01.40.J- Teacher training
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Web Resources for Teaching Introductory Optics: The Mechanical Universe

Dan MacIsaac

The Physics Teacher -- April 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 4, pp. 254

Online Publication Date: Mar 2005

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01.50.F- Audio and visual aids

Web Resources for Teaching Introductory Optics: Optics simulations

Dan MacIsaac

The Physics Teacher -- April 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 4, pp. 254

Online Publication Date: Mar 2005

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Abstract Unavailable
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01.50.F- Audio and visual aids

Web Resources for Teaching Introductory Optics: A more sophisticated geometric optics applet

Dan MacIsaac

The Physics Teacher -- April 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 4, pp. 254

Online Publication Date: Mar 2005

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01.50.F- Audio and visual aids

Web Resources for Teaching Introductory Optics: Some wave optics simulations

Dan MacIsaac

The Physics Teacher -- April 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 4, pp. 254

Online Publication Date: Mar 2005

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01.50.F- Audio and visual aids

Web Resources for Teaching Introductory Optics: Young's double-slit experiment

Dan MacIsaac

The Physics Teacher -- April 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 4, pp. 254

Online Publication Date: Mar 2005

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01.50.F- Audio and visual aids

Web Resources for Teaching Introductory Optics: K-12 and middle-school-appropriate optics sites

Dan MacIsaac

The Physics Teacher -- April 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 4, pp. 254

Online Publication Date: Mar 2005

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01.50.F- Audio and visual aids

Web Resources for Teaching Introductory Optics: An artist's site exploring optics

Dan MacIsaac

The Physics Teacher -- April 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 4, pp. 254

Online Publication Date: Mar 2005

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Abstract Unavailable
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01.50.F- Audio and visual aids

Web Resources for Teaching Introductory Optics: Atmospheric optical phenomena

Dan MacIsaac

The Physics Teacher -- April 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 4, pp. 254

Online Publication Date: Mar 2005

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01.50.F- Audio and visual aids

Graphs and Tracks: A 1-D motion teaching applet and discussion recently spotted on Modeling-L:

Dan MacIsaac

The Physics Teacher -- April 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 4, pp. 254

Online Publication Date: Mar 2005

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01.50.F- Audio and visual aids
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Degrees Kelvin: A Tale of Genius, Invention, and Tragedy: David Lindley

John L. Roeder

The Physics Teacher -- April 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 4, pp. 255

Online Publication Date: Mar 2005

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01.30.Vv Book reviews

Almost Heaven: Bettyann Holtzmann Kevles

Frank Lock

The Physics Teacher -- April 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 4, pp. 256

Online Publication Date: Mar 2005

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01.30.Vv Book reviews

MicroReviews by the Book Review Editor

John L. Hubisz

The Physics Teacher -- April 2005 -- Volume 43, Issue 4, pp. 256

Online Publication Date: Mar 2005

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01.30.Vv Book reviews
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