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American Journal of Physics

The Physics Teacher»
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SECTION LISTING

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
MEET YOUR NEW PRESIDENT
GUEST EDITORIAL
FIGURING PHYSICS
PAPERS
APPARATUS FOR TEACHING PHYSICS
TRICK OF THE TRADE
LITTLE GEMS
PHYSICS CHALLENGE FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS
FOR THE NEW TEACHER
WEBSIGHTS
BOOK REVIEWS

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Issue 9 | Dec 2007 | pp. 532-579

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Feb 2007

Volume 45, Issue 2, pp. 68-126

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

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Modeling and Measurement

Frank Lock

The Physics Teacher -- February 2007 -- Volume 45, Issue 2, pp. 68

Online Publication Date: Jan 2007

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Abstract Unavailable

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01.40.gb	Teaching methods and strategies
01.40.E-	Science in school

MEET YOUR NEW PRESIDENT

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Harvey S. Leff: Teacher, Scholar, Leader, Drummer!

John W. “Phingerz” Jewett, Jr. and A. John “Slo” Mallinckrodt

The Physics Teacher -- February 2007 -- Volume 45, Issue 2, pp. 70

Online Publication Date: Jan 2007

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Abstract Unavailable

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01.60.+q	Biographies, tributes, personal notes, and obituaries
01.10.Hx	Physics organizational activities

GUEST EDITORIAL

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Thermodynamics Is Easy — I've Learned It Many Times

Harvey S. Leff

The Physics Teacher -- February 2007 -- Volume 45, Issue 2, pp. 71

Online Publication Date: Jan 2007

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Abstract Unavailable

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01.40.Fk	Research in physics education
01.40.J-	Teacher training

FIGURING PHYSICS

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GROWING BEANSTALK

Paul Hewitt

The Physics Teacher -- February 2007 -- Volume 45, Issue 2, pp. 74

Online Publication Date: Jan 2007

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Abstract Unavailable

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01.50.Kw	Techniques of testing
01.50.fh	Posters, cartoons, art, etc.
01.55.+b	General physics

PAPERS

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Thank You for Flying the Vomit Comet

Robert Dempsey, Gregory A. DiLisi, Lori A. DiLisi, and Gretchen Santo

The Physics Teacher -- February 2007 -- Volume 45, Issue 2, pp. 75 | Cited 1 time

Online Publication Date: Jan 2007

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This paper describes our flight aboard NASA's C9 “Weightless Wonder,” an aircraft that creates multiple periods of microgravity by conducting a series of parabolic maneuvers over the Gulf of Mexico. Because passengers often develop motion sickness during these parabolic maneuvers, the C9 is more affectionately known as the “Vomit Comet.” To celebrate the 2005 World Year of Physics, AAPT, APS, and NASA co-sponsored a contest in which teams of high school students and their mentors could fly an experiment aboard the Vomit Comet. If selected, students would develop their experiment and travel to Houston to serve as “ground crew” while the mentors would actually fly aboard the C9 to perform the experiment.

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01.10.-m	Announcements, news, and organizational activities
01.55.+b	General physics
47.00.00	Fluid dynamics

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Providing Support to Inner-city Students and Teachers Through the Physics Van Inservice Institute

Mel S. Sabella

The Physics Teacher -- February 2007 -- Volume 45, Issue 2, pp. 80

Online Publication Date: Jan 2007

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There are many programs for the professional development of high school physics teachers that have proven to be effective in preparing these teachers to conduct inquiry-based activities in the classroom. In this paper, we describe a small-scale professional development program called the Physics Van Inservice Institute. During the program, teachers are engaged in inquiry-based physics modules and are then able to borrow the equipment so that they can conduct the activities in their own classes.

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01.40.ek	Secondary school
01.40.gb	Teaching methods and strategies
01.40.jh	Inservice training
01.50.Pa	Laboratory experiments and apparatus

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Playground Physics: Determining the Moment of Inertia of a Merry-Go-Round

Stephen Van Hook, Adam Lark, Jeff Hodges, Eric Celebrezze, and Lindsey Channels

The Physics Teacher -- February 2007 -- Volume 45, Issue 2, pp. 85 | Cited 1 time

Online Publication Date: Jan 2007

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A playground can provide a valuable physics education laboratory. For example, Taylor et al.¹ describe bringing teachers in a workshop to a playground to examine the physics of a seesaw and slide, and briefly suggest experiments involving a merry-go-round. In this paper, we describe an experiment performed by students from a Society of Physics Students organization and their faculty advisor on a merry-go-round at a local park. The goal of the activity was for everyone to gain a greater understanding of the concepts of angular velocity, centripetal acceleration, moment of inertia, and conservation of angular momentum through their own personal experience—and to have fun, too.

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01.50.Wg	Physics of toys
45.20.dc	Rotational dynamics
45.20.df	Momentum conservation

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Energy and Change

Eugene Hecht

The Physics Teacher -- February 2007 -- Volume 45, Issue 2, pp. 88 | Cited 7 times

Online Publication Date: Jan 2007

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When Feynman wrote, “It is important to realize that in physics today, we have no knowledge of what energy is,”¹ he was recognizing that although we have expressions for various forms of energy from kinetic to elastic, we seem to have no idea of what the all-encompassing notion of “energy” is: This paper addresses that issue offering a definition of energy in terms of the more accessible concept of “change.” The various forms of energy (mv², mgh, kx², qV, mcΔT, Iω², CV², etc.) are abstractions not directly observable. We see a cannonball rise in the air; we do not see potential energy (PE). We see physical change, not energy.

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01.55.+b	General physics
01.70.+w	Philosophy of science

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Applications of Sound Spectrum Analysis

Timothy Moran

The Physics Teacher -- February 2007 -- Volume 45, Issue 2, pp. 93 | Cited 1 time

Online Publication Date: Jan 2007

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The physics of sound is often studied in introductory physics class experiments involving a tube of resonating air. In typical setups, pistons control the length of a cylindrical space or a microphone is moved within a tube.¹ While these activities are useful and can be made very quantitative, they don't directly demonstrate the sounds that are most familiar to students, such as human voices and musical instruments. Fortunately, several sound spectrum analysis programs are available that can bridge this gap.²

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01.50.ht	Instructional computer use
01.50.Pa	Laboratory experiments and apparatus
43.60.+d	Acoustic signal processing

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Teaching Quantum Physics Without Paradoxes

Art Hobson

The Physics Teacher -- February 2007 -- Volume 45, Issue 2, pp. 96 | Cited 8 times

Online Publication Date: Jan 2007

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Although the resolution to the wave-particle paradox has been known for 80 years,^1,2 it is seldom presented. Briefly, the resolution is that material particles and photons are the quanta of extended spatially continuous but energetically quantized fields. But because the resolution resides in quantum field theory and is not usually spelled out in ordinary language, it is neither generally understood nor generally taught, especially not in the context of nonrelativistic quantum physics. The purpose of this paper is to provide that resolution and to suggest that we teach introductory quantum physics from this viewpoint.

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01.70.+w	Philosophy of science
03.65.-w	Quantum mechanics
11.00.00	General theory of fields and particles

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Effective Mass of an Oscillating Spring

Eduardo E. Rodríguez and Gabriel A. Gesnouin

The Physics Teacher -- February 2007 -- Volume 45, Issue 2, pp. 100 | Cited 5 times

Online Publication Date: Jan 2007

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We present an experimental method to obtain the effective mass of an unloaded oscillating spring. We measure the period T(n) of the partial springs that result when hanging n of the total N coils of a given spring. Data are correlated with the expectation of a simple model for T(n) that takes into account the effective mass of the hanging spring. We analyze results for metal and plastic springs of different masses and strengths, and conclude that the method provides the effective mass with a good degree of reliability.

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01.55.+b	General physics
01.50.Pa	Laboratory experiments and apparatus
46.40.-f	Vibrations and mechanical waves

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Using Gravitational Analogies to Introduce Elementary Electrical Field Theory Concepts

Susan Saeli and Dan MacIsaac

The Physics Teacher -- February 2007 -- Volume 45, Issue 2, pp. 104 | Cited 2 times

Online Publication Date: Jan 2007

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Since electrical field concepts are usually unfamiliar, abstract, and difficult to visualize, conceptual analogies from familiar gravitational phenomena are valuable for teaching. Such analogies emphasize the underlying continuity of field concepts in physics and support the spiral development of student understanding. We find the following four tables to be helpful in reviewing gravitational and electrical comparisons after students have worked through hands-on activities analyzed via extended student discourse.¹

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01.40.gb	Teaching methods and strategies
01.55.+b	General physics
41.90.+e	Other topics in electromagnetism; electron and ion optics (restricted to new topics in section 41)

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An Oscillating System with Sliding Friction

Martin Kamela

The Physics Teacher -- February 2007 -- Volume 45, Issue 2, pp. 110 | Cited 1 time

Online Publication Date: Jan 2007

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Both harmonic oscillations and friction are the types of concepts in freshman physics that are readily applicable to the “real world” and as such, most students find these ideas interesting. Damped oscillations are usually presented with resistance proportional to velocity, which has the advantage of a relatively straightforward mathematical solution. This type of resistance occurs for very slow moving bodies in fluid, although a more common resistive force in fluid is proportional to velocity squared.¹ Thus, mechanical oscillations with damping proportional to velocity may be more useful in the freshman course as an analogy for the future study of LRC circuits.² Whereas an oscillator with damping proportional to velocity has an exponential decay in amplitude, a system with sliding friction results in amplitude that decays in a linear manner.³ In this paper I present a demonstration of an oscillator with sliding friction that exhibits very good agreement with a linear fall off in amplitude. The demonstration also confirms that sliding friction is proportional to the magnitude of the normal force.

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01.50.My	Demonstration experiments and apparatus
01.50.Lc	Laboratory computer use
01.50.Pa	Laboratory experiments and apparatus
01.55.+b	General physics

APPARATUS FOR TEACHING PHYSICS

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A Communicating-Vessel Viscosimeter

Federico M. Ortega, Osvaldo D. Pavioni, and Hugo L. Domínguez

The Physics Teacher -- February 2007 -- Volume 45, Issue 2, pp. 116 | Cited 1 time

Online Publication Date: Jan 2007

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There exist many methods of determining the viscosity coefficient (η) of a liquid. The most common one in introductory laboratories uses the Stokes viscosimeter. It allows students to obtain a value of η from a measurement of the terminal speed of a sphere falling in a vertically liquid-filled cylinder. This method gives good results when the fluid has a high viscosity (glycerine, oil, etc.). However, for lower-viscosity fluids such as water, the experiment is harder to do using simple instruments, and the results are less precise due to the high terminal speed of the falling spheres. A number of experiments have been described for determining the viscosity of liquids from their rate of flow through a tube.^1,2 In this paper we describe a method in which the low-viscosity liquid is allowed to flow through a horizontal capillary tube. The flow speed is low enough to be measured with good precision using a manual stopwatch.

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01.50.My	Demonstration experiments and apparatus
47.15.-x	Laminar flows
47.27.nf	Flows in pipes and nozzles

TRICK OF THE TRADE

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Where Is the Reflection?

Peter Mansell

The Physics Teacher -- February 2007 -- Volume 45, Issue 2, pp. 119

Online Publication Date: Jan 2007

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Abstract Unavailable

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01.50.F-	Audio and visual aids
01.50.My	Demonstration experiments and apparatus

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Hopefully NOT Everyday Physics!

Diane Riendeau

The Physics Teacher -- February 2007 -- Volume 45, Issue 2, pp. 119

Online Publication Date: Jan 2007

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Abstract Unavailable

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01.50.-i	Educational aids
01.55.+b	General physics

LITTLE GEMS

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The Ping-Pong Ball Color Mixer Revisited

Chris Chiaverina

The Physics Teacher -- February 2007 -- Volume 45, Issue 2, pp. 120 | Cited 1 time

Online Publication Date: Jan 2007

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Abstract Unavailable

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01.50.F-	Audio and visual aids
01.55.+b	General physics

PHYSICS CHALLENGE FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS

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Cash or Charge?

Boris Korsunsky

The Physics Teacher -- February 2007 -- Volume 45, Issue 2, pp. 121

Online Publication Date: Jan 2007

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Abstract Unavailable

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01.50.Rt	Physics tournaments and contests
01.40.J-	Teacher training

FOR THE NEW TEACHER

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Assessment Strategies to Guide Instruction

Patricia Blanton

The Physics Teacher -- February 2007 -- Volume 45, Issue 2, pp. 122

Online Publication Date: Jan 2007

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The current emphasis on assessment in education may have you lamenting that you are being required to “teach to the test.” In many schools, the demands of No Child Left Behind and state-mandated testing leave teachers and their students with the impression that testing is a punitive activity designed to reveal inadequate performance by schools and students. Add the fact that school effectiveness is evaluated by student performance on these high-stakes tests, that schools are threatened with closing if performance isn't deemed adequate, that teacher bonuses are often tied to the performance of the entire school, and that students cannot receive course credit unless they pass these tests, and it quickly becomes evident why assessment has become such a “hot button” issue. It's easy for a beginning teacher to lose sight of the fact that assessments should guide instruction and help students become more effective learners.

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