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American Journal of Physics

The Physics Teacher»
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SECTION LISTING

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
GUEST EDITORIAL
AAPT AWARDS
FIGURING PHYSICS
PAPERS
APPARATUS FOR TEACHING PHYSICS
LITTLE GEMS
FERMI QUESTIONS
PHYSICS CHALLENGE FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS
FOR THE NEW TEACHER
WEBSIGHTS
BOOK REVIEWS
IN MY OPINION

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Volume 46

Issue 9 | Dec 2008 | pp. 516-563

Issue 8 | Nov 2008 | pp. 452-512

Issue 7 | Oct 2008 | pp. 388-448

Issue 6 | Sep 2008 | pp. 323-384

Issue L2 | Aug 2008 | pp. L1-L2

Issue L1 | Jul 2008 | pp. L1-L2

Issue 5 | May 2008 | pp. 260-320

Issue 4 | Apr 2008 | pp. 196-256

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Apr 2008

Volume 46, Issue 4, pp. 196-256

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

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Lamp Lifetimes

A. James Mallmann

The Physics Teacher -- April 2008 -- Volume 46, Issue 4, pp. 196

Online Publication Date: Mar 2008

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Abstract Unavailable

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

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Energy in the Introductory Course

Elisha Huggins

The Physics Teacher -- April 2008 -- Volume 46, Issue 4, pp. 196

Online Publication Date: Mar 2008

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Abstract Unavailable

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01.40.gb	Teaching methods and strategies
01.40.J-	Teacher training
01.55.+b	General physics

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Editor's Note

The Physics Teacher -- April 2008 -- Volume 46, Issue 4, pp. 197

Online Publication Date: Mar 2008

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Abstract Unavailable

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01.30.Os	Books of general interest to physics teachers
01.30.Xx	Publications in electronic media

GUEST EDITORIAL

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Fostering Future Physicists

Judy Franz, APS Executive Officer

The Physics Teacher -- April 2008 -- Volume 46, Issue 4, pp. 198

Online Publication Date: Mar 2008

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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
01.75.+m	Science and society

AAPT AWARDS

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2008 Distinguished Service Citations Awarded to Dewey Dykstra, Andrew Graham, Tom Senior, Chuck Stone, Barbara Wolff-Reichert and Jonathan Reichert, and Mike Wolter

Harvey S. Leff, 2007 AAPT President

The Physics Teacher -- April 2008 -- Volume 46, Issue 4, pp. 200

Online Publication Date: Mar 2008

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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
01.85.+f	Careers in physics and science

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Melba Newell Phillips Medal Awarded Jan. 22, 2008, to Judy Franz

Ken Heller, 2007 AAPT Past-President

The Physics Teacher -- April 2008 -- Volume 46, Issue 4, pp. 202

Online Publication Date: Mar 2008

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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
01.85.+f	Careers in physics and science

FIGURING PHYSICS

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BUG AND BUS COLLISION

Paul Hewitt

The Physics Teacher -- April 2008 -- Volume 46, Issue 4, pp. 204

Online Publication Date: Mar 2008

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Abstract Unavailable

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

PAPERS

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Determining Absolute Zero Using a Tuning Fork

Jeffrey D. Goldader

The Physics Teacher -- April 2008 -- Volume 46, Issue 4, pp. 206

Online Publication Date: Mar 2008

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The Celsius and Kelvin temperature scales, we tell our students, are related. We explain that a change in temperature of 1°C corresponds to a change of 1 Kelvin and that atoms and molecules have zero kinetic energy at zero Kelvin, −273°C. In this paper, we will show how students can derive the relationship between the Celsius and Kelvin temperature scales using a simple, well-known physics experiment. By making multiple measurements of the speed of sound at different temperatures, using the classic physics experiment of determining the speed of sound with a tuning fork and variable-length tube, they can determine the temperature at which the speed of sound is zero—absolute zero.

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01.40.Fk	Research in physics education
01.50.Pa	Laboratory experiments and apparatus
01.55.+b	General physics

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Energy and the Confused Student IV: A Global Approach to Energy

John W. Jewett, Jr.

The Physics Teacher -- April 2008 -- Volume 46, Issue 4, pp. 210 | Cited 1 time

Online Publication Date: Mar 2008

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Energy is a critical concept in physics problem-solving, but is often a major source of confusion for students if the presentation is not carefully crafted by the instructor or the textbook. In the first three articles^1–3 in this series we discussed several issues related to the teaching of energy concepts. We have saved a major single issue for this article: the presentation of energy by means of a global approach. Energy, energy transfers, and energy transformations are at the heart of every process that occurs in physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, and geology. Consequently, it is useful and highly instructive to discuss this global nature of energy from the very beginning, when energy is first introduced in mechanics.

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01.40.gb	Teaching methods and strategies
47.00.00	Fluid dynamics

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Lava Lamp

Todd R. Leif

The Physics Teacher -- April 2008 -- Volume 46, Issue 4, pp. 219

Online Publication Date: Mar 2008

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This past semester I brought a Lava Lite® Lamp into my classroom. Why bring such a thing into class? Many of today's students are part of the “retro” movement. They buy clothes from the '60s, they wear their hair like people did in the '60s, and they look for the ideals and themes related to living in the 1960s. Physics education reform is also examining ideas from the “retro” world of science. This was the post-Sputnik era, a time when science was done by actually doing it and not necessarily by lecturing about it. Cliff Swartz, former TPT editor, once mentioned during a presentation at a Texas AAPT meeting, “The world of physics teaching is cyclic, like a swinging pendulum. We as physics teachers jump from ‘new ideas’ back to our old ones, each generation testing what works best for them.”

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

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Squaring the Circle: A Mathematically Rigorous Physics First

Robert Goodman and Eugenia Etkina

The Physics Teacher -- April 2008 -- Volume 46, Issue 4, pp. 222 | Cited 2 times

Online Publication Date: Mar 2008

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For more than a hundred years there has been a debate about the sequence in which high school science should be taught. Many advocates of “Physics First” support a more conceptual ninth-grade physics course followed by chemistry and then biology while supporters of mathematically rigorous physics favor a sequence of biology-chemistry-physics. This paper describes a new approach that incorporates some of the best arguments from both sides. The main idea is to teach a mathematically rigorous ninth-grade physics course based on algebra alone, avoiding trigonometry.^1,2 By selecting topics from the AP Physics B curriculum that form a foundation for both chemistry and biology, one can establish an efficient science sequence. The goal of this paper is to describe this new approach to Physics First and present data supporting its effectiveness.

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01.40.Fk	Research in physics education
01.40.gb	Teaching methods and strategies

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Some Activities with Polarized Light from a Laptop LCD Screen

Hasan Fakhruddin

The Physics Teacher -- April 2008 -- Volume 46, Issue 4, pp. 229

Online Publication Date: Mar 2008

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The LCD screen of a laptop computer provides a broad, bright, and extended source of polarized light. A number of demonstrations on the properties of polarized light from a laptop computer screens are presented here.

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01.50.My	Demonstration experiments and apparatus
01.50.-i	Educational aids
42.25.Ja	Polarization

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Finding the Center of Volume of the Forearm

Stacy S. Klein and Robert J. Roselli

The Physics Teacher -- April 2008 -- Volume 46, Issue 4, pp. 232

Online Publication Date: Mar 2008

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A typical first-year physics course teaches students about the center of mass using both regular and irregularly shaped objects. Students often suspend an object in each of two dimensions from a string with the intersection determining the center of mass of the object. While these methods can be effective, they are not particularly exciting or motivating. Wouldn't it be more interesting to find the center of mass of a body part, such as the forearm? Through a series of simple measurements and assumptions, students can generate a first-order approximation of the center of volume and center of mass of their forearm. Comparisons can be made between the muscular forearm of the football player in the class with the scrawniest arm in the room, creating a deeper understanding of center of mass and how it relates to the human body.

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01.50.Pa	Laboratory experiments and apparatus
45.20.da	Forces and torques
87.00.00	Biological and medical physics

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Critical Thinking: Error Sources and Energy in a Conservation of Momentum Lab

Robert D. Rosen

The Physics Teacher -- April 2008 -- Volume 46, Issue 4, pp. 235

Online Publication Date: Mar 2008

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Our school has a very small budget for equipment. So finding a gem like a conservation of momentum lab requiring only basic materials (TPT, October 2005)¹ adds a great deal to my physics course. In this lab, a “shooter” nickel makes a non-head-on collision with a stationary “target” nickel. Students measure the distance each nickel slides after the collision and the angles shown in the diagram. The paper by James Hunt¹ explains how these data can be used to verify conservation of momentum in the direction perpendicular to the shooter's initial velocity. This paper suggests some possible sources of error and explains how the angles can be used to study energy relationships in the collision.

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01.50.Pa	Laboratory experiments and apparatus
01.55.+b	General physics

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Demonstrating Circular Motion with a Model Satellite∕Earth System

Jeff Whittaker

The Physics Teacher -- April 2008 -- Volume 46, Issue 4, pp. 237

Online Publication Date: Mar 2008

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A number of interesting demonstrations of circular and satellite motion have been described in this journal.^1–4 This paper presents a variation of a centripetal force apparatus found in G.D. Freier and F.J. Anderson's A Demonstration Handbook for Physics,⁵ which has been modified in order to demonstrate both centripetal force and satellite motion. Nice discussions of satellite motion may be found in a number of textbooks.^6–8 The following is a description of how to construct the apparatus and some suggested experiments.

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

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Oblique and Head-On Elastic Collisions

Chiu-king Ng

The Physics Teacher -- April 2008 -- Volume 46, Issue 4, pp. 240

Online Publication Date: Mar 2008

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When a moving ball collides elastically with an identical, initially stationary ball, the incident ball will either come to rest (head-on collision; see Fig. 1) or will acquire a velocity that is perpendicular to that acquired by the target ball (oblique collision; see Fig. 2). These two possible outcomes are related in an interesting way, which we describe in this paper.

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01.55.+b	General physics
01.40.J-	Teacher training

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Clickers or Flashcards: Is There Really a Difference?

N. Lasry

The Physics Teacher -- April 2008 -- Volume 46, Issue 4, pp. 242 | Cited 4 times

Online Publication Date: Mar 2008

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A growing number of physics teachers are currently turning to instructional technologies such as wireless handheld response systems—colloquially called clickers. Two possible rationales may explain the growing interest in these devices. The first is the presumption that clickers are more effective instructional instruments. The second rationale is somewhat reminiscent of Martin Davis' declaration when purchasing the Oakland Athletics: “As men get older, the toys get more expensive.” Although personally motivated by both of these rationales, the effectiveness of clickers over inexpensive low-tech flashcards remains questionable. Thus, the first half of this paper presents findings of a classroom study comparing the differences in student learning between a Peer Instruction group using clickers and a Peer Instruction group using flashcards. Having assessed student learning differences, the second half of the paper describes differences in teaching effectiveness between clickers and flashcards.

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01.50.Pa	Laboratory experiments and apparatus
01.40.J-	Teacher training

APPARATUS FOR TEACHING PHYSICS

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A $400 Photogate for $50 or Less

Michael Horton

The Physics Teacher -- April 2008 -- Volume 46, Issue 4, pp. 246

Online Publication Date: Mar 2008

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Photogates are extremely valuable in introductory physics, but the price can be prohibitive for the average high school teacher. I have designed several photogates that one can construct for less than $50 with just a little soldering skill. The photogate featured here sells for nearly $400 in science catalogs and you can build it for around $50 depending on the case that you use.

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01.50.Pa	Laboratory experiments and apparatus
01.40.J-	Teacher training

LITTLE GEMS

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Photo Enforcement: Was Mr. Schuetz Speeding?

Aaron Schuetz

The Physics Teacher -- April 2008 -- Volume 46, Issue 4, pp. 248

Online Publication Date: Mar 2008

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Abstract Unavailable

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01.50.My	Demonstration experiments and apparatus
01.40.Fk	Research in physics education

FERMI QUESTIONS

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Fermi Questions

Larry Weinstein

The Physics Teacher -- April 2008 -- Volume 46, Issue 4, pp. 249

Online Publication Date: Mar 2008

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Abstract Unavailable

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01.50.Rt

Physics tournaments and contests

PHYSICS CHALLENGE FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS

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A BLt Sandwich

Boris Korsunsky

The Physics Teacher -- April 2008 -- Volume 46, Issue 4, pp. 250

Online Publication Date: Mar 2008

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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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Join a Physics Teaching Community

David Jones

The Physics Teacher -- April 2008 -- Volume 46, Issue 4, pp. 251

Online Publication Date: Mar 2008

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David Jones is the Educational Outreach Coordinator of CHEPREO at Florida International University. David is a member of “Fizmo,” a local community of high school teachers in Miami-Dade County in Florida. Fizmo is sponsored by CHEPREO and PhysTEC. CHEPREO is an NSF-sponsored grant that joins high-energy physics research, physics teaching reform, and educational outreach centered at Florida International University. Information on CHEPREO can be found at http:∕∕www.chepreo.org.

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