Bulletin of the American Physical Society
2005 72nd Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Section of the APS
Thursday–Saturday, November 10–12, 2005; Gainesville, FL
Session MB: Joint SESAPS Florida AAPT Physics Education Invited Session |
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Chair: Henri Van Rinsvelt, University of Florida Room: Hilton Hawthorne |
Saturday, November 12, 2005 8:30AM - 9:06AM |
MB.00001: Making Quantum Mechanics Visual and Interactive with Physlet- and OSP-Based Curricular Material Invited Speaker: We have produced and class-tested interactive Physlet- and Open Source Physics-based curricular material in support of introductory, intermediate, and advanced courses in quantum mechanics. These exercises address both quantitative and conceptual difficulties encountered by many students in such topics as wave function shape, momentum space, time evolution, and classical/quantum-mechanical correlations. Because the materials are Web based and extremely flexible, these exercises are appropriate for use with a variety of levels and pedagogies. Examples of the curricular materials, the results of our preliminary assessment of their effectiveness, and future directions of this project will be discussed. Part of this work was supported by a Research Corporation Cottrell College Science Award (CC5470). Physlets and Open Source Physics are generously supported by the National Science Foundation (DUE-0126439 and DUE-0442581). [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, November 12, 2005 9:06AM - 9:42AM |
MB.00002: Physics in the Educational Mainstream Invited Speaker: When physics is taught as the rules of nature, and equations are seen as guides to thinking more than the means to solve mathematical problems, and when mathematical problem solving takes a back seat rather than a front seat, our discipline is available to all students. As such, all students have a foundation for exploring more of the sciences, for physics underlies chemistry, which underlies biology. Physics, the most basic of the sciences, can be in the educational mainstream in every school. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, November 12, 2005 9:42AM - 9:54AM |
MB.00003: VPNBody: A symplectic solar-system integration package for VPython. Rodney Dunning VPNBody (Visual Python $N$-body) is a collection of Python modules that uses symplectic integration algorithms to animate self-gravitating systems consisting of a gravitationally dominant object (a star) and several smaller objects (planets). VPNBody is primarily an educational tool. Animations can be used for classroom demonstrations, homework problems, and laboratory exercises. The underlying code can be used in upper-level physics and astronomy courses to introduce students to solar-system dynamics, or as a prototype for C or Fortran-90 software packages. This talk will focus on how the program works and several possible uses in the introductory astronomy and physics classrooms. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, November 12, 2005 9:54AM - 10:06AM |
MB.00004: Design and development of a constant current power source William Mendoza, Stephen Flynn, Jeremy Johnston The design and development of a low cost, lab built constant current power source to be used in the DC electrical resistivity testing of high temperature superconductors is described. The power source must generate a test current which varies little if at all as the load resistance $R_L $ of a cuprate superconductor sample varies from about $2\,k\Omega $ at room temperature to zero below the critical temperature $T_C $. A constant voltage source provides a variable current as $R_L $ changes and needs a series resistor to prevent an overload condition as $R_L \,\to \,\,0$. A constant current source provides a variable potential and does not need a protecting series resistor whose presence may introduce extraneous thermal noise into the resistivity data. The output current is regulated by the use of a current mirror device, which when thermodynamically stable gives adequate results. A change from $R_L =45\,\Omega \,\,\pm \,\,0.1\% $ to a short circuit condition results in a current $\Delta \% $ of about 10{\%}. Construction of such a device can be used as a project in an electronics or solid-state physics laboratory for advanced undergraduates in addition to being part of a low cost undergraduate superconductor test facility. [Preview Abstract] |
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