Bulletin of the American Physical Society
2008 Joint Fall Meeting of the Texas and Four Corners Sections of APS, AAPT, and Zones 13 and 16 of SPS, and the Societies of Hispanic & Black Physicists
Volume 53, Number 11
Friday–Saturday, October 17–18, 2008; El Paso, Texas
Session B5: Physics Education |
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Chair: Milijana Suskavcevic, The University of Texas at El Paso Room: Union East, 3rd Floor Wiggins |
Friday, October 17, 2008 10:30AM - 10:42AM |
B5.00001: Two forms of Wien's displacement law Lianxi Ma There are two forms of Wien's displacement law that can be derived from Planck's equation. They are: \begin{equation} \label{eq1} \lambda _m T=2.8977685\times 10^{-3}{\begin{array}{*{20}c} \hfill & {\mbox{m}\cdot \mbox{K}} \hfill \\ \end{array} } \end{equation} \begin{equation} \label{eq2} \frac{f_m }{T}=5.879\times 10^{10}{\begin{array}{*{20}c} \hfill & {\mbox{Hz/K}} \hfill \\ \end{array} } \end{equation} Where $\lambda _{m}$ and $f_{m}$ are wavelength and frequency corresponding to the maximum intensity $I_{m}$ of radiation of the black body, and $T$ is the temperature of the black body. Suppose that we have known a black body's temperature, then $\lambda _{m}$ and $f_{m}$ can be obtained from Eqs. (1) and (2). For example, the Sun's surface temperature, $T$ = 5778 K, then according to Eqs. (1) and (2), we get \[ \lambda _m =5.015\times 10^{-7}{\begin{array}{*{20}c} \hfill & \mbox{m} \hfill \\ \end{array} } \] And \[ f_m =3.397\times 10^{14}{\begin{array}{*{20}c} \hfill & {\mbox{Hz}} \hfill \\ \end{array} } \] However, if we apply $c=\lambda f$, and take $c$ = 3$\times $10$^{8}$ m/s, then from $\lambda _{m}$ = 5.015$\times $10$^{-7}$ m, we get $f$ = 5.982$\times $10$^{14}$ Hz, which is not the $f_{m}$ obtained from eq. (2). In this paper, I have shown the reason why. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, October 17, 2008 10:42AM - 10:54AM |
B5.00002: Student understanding of physical concepts based on in-class demonstrations. Sergio Flores, Luis L. Alfaro, Juan E. Chavez In-class demonstrations are a very important learning technique. In the department of physics of the University of Texas at El Paso, we have developed lecture and peer leaders workshops demonstrations that must be used once a week. These demonstrations are conducted by a demonstration coordinator, the peer leaders or a TA. In this way, we expect to improve the student understanding related to difficult topics they do not understand in most physics lectures. The demonstrations are set up at the beginning of the class or workshops to be used at any time the instructor or peer leader desires. Students are encouraged to participate being asked about the corresponding prediction of the concept being observed and developed. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, October 17, 2008 10:54AM - 11:06AM |
B5.00003: A first approaching to work with viscosity in college level Karla Carmona, Sergio Flores, Luis L. Alfaro, Maria D. Gonzalez Working with the concepts of flow, velocity and emptying time, in containers with different area, the research group named Physics and Mathematics in Context from the University of Juarez in Mexico is attempting to experiment with the relationship between the geometry of the containers and their discharge time with different kind of liquids. Thus, we have built two different sets of containers, and use kitchen oil, maple syrup, and car oil. Where the cross area is constant: prisms with bases of different geometries. Thus, in order to achieve a better understanding related to differential equations situations and introduce viscosity. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, October 17, 2008 11:06AM - 11:18AM |
B5.00004: Transfer from classical mechanics context to electricity and magnetism context Maria D. Gonzalez, Stephen Kanim Some classical mechanics concepts, like density, vectors use, conservative fields, 3$^{rd}$ Newton Law, velocity and acceleration physical and mathematical relations, are the basis for the development of related concepts that are central to the subsequent electricity and magnetism course. We believe that if students and instructors involved recognize the underlying features that are common to the two contexts, a better understanding and performance will be achieved. We are developing a pre- and post-test that is intended to measure the extent to which (1) students enter the electricity and magnetism course with a sufficient mechanics foundation; (2) there is a correlation between student responses to similar questions in mechanics and electrostatics contexts; and (3) mechanics understanding is strengthened through reintroduction of physics principles in a second context. We will give examples of ``paired'' questions and give data from administrations of the pre- and post-tests. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, October 17, 2008 11:18AM - 11:30AM |
B5.00005: Update on Physics TEKS Revision Hugh Henderson, Jill Marshall, Jeff Funkhouser In this session, an update on the ongoing revision of the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS)for Physics will be discussed. The discussion will be led by TEKS revision committee members Hugh Henderson, Jill Marshall, and Jeff Funkhouser. We will also briefly discuss the TEKS revision process for grades K-5 and grades 6-8. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, October 17, 2008 11:30AM - 11:42AM |
B5.00006: The Physics TEKS and the College Readiness Standards Hugh Henderson, Jill Marshall, Daniel Marble, Jeff Funkhouser In this session, the recently approved College Readiness Standards for Physics and the ongoing revision of the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills will be compared and discussed by TEKS Revision Committee members Hugh Henderson, Jill Marshall, Dan Marble, and Jeff Funkhouser. [Preview Abstract] |
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