Bulletin of the American Physical Society
2008 Joint Spring Meeting of the Texas Sections of APS, AAPT, and Zone 13 of SPS
Volume 53, Number 1
Thursday–Saturday, March 6–8, 2008; Corpus Christi, Texas
Session SPS1: High School and Undergraduate Student Research I |
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Chair: Dan Suson, Purdue University at Calumet Room: Omni Corpus Christi Hotel Marina Tower Padre B |
Friday, March 7, 2008 10:30AM - 10:42AM |
SPS1.00001: Using SPS at the Community College Level to Develop a Science Road Show to Present to K-12 Schools Jess T. Dowdy The development of a science road show at the community college level will be addressed following the model implemented at Northeast Texas Community College. The use of the local SPS chapter in performing the show will be addressed along with guidelines for developing grant support. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, March 7, 2008 10:42AM - 10:54AM |
SPS1.00002: Forces and the Potential Energy Function for a Bow-and-Arrow System Ken Taylor, Blaine Coutant, Tatum Crow, Austin James The experiments described here consist of a series of investigations into the dynamics of a bow as it is bent (and released) under the influence of a stretched string. The bow is ``student-friendly'' and has no pulleys for facilitating stretch. The presentation will discuss the various approaches to characterizing the bow, the string, and its energy efficiency. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, March 7, 2008 10:54AM - 11:06AM |
SPS1.00003: How to Use a Bed of Nails to Facilitate Excitement during a Science Road Show Presentation at Local Schools Fabian Pena, Shawn Kridler, Pete Berger The authors will demonstrate how to use a bed of nails to pump up the students at local K-12 schools. The use during Science Road Show presentations will be addressed along with suggestions on how to build the drama and introduce humor and learning. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, March 7, 2008 11:06AM - 11:18AM |
SPS1.00004: How much sun does sunblock block? Jennifer Hendryx Sunscreens vary by strength, brand, and active ingredients. Consumers want to know which product is most effective. Using a spectrometer, I am able to observe the behavior of UV rays when they encounter the sunscreen. The UV is expected to be absorbed or reflected at different amounts, depending on the active ingredients of the sunscreen. What is the cause of the variations? More importantly, how can these variations be measured? The objective of this experiment is to answer these questions with limited time and resources. I will take several spectra of transmitted and reflected UV rays and compare between samples how much of the UV is actually blocked. I hope to analyze several variable factors that may (or may not) change the effectiveness of sunscreen. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, March 7, 2008 11:18AM - 11:30AM |
SPS1.00005: Synthesis of porous silicon on a p-type substrate using a non-contact method Kristin Peterson, Toni Sauncy, Tim Dallas, Mark Grimson We have previously reported on the synthesis of porous silicon (p-Si) on n-type crystalline silicon (c-Si) substrates by using a light-induced hydrofluoric acid (HF) synthesis technique. Now, we will discuss details of recently synthesized p-Si on p-type (Boron doped) c-Si substrates. Both types were treated using the expanded beam of a He-Ne laser to produce a localized electric field on the bulk c-Si wafer while the samples were immersed in hydro-fluoric acid for varying amounts of time. Interestingly, the two sample types are completely different in their formation of the p-Si thin film. The n-type sample displays thin film in the region where the laser is incident on the surface. The p-Si thin film on the p-type samples form on both sides of the sample, but only in regions not illuminated by the laser beam. SEM micrographs of the samples were analyzed to compare differences in surface features. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, March 7, 2008 11:30AM - 11:42AM |
SPS1.00006: Fluid Resistance Studies with an Atwood Machine Ken Taylor, Omar Aragon, Russell Braun, Ellias Fessahaie An Atwood machine in which one of its masses moves through water is used to study fluid resistance. In particular, efforts are made to compare the effects of the water resistance for objects of similar geometry but different densities. The presentation describes the apparatus, the computer system used for data acquisition and the various schemes used in the investigation. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, March 7, 2008 11:42AM - 11:54AM |
SPS1.00007: Stripes or Bubbles in the N=2 Landau Level: A DMRG Study Candice Withrow, Barry Friedman, Lauren Rod Using the density matrix renormalization group (dmrg), we have reexamined the phase diagram of the N=2 Landau level. In previous dmrg calculations we attained results highly agreeable to those of Shibata and Yoshioka at filling factor 18/42, by using 200 states in the blocks. The goal of our study is to determine whether the ground state is an anisotropic crystal near half filling, as suggested by some mean field approaches, or a stripe state, as suggested by other mean field approaches and prior dmrg results. Such dmrg calculations, i.e. Shibata and Yoshioka, have placed the phase diagram between stripes and bubbles at a filling factor slightly less then .4 by looking at the projected pair correlation function at the special lines x=0 and y=0. We reexamine this boundary by studying the Fourier transform of the projected pair correlation. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, March 7, 2008 11:54AM - 12:06PM |
SPS1.00008: Temperature dependence of photoluminescence from a strained InGaAs/GaAs quantum well Meagan Saldua, Toni Sauncy The goal of this project is to develop a model which best explains the temperature dependence of the photoluminescence (PL) emission from a single InGaAs quantum well. Due to lattice mismatch between the InGaAs and the GaAs substrates, the quantum well active region is under an approximately 1.3{\%} compressive strain. The strain in the layer causes the temperature dependence of the photoluminescence to be complicated and unexplainable by standard bulk material relationships. Experimental measurements rule out the standard Varshni relationship for the PL temperature dependence, the most commonly used empirical equation. We will discuss luminescence data and initial model development [Preview Abstract] |
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