Bulletin of the American Physical Society
Joint Spring 2010 Meeting of the Texas Sections of the APS, AAPT, and SPS
Volume 55, Number 3
Thursday–Saturday, March 18–20, 2010; Austin, Texas
Session J2: AAPT: Laboratories and Demonstrations |
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Room: Robert Lee Moore Hall 7.104 |
Saturday, March 20, 2010 10:15AM - 10:27AM |
J2.00001: Flow between Rotating Cylinders as a Model of Instability in Nonequilibrium Systems Bruce Rodenborn, Harry L. Swinney The study of flow between rotating concentric cylinders (Couette-Taylor flow) began over a century ago and has been conducted by giants in the fields of fluid mechanics and astrophysics such as Lord Rayleigh, G.I. Taylor, and S. Chandreshekar. The system still yields seminal findings in fluid turbulence, hydrodynamic stability theory, plasma physics and chaos theory. It is also a model system for instabilities that arise in proto-planetary and proto-solar disks, the earth's core and other important applications. Simple geometry makes the base fluid state at low rotation rates analytically solvable at an undergraduate level, which belies the zoo of instabilities and patterns that develop for higher rotation rates. Low-cost cameras and open source software make a well-instrumented experiment possible for a few hundred dollars. Just as the Couette-Taylor system provides a valuable model for instability in systems driven away from thermodynamic equilibrium, it also serves as a valuable model experiment that builds important scientific abilities including: instrument control, data acquisition, image analysis, Fourier spectral analysis and other experimental skills. I use a Couette-Taylor system in annual winter schools on experimental physics, ``Hands-On Research in Complex Systems'' conducted in developing countries to stimulate interest in low-cost, table-top experimental physics. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, March 20, 2010 10:27AM - 10:39AM |
J2.00002: Rebuilding Physical Science II at the University of Texas at Austin Erich Gust Physical Science at the University of Texas at Austin is an inquiry-based laboratory physics course for non-technical majors. It spans two semesters with motion and matter being covered in the first and electricity, magnetism and light being covered in the second. The course is primarily intended for students with little or no mathematics background and is a very popular choice for students fulfilling their science requirements. Unfortunately, it is also notorious for the poor state of its lab equipment and lab manual. The central goal of Physical Science is observation. With our equipment we strive to maximize observable effects while minimizing complexity and sacrificing quantitative accuracy. In this talk, I will discuss some recent changes to our electricity and magnetism equipment that help us achieve this goal. These changes include redesigning our equipment to increase its durability and simplicity, and rewriting the lab manual to focus on central concepts and make it more engaging. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, March 20, 2010 10:39AM - 10:51AM |
J2.00003: Acoustic Analog to Quantum Mechanical Level-Splitting Shawn Hilbert One difficulty in teaching quantum mechanics is the lack of classroom demonstrations. To sidestep this issue, analogies can provide an enlightening alternative. Acoustics governance by the same time-independent wave equation as quantum mechanics supports it use in such analogies. This presentation examines one such analogy for an infinite potential well with a delta potential perturbation. The physical acoustic system consists of continuous sounds waves traveling in a pair of tubes which are separated by a variable diaphragm. The level-splitting nature of the quantum system can be mimicked in the acoustic system. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, March 20, 2010 10:51AM - 11:03AM |
J2.00004: Teaching physics in the weight room Alex Barr Activities that take place outside the classroom can help keep students engaged by offering an unexpected experience while illustrating the physics involved in everyday phenomena. I will outline three lab activities from an Introduction to Physical Science class, two semi-quantitative activities on Newton's laws and a quantitative activity on the efficiency of the human body. Each of these activities takes place outside the classroom and involves equipment that available in many high school and university weight rooms. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, March 20, 2010 11:03AM - 11:15AM |
J2.00005: Experimental Proof of Malus' Law Using the Photoelectric Current Karen Williams, Morgan Sennett This paper will show that it is possible to reduce the intensity of the light striking the metal in the photoelectric effect with two polarizers. Reducing the intensity of the light reduces the photoelectric current measured while leaving the stopping potential unchanged. This is directly observed in the plots of photocurrent versus stopping potential for various intensities of light. However, by plotting the photoelectric current versus the original intensity of the light, students can demonstrate Malus' law quite accurately without using a light meter. The students can explore the photoelectric effect and Malus' law with one set of data. [Preview Abstract] |
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