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Students have several misconceptions about thermodynamics. However, an understanding of basic concepts in this branch of physics remains fundamental to explain thermal phenomena. The purpose of this activity was to extend students'…
Of the tens of thousands of particle accelerators in operation worldwide, the vast majority are not used for particle physics, but instead for applications. Some applications such as radiotherapy for cancer treatment are well-known, while…
The fast ignition paradigm for inertial fusion offers increased gain and tolerance of asymmetry by compressing fuel at low entropy and then quickly igniting a small region. Because this hotspot rapidly disassembles, the ions must be heated…
The educational use of video and multimedia is increasing rapidly in secondary and higher education across all disciplines. Videos for physics education can be found in many universities and other educational institutions websites all over…
The development of a workshop using the language, techniques, and processes of visual art to introduce particle physics concepts is described. Innovative delivery methods committed to the interaction and collaboration of different…
Thermodynamics originated in the need to understand novel technologies developed by the Industrial Revolution. However, over the centuries the description of engines, refrigerators, thermal accelerators, and heaters has become so abstract…
Pencasts are videos of problem solving with narration by the problem solver. Pedagogically, students can create pencasts to illustrate their own problem solving to the instructor or to their peers. Pencasts have implications for teaching at…
We observe the two- and three-pulse photon echo emission from a scattering powder, obtained by grinding a Pr$^{3+}$:Y$_2$SiO$_5$ rare earth doped single crystal. We show that the collective emission is coherently constructed over several…
The paper describes a method for measuring the thermal diffusivity of materials having a high thermal conductivity. The apparatus is rather simple and low-cost, being therefore suitable in a laboratory for undergraduate students of…
We present design and implementation of a chain of particles that can be programmed to fold the chain into a given curve. The particles guide an external force to fold, therefore the particles are simple and amenable for miniaturization. A…
Pulsars are fantastic objects, which show the extreme states of matters and plasma physics not understood yet. Pulsars can be used as probes for the detection of interstellar medium and even the gravitational waves. Here I review the basic…
In many textbooks of thermodynamics, the polytropic process is usually introduced by defining its process equation rather than analyzing its actual origin. We realize a polytropic process of an ideal gas system when it is thermally contact…
Lightly triggered events may yield surprises about the nature of "soft" particle production at LHC energies. I suggest that event displays in coordinates matched to the dynamics of particle production (rapidity and transverse momentum) may…
Good problems grab us. They invite us to find patterns, make conjectures, and prove-or perhaps disprove-a conjecture. When I first taught, I saw my work as tantalizing students with structures just beyond their reach, so that I could elicit…
Pour sand into a container and only the grains near the top surface move. The collective motion associated with the translational and rotational energy of the grains in a thin flowing layer is quickly dissipated as friction through…
Interstellar dust grains do not have a single well-defined origin. Stars are demonstrably dust producers, but also efficient destroyers of cosmic dust. Dust destruction in the ISM is believed to be the result of SN shocks hitting the…
Granular materials are known to separate by size under a variety of circumstances. Experiments presented here and elucidated by modeling and MD simulation document a new segregation mechanism, namely segregation by friction. The experiments…
Paper has a lot of interesting properties with which quite a lot of standard topics of science education can be turned into hands-on activities. Among others, experiments are presented on elasticity, capillarity, feedback oscillations,…
This article reviews the current status of theoretical modeling of electric dipole radiation from spinning dust grains. The fundamentally simple problem of dust grain rotation appeals to a rich set of concepts of classical and quantum…
In the superconducting medium the circular current supported by its own magnetic field can exist giving rise to the possible underlying mechanism for the ball lightning.