Though central to any pedagogical development of physics, the concept of mass is still not well understood. Properly defining mass has proven to be far more daunting than contemporary textbooks would have us believe. And yet today the origin of mass is one of the most aggressively pursued areas of research in all of physics. Much of the excitement…

In 1935 physicist Hideki Yukawa proposed the meson theory of nuclear forces. Background, influences, and chronology of Yukawa's work are presented and discussed. Yukawa was supported in his meson idea by Japan's strong emphasis on intuitive and creative approaches which are also evident in subsequent developments in that country. (DH)

Outlines a problem concerning the computation of hydrogen spectral line wavelength in a general physics class which is appropriate for computations on calculators with 8 significant digits of accuracy. (SL)

Presents a brief historical review and a discussion of the Bohr theory aimed at helping readers understand more completely the development of atomic quantum physics and comprehend more precisely and profoundly the essence of the correspondence principle. (JRH)

Describes a strategy for presenting ideas of atomic physics in the laboratory portion of the course before it is introduced during a lecture in order to give students an appreciation for the concepts involved, a historical look at how the field developed, and a comprehensive review of physics concepts. Presents a worksheet for the Bohr atom…

Suggests using a bicycle road rally in the teaching of kinematics and presents a list of suggestions for running the rally. Suggests a ski trip and instruction in the physics of skiing to create student awareness of physics relevance. (GS)

Discusses Newton's idea of predicting very high temperatures of objects by observing the time needed for the object to cool to some standard reference temperature. This article discusses experimental deviations from this idea and provides explanations for the observed results. (MVL)

Describes a number of class exercises utilized to aid student understanding of the particle theory of matter. (SL)

Uses computers to aid in teaching one property of the chaos theory: sensitivity to initial conditions. Provides demonstrations that illustrate that science and physics do not and cannot have all the answers to questions asked regarding the causes of natural phenomena. (ZWH)

The purpose of this article is to indicate another way of looking at duality and to propose an alternative approach to the teaching of quantum theory at the introductory level. (MVL)

Describes three demonstrations showing chaotic motion, which makes long-term prediction impossible. Discusses the apparatus for the demonstrations and procedures for illustrating chaotic motion of pendulum, balls rolling in a double potential well, and a ball rolling on a balanced beam. (YP)

Discusses the design of introductory physics course for elementary education majors and nonscience majors. Describes the learning cycle used for constructing hands-on activities. Provides an example of a week's activity on energy. Presents an evaluation of the course based on examinations and the teacher's impressions. (YP)

Studies the simple dynamical system of the pendulum and the chaotic behavior that occurs when the pendulum is both damped and driven. Provides an algorithm and BASIC program for the numerical solution to the differential equations encountered in the discussion. (MDH)

Discusses the early recognition of chaos as seen in Poincar's work solving dynamical problems. Proposes five examples from which an inventory of the manifestation of chaos can be inferred. Discusses some instructional consequences of the development of ideas of chaos. (MDH)