Atwood invented a machine in the 1780s that enabled him to observe the motion of a falling body as slowly as desired. This machine was equipped with the necessary means to measure the distance covered by the body and the time taken. With this data, it was possible, in addition to studying the falling motion, to calculate the local gravitational…

Neutrinos are perhaps the least understood of the known denizens of the subatomic world. They have nearly no mass, interact only via the weak nuclear force and gravity, and, perhaps most surprising, the three known species of neutrinos can transform from one variant into another. This transformation, called neutrino oscillation, has been…

This article presents some simple calculations related to the Future Circular Collider (FCC), which is being studied at CERN as a potential future replacement for the world's largest particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The aim of this article is to bring particle physics into secondary school classrooms using the physics of the…

When the sun rose over America on July 4, 2012, the world of science had radically changed. The Higgs boson had been discovered. Mind you, the press releases were more cautious than that, with "a new particle consistent with being the Higgs boson" being the carefully constructed phrase of the day. But, make no mistake, champagne corks…

Oftentimes physics is portrayed as merely a list of facts that we know about the world around us, when in fact it is a way of knowing about that world. At times physics claims to understand the inner working of objects that cannot be directly observed, such as the core of the planets and Sun, or the structure of an atom. It is important for…

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…

Physics First is offered to ninth graders at high schools in Aurora, CO. A unique new asset of this school system is an embedded research lab called the "Innovation Hyperlab." The goal of the lab is to connect secondary school teaching to ongoing university scientific research, supporting the school district's aim to create opportunities to…

Over the last few years, the helical mirror or "spinner" has become a popular decoration for gardens and elsewhere. Even casual observation reveals intriguing optical properties, so the spinner is a good teaching tool. To facilitate student exploration, we suggest some questions and provide brief explanations.

In his "The Making of the Atomic Bomb," Richard Rhodes remarks of the July 16, 1945, Trinity atomic bomb test in New Mexico that "had astronomers been watching they could have seen it reflected from the moon, literal moonshine," an allusion to Ernest Rutherford's famous dismissal of the prospect of atomic energy. Investigating…

Gives an analogy useful for explaining the experimental teleportation of a quantum-mechanical state to beginning physics students. (WRM)

Discusses the technology used for transduction between electrical and acoustical signals. In particular, the recent developments in microwave ultrasonics research are presented. (JP)

Discussed are two current physics research areas. Solar cell efficiencies are discussed relating to present and future conversion efficiencies. Topics discussed in Astrophysics include the observation of astronomical bodies at different wavelengths, in terms of electromagnetic spectrum, tools of astronomy, compact stars, pulsars X-ray binaries,…

The difference in time between the emission and reception of light is called the "lookback" time. This article explores implications of lookback time and explains some of the puzzling questions posed by the scientific observation of cosmic history. Provides several pictures and diagrams. (YP)

Describes the discovery and characteristics of superconductors. Discusses some experiments on the levitation of a magnet over a superconductor. (YP)

Describes the use of two tiny light bulbs and a cloth grating to construct a semiquantitative experiment for determining the wavelength of light from an interference pattern. (WRM)