Presents two classroom activities that help students visualize the concept of entropy and appreciate that entropy tends to increase spontaneously. Contains 20 references. (WRM)

Argues that it is advantageous to adopt a more modern approach that systematically builds on students' knowledge of the atomic structure of matter and elementary mechanics. (Author/CCM)

Teachers' failure to use the microcomputer-based laboratory (MBL) more widely may be a result of not recognizing its capacity to transform laboratory activities. This research aimed to increase understanding of how MBL activities designed to be consistent with a constructivist theory of learning support or constrain student construction of…

In this article, the author features "the sidewalk project" in Littleton High School. The sidewalk project is a collaboration of more than 40 high school physics students, 10 local mentors, and a few regional and national organizations who worked together to invent a way to heat a sidewalk with an alternative energy source. The project, which…

This paper describes the use of interactive, Physlet[R]-based curricular material designed to help students learn concepts of thermodynamics with a particular focus on the use of kinetic theory models. These exercises help students visualize ideal gas particle dynamics and engine cycles, make concrete connections between mechanics and…

Describes how to construct an isothermal calorimeter and lists typical results of a displacement reaction using zinc. (LS)

Describes a series of activities for demonstrating the conditions necessary for burning (fuel, oxygen and temperature) plus several related phenomena. (CP)

A question-answer interview with Carl Schleicher, cofounder and technical director of the Center for Preventive Therapy and Rehabilitation, Inc. (CEPTAR) and president and research/development director of Mankind Research Unlimited, Inc. (MRU), Washington, D. C., provides explicit information on recent developments in the rehabilitation field and…

The different approaches to the generation of power from solar energy may be roughly divided into five categories: distributed collectors; central receivers; biomass; ocean thermal energy conversion; and photovoltaic devices. The first approach (distributed collectors) is the subject of this module. The material presented is designed to…

Summarizes chemical principles underlying the operation of automobiles and the cause of air pollution, including concentrations of carbon monoxide, unburned hydrocarbons, and oxides of nitrogen. Comments and opinions are made concerning present and future pollution control devices. (CC)

A digital computer program, STAGEF, designed for use with the distillation experiments in a typical undergraduate Chemical Engineering laboratory in Unit Operations is explained. The program enables the student to determine the rate of liquid overflow and vapor boil-up which leaves each tray within the distillation column. The student may also…

Test items relating to Project Physics Unit 3 are presented in this booklet. Included are 70 multiple-choice and 20 problem-and-essay questions. Concepts of mechanics are examined on energy, momentum, kinetic theory of gases, pulse analyses, "heat death," water waves, power, conservation laws, normal distribution, thermodynamic laws, and…