摘要:

Prepared at the request of the AAPT Committee on Resource Letters; supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation.This is one of a series of Resource Letters on different topics, intended to guide college physicists to some of the literature and other teaching aids that may help them to improve course contents in specified fields of physics. No Resource Letter is meant to be exhaustive and complete; in time there may be more than one letter on some of the main subjects of interest. Comments and suggestions concerning the content and arrangement of letters as well as suggestions for future topics will be welcomed. Please send such communications to Professor Joel E. Gordon, Resource Letter Committee, Department of Physics, Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts 01002.Additional copies:Available from American Institute of Physics, 335 East 45 Street, New York, New York 10017. When ordering, request Resource Letter BSPF-1 and enclose a stamped return envelope.

ISSN:0002-9505    

DOI:10.1119/1.1974949

出版商:American Association of Physics Teachers    

年代:1968

数据来源: AIP

摘要:

Although there is a tendency for physicists to think of themselves as isolated from society, physicists are much involved in and are part of society. Physics contributes to society not only in a technical but also in an esthetic, social, and philosophical sense. Large physics projects, such as the 200-BeV accelerator, have recently had a direct influence on diverse social problems such as open housing and international cooperation.

ISSN:0002-9505    

DOI:10.1119/1.1974951

出版商:American Association of Physics Teachers    

年代:1968

数据来源: AIP

摘要:

An educational experiment is described in which students explore the topic of 4-vectors in special relativity using textbooks and a computer tutorial. The results of the experiment have exposed for us a few of the technical and educational problems lying in the way of general use of such study aids.

ISSN:0002-9505    

DOI:10.1119/1.1974953

出版商:American Association of Physics Teachers    

年代:1968

数据来源: AIP

摘要:

The Lorentz forces exerted by freely moving charges upon one another are not equal and opposite. Conservation of canonical momentum requires, however, that the generalized forces (with componentsδL/δxj) be equal and opposite. Elementary arguments show that the magnetic interaction terms in the Lagrangian are identical with Darwin's even in the absence of retardation; they arise from relative motion and can therefore not be peremptorily excluded from every nonrelativistic problem involving charged particles, for instance in plasma physics. The formulation of, and separation of variables in, two-body problems with noncentral forces calls for some care because of the wobble motion of the center of mass. In hydrogenic atoms the effects of the magnetic interaction are extremely small; they are contained in the known relativistic correction to the reduced mass correction to the fine structure.

ISSN:0002-9505    

DOI:10.1119/1.1974955

出版商:American Association of Physics Teachers    

年代:1968

数据来源: AIP

摘要:

Time-translation invariance of the equation of motion for an arbitrary one-dimensional classical system has been shown to generate a conservation law. For conservative systems, this conserved quantity is shown here to be the usual energy. For the linearly damped harmonic oscillator, the explicit form of this constant is found, as well as for quadratically damped systems. In both cases, as the damping approaches zero, the conserved quantity is shown to approach a function of the usual energy. For both types of dissipation, Lagrangians are given which yield the equations of motion.

ISSN:0002-9505    

DOI:10.1119/1.1974957

出版商:American Association of Physics Teachers    

年代:1968

数据来源: AIP

摘要:

This paper presents some new data on physics enrollments and degrees granted at various levels and at various kinds of institutions. Selected aspects of these statistics are discussed. Trend data for the past five years indicate a declining interest in physics as a career. The author establishes a connection between increasing emphasis on specialized courses for future professional physicists and the alienation of the general citizen from science. A broad reason is suggested for the disenchantment of young students with physics which suggests new responsibilities for science educators.

ISSN:0002-9505    

DOI:10.1119/1.1974959

出版商:American Association of Physics Teachers    

年代:1968

数据来源: AIP

摘要:

An alternative derivation is given for the evolution in time of a Gaussian wavepacket representing a free particle. This is based on explicit evaluation of the action of the evolution operator on the initial wavefunction, rather than on expansions in free-particle eigenstates. Both the cases of a free particle initially at rest and in uniform linear motion are considered.

ISSN:0002-9505    

DOI:10.1119/1.1974961

出版商:American Association of Physics Teachers    

年代:1968

数据来源: AIP

摘要:

By a general theorem connecting the steady-state electrical potential function for the region surrounding a system of long, parallel homogeneous conductors carrying steady currents to the solutions for the electrostatic potential in the given geometry, it is shown that the density of the surface charges on the conductors varies linearly with distance along the direction of their common axis.

ISSN:0002-9505    

DOI:10.1119/1.1974963

出版商:American Association of Physics Teachers    

年代:1968

数据来源: AIP

摘要:

This article—which is tutorial in its approach—gives explicit directions for determining the normal modes of a symmetrical vibrating system through the use of group theory. The example considered is the planar, homonuclear, equilateral molecule. The eigenvalues are first determined from the secular equation by a numerical, empirical method. After a brief review of the applicable concepts from group theory, it is shown how the projection operator method may be used to solve the same problem in a direct way.

ISSN:0002-9505    

DOI:10.1119/1.1974965

出版商:American Association of Physics Teachers    

年代:1968

数据来源: AIP

摘要:

Schiff has claimed that the full general-relativity bending of light round a mass point can be derived from purely radial “free-fall” thought experiments by appeal to Newtonian mechanics and the equivalence principle. Schiff's process is shown to lead to absurdities when applied to a parallel gravitational field. It is valid for time, but not for space. Only the Newtonian free paths and, of course, the gravitational Doppler shift can be validly reobtained by this method.

ISSN:0002-9505    

DOI:10.1119/1.1974967

出版商:American Association of Physics Teachers    

年代:1968

数据来源: AIP