[This paper is part of the Focused Collection in Investigating and Improving Quantum Education through Research.] The modern physics course is a crucial gateway for physics majors as it provides an introduction to concepts beyond the scope of the K-12 education. This study collected 167 modern physics syllabi from 127 U.S. research-intensive…

Light polarization, which is the direction of electromagnetic field oscillation, provides information that is highly different from that of spectral and intensity images and thus can enhance various fields of optical metrology. Polarization imaging can be also used by combining polarization and imaging, thereby providing polarization and spatial…

Instruments or digital meters with data values visible on a seven-segment display can easily be found in the physics lab. Examples include multimeters, sound level meters, Geiger-Müller counters and electromagnetic field meters, where the display is used to show numerical data. Such instruments, without the ability to connect to computers or data…

This paper describes a set of demonstration school experiments where infrared radiation is detected using thermal sensitive foils. The possibility of using standard glass lenses for infrared imaging is discussed in detail. It is shown that with optic components made from glass, infrared radiation up to 2.5 µm of wavelength can be detected. The…

The spatial variation in phase and the propagating wave-front of plane wave electromagnetic radiation are widely familiar text-book territory. In contrast, the developing amplitude and phase of radiation emitted by a dipole or multipole source generally receive less attention, despite the prevalence of these systems. There is additional complexity…

The analysis of paraxial Gaussian beams features in most undergraduate courses in laser physics, advanced optics and photonics. These beams provide a simple model of the field generated in the resonant cavities of lasers, thus constituting a basic element for understanding laser theory. Usually, uniformly polarized beams are considered in the…

The surface plasmon wave is a surface wave confined at the interface between a dielectric and a metal. The excitation of the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) on a gold thin film is discussed within the Kretschmann configuration, where the coupling with the excitation light is achieved by means of a prism in total reflection. The electromagnetic…

This article examines several readily available "magic tricks" which base their "trickery" on physics principles, and questions the use of the word "magic" in the 21st century, both in popular children's science and in everyday language. (Contains 18 figures.)

This study focuses on students' conceptions of electric and magnetic fields at university level and of the interrelations between them. A total of 33 students participated in a paper and pencil test after the completion of first-year electricity and second-year electromagnetism courses. The conceptions were investigated in the contexts of a…

Since its inception in the mid-80s, the computer mouse has undergone several design changes. As the mouse has evolved, physicists have found new ways to utilize it as a motion sensor. For example, the rollers in a mechanical mouse have been used as pulleys to study the motion of a magnet moving through a copper tube as a quantitative demonstration…

The measurement of solar UV under water is not a simple process. In the underwater environment the difficulty of obtaining useable data is greatly amplified due to the optically complicated and at times unpredictable nature of water itself. The following practical exercise designed for use in the Year 11 and Year 12 Physics classroom aims to…

Applications of a simple approximation of Bessel functions of integer order, in terms of trigonometric functions, are discussed for several examples from electromagnetism and optics. The method may be applied in the intermediate regime, bridging the "small values regime" and the "asymptotic" one, and covering, in this way, an area of great…

Infrared thermal imaging is a valuable tool in physics education at the university level. It can help to visualize and thereby enhance understanding of physical phenomena from mechanics, thermal physics, electromagnetism, optics and radiation physics, qualitatively as well as quantitatively. We report on its use as lecture demonstrations, student…

The aim of this paper is to propose a synthetic approach to the transfer matrix method in classical and quantum physics. This method is an efficient tool to deal with complicated physical systems of practical importance in geometrical light or charged particle optics, classical electronics, mechanics, electromagnetics and quantum physics. Teaching…

This book is designed to be a quick and easy resource for anyone teaching physics for the first time. Written after extensive research, this book is filled with reliable labs, demos and activities that work well in the classroom. Also included are lesson plans, diagrams, and teacher notes for every activity. The book is not the end--it is just a…