Discusses how physics was done at the University of California at Berkeley in the 1930s, focusing on the faculty and their accomplishments, physics experiments, physics instruments/equipment (cyclotron and rhumbatron), and research problems and their solutions. Includes reminiscences about lectures on thermodynamics presented by Otto Stern during…

Discusses several science experiments/activities and their associated measurements. These include a simple projectile activity, cartesian diver (used to measure altitude and atmospheric pressure), experiment demonstrating atmospheric pressure, and activities using a stroboscope, and electrometer. (JN)

Microprocessor-based student experiments are described, including flowcharts of a typical program for time interval measurement and experimental and measurement subroutines. (JN)

Describes ray tracing techniques and the method of virtual mirrors to locate images when using multiple mirrors. (JN)

Describes a laboratory exercise which applies Koch's Postulates to a plant disease, bacterial speck. Includes an explanation of Koch's Postulate, list of equipment needed, advance preparation, outline of the three-week activity, and variations of the laboratory exercise. (DS)

Describes (1) a rippler assembly which makes use of a loud speaker and a stroboscopic light source designed for this application; and (2) an experiment using a force table that has been modified for a capstan experiment. (JN)

Described are some experiments on geotropism that may be done using dandelions. (PB)

Provides physics teachers with comments on the value and role of demonstrations during lecture sessions. (SK)

Electronic energy levels in noble gas atoms may be determined with a simple teaching apparatus incorporating a resonance potentials tube in which the electron beam intensity is held constant. The resulting spectra are little inferior to those obtained by more elaborate electron-impact methods and complement optical emission spectra. (Author/SK)

Discusses the oscillatory motion of a mass on a spiral (nonhelical) spring, and calculates the lowest eigenfrequency and the associated effective spring mass for a range of values of the attached mass. Analytic and numerical comparisons are made to the helical spring problem. (HM)

Describes an undergraduate experiment which uses derivative spectroscopy to investigate the validity of the Planck function appearing in the blackbody radiation law. These measurements allow a critical examination of this function and also serve as an introduction to derivative spectroscopy techniques. (Author/HM)

Describes the use of a time-sharing computer and an x-y plotter in a variation of the laboratory exercise on the physical pendulum. (HM)

Describes a 9-hour organic chemistry experiment that involves the isolation of (+)-limonene from orange peels and conversion of this product into (-)-carvone. (CS)

Describes an advanced undergraduate laboratory experiment designed to give the senior chemistry student an opportunity to apply several synthetic and purification techniques as well as possibilities for the application of NMR spectroscopy. (CS)

When examining complex waveforms by examining oscillograms from simple resonant circuits, interpretation problems occur. These problematic oscillograms are explainable by recognizing that the typical resonant filters pass significant amounts of several harmonics adjacent to the one intended. Adjacent harmonics effects are computed; resulting…