Volume 54 Issue 5, May 2016

The Physics Teacher

This month's cover shows a weather balloon from below, just after it bursts. Where do the balloon's remnant tendrils (and the tether's tug, apparent just southwest of center) suggest as the location of the failure point of the balloon? To examine the complete photo sequence, see the article Integrating balloonSAT and atmospheric dynamic concepts into the secondary classroom by B. N. Fong, J. T. Kennon, E. Roberts.

 

Columns

Figuring Physics, iPhysics Labs, Little Jems, Astronotes, For the New Teacher, Physics Challenge for Teachers and Students, In My Opinion, Fermi Questions, and Websights.

 

Papers

Can you beat this?  by Charles H. Holbrow  DOI: 10.1119/1.4947149

Homemade Wooden Vernier Scales for Use by Blind Students  by Mike Tomac, Cricket Bidleman, and Dan Brown.  DOI: 10.1119/1.4947150

Weather Balloon Ascent Rate by Mark Denny.  DOI: 10.1119/1.4947151

Confronting Twin Paradox Acceleration by Thomas W. Murphy Jr.  DOI: 10.1119/1.4947152

Moving Phones Tick Slower: Creating an Android App to Demonstrate Time Dilation by Bret Underwood and Yunxiao Zhai.  DOI: 10.1119/1.4947154

Linking Science Fiction and Physics Courses by Krista K. McBride.  DOI: 10.1119/1.4947155

Measurement of Coriolis Acceleration with a Smartphone by Asif Shakur and Jakob Kraft.  DOI: 10.1119/1.4947157

MAUVE: A New Strategy for Solving and Grading Physics Problems by Nicole Breanne Hillt.  DOI: 10.1119/1.4947158

Impact of Guided Reflection with Peers on the Development of Effective Problem Solving Strategies and Physics Learning  by Andrew J. Mason and Chandralekha Singh.  DOI: 10.1119/1.4947159

CD, DVD, and Blu-Ray Disc Diffraction with a Laser Ray Box   by Alan J. DeWeerd.  DOI: 10.1119/1.4947160

Group Work Tests for Context-Rich Problems  by Chris Meyer.  DOI: 10.1119/1.4947161

And the Survey Says:  Top bachelor's-producing departments by Susan White.  DOI: 10.1119/1.4947162