AAPTcatalog2014_links - page 15

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AAPT Electronic Publications
Higgs Boson: Articles from AJP and TPT
Join the celebration of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics with this 36-page electronic flipbook
compilation of Higgs articles from AJP and TPT. (Mac, Windows, and PDF) Downloadable links
will be emailed to you.
Members: $8 Nonmembers: $10
The Physics of Snow and Ice
This 38-page electronic flipbook features articles about the physics of snow and ice. Articles were
originally published in The Physics Teacher and the American Journal of Physics.
Members: $8 Nonmembers: $10
Puzzles for Your Classroom: Fermi Questions 2010
Challenge your students with this compilation of Fermi Questions taken from The Physics Teacher
journal, 2010. This 18-page electronic flipbook puts the questions and answers in a convenient,
ready-to-print format to suit your needs. (Mac, Windows, and PDF). Downloadable links will be
emailed to you.
Members: $8 Nonmembers: $10
Apparatus for Teaching Physics (electronic flipbook)
Finding ideas for cheap, effective, easy-to-use apparatus is a top priority for every physics teacher.
This 26-page electronic flip book provides a single source for apparatus ideas. Articles are
compiled from the American Journal of Physics and The Physics Teacher, 2010. (Mac, Windows,
and PDF) Downloadable links will be emailed to you. ©2013
Members: $8 Nonmembers: $10
Higgs Boson Classroom Poster (G-33)
Celebrate today’s scientific discoveries and researchers. The Higgs Boson – Born on the 4th of
July poster pops with color graphics, and provides a concise explanation to the question posed:
“What gives masses to fundamental particles such as quarks and electrons?” (22 x 30 inches) This
limited edition poster is shipped loosely rolled in a tube to preserve the glossy finish. Code: G-33
Members: $4.50 Nonmembers: $9
High School Physics Photo Contest Posters
Stunning classroom posters featuring winning entries from the recent High School Physics Photo
Contests. Specify year. Comes folded.
Members: $0 Nonmembers: $4.50
Puzzles for Your Classroom:
Fermi Questions 2010
AAPT Resources
2013
Winners
HonorableMention
IcicleFrenzy,Trevor Jackson Light
GlenbardWestHighSchool,GlenEllyn, IL
Teacher:NicholasSzarzakIn thisphoto,water that collectedon the tireof amoving carbegan to freeze and form icicles,
andwhen thisprocesswasover, iciclespointedoutward in a circle.Becauseof the rapidlyspinning tire, centripetal forceshave an important role in thedevelopmentof the icicles.
Centripetal force is center seeking and isprovidedby adhesionof saltywater to the spinninghubcap and cohesionofwater and icemolecules to eachother.Thewaterdropletswant to
travel in a linearpath,but the centripetal forces accelerate them inward, causing thedirectionof the velocity to continuously change as thewatermoves around the circle.As newwater is
splashedonto a spikeof ice, cohesive forcesgive it awild circular ride. If the centripetal forcesarenot large enough to hold it at constant radius, the liquidgradually slipsout along the spikes
until it freezes inplace.Thus icicles are created around the entire circle.
2ndPlace
WalkingonEggshells
KelseyMadisonCardenal
WestBocaRatonCommunityHighSchool,BocaRaton,FLTeacher:ElizabethWenk
This is apictureofmy friendSamer standingon two cartonsof eggs.Mostpeople
thinkof eggs asbeing very fragile,but this is not the case. Just like inbridges and
buildings, eggs utilize the strongest shape there is: the arch.Eggs have shapesthat areunique and similar to a three-dimensional arch.An eggshell’s shortest
radiusof curvatureoccurs at the top andbottom.When a force is applied to these
locations, thepressure isdistributed all around the eggwith the stressesparallel tothe shell.Alternatively,when a force is applied to the sideof the egg, for instance,
when cracking an eggon the sideof abowl, the shell curvature is large and the
stresses aremostlyperpendicular to the shell, leading to an easilybroken shell.All
of the eggs arepointingup in the carton,which iswhySamer is able to standonthemwithoutbreaking them.The force thatSamer is exertingon the eggshells is
distributed evenlyover the sidesof each shellparallel to the surface. It alsohelps to
have that force spreadovermany eggs. If the eggswere not allplaced in the samedirection, the yolkwould havebeenonus.
3rd Place 2nd Place
3rd Place
TheAAPTHigh School Physics PhotoContestchallengesphysics students from around theworld to submit a photo
illustrating a physics concept. The students are required to take an original photo and include awritten summary of the physics
occurring in the photo. The photos shown herewere judged at the 2013AAPTSummerMeeting in Portland,Oregon. See the top 100 and
check for upcoming information about next year’s contest online ataapt.org/Programs/contests/photocontest.cfm.
AAPT thanks Vernier Software& Technology, Inc. for their generous support of the photo contest.
About theContest
photo high schoolphysicscontest
aapt.org
Refraction&Reflection inaPool
Matthew JayRohr
AtleeHighSchool,Mechanicsville,VA
Teacher: JeremyWatts
This photograph of stairs in a pool, taken from an underwater perspective, demonstrates the critical
angle—the angle of incidence that produces a refracted light ray parallel to the boundary between the
water and the air. The surface of thewater is at the top edge of the dark tile around the pool. Light rayswith angles of incidence that are less than the critical angle are refracted as they cross the boundary
between the twomedia,which iswhy the handrail appears to be distorted in thewhite area outside the
pool.Alternatively, light rayswith angles of incidence greater than the critical angle aren’t refracted at
all and instead are totally reflected back into thewater. In thisway, the surface of thewater acts as a
mirror reflecting the steps.
1st Place
Thisphoto illustrates a standingwave createdbyquickly spinning a stringofChristmas lights.Standing
waves are formedwhen twowaves travel inoppositedirections and interferewith eachother.By spinning
the lights atone end, anew traveling circularwave is continuously introduced,which travels to the endthat is taped to awall.On reaching thewall thewavewill reflect and travelback to theoriginwith almost
equal amplitude, interferingwith the incidentwave.When the twowaves have adisplacement inoppo-
sitedirections, adestructive interference is created and they cancel eachotherout.Thesepointsof no
movement in the string are callednodes.On theotherhand, a constructive interferenceoccurswhen the
twowaveshave adisplacement in the samedirection and they create an antinode.Antinodes arewherethewave is at amaximumdisplacement and amplitude and canbe seenby the circularpathof the lights.
This standingwavehas four nodes and three antinodes.
AStandingWave,JaimeMathew
GlenbardWestHighSchool,GlenEllyn, IL
Teacher:BruceMedic 1stPlace
TeaSpirit
MaciejWojciechOlszewski
EvanstonTownshipHighSchool,Evanston, IL
Teacher:DanielDubrow
Just anotherordinary autumnmorning—the sun shines through
thewindowsofmy living room and lights up the room.Wakingup in thisbeautifulweather, Ipreparemyself a cupofgreen
tea and set iton a table nearoneof thewindows.Soon I am
astonishedby the viewof the evaporatingwater from the teabeinghighlightedby the sunbeams.Although this is anordinary
cupof tea seton a table, thephenomenon takingplace is rarely
noticed.Given theirdistributionof speeds,manywatermoleculeshave enough kinetic energy to “overcome” the inter-molecular
forces in thewater and escape from the liquid surface,becoming
agas calledwater vapor.In collisionswith the room temperature airmolecules, the vapormolecules are cooled and condense,
changing stateback to a liquid.The condensedparticles are now
present in the formof a cloud,which is visible to the human eye.
The cloud is seendistinctlydue to the fact that the light comingin scatters from theparticles,making it easier to see and capture
with a camera.
For theLoveofBooks
ChristinaTran
GlenbardWestHighSchool,GlenEllyn, IL
Teacher:NicholasSzarzak
For thisphoto, I stacked someofmy favoritebookson topof a small candle into the shapeof aheart.The stackof
booksbeganwith threebooksdirectlyon topof eachother,
placedon topof the candle so that the candle supportedthe threebooks under their centerofmass.This setup is
similar to thatof the lever,with the candlebeing the fulcrum
and the three stackedbooksbeing thebar. Inorder to havethe stackofbooks remaining in a stateof static equilibrium,
additionalbookswere then added to the stack two at a time,
oneon each sideof the candle,withbothbooks havingapproximately equalmasses so that the candle continues to
beunder the stack’s centerofmass.This also ensures that
the torqueof thebookson either sideof the candle is equal
andopposite, creating anet torqueof0Nm and keeping theangular accelerationof the stack at0 rad/s2.With thismethod,
theheartwill notbreak.
FrostBarbs
PaigeRosemaryFrankl
CherryCreekHighSchool,GreenwoodVillage,CO
Teacher:WhitneyMernitz
This image captures a rare frost formationonwires. If a solid surface is colderthan freezing, and alsobelow the temperature atwhich the surrounding air is
saturatedwithwater vapor, thenwater vapor isdepositedon the surface as ice
crystalswithoutgoing through the liquidphase.This is frost.The specific type
of frostpictured is an exampleof advectionorwind frost that formswhen a verycoldwindblowsoverbranchesof trees,poles,orother surfaces.The sizeof frost
crystals variesdependingon the time they havebeenbuilding up, the amountof
water vapor available, and the typeof surface. In thepicture,different amountsoffrost havebuilt upon thedifferent kindsofwire.Thebasesof almost allof the ice
crystals starton the right sideof thewire.The crystalsof ice then extend towards
thedirectionof the coldwind that isbringingwater vapor into the area, just asany crystalbegins at itsbase and extendsoutward from it to the sourceof the
“mineral” (here,water vapor) that is forming the crystal.Thus, in theperspective
of thispicture, thewind isblowing from right to left.
NaturalCategory ContrivedCategory
www.vernier.com
®
WaveringCityscape,RyanBlakeMiller
UniversityTransitionProgram,Vancouver,BritishColumbia
Teacher: LudmilaShepelevThere areoften instances inour everyday liveswhen thephysics conceptof light reflection
canbeobserved.Thisphotographprovides an example.Themodern skyscrapers thatoccupydowntownVancouver,BC, are reflectedby thewatersofFalseCreek. Insteadof a simplemirror
image, the rippling andmovementof thewater creates a visually intriguing texture and addsto the artistic compositionof thephoto.From aphysics standpoint, the incident rays from the
buildings travel toward thewater andbounceoff the surface at amyriadofdifferent anglesthat correlate to the undulationof the liquid’s surface, allwhileobeying the lawof reflection.
The raysof light, having allbeen reflected atdifferent angles, travel toward the camera and arecaptured.The result is an artisticphotograph reminiscentof surrealism,which the viewer is able
to appreciate asbeing a sight that seems familiar, yetdifferent and interesting.
MoveaLittleCloser,ShaniqueShanaleeReid ClassicalMagnetSchool,Hartford,CT
Teacher:ThomasA.HollowayNormallysandpourseasilyandcanbepushedaroundwith
easebecause thereare largeairgapsand thegrains touchonly lightlyoversmallareas.However,witheachstabof the
woodenstickentering thesand, thegrainsarecompressing,causing them topackmore tightly together.Theairgaps
decrease insizeand thesandgrains rubagainsteachothermore.Theycannotmoveas freely,andstart toarrange ina
pattern thatdoesnotchange.Thesandyoucouldpreviouslypour likea liquidbecomessolid.Themoregrainsofsand
presson thewoodenstick,eachonemore tightlypackedin, thegreater the frictionbetween thestickandsand. If the
available friction forcebetween thesandandstick isat leastequal to thecombinedweightof thesandand theplastic
cup, then thebalanceof forcesmeans thestick isheld inplace.The frictionbetween thestick,sand,and thewallsof
theplasticcupallow thecup tobe lifted.
HonorableMention
CircularMotion inGymnastics,DianaAdeleGreis
CentervilleHighSchool,Centerville,OHTeacher:RaquelVonHandorf
This contrivedphoto shows agymnastperformingwhat is called a“giant” ingymnastics.Thegymnast’sbody ismappedout like amotion
diagram; the camera capturesmorepictures at the topof thegiantbecause she ismovingmore slowly and vice versa forgreater speed
at thebottom.As thegymnast approaches thedownwardposition, herpotential energydecreases, and her kinetic energy and hence rotational
speed increase.As she startsmovingback up in the rotation, kineticenergywilldecrease. If thegymnast had a rigidbody, additional energy
wouldbe needed to complete the rotationbecause energy is lostdueto frictionbetween her hands and thebar.Wheredoes the additional
energy come from?There are twoplaces in the circlewhere thegymnasthasdonework (on herself) in thepicture.On the right side,by arching
herbody andbendingher knees just slightly, she has forced her centerofmass closer to thebar. In straighteningout again at the top she has
moved her centerofmass higher.Combined,bothof thesemovesincrease her energyofmotion enough to enable her toget around the
bar, again and again.
Taste theRainbow,Marisa Jara
NotreDamePreparatorySchool,Towson,MDTeacher:PatrickCusick
Thisphotodemonstrates refraction.After seeingapicture like thisonFlickr,andwith somehelp frommydad, Icreated thiseffectbyholding
apieceofPlexiglasoveragroupofSkittles, then sprayingwateron theglass to formwaterdroplets thatactas small lenses. I shot thepicture
withmycamera lookingdown fromabove theglass, focused so that theSkittlesareblurry in thebackground, yetclear ineachdropofwater.This
creates the rainboweffect seen in thephoto.
FelineRefraction,RachelMelindaShort-Miller
BellinghamHighSchool,Bellingham,WATeacher: JohnHoffman
In thispicture, theglass sphereactsasaconvex lens,causing thebackground toappearflippedhorizontallyand vertically.Thisoptical
phenomenon isdue to light refraction.Thebackground,althoughblurryin thepicture,comes throughclearly visible in the sphere.As raysof light
pass from theair into theglass,and thenexitagain, theyarebent.Afterrefraction, rays fromapointat the topof the scene travelas if theyhad
come fromapoint in thebottomof the sphere,while the rays from thebottomof theobject, theground,appear tobecoming from the top.