Students are introduced to the physics concepts of air resistance and launch angle as they apply to catapults. This includes the basic concepts of position, velocity and acceleration and their relationships to one another. They use algebra to solve for one variable given two variables.

In this lesson, students learn that light travels in a straight line from a light source and that ray diagrams help us understand how an image will be created by a lens. In the accompanying activity, students explore the concepts behind the workings of a pinhole camera.

To further their understanding of sound energy, students identify the different pitches and frequencies created by a vibrating ruler and a straw kazoo. They create high- and low-pitch sound waves.

Description of the processes by which mass, momentum, and energy are transported in plasmas, with special reference to magnetic confinement fusion applications. The Fokker-Planck collision operator and its limiting forms, as well as collisional relaxation and equilibrium, are considered in detail. Special applications include a Lorentz gas, Brownian motion, alpha particles, and runaway electrons. The Braginskii formulation of classical collisional transport in general geometry based on the Fokker-Planck equation is presented. Neoclassical transport in tokamaks, which is sensitive to the details of the magnetic geometry, is considered in the high (Pfirsch-Schluter), low (banana) and intermediate (plateau) regimes of collisionality.

In this lesson, students learn about echolocation: what it is and how engineers use it to "see" things in the dark, or deep underwater. Also, they learn how animals use echolocation to catch their dinner and travel the ocean waters and skies without running into things.

This course presents the mechanical, optical, and transport properties of polymers with respect to the underlying physics and physical chemistry of polymers in melt, solution, and solid state. Topics include conformation and molecular dimensions of polymer chains in solutions, melts, blends, and block copolymers; an examination of the structure of glassy, crystalline, and rubbery elastic states of polymers; thermodynamics of polymer solutions, blends, crystallization; liquid crystallinity, microphase separation, and self-assembled organic-inorganic nanocomposites. Case studies include relationships between structure and function in technologically important polymeric systems.

Students design and build paper rockets around film canisters, which serve as engines. An antacid tablet and water are put into each canister, reacting to form carbon dioxide gas, and acting as the pop rocket's propellant. With the lid snapped on, the continuous creation of gas causes pressure to build up until the lid pops off, sending the rocket into the air. The pop rockets demonstrate Newton's third law of motion: for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Working in teams, students learn the basics of fluid power design using the PFPD as their investigative platform. They investigate the similarities and differences between using pneumatic and hydraulic power in the PFPD. With the main components of the PFPD already assembled, student groups determine the correct way to connect the valves to the actuators using colored, plastic tubing. Once connected, they compete in timed challenges to test their abilities to separate material out of containers using the PFPDs. NOTE: No special pre-requisite knowledge is required for students to be successful in this activity.

Students investigate the accuracy of sundials and the discrepancy that lies between "real time" and "clock time." They track the position of the sun during the course of a relatively short period of time as they make a shadow plot, a horizontal sundial, and a diptych sundial. (The activity may be abridged to include only one or two of the different sundials, instead of all three.)

Students learn about the mechanical advantage offered by pulleys in an interactive and game-like manner. By virtue of the activity's mechatronic presentation, they learn to study a mechanical system not as a static image, but rather as a dynamic system that is under their control. Using a LEGO® MINDSTORMS® robotics platform and common hardware items, students build a mechanized elevator system. The ability to control different parameters (such as motor power, testing load and pulley arrangement) enables the teacher, as well as the students, to emphasize and reinforce particular aspects/effects of mechanical advantage.

Students use balloons (a polymer) to explore preconditioning a viscoelastic material behavior that is important to understand when designing biomedical devices. They improve their understanding of preconditioning by measuring the force needed to stretch a balloon to the same displacement multiple times. Students gain experience in data collection and graph interpretation.

Acting as civil engineers hired by the U.S. Department of Transportation to research how to best use piezoelectric materials to detect road damage, student groups are challenged to independently create their own experiment procedures, working with given materials and tools. The general approach is that they set up model roads using rubber mats to simulate asphalt and piezoelectric transducers to simulate the in-ground road sensors. They drop heavy bolts at various locations on the “road,” collecting data and then analyzing the voltage changes across the piezoelectric transducers caused by the vibrations of the bolt hitting the rubber. After making notches in the rubber “road” to simulate cracks and potholes, they collect more data to see if the piezo elements detect the damage. Students write up their research and conclusions as if presenting evidence to USDOT officials about how the voltage changes across the piezo elements can be used to indicate road damage and extrapolated to determine when roads need maintenance service.

Studies the principles of deterministic optimal control. Variational calculus and Pontryagin's maximum principle. Applications of the theory, including optimal feedback control, time-optimal control, and others. Dynamic programming and numerical search algorithms introduced briefly.

An introduction to pharmacology. Topics include mechanisms of drug action, dose-response relations, pharmacokinetics, drug delivery systems, drug metabolism, toxicity of pharmacological agents, drug interactions, and substance abuse. Selected agents and classes of agents examined in detail.

This set of study guides and homework materials was created for Principles of Physics II under a Round Six ALG Textbook Transformation Grant.

This set of study guides and homework materials was created for Principles of Physics I under a Round Six ALG Textbook Transformation Grant.

Explores the interaction of radiation with matter at the microscopic level from both the theoretical and experimental viewpoints. Emphasis on radiation effects in biological systems. Topics include energy deposition by various types of radiation, including the creation and behavior of secondary radiations; the effects of radiation on cells and on DNA; and experimental techniques used to measure these radiation effects. Cavity theory, microdosimetry and methods used to simulate radiation track structure are reviewed. Examples of current literature used to relate theory, modeling, and experimental methods. Requires a term paper and presentation. The central theme of this course is the interaction of radiation with biological material. The course is intended to provide a broad understanding of how different types of radiation deposit energy, including the creation and behavior of secondary radiations; of how radiation affects cells and why the different types of radiation have very different biological effects. Topics will include: the effects of radiation on biological systems including DNA damage; in vitro cell survival models; and in vivo mammalian systems. The course covers radiation therapy, radiation syndromes in humans and carcinogenesis. Environmental radiation sources on earth and in space, and aspects of radiation protection are also discussed. Examples from the current literature will be used to supplement lecture material.

1. Introduction to Process Intensification (PI):
- sustainability-related issues in process industry;
- definitions of Process Intensification;
- fundamental principles and approaches of PI.

2. How to design a sustainable, inherently safer processing plant
- presentation of PI case study assignments.

3. PI Approaches:
- STRUCTURE - PI approach in spatial domain (incl. "FOCUS ON" guest lecture)
- ENERGY - PI approach in thermodynamic domain
- SYNERGY - PI approach in functional domain
- TIME - PI approach in temporal domain
Study Goals
Basic knowledge in Process Intensification

Students watch video clips from October Sky and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone to learn about projectile motion. They explore the relationships between displacement, velocity and acceleration and calculate simple projectile motion. The objective of this activity is to articulate concepts related to force and motion through direct immersive interaction based on the theme, The Science Behind Harry Potter. Students' interest is piqued by the use of popular culture in the classroom.

Blast a Buick out of a cannon! Learn about projectile motion by firing various objects. Set the angle, initial speed, and mass. Add air resistance. Make a game out of this simulation by trying to hit a target.