Results of a questionnaire survey of 455 two- and four-year institutions on the status on noncalculus physics courses are presented. Responses from 265 questionnaires focus on enrollment, textbooks, reasons for textbook changes, laboratory manuals, and nationally standardized set of laboratory experiments. Selected comments from individual…

Reviews software produced by Cross Educational Software to teach college-advanced high school students how to determine forces/torques acting on rigid bodies in static equilibrium. Designed for use with Apple II/II+ (Applesoft), 10 minutes to one hour are required for the five low to moderate interactive tutorial programs. (Author/JN)

Describes four body-lever models (biceps, triceps, back lever when lifting, foot lever and Achilles tendon muscle) used in noncalculus physics courses. Instructions for constructing the wooden models are provided. Also describes an improvement on a centripetal-force apparatus so that it is easier to operate. (JN)

Focusing on long-term arms-race education, discusses what physicists can do to help provide students and the public with technical information needed to understand issues involved in the nuclear cold war. Suggestions provided focus on public programs, media, publications, education of physicists, arms-race courses, "enrichment in physics courses,"…

Describes a multidisciplinary project/experiment in which undergraduate students repaired a nonfunctional Helium-Neon laser. Includes experimental procedures used and results. (JN)

Describes an experiment on a coupled system in which accurate timing is carried out using a Light Activated Switch (LAS) technique. LAS can be used for a wide range of periodic phenomena, provided the amplitude is sufficiently large to interrupt a light beam. (Author/SK)

Describes a course dealing with special functions and their applications to chemical engineering problems. Its major objective is to provide an adequate understanding and appreciation of the usefulness of special functions in the modeling of problems taken from various areas of engineering and applied physics. (Author/SK)

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…

A description is given of an inexpensive nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer suitable for use in advanced laboratory courses. Applications to the nondestructive analysis of the oil content in corn seeds and in monitoring the crystallization of polymers are presented. (SK)

This article discusses the need for more accurate and complete input data and field verification of the various models of air pollutant dispension. Consideration should be given to changing the form of air quality standards based on enhanced dispersion modeling techniques. (Author/RE)

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)

Suggesting that physics need not be entirely mathematically oriented, offers examples and personal anecdotes illustrating how the applications of physics in other disciplines can be used to supplement traditional lectures and the physics of everyday phenomena. (JN)

Describes the design of a simple yet flexible microprocessor and how to construct it using a breadboard. (DC)

Following a list of six recommendations of the 1970 International Conference on Education for Physics Teaching, summarizes content and conclusions of major sessions of the 1980 Conference. Sessions focused on teaching interactions, concepts and misconceptions; evaluation and assessment, constraints and realities of physics instruction, and…