Since Maxwell's relations are derived in general form from the first to second laws, and students often wonder what they mean and how they are used, appropriate partition functions for van der Waals gas and the nuclear paramagnetic system are used to obtain entropy expressions and equations of state. (Author/SK)

Describes an exercise, suitable for use on programmable calculators or microcomputers, to calculate some of the rapidly processing orbits of a mass M near a static black hole star of mass M. (SK)

A model is introduced for the simulation of Boltzmann-like binary interactions which may be extended to exhibit the effect of angular dependence in the scattering cross section and other dynamical aspects of two-body interactions. (Author/SK)

Simpler than x-ray diffractometer experiments, the experiment described illustrates certain concepts regarding the interaction of electromagnetic rays with matter such as the exponential decrease in the intensity with absorber thickness, variation of the coefficient of absorption with energy, and the effect of the K-absorption edge on the…

Discusses the development of the Rutherford-Bohr atom. Indicates how the objectives of the historian may differ from those of the retrospecting or historicizing physicist. (Author/SK)

Presents the outline of an approach related to the teaching of the chapter on bound and scattering states in a short-range potential, which forms a standard part of an undergraduate quantum mechanics course or nuclear physics course. (HM)

Discusses how the Runge-Lenz vector provides a way to derive the relation between deflection angle and impact parameter for Coulomb- and Kepler-fields in a very simple and a straightforward way. (Author/HM)

Describes a self-consistent-field-linear combination of atomic orbitals-molecular orbital calculation on the valence electrons of lithium hydride using the method of Roothaan. This description is intended for undergraduate physics students.

Uses computer graphics and nonstationary, superposition wave functions to reveal the dynamic quantum trajectories of several molecular and electronic transitions. These methods are then coupled with classical electromagnetic theory to provide a conceptually clear picture of the emission process and emitted radiation localized in time and space.…

Introduces an experiment that can be demonstrated in the classroom to show that shear waves, Rayleigh waves, and Lamb waves can be easily generated and observed by means of mode conversion. (Author/CS)

The bound electron self-energy or Lamb shift is calculated in nonrelativistic quantum electrodynamics. Retardation is retained and also an interaction previously dropped in other nonrelativistic approaches is kept. Results are finite without introducing a cutoff and lead to a Lamb shift in hydrogen of 1030.9 MHz. (Author/JN)

The general problem of mass accretion by a drop falling through a cloud of droplets is considered as an exercise in introductory or intermediate mechanics. The kinematic behavior of the falling drop is deduced for a variety of mechanisms of mass accretion, and some special limiting conditions are discussed. (Author/SK)

Presents selective and representative evidence relating to the genesis of the theory of special relativity. The evidence seems to defy most of the philosophic preconceptions which many physics teachers appear to have about the nature of physics. (GA)

Several standard arguments which attempt to show that the wave function and its derivative must be continuous across jump discontinuities of the potential are reviewed and their defects discussed. (Author/HM)

Presents a calculation of the precession of the perihelion of Mercury due to the perturbations from the outer planets. The time-average effect of each planet is calculated by replacing that planet with a ring of linear mass density equal to the mass of the planet divided by the circumference of its orbit. (Author/GA)