The author argues that a Lagrangian that yields equations of motion for a damped simple harmonic oscillator does not describe this system, but a completely different physical system, and constructs a physical system that the Lagrangian describes and derives some of its properties. (Author/GA)

Discussions about the meaning of quantum mechanics remain stymied as a result of the failure of physicists to formulate a cognitive paradigm adequate to their theory. Explains why conventional interpretations are inadequate, and proposes a psychological explanation for the persistence of classical beliefs. (Author/GA)

Establishes and illustrates a formal analogy between the motion of a particle and the "motion" of the equilibrium state of a homogeneous system in a quasistatic process. The purpose is to show that there is a much larger set of natural coordinate transformations in thermodynamics. (GA)

Presents a simplified derivation of the equilibrium distribution functions. The derivation proceeds from the change in the Helmholtz free energy when a particle is added to a system of fixed temperature, volume, and chemical potential. The derivations show the relationship between statistical mechanics and macroscopic thermodynamics. (Author/GA)

Analyzes the transmission coefficient for a completely general one-dimensional rectangular potential, or well, simply by concentrating on psi squared rather than psi. Gives graphs of all cases of psi squared. (Author/GA)

Describes an experiment in which an air table is used to measure the moment of inertia of air pucks with various radii and mass loadings. (BT)

Gives a brief description of open-circuit wind tunnels of rectangular cross-section and of how expanded polystyrene can be used to build a small one. (Author/GA)

This simple and inexpensive experiment is an illustration of the physical concepts of interaction between light and surface tension waves, and provides a new method of measuring surface tension. (Author/GA)

Derives the density matrix that best describes, according to information theory, a one-dimensional single particle quantum system when the only information available is the values for the linear and quadratic position-momentum moments. (Author/GA)

Discusses the principal of formation of shadows, and the speed involved with their appearance or disappearance. (GA)

Discusses the effect of vehicle mass on stopping distances. Analyzes an example of a sample vehicle and tire, and calculates the braking acceleration showing the effect of different factors on the stopping performance of the tires. (GA)

Describes the design of an experiment that is used to determine the acceleration of an accelerating system with the help of an airtrack and a pendulum. (GA)

Derives an explicit representation of the permutation operator in terms of coordinate and momentum operators. (Author/GA)

Presents an examination of graphical displays of solutions to time-dependent Schrodinger equation modeling a laser-excited three-level atom. It suggests that an energy level may be regarded as virtual when it is detuned from resonance by more than two Rabi frequencies. (Author/HM)

Describes the use of images on an overhead projector to explain concepts like centrifugal force and Cariolis force in such a way that students can realize that they are pseudo-forces, i.e., observations arising only from referring phenomena to an accelerating reference system. (MLH)