Discusses data from tests and videotaped interviews indicating conceptual primitives as a source of student difficulty in physics. These include key concepts (mass, acceleration) and fundamental principles/models (Newton's and conservation laws, atomic model). Demonstrates that misconceptions can be studied using problems of minimum complexity to…

Describes a circuit designed to measure time-of-flight velocity and shows how to use it to determine bullet velocity in connection with the ballistic pendulum demonstration of momentum conservation. (Author/GA)

Describes a systematic study of skills for solving problems in basic physics. Also discusses how detailed observations of individuals were used to formulate models for problem-solving processes in mechanics and applications for teaching basic college physics or engineering courses. (HM)

Reports results of a large-scale study that investigated the knowledge of gravity and related principles of mechanics possessed by first-year physics students (N=468) at Monash University, Australia. One conclusion is that students know a lot of physics but do not relate it to the everyday world. (CS)

Discusses parametric oscillators and parametric instability. A simple, easy-to-construct system which exhibits parametric instability is presented. The two lowest-order resonances are described and analyzed in detail. The analysis stresses the physical and intuitive aspects of the problem. (Author/HM)

Describes the basic procedures for use of an electron-spin resonance spectrometer and potassium azide (KN3) in an experiment which extends from the phase of sample preparation (crystal growth, sample mounting, and orientation) through data taking to the stages of calculation and theoretical explanation. (Author/DS)

Describes the nineteenth century wave machines which can be found in the Smithsonian Institution, at Kenyon, and other colleges. Included is information about the apparatus, queries, and descriptions of different wave machines and how they work. Information included may inspire the reader with similar apparatus to repair it and use it again.…

Discusses the trials done by physicists to understand unfamiliar nuclear physics events taking place in the air. Also briefly describes the effects of detecting the primary cosmic ray. (Author/SK)

This article discusses in detail the totally symmetric three-quark karyonic wave functions. The two-body mesonic states are also discussed. A brief review of the experimental efforts to identify the quark model multiplets is given. (Author/SK)

Describes a study investigating the combined effect of certain variables on student achievement in classical mechanics. The purpose was to (1) describe preinstructional knowledge and skills; (2) correlate these variables with the student's success in learning classical mechanics; and (3) develop hypothesis about relationships between these…

Discusses the frequency of the circular movement of freely moving balls on rotating discs. A theoretical solution is given. (HM)

Derived is the classical partition function for the rotation of a rigid asymmetric molecule, by a transformation of variables in the phase integral circumventing the cumbersome manipulation of the canonical prescription. (Author/GA)

Describes an experiment which uses a radioactive source, a Sodium Iodide detector, and a simple counting apparatus possessed by most universities and colleges. The decay scheme and the theory of nuclear beta decay are presented. (Author/SA)

Describes an elastic Foucault pendulum designed to demonstrate how the rotation of the plane of oscillation depends on geographical latitude, and shows that this rotation vanishes at the equator. (GA)

Describes a pendulum in which the spherical bob can roll on a track of the same arc as it swings when suspended by a cord. Comparison of the motion in the two mentioned cases shows the effect of rotational kinetic energy when the bob rolls. (GA)