English for Physicists I - ZS 2020
Osnova týdnů
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Dear students,
Until further notice, this course will be in the form of distance learning.
We will have lesson via Zoom at regular class time: Wed 14:50.
Here's the link:
https://cuni-cz.zoom.us/j/98145571700?pwd=dHhMK2hVSWNCSXhjVEhSUUwyVFJUdz09
Meeting ID: 981 4557 1700
Passcode: 163948
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Dear students,
Please read and study the two short documents in the link ("The Origins of Physics") and prepare 2 questions based on the material in each document (i.e. 4 questions in total). You don't need to hand it in.
I hope to discuss this material, and other things, at a live lesson next week at our regular lesson time, or perhaps a little later, using MS Teams. I will send you confirmation before then, along with instructions on how to use MS Teams.
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(I have a new microphone, so next week's lesson will be better.)
For next week's lesson, please prepare a short (5-minute) oral presentation on your specialization.
Try to present it in a way that would convince your audience to want to study your specialization.
(Do not present detailed calculations of your research.)
If you are a first-year student and have not yet chosen a specialization, then just imagine that you have chosen one and present it.
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In our last class students gave short presentations of their specializations and answered questions from the audience. We discussed certain vocabulary that arose as well as some issues with pronunciation.
(Those of you who didn't make it to class should be prepared to give your presentation next time. )
We talked about laws and effects and noted the grammatical structure: E.g.:
Newton's Laws (possessive, no article)
The Photoelectric Effect (definite article, no possessive)
In our next class students will give short presentations on an effect. These were assigned as follows:
Šimon Knoška
The Doppler Effect
Petr Koutenský
Brownian Motion
Šimon Pošta
The Casimir Effect
Vitalii Uvarov
The Photoelectric Effect
Dominika Hubová
?
Peter Krásný
?
Liliia Uvarova
?
In addition to explaining what the effect is, you may include how it was discovered, what motivated physicists to notice it, what repercussions the discovery had, or any other information you find interesting and relevant.
My apologies to those of you who tried to come to the last lesson but weren't let in. I must've not noticed it in Zoom. If that happens again you can try sending me an email immediately and I should see that.
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- We started by talking informally about technical problems that commonly occur in distance learning.
- We watched a video demonstrating the Hall Effect and answered questions about it.
- Why does he begin his lecture in a corridor?
- What is the Lorentz force?
- Why does he put the magnet in a film container?
- Why does he put a sheet of aluminium between the magnet and the beam?
- What was the question posed by Edwin Hall?
- What effect does a magnetic field have on a current in a wire?
- What is Ohm’s Law?
- What’s the use of all this?
- Our table on presentations on famous "Effects" in physics is almost complete:
Šimon Knoška
The Doppler Effect
Petr Koutenský
Brownian Motion
Šimon Pošta
The Casimir Effect
Vitalii Uvarov
The Photoelectric Effect
Dominika Hubová
?
Peter Krásný
Cherenkov Radiation
Liliia Uvarova
Jahn-Teller Effect
- Homework:
Next Wednesday is a state holiday and so instead of class we will be celebrating Czechoslovak Independence.
Our next class will be on November 4.
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No class this week. See you Nov. 4.
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In our previous lesson, we continued with student presentations on various well-known "Effects".
We also read a text about Hooke's Law.
This served as a lead-in to Cavendish's famous experiment, which we did not discuss.
NEXT PRESENTATION: A Famous Experiment.
- As usual, the presentation should be concise, i.e. short but complete.
- You may include what motivated the experimenter to perform the experiment, as well as what impact it had on physics, society, the world, etc.
- Try to ask the audience questions to see if they are paying attention. :-)
- The audience should listen attentively, take notes, and be prepared to ask at least one question to the presenter.
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Read a physics journal article and write a summary/review of 1-2 pages.
One page is approx. 300 words.
But don't worry about the word count. A good structure to follow is: (1) one paragraph describing what motivated the experiment, (2) one paragraph describing the procedure, (3) one paragraph describing the impact/ramifications of the experiment.
Try to avoid excessive details. I'm more interested in how you are able to summarize information.
If you require more than 2 pages, that's fine. But not too much more, please. :-)
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We had two more presentations on effects: The Jahn-Teller Effect and Brownian Motion.
We completed a gap text based on Hooke's Law, which we read the previous week. The full text is provided below for reference.
We clarified that the journal article review will be in the form of a writing assignment and that the next series of presentations will be on famous experiments.
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Last week we listened to presentations on famous effects:
- The Photoelectric Effect
- The Casimir Effect
We also had presentations on famous experiments:
- The Cereal-Magnet Experiment
- The Galilean Cannon (with a demonstration!)
- The Michelson-Morley Experiment
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We had a presentation on the Hafele-Keating Experiment.
We watched a video on the discovery of Neptune, which was discovered in a truly scientific way, and answered questions about it.
We read a text on how Heisenberg achieved his doctorate and shared our similar experiences.
Finally, we watched a 1-minute video of kinematics and the students were given 5 minutes to write a description of what they saw, and email it to me.
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Vytvořit odpověď
Fill in the gaps in the text with appropriate words.
(Hint: they are all verbs. Be sure to use the correct tense.)
For each answer, also provide an alternate answer (synonym), if possible.
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Answers to Heisenberg Gap Text Soubor
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We went over the HW (written descriptions of a kinematics video), pointing out issues with articles, punctuation, and prepositions.
We talked about what to do and what not to do in a presentation.
For homework:
- prepare to give a 5-minute presentation involving calculations to solve a physics problem.
(I demonstrated by presenting this very short physics problem using the white board:
"A neutron passes two points 6.0 m apart in a time interval of 180 μs. Assuming that its speed is constant, find its kinetic energy." I went through the calculation, saying what I was doing each step. The answer turned out to be 5.8 eV."
The focus is on the language of performing mathematical operations and problem-solving.
- We read the first page of a text on "Electric Charge".
- We watched another short video, this time on electrostatics, and the students were given 5-minutes to write what they saw and why it happened.
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We went over the students' written descriptions of the Van de Graaff generator.
We had two presentations of solutions to physics problems.
We watched another 1-minute video and students had to write a paragraph describing what they saw.
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We went over the students' paragraphs on standing waves, highlighting mistakes in articles, prepositions, and tenses.
No presentations.
We read a paragraph entitled: "Newton was a decidedly odd figure"
For homework: present an unusual anecdote from the life of a famous physicist.
We listened to an excerpt from a book on Propagation of Errors, about the differences between systematic errors, random errors, accuracy, and precision.
We watched another 1-minute clip without sound and students wrote a paragraph describing what they saw and why it happened.