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Term
Papers: one from a list of specified topics, second on a topic you
choose
Term paper #2: due Thursday March 12, 5 pm
For
assignment, see description below
"Due by" means:
- hand in paper copy in class,
or to receptionist in Physics Department office, C121 PAB before 5 pm; PAPER COPY REQUIRED THIS TIME
- Optional: go to Catalyst
Collect-It
dropbox at https://catalysttools.washington.edu/collectit/dropbox/wilkes/4394
to submit your document file (pdf or Word .doc only, please), OR
- Your paper will be regarded as on time if you submit an
e-copy on time, even if you can't get the paper copy delivered before
the deadline. However, only content in the e-copy will be considered!
- for websites, see
instructions in drop box, or you may email URL to phys110@homer.u.washington.edu
(be sure message includes your full name and student
ID!)
before 5 pm 3/12/09.
Late papers will lose points,
or cause an incomplete grade!
Term paper #1: due Thursday Feb 19, 5 pm
Topic: One of Albert Einstein’s major contributions
- Choose from the following
- Special relativity (‘absolutes’ don’t make sense)
- Brownian motion (atoms are really there)
- Photoelectric effect (quanta are real too)
- General relativity (the shape of space)
- Paradoxes of quantum theory (does God play dice?)
- Paper can be about the science itself (descriptive), or
about the context of Einstein’s work (historical)
. Examples of the latter could be to explore influence of Mileva Maric
or Michele Besso on Einstein, or describe the work of Mach, Poincare or
Lorentz that impacted his ideas.
- Study the topic using library and web
resources (but at least one of your references must be print, not web)
- Prepare a written discussion/summary of
your topic (minimum length 5 pages double spaced, maximum length 10
pages), OR build a website on http://students.washington.edu/
- Imagine you are writing a section
for a high school physics textbook, or a popular-science book, or a
Wikipedia entry. Include graphics, references, web links, etc.
- Don't get hung up in the mechanics
of paper or web page preparation! Content is more important than
slickness. You can tape hand-drawn pictures to a typed paper if
necessary. For paper-writing help, click here
for UW resources, or here
for an excellent online help site at Purdue.
- Start work on this right away! The
clock is ticking...
Term
paper #2: due Thursday, Mar 12, 5 pm
"Due by" means: handed to
receptionist or put in JW's mailbox in Physics Department office, C121
PAB; OR email document file (pdf or doc only, please) or website URL to
JW before then. Late papers will lose points -- after Mar 17, you get
an incomplete grade!
Topics
- Choose a topic from the list of
suggestions below, or define your own topic, using these as models.
- Same instructions as above: prepare a written
discussion/summary of your topic (minimum length 5 pages double spaced,
maximum length 10 pages), or build a website on http://students.washington.edu/
- Start thinking about topics right away! The clock is
ticking...
Suggested topics:
All the following have abundant information
sources available in the library and/or on the web.
You are not limited to these topics! They
are just intended to suggest the type of report desired; feel free to
pursue your own interests. However, to avoid last-minute grief, we will
ask you to submit a proposed topic by Feb 19, so I can confirm its
suitability, or advise. Requirement: your topic must have some
significant connection to physics.
- Celestial navigation: how did people navigate before GPS?
Also: Longitude and the problem of reliable timekeeping.
- The Pythagoreans: who were they, what were their beliefs,
what was their model of the Universe, why were the persecuted, what are
their historical impacts on today's world culture?
- Aristotle's mechanics: describe in some detail Aristotelian
physical laws and arguments to support them (in reality, a collective
work of Aristotle and generations of successors). What predictions
and/or explanations did his theory make to convince people it was
correct?
- Modern (20th C. and later) models of the Universe: compare
the steady-state universe (which Einstein thought he had to accomodate
when building General Relativity), the expanding universe (which caused
Einstein to think his cosmological constant was his 'greatest
blunder'), and the current Dark Energy concept (which in effect
restored the cosmological constant).
- GPS: How does GPS navigation work? How have people made
practical use of free GPS data? Describe several especially clever or
previously-impossible applications.
- Sports physics: find applications in sports of simple
physics principles discussed in class (e.g., collisions and
trajectories in baseball and football; energy considerations in rowing,
swimming, or running; free fall and rotational motion in gymnastics,
etc).
- Pseudo-science: once again (alas), many topics!
- Fraudulent medical devices
- "Refutations" of basic scientific principles (usually
relativity or quantum theory)
- ESP/Psychics/Channelers: many people believe the jury
is still out on ESP etc, which is reasonable, but there are many
clearly fraudulent hustlers out there who use simple psychological
tricks on gullible people, and claim mystical powers - investigate
one.
- Investigate 'the Bible Code' issue, reading pro and con
papers, and support, or refute (or just critique the contenders) the
notion that predictions of the future were encoded in Judeo-Christian
scriptures, from a mathematical and statistical point of view (not
merely reiterating 'he said/she said/God said' arguments). Comment on
how 'predicting the future' interacts with our conventional view of
causality.
- 'It's just a theory' - investigate and critique the
anti-Darwinian 'creation science' movement. Argue a position on whether
such views belong in public school curricula.
- Science Fiction vs Science Fact: Prof. John Cramer of our
Department has published several mass-market sci-fi novels, and writes
a regular column in Analog Magazine on how science fiction reflects (or
distorts) current scientific results and speculation. Do a similar
review or critique for a recent sci-fi movie or book you enjoyed (or
found laughable).
- Science in entertainment and the news:
- Review favorite cliches in the movies (from 1910s to
today)
- Scientists as amoral freaks willing to destroy the
world;
- Scientists as weak nerds who need the protection of
(or are manipulated by) Real Men;
- Girl Scientists.
- Critique a pop science TV show, e.g. on the Discovery
Channel. How do they present evidence and competing models? How do such
shows compare to 'serious' documentaries, e.g. on BBC/PBS?
- Critique a TV science show aimed at elementary
school-age children: does it convey real information or just gee-whiz
one-liners? is it likely to persuade kids, for example poor kids going
to crummy schools, that science is an interesting subject and even a
possible career?
- Take a significant science-based news item and look into
the details that don't get mentioned in the 10 second sound bite on TV
news or the 1-paragraph maximum allowed for such dull topics in most
newspapers. Was the overall impression given viewers/readers accurate
or misleading, and in what ways?
- Science in public policy, politics, and law
- Global warming and the Kyoto Treaty: huge topic, many
opportunities for you.
- Take a news item in which one of the following
occurs:
- A politician or political group uses a scientific
issue to press their special agenda. Investigate the details, and
analyze the accuracy of arguments and facts presented (and their
careful editing). How can an earnest and unbiased citizen get at The
Truth? (does The Truth exist?)
- A person or group with a special agenda uses
distorted statistics to press their point, and their opponents respond
with contrary statistical distortions (plenty of material in an
election year!).
- Prosecutor/plaintiff or defendant in a court case
involving scientific evidence and expert testimony uses or abuses
science to raise doubts or press a misleading conclusion on the jury
(maybe a criminal case, or civil case alleging corporate malfeasance or
individual liability) . Historical cases, where the outcome is known
and its consequences on today's legal/liability standards are evident,
are especially interesting: e.g., Scopes Monkey Trial, OJ case (the
original one!), Bhopal or Exxon-Valdez disasters, etc.
- Realities of electrical power generation: current
status and alternative futures. Many topics here. What fraction of US
power is produced by fossil fuel, nuclear, hydro, and solar/wind power
plants? What amounts of atmospheric pollutants and nuclear waste are
produced? How is the cost of this waste currently covered? How does US
compare to similar economically-developed nations (France, Japan,
Germany) and large developing nations - China, India, Brazil? How many
oil or coal fired power plants are needed to supply current US demand?
What would total pollutant emissions be if all power plants were fossil
fueled? Same questions for nuclear power: how many plants needed to
supply all power? what amount of waste per year would have to be dealt
with?
- Read and review all or parts of the controversial book,
'The Skeptical Environmentalist', by Bjorn Lomborg. Support or refute
some of his contentions.
- How safe are alternative fuels and energy sources?
Investigate safety issues regarding hydrogen fuel for road vehicles.
- Idling energy: I suspect an enormous amount of fossil
fuel is wasted while vehicles idle in traffic. How much? Either find an
existing study on this, or make reasonable assumptions (number of
vehicles on the road, fraction of time they spend idling, fuel
consumption at idle) and do your own calculation. Hybrid cars like the
Toyota Prius eliminate this loss - which may be their most important
benefit.
- France and Japan depend upon nuclear power and are much
less dependent on foreign sources of petroleum than the USA. Why does
nuclear power work for them? How do they deal with the safety issues
(both public safety and nuclear proliferation security) and waste
management issues that have tied up the US nuclear industry for 25
years? Related topics: investigate the CANDU nuclear reactor (Canadian
reactor design, using deuterium - of which Canada happens to have the
world's biggest supply), which is claimed to be very safe and
benign.
- How practical are proposed mass-market energy sources
right now? Is solar power practical at any scale, as of today, or soon?
What about wind power (eg in California)? Tidal power (eg in Britain)?
'Practical' here means 'reasonably competitive in cost relative to
fossil fuels, and ready to replace fossil-fuel generators on a large
scale '.
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