Today you will make a file titled "Modern Physics Research" as a place to keep your notes and websites.1. Go to the "Finder"
2. Go to "Applications" and open the "TextEdit" program
3. Save the TextEdit file as "Modern Physics Research" and save it to you desktop.
4. Find your topic and five main ideas on this blog post and copy and paste it into your TextEdit file.
5. For each main idea (1-5) list the websites and any notes that are important to each idea.
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Don't Forget:
1. Use four different, reliable resources
a. Cite all sources using proper MLA citation format (use bibme.org)
2. Profile at least one scientist who played a role in a discovery related to this topic
Research Topics:
Nuclear Physics Topic #1
1. Explain the steps of a fission reaction.
2. Describe and compare the products of a fission reaction (What is emitted? What substances are produced?)
3. Give two examples of fission reactions, including the reactants (what goes in) and the products (what comes out.) Be sure to note light and heavy elements.
4. Explain how fission reactions are useful for the generation of power. Include benefits and concerns related to nuclear power plants.
5. Explain how fission reactions have been used for political and military purposes (nuclear weapons and nuclear powered submarines.)
Nuclear Physics Topic #2
1. Explain the steps of a fusion reaction.
2. Describe and compare the products of a fusion reaction (What is emitted? What substances are produced?)
3. Give two examples of fusion reactions, including the reactants (what goes in) and the products (what comes out.) Be sure to note light and heavy elements.
4. Discuss naturally occurring fusion reactions in stars.
5. Explain the possible benefits of harnessing fusion reactions to generate power, and discuss the obstacles that have prevented the use of fusion reactions to generate power.
Nuclear Physics Topic #3
1. Explain why some substances undergo nuclear (or radioactive) decay.
2. Discuss the products of nuclear decay (what is emitted by radioactive materials?).
3. Discuss some dangers associated with nuclear decay.
4. Explain how radioactive materials can be useful in medicine and/or industry.
5. Give at least three important uses for radioactive materials.
Einstein’s Physics Topic #1
1. Describe the gravitational field surrounding a large mass.
2. Discuss the difficulty of visualizing curved space-time (extra dimensions).
3. Explain why a uniform gravitational field is equivalent to a uniform acceleration.
4. Detail an experiment that verified Einstein's theory of General Relativity.
5. Describe how black holes and the big bang theory followed from General Relativity.
Einstein’s Physics Topic #2
1. Describe how time may be measured differently for two observers watching a "light clock" when one person is moving near the speed of light relative to someone else.
2. Explain the "twin paradox."
3. Discuss why objects can never travel faster than the speed of light (what happens to matter as more energy is added at very fast speeds?).
4. Explain how E=mc2 describes the tremendous amount of energy stored in small particles of matter.
5. Describe the relativistic effects for a muon as it makes its trip through the earth's atmosphere (what happens to an object moving near the speed of light).
Quantum Physics Topic #1
1. Describe the problems that led Heisenberg to create the uncertainty principle.
2. Express the uncertainty principle in one simple statement.
3. Describe the relationship of Planck’s constant to the uncertainty principle.
4. Explain why any time you measure a property of something you have to alter it.
5. Discuss how uncertainty has changed classical (Newtonian) physics to show that the universe is unpredictable.
Quantum Physics Topic #2
1. Explain why light should be considered a wave and a particle.
2. Discu ss the importance of the double-slit experiment in proving wave behavior.
3. Detail an experiment that proved De Broglie's hypothesis.
4. Describe how De Broglie changed the model of an atom.
5. Demonstrate how De Broglie's hypothesis can determine the wavelength of any object.
