John Dowling

Resource Letter PNAR‐1: Physics and the nuclear arms race

This collection of article and book references was assembled to help physicists understand and teach about the nuclear arms race. Both technical and political aspects are covered. Entries are therefore marked as elementary for the layman (E), intermediate for college freshman (I), and advanced for the college senior or graduate student (A) for both the technical (t) and the social (s) aspects. Articles or books which are excerpted in a reprint volume (to be published separately by the American Association of Physics Teachers) are marked with an asterisk (*).

The first spin‐offs from the strategic defense initiative

President Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) is a plan to make nuclear weapons impotent and obsolete. Physicists have a professional interest in such a program because SDI involves high‐power lasers, x‐ray lasers, particle beams, large astronomical mirrors, computers, increased space shuttle program, etc. SDI is of interest to physics teachers because there are many important physical problems that must be resolved before this defense system will work. In this article several problems that SDI needs to address are sketched. There is a short discussion of each problem, but no detailed solutions or answers. Physics teachers can use these problems to discuss the various aspects of SDI that are germane to ‘‘Science and Society’’ type physics courses.

The thermostat—turn it down

The energy saved in turning the thermostat down overnight is examined. The model for the house is a 1500‐ml water‐filled beaker. The beaker is in an ice–water bath. The energy required to maintain the beaker at TH (20 °C), TL (15 °C), and to raise the temperature from TL to TH is determined. Times to cool and heat are noted. The data are extrapolated to fit typical house situations, and resultant energy savings are shown.

Canning—an approach to the physics laboratory

This paper is a reexamination of the concept of a canned computer lab. The canned computer lab uses a stored computer program to perform calculations, analyze data, determine errors, and to ask questions after a student performs a lab. Primary use of the canned lab is for computer−disadvantaged institutions with no on−line facilities. The educational and software advantages and disadvantages of this approach are discussed. Conclusions and anti−conclusions reached after over two years use of canned labs are given. An appendix gives a sample output for the ballistic pendulum lab.