Search

We propose an experiment for investigating how objects cool down toward the thermal equilibrium with its surrounding through convection. We describe the time dependence of the temperature difference of the cooling object and the environment with an exponential decay function. By measuring the thermal constant tau, we determine the convective heat-transfer coefficient, which is a characteristic constant of the convection system., Comment: 8 pages, 2 embedded figures. Accepted for publication in The Physics Teacher

The process of heating / cooling of an object in vacuum can be studied by the known Stefan's law. Many studies have investigated this phenomenon without inquire the role of the environment and of its temperature. In this paper the author proposes an experimental method through which to study the above process, by monitoring the ambient temperature on the assumption that this can vary with an exponential law. Under this hypothesis, in defined conditions, the temporal evolution of cooling of the object is similar to the case where the con- vection and / or the conduction are the principale phenomenon of energy exchange.

Despite the sphericity of the collapsing stellar core, the birth conditions of neutron stars can be highly non spherical due to a hydrodynamical instability of the shocked accretion flow. Here we report the first laboratory experiment of a shallow water analogue, based on the physics of hydraulic jumps. Both the experiment and its shallow water modeling demonstrate a robust linear instability and nonlinear properties of symmetry breaking, in a system which is one million times smaller and about hundred times slower than its astrophysical analogue., Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Letters. Supplementary Material (6 movies) available at http://irfu.cea.fr/Projets/SN2NS/outreach.html

In this paper we discuss a pedagogical approach aimed at pointing out the role played by the Boltzmann factor in describing phenomena usually perceived as regulated by different mechanisms of functioning. Experimental results regarding some aspects of a chemical reaction and of the viscous flow of some liquids are analysed and described in terms of macroscopic variables whose temperature dependence is proportional to the Boltzmann factor. A description of a workshop implementing the approach in the framework of an undergraduate course for engineering education and some preliminary results about its pedagogical relevance are then reported.

The Boltzmann factor is the basis of a huge amount of thermodynamic and statistical physics, both classical and quantum. It governs the behaviour of all systems in nature that are exchanging energy with their environment. To understand why the expression has this specific form involves a deep mathematical analysis, whose flow of logic is hard to see and is not at the level of high school or college students' preparation. We here present some experiments and simulations aimed at directly deriving its mathematical expression and illustrating the fundamental concepts on which it is grounded. Experiments use easily available apparatuses, and simulations are developed in the Net-Logo environment that, besides having a user-friendly interface, allows an easy interaction with the algorithm. The approach supplies pedagogical support for the introduction of the Boltzmann factor at the undergraduate level to students without a background in statistical mechanics.

The Boltzmann factor is at the basis of a great amount of thermodynamic and statistical physics, both classical and quantum. It describes the behaviour of natural systems that exchange energy with the environment. However, why does the expression have that specific form? The Feynman Lectures on Physics justifies it heuristically by referencing to the "exponential atmosphere" example. Thermodynamics textbooks usually give a more or less complete explanation that mainly involves a mathematical analysis, where it is hard to see the logic flow. Moreover, the necessary mathematics is not at the level of high school or college students' preparation. Here we present an experiment and a simulation aimed at deriving the Boltzmann factor expression and illustrating the fundamental concepts and principles of statistical mechanics. Experiments and simulations are used in order to visualise the mechanisms involved; the experiments use easily available laboratory equipment, and simulations are developed in NetLogo, a software environment that, besides having a really friendly interface, allows the user to easily interact with the algorithm, as well as to modify it.