Assignment:
You will research a topic in modern physics from the list below and give a short presentation. Each topic is a basic concept or idea in modern physics (related to quantum mechanics, general relativity, or particle physics)
You will be allotted 5-10 minutes to present (1) the basic concept or idea of your topic, and (2) highlight the significance/applications (current or future) of your topic. You may use the chalkboard or the projector (powerpoint, youtube, other animations) to aid in your presentation, but this is not mandatory.
The main goals of this assignment are for the class to learn together about modern physics concepts, and for you to have opportunities to practice oral presentations/physics storytelling.
JJ Thomson and the Plum Pudding Model
Video - Plum pudding Model (Veritasium, 2:16)
Cathode Rays - Thomson's model (Veritasium, 3:12)
Ernest Rutherford, Gold Leaf Experiment
Video - Discovery of the Atomic Nucleus (Brian Cox, 3:27)
Black Body Radiation and the "Ultraviolet Catastrophe", Planck's Quantum Hypothesis
Video - The Ultraviolet Catastrophe (PhysicsGirl, 6:31)
Video - The Origin of Quantum of Mechanics (MinutePhysics, Neil Turok, 4:19)
Video - Origin of Planck's Constant (Physica, 3:27)
Photoelectric effect and photons (the wave-particle duality of light)
Video - The Photoelectric Effect (Open Mind, 2:35)
Video - Demonstration of the Photoelectric Effect (National STEM Centre, 3:04)
Video - Is light a particle or a wave? (TED ED, Colm Kelleher, 4:24)
Digital Photography and CCDs (Charge Coupled Devices) - application of the Photoelectric effect
Video - CCD: The heart of a digital camera (The Engineer Guy, 4:26)
Niels Bohr's atomic model (shells/energy levels)
Video - The Bohr Atom (Bozeman Science, 6:20)
Louis De Broglie's matter waves (the wave-particle duality of matter)
Video - Wave Model of an Electron (Bozeman Science, 4:01)
Video - The de Broglie Wavelength and Wave Particle Duality (Physics Online, 4:28)
Video - Seeing the smallest thing in the world (Physics Girl, 5:50)
Electron Microscopes - application of matter's wave-particle duality
Video - The Scanning Electron Microscope (Materials Science 2000, 9:38)
Schrodinger's Wave Equation
Video - What is the wave function? (Scientific American Instant Egghead, 3:06)
Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle
Video - What is the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle? (TED ED, Chad Orzel, 4:44)
Video - The Uncertain Location of Electrons (TED ED, 3:46)
Video - Demonstration of Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle (Veritasium, 4:12)
Quantum tunneling
Video - What is quantum tunneling? (Minute Physics, 1:04)
Video - How the sun works: fusion and quantum tunneling (Minute Physics, 1:06)
Scanning tunneling microscopes - application of quantum tunneling
Video - Surface studies with a scanning tunneling microscope (6:23)
Types of Radioactive Decay, Marie Curie - radioactivity pioneer
Video - Types of Nuclear Radiation (Fermilab, 9:22)
Video - The Genius of Marie Curie (TED-ED, 5:03)
Half-life and radiocarbon dating
Video - How does radiocarbon dating work? (Scientific American Instant Egghead, 2:10)
Wave functions and quantum numbers - how to describe a quantum particle?
Video - Quantum Numbers (Khan Academy, 12:00)
Pauli Exclusion Principle - why is the Periodic Table shaped the way it is?
Video - Pauli Exclusion Principle (Casseiopeia Project, 3:55)
Subatomic Particles: Bosons and Fermions
Video - Bosons and Fermions (Fermilab, 6:11)
Video - Fundamental Particles (Bozeman Science, 4:19)
The "Standard Model" of Particle Physics
Video - CERN: The Standard Model of Particle Physics (Best of Science, 5:02)
Quarks - elementary particle of nature
Video - What are quarks? (Physics Girl, 4:18)
Transistors and microelectronics - quantum technology that has changed the world
Video - Transistors - The invention that changed the world (Real Engineering, 8:11)
Lasers - basic principles and applications
Video - How a laser works (The Engineer Guy, 4:52)
Video - Physicist Explains Lasers in 5 Levels of Difficulty (WIRED, 24:36) - featuring Donna Strickland, 2018 Nobel Prize Winner
Richard Feynman's Quantum Electrodynamics (QED) - how do light and matter interact?
Video - Quantum Electrodynamics - Theory (Fermilab, 7:21)
Video - QED (Professor Dave, 4:20)
Schrodinger’s Cat - Quantum mechanics and the nature of reality
Video - Schrodinger's cat: A thought experiment in quantum mechanics (TED ED, Chad Orzel, 4:38)
Quantum entanglement
Video - Quantum Entanglement (Piled Higher and Deeper, 7:10)
Video - Quantum Entanglement and Spooky Action at a Distance (Veritasium, 9:15)
Quantum computing
Video - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau talks about quantum computing (CBC, 1:14)
Video - Quantum Computer Expert Explains One Concept in 5 Levels of Difficulty (WIRED, 19:27) - featuring Talia Gershon
Video - How does a Quantum Computer work? (Veritasium, 6:46)
General Relativity - basic ideas
Video - Einstein's General Theory of Relativity (3:00)
Video - Einstein 100 - Theory of General Relativity (3:04)
Video - Why gravity is not a force (Veritasium, 17:33)
Experimental Evidence for General Relativity (Arthur Eddington and the Solar Eclipse)
Video - How an eclipse proved Einstein right (PBS NOVA, 1:58)
Video - General Relativity: The Curvature of Spacetime (Professor Dave, 6:19)
Paul Dirac: matter and antimatter
Video - Antimatter Explained (MinutePhysics, 3:35)
Video - What is antimatter? (Fermilab, 4:24)
The Steady State Theory
The Big Bang Theory
Video - The beginning of the universe, for beginners (TED-ED, 3:41)
Video - The beginning of everything - The Big Bang (Kurzgesagt, 5:54)
String Theory
Video - String Theory Explained - What is the true nature of reality? (Kurzgesagt, 8:00)
Vera Rubin and Dark Matter
Video - What is Dark Matter? (Physics Girl, 5:33)
Video - Vera Rubin Lives on in the Lives of Women She Helped in Astronomy (Scientific American, 5:50)
Dark Energy
Video - Dark Energy (Crash Course Astronomy, 11:22)
Video - What is dark energy, and what does it have to do with Einstein? (World Science Festival, Brian Greene, 3:41)
Higgs Boson and the Higgs Field
Video - The Higgs Field, explained (TED ED, Don Lincoln, 3:20)
Video - The Higgs Boson Explained (PhD Comics, 7:49)
Hubble Telescope or James Webb Space Telescope
Video - 26 of the best images captured by the Hubble Telescope(7:59)
Video - The 1995 Hubble Photo that changed astronomy (Vox, 5:26)
Video - Intro to the Webb Space Telescope (NASA Goddard, 3:43)
Video - Highlights: First Images from the James Webb Space Telescope (NASA 3:20)