Meeting Information ...4 Welcome to Washington, DC ...6 First Time at a Meeting
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AAPT Program Meeting Information ........................... 4 Session Finder .................................. 28 Welcome to Washington, D.C. ............ 6 Workshop Abstracts.......................... 31 First Time at a Meeting ........................ 8 SESSION ABSTRACTS Awards/Plenaries ........................ 10–14 Sunday ......................................... 37 Special Events .................................. 15 Monday ....................................... .40 Bus Schedule/Information ................. 16 Tuesday ........................................ 71 Wednesday ................................ 105 Session Sponsor List ........................ 17 Committee Meetings ......................... 18 Index of Participants ....................... 122 Exhibitor Information ........................ 19 Index of Advertisers ....................... 124 Commercial Workshops .................... 23 AAPT Contributors .......................... 125 Meeting at a Glance ........................... 24 Map of Exhibit Hall .......................... 126 SIMPLE PHYSICS. 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Add to this, the excite- ment of being in the Nation’s Capital—with all of its historic, cultural, recreational, and political activi- ties, and personally, I can’t wait to experience the fruition of these many months of planning! You will experience a number of changes for this winter’s meeting, for example, 36-minute invited talks and 12-minute contributed ones, two exciting plenary sessions featuring three talks each, and a joint exhibit area with a gala reception at 7 p.m. on Sunday. A very special Bridging Session on Saturday evening begins a dialogue that will focus on ways in which the United States is addressing President Obama’s call to make STEM education a national priority. (I hope that the significance of this session and the high caliber of the speakers will hush the grumbling about Saturday workshops beginning at 7:30 a.m.!) Our proximity to the Smithsonian Institution has inspired a workshop entitled “Behind the Scenes at the Smithsonian,” and a session called “Exploring the Nation’s Attic,” and hopefully you will also schedule some time to walk to the corner Woodley Park Metro station, and visit one or more museums. Our presence in the U.S. seat of power has inspired the sessions “Physicists Inside the Beltway,” “Sell- ing Physics Research and Education to Congress,” and “Policy and Women,” and the meeting’s theme, “Physics for the Nation’s Future.” And, perhaps you will feel inspired to share your views with our law- makers on Congressional Visit Day, Friday, Feb. 12, organized by APS. If all of this hasn’t piqued your interest, maybe the session “Secrecy and Physics,” and the showing of “Secrecy”—a film about the vast, invisible world of government secrecy—will! The headquarters hotel, the venerable red brick Marriott Wardman Park, dates from the 1920s, and is located in a delightful area of D.C. with tree-lined streets, many international restaurants, and the Na- tional Zoo. (The oldest portion of the hotel is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and has been home to three U.S. presidents!) Best regards, David Sokoloff AAPT Vice President and Winter Meeting Program Chair University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon Special Thanks AAPT thanks the following persons for their help in organizing the winter meeting: Paper Sorters: Jeff Marx, Lili Cui, Diane Riendeau, and Gerald Feldman Recognizing Laser’s AAPT Sustaining Members 50th Anniversary ALTAY Scientific Spa Arbor Scientific Monday, February 15, AU Physics Enterprises 7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. Carolina Biological Supply Co. Public Lecture: “From Edible Design Simulation Tech, Inc Educational Innovations, Inc. Lasers and the Search for Earth-like John Wiley & Sons Inc Planets, Five Decades of Laser Spec- Johns Hopkins Univ. Center for Talented Youth troscopy” Kinetic Books Klinger Educational Prod. Corp by Theodor W. Hänsch, Recipient of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Physics with John L. Hall, Direc- Oceandise Photo & Telescope tor, Max-Planck-Institute für Quantenoptik PASCO scientific Professor of Experimental Physics and Laser Pearson Spectroscopy, Ludwig-Maximilians Universität Physics Academic Software München, Germany Physics Curriculum & Instruction Physics2000.com To hear more about the laser, check out these sessions: Rice University • NSF Course Curriculum & Laboratory Improvement Grant Sargent Welch CENCO Physics Report, Tuesday, 3:30–5:30 p.m. School Specialty Science (CPO Science) Integrating Laser Tweezers into the Introductory Physics Curricu- Spectrum Techniques LLC lum, Mark Reeves SVS Labs Diode Lasers as a Platform for Updating the Advanced Labora- TeachSpin Inc. tory, Eric Wells Tel-Atomic Inc. • A Physics Teacher’s Introduction to Research Frontiers at the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST), The Science Source Tuesday, 3:30–5:18 p.m. Vernier Software & Technology Research with Laser-Cooled Atoms at NIST, Paul Lett W. H. Freeman & Company WebAssign AAPT Board of Directors Alexander K. Dickison, President Marina Milner-Bolotin Seminole Community College Vice Chair of Section Representatives Sanford, FL 32773 Ryerson University Contacts: Toronto, ON Canada M5B 2K3 David M. Cook, President-Elect AAPT Meetings Dept: 301-209-3340 Lawrence University Gordon P. Ramsey Appleton, WI 54912 Loyola University Chicago Meeting Registration Desk, hotel: 202-745-2139 Frankfort, IL 60423 Tiffany Hayes, Director of Programs & David Sokoloff, Vice President University of Oregon Elizabeth B. Chesick Conferences Eugene, OR 97403-1274 625 Walnut Lane Cerena Cantrell: Assistant Director of Programs Haverford, PA 19041 Steven Iona, Secretary & Conferences University of Denver Marie F. Plumb Janet Lane, Program Coordinator Jamestown Community College Denver, CO 80234 Natasha Randall, Meetings Assistant Jamestown, NY 14702 Paul W. Zitzewitz, Treasurer University of Michigan–Dearborn Karl C. Mamola (ex officio) American Association of Physics Teachers Dearborn, MI 48128 Editor, The Physics Teacher One Physics Ellipse Lila M. Adair, Past-President Jan Tobochnik (ex officio) College Park, MD USA 20740-3845 Piedmont College Editor, Amer. Journal of Physics 301-209-3300, fax: 301-209-0845 Monroe, GA 30656 Warren Hein (ex officio) Mary Elizabeth Mogge AAPT Executive Officer [email protected], www.aapt.org Chair of Section Representatives California State Polytechnic University Pomona, CA 91768 4 February 13–17, 2010 CENCO_AAPT 12/16/2009 4:20 PM Page 1 Join at the APS/AAPT Winter Meeting •See the latest innovations The NEW CENCO in physics, engineering, Electrodeless and more. Spectrum Tube Power Supply •Get hands-on experience The Safest and Easiest to Use with our newest products. Unit Available •Discuss the next steps for physics education with our experts. The PHYWE SCT Scanning Tunnel Microscope Investigate Effects and Characteristics on Atomic and Molecular Scale The CENCO E/M Apparatus Back By Popular Demand Visit our booth And for everything Cenco Physics has #302. to offer, request a FREE catalog online. 1-800-727-4368 www.cencophysics.com Welcome to Washington, D.C.! Take advantage of the location of our joint meeting! The na- tion’s capital offers unique opportunities for culture, history, and government in action. History The site for the nation’s capital along the Potomac River was chosen by George Washington himself, and in 1788, the gov- ernments of Maryland and Virginia ceded land for the new city. In 1791, President Washington appointed Pierre Charles L’Enfant to devise a plan for the city in an area of land at the center of the federal territory, including a system of circles with plazas later honoring notable Americans. The streets radi-