<p>Phys 490 AVAILABLE EXPERIMENTS Faraday Rotation. Observe the rotation of polarization of light produced by applying a magnetic field as the light propagates through glass. Interesting effect; good use of lock-in amplifier. Difficulty: Low – Moderate Time: Short Computer Data Acq.: No Data Acq. Programming: No Pre-requisites: Lock-in amp tutorial; knowledge of optical polarization. Notes: Lifetime of Cosmic Ray Muons. Capture cosmic ray muons in a scintillator detector and build up a distribution of decay times from which muon lifetime is determined. Learn high energy physics techniques. Difficulty: Low-Moderate Time: Short Computer Data Acq.: Yes Data Acq. Programming: No Pre-requisites: Basic nuclear counting experience Notes:</p><p>Adiabatic and Isothermal Compressions of Gases. Use computer data acquisition to track pressure, temperature, and volume during compressions. Determine "degrees of freedom' for monatomic and diatomic gas molecules. Difficulty: Low Time: Short Computer Data Acq: Yes Data Acq. Programming: No Pre-requisites: Phys 370 or equiv. Notes:</p><p>Interference Patterns. Use computer data acquisition with a laser to plot out two-slit interference patterns and compare them with theoretical predictions. Difficulty: Low Time: Medium Computer Data Acq: Yes Data Acq. Programming: No Pre-requisites: Knowledge of optical interference/diffraction Notes:</p><p>Electron Diffraction. View an electron waves diffracting from a thin crystal and find the dependence of electron wavelength on its energy. Difficulty: Low Time: Short Computer Data Acq: No Data Acq. Programming: No Pre-requisites: Notes:</p><p>Speed of Light. Measure time of flight of a modulated laser beam. Difficulty: Low-moderate Time: Short Computer Data Acq: No Data Acq. Programming: No Pre-requisites: Notes:</p><p>Resonant Circuit Impedance Vs. Frequency: Construct a capacitor-inductor resonant circuit with variable damping (resistance); use computer-controlled data acquisition to plot impedance response. Difficulty: Low-Moderate Time: Short Computer Data Acq: Yes Data Acq. Programming: Yes Pre-requisites: AC circuit theory, GPIB programming (MATLAB) Notes:</p><p>Gamma Spectroscopy. Use computer pulse height analyzer to study the energy spectrum of gamma decays of Co60 and other isotopes; observe evidence for creation and annihilation of antimatter. Difficulty: Moderate Time: Medium Computer Data Acq: Yes Data A cq. Programming: No Pre-requisites: Radiation Safety; Basic nuclear counting Notes:</p><p>Specific Heat of Copper: Fit prediction of Debye theory of heat capacity dependence on temperature; computer collects data using GPIB MATLAB program which you write. Difficulty: Low Time: Short Computer Data Acq: Yes Data Acq. Programming: Yes Pre-requisites: GPIB programming; Notes: </p><p>Capacitance of a Ferroelectric: Use computerized capacitance meter to study ferroelectric phase transition as a function of temperature. Difficulty: Low-moderate Time: Short Computer Data Acq: Yes Data Acq. Programming. Yes Pre-requisites: GPIB Programming Notes: Transmission Lines and Speed of Light in Dielectrics: Study propagation of voltage pulses on an electromagnetic transmission line (coaxial cable); determine the speed of EM waves in a dielectric material Difficulty: Low Time: Medium Computer Data Acq: No Data Acq. Programming: No Pre-requisites: Phys 360 or equiv. Notes. Bragg Diffraction of X-Rays: Use computer controlled motor to automate the scanning; determine lattice spacing in two crystals. Difficulty: Low Time: Short/med Computer Data Acq: Yes Data Acq. Programming: Opt. Pre-requisites: Basic knowledge of crystal structure Notes: Power Spectrum of Speech: Digitally record and spectrum analyze speech to determine formant structure (resonances in the vocal tract). Build electronic anti-alias filter. Difficulty: Low- Mod Time: Short Computer Data Acq: Yes Data Acq. Programming. No Pre-requisites: Knowledge of FFT methods Notes: Thermionic Emission of Electrons: Study emission of electrons from heated metal; Stefan-Boltzmann T4 law, etc. Difficulty: Low/med. Time: Short Computer Data Acq: No DataAcq. Programming: No Pre-requisites: Notes: High Temperature Superconducting Quantum Interference Device (SQUID). Observe flux quantization in superconductor and produce quantum state transitions using microwave photons. Difficulty: Med Time: Short Computer Data Acq: No Data Acq. Programming. No Pre-requisites: Notes: Hall Effect in p-Germanium. Observe the magnitude and sign of the Hall effect in p-doped Germanium as the sample temperature is varied. Interesting combination of electric, magnetic, and thermal measurements. Difficulty: Expt – low; Analyze- Med Time: Short Computer Data Acq: No Data Acq. Programming. No Pre-requisites: Knowledge of semiconductor physics Notes: Earth-Field Nuclear Magnetic Induction. Observe precession of nuclei in the Earth’s magnetic field as their magnetic moments are polarized and depolarized. Difficulty: Med Time: Medium Computer Data Acq: Yes Data Acq. Programming. No Pre-requisites: Physics 370 or equiv. Notes: Beta-Particle Magnetic Spectrometer. Determine energy spectrum of beta particles from a radioactive source by observing magnetic deflection of particles. Difficulty: Low Time: Short Computer Data Acq: No Data Acq. Programming: No Pre-requisites: Some knowledge of beta decay Notes: Electron Spin Resonance. Use radio-frequency signals to interact with electron spins polarized by a dc magnetic field and achieve resonance with the electron spin precession. Difficulty: Low-Medium Time: Short/Med Computer Data Acq: Yes Data Acq. Programming: No Prereq: Knowledge of spin angular momentum and lock-in methods Johnson Noise in Resistors: Study dependence of noise on resistance, resistor material, and current. Difficulty: Expt-Low; Analyze-Mod. Time: Med. Computer Data Acq: Yes Data Acq. Programming: No Pre-requisites: Knowledge of filters, bandwidth, FFT Notes : </p>