Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

A Fractal Geometry For Hydrodynamics, Jonah Mears

Honors Theses

Experiments have shown that objects with uneven surfaces, such as golf balls, can have less drag than those with smooth surfaces. Since fractal surfaces appear naturally in other areas, it must be asked if they can produce less drag than a traditional surface and save energy. Little or no research has been conducted so far on this question. The purpose of this project is to see if fractal geometry can improve boat hull design by producing a hull with low friction.

Shape Memory Alloy Applications, Dillon Wester

Honors Theses

Shape memory alloys (SMAs) are unique mixtures of metals that have qualities unlike any other substance. Most notably is their ability to "remember" a shape and revert back to that shape with the application of heat. One such alloy is the Ni-Ti alloy, Nitinol. SMAs also have many other favorable characteristics such as superelasticity, biocompatibility and much more. Superelasticity is the ability to bend under stress and then return to its original shape with the removal of the stressor. Biocompatibility means that the SMAs are not toxic to living organisms, whether they are only used periodically or left in permanently. …

Passive Solar Tracking Using Shape Memory Alloys, Keeley G. Johnson

Honors Theses

The world's energy demands are growing daily in conjunction with the global population and urbanization. In the modern era, the main source of energy has come from nonrenewable fossil fuels. While this source is one of the cheapest forms of energy, it is also one of the worst for the environment and will only last until the earth runs out of these fossil fuels. Solar energy, on the other hand, is both much better for the environment and an inexhaustible resource. The primary issue that arises with the accessibility of solar energy is that it is much more expensive per …

Stacking Atomically Thin Materials, Hamilton Johnson

Honors Theses

Atomically thin materials have been an exciting topic of research since graphene was first isolated in 2004. Due to their unique properties, a large amount of research has gone into these materials, but better methods of combining them are still being sought. We present three methods which were attempted for fabricating stacks of atomically thin (or 2D) materials without heating them to the high temperatures required by previous techniques. The first two methods were deemed unsuitable for various reasons, but the third was used to successfully create a stack of hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) encapsulated molybdenum disulfide (MoS2). While the …

Dynamic Phase Steepening In Alfven Waves, Stephen R. Granade

Honors Theses

Our solar system contains more activity and complexity than can be seen through a telescope. One such "invisible" phenomenon is the solar wind, created by a steady stream of particles blasted away from the sun in all directions. The sun's donut-shaped magnetic field lines channel this stream. Particles moving along the field lines perform an intricate helical dance, with ions winding one way and electrons the other.

The solar wind shapes and is shaped by the magnetic fields of the planets and the sun. If left undisturbed by outside influences, the earth's magnetic field, like the sun's, would resemble a …

Intuitive Concepts In Elementary Topology, Gary Rothwell

Honors Theses

My hour special study in intuitive topology originated in a curiosity of what exactly topology was and how it might be related to physics, my field of interest. The book I used was, Intuitive Concepts in Elementary Topology, by B.H. Arnold. This book is designed as a sophomore-junior level three hour course. Needless to say, I didn't quite cover the whole book in an hour a week. I mainly stuck to the intuitive concepts. Intuitive topology is dealing with more physical objects where the point set topology involves set theory; their unions, intersections and subsets.

Simulated Alpha Scattering, Gerald L. Fuller

Honors Theses

My approach to the experiment is to use a box of certain dimension as the Gold atom. This, I'm going to bombard with B.B's as alpha particles. Therefore this is a simulated alpha scattering experiment. The box is like unto the atom whereas shooting into it you cannot see what happens nor where it happens, but draw on your information taken while observe the effects outside the atom and the box likewise. A screen is used with the atom, and I have used a cardboard square placed in slats around my box to record the direction the particles enters and …

Antimatter, Claudia Morgan Griffin

Honors Theses

Very little is known about the mysterious world of antimatter. The idea that such particles could exist was not even proposed until forty years ago. Perhaps the story of the discovery of antimatter began when scientists were trying to unify the Theory of Relativity and the Theory of Quanta. The trouble was that the quantities in the classical wave equation are in the second derivatives. In Schrodinger's wave equation of the Quantum Theory, x, y, and z are second derivatives, but i is a first derivative.

Following Einstein's basic ideas, H. Minkowski proposed the concept of a four-dimensional time-space continuum …

A Glance At The Showmanship Of Physics, John E. Savage

Honors Theses

"Teachers should present dramatic demonstrations of scientific principles and involve students in them. They should dispense fewer facts, ask more questions, and stir the intellect. Then the students will puzzle out the answers and remember them," says Professor Julius Sumner Miller of El Camino College in Southern California. "Remember this! If you're dead, and the text book is dead, you'll have dead students."

The classic example of the intellect being stirred by dramatic demonstrations took place in London when Sir Humphrey Davey gave the Christmas Lectures. Believe it or not, people paid to hear these lectures dealing with natural· physical …

Sunspots, James Mccarty

Honors Theses

This past semester the physics department began a study of the solar wind. Photographic plates have been sent up by balloon during periods of both maximum and minimum solar activity. The tracks made by high-energy particles on these 3mulsions are to be located and analyzed. Unfortunately, since the plates have yet to arrive, only a little practice scanning was done to become familiar with the technique. Meanwhile, an attempt has been made to gather information ab::mt the sun and the solar wind. This paper is a part of that work.

A Report Of Work For H492, Claudia Morgan Griffin

Honors Theses

My research project for this year is to study nuclear emulsion plates sent to the physics department by Dr. Davi.d Young of Mississippi State University and to learn as much as possible about the fields related to the project. These plates are exposed to cosmic rays at altitudes, for all practical purposes, above the earth's atmosphere. They are then collected and processed. They will be sent to us so that we can scan them next semester.

The first semester's part of the project was to scan a sample plate and to do· a literature research of related fields. Therefore, this …

A Study Of The Physics Curriculum Of Ouachita Baptist University, James Mccarty

Honors Theses

The purpose of this paper is to compare the physics curriculum of Ouachita Baptist University with those of several other colleges with the ultimate goal of finding what changes, if any, should by made. Four colleges and universities were used for comparison. Hendrix College is a Methodist college which had an enrollment of 757 during the 1965-66 school year. State College of Arkansas is a state-supported school with 3,129 students during the same year. Little Rock University is a private school which is aided by the city of Little Rock, Arkansas. It had 2,851 students in 1965-66. Southwestern at Memphis …

Frederic Joliot-Curie And Atomic Energy By Pierre Biquard Pp. 109-211, Donald Printest Watkins

Honors Theses

This is a translation of pages 109-211 of the biography Frederic Joliot-Curie Et L'energie Atomique by Pierre Biquard.