Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Developing A Monte Carlo Simulation For Time- Series Analysis Of Actinium-225 Decay, Victoria Wood

The Journal of Advanced Undergraduate Physics Laboratory Investigations, JAUPLI-B

This report describes the development of a script programmed in the Python language designed to simulate radioactive decay using Monte Carlo methods. This is to conduct analysis on the equilibrium behavior of a specific radioactive decay chain, replacing the traditional method of deriving a mathematical representation via differential equations. The resulting script produces a stacked histogram illustrating the decay of Actinium-225 over time and more closely models the potential for irregularities in the natural phenomenon. The script has potential applications in nuclear imaging and medical physics.

Modeling The Motion Of A Volleyball With Spin, Julian Ricardo

The Journal of Advanced Undergraduate Physics Laboratory Investigations, JAUPLI-B

Though a qualitative understanding of how spin affects a ball’s trajectory can be easily developed, a quantitative one is relatively difficult to hone. Additionally, although projectile motion is an extensively covered topic in introductory physics courses, friction and drag—let alone spin—receive little to no attention. Here we use a volleyball and video modeling software to compare the behavior of a non-spinning ball with one that has topspin in order to assess the accuracy of our various models incorporating drag and the Magnus effect.

Electrical And Magnetic Properties Of High Temperature Superconductors Using Varying Forms Of Data Acquisition, Aryn M. Hays, Lindsay Bechtel, Colton Turbeville, Anthony Johnsen, Chris A. Tanner

The Journal of Advanced Undergraduate Physics Laboratory Investigations, JAUPLI-B

High temperature superconductors (HTS) are materials that display superconducting properties at temperatures above that of liquid nitrogen. Possible applications and ease of use in a typical physics laboratory make them interesting systems to study. In this experiment we measured the critical temperatures of two samples made of different HTS materials. We also devised a method that makes taking data automated.

Shape And Size Matter For Projectile Drag, Daniel Gordon Ang

The Journal of Advanced Undergraduate Physics Laboratory Investigations, JAUPLI-B

Newtonian mechanics is a fundamental building block of physics education, allowing us to characterize the motion of various objects in every day life. Here, we set out to investigate the effect of air resistance on projectile motion. We use high-speed cameras to record the flight of three different projectiles and compare this motion to a trajectory generated based on our theoretical model. We find that we are able to fit our model to the actual trajectory reasonably well, and find evidence that drag depends on the size and shape of the projectile.

Modeling A Swinging Atwood Machine, Parker W. Moody

The Journal of Advanced Undergraduate Physics Laboratory Investigations, JAUPLI-B

The motion of a Swinging Atwood Machine is a difficult to solve for using Newtonian Mechanics. Lagrangian Mechanics, on the other hand, is extremely useful tool for a system that can seem overwhelmingly difficult to solve in Newtonian Mechanics. In this Lab we find the Lagrangian for this Swinging Atwood system, solve for the equation of motion, and compare our model to that of the observed motion of the system. Our model provides a good approximation of the motion, with small discrepancies due to the unknown mass of our pulley and dissipative forces.

Atomic Force Microscopy, Tyler Lane

The Journal of Advanced Undergraduate Physics Laboratory Investigations, JAUPLI-B

The goal of this experiment is to use the Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) to get images of selected items and determine some distances of the characteristics of each sample. The ultimate goal is to measure the length of a nanotube, but unfortunately there were none left on the slide that was supposed to contain them. From the results of the lab and the lab manual of “companies” with possible lengths for each sample, Lindaas-Lahti Industries seems to have the best fit overall.

Decay Time Of A Damped Pendulum, Scott D. Froehle

The Journal of Advanced Undergraduate Physics Laboratory Investigations, JAUPLI-B

A number of labs have been conducted to find the equation for a damped pendulum. A damped pendulum's behavior will be analyzed and fit to this equation. This lab focused on tau, the decay constant. It was hypothesized that the decay constant would be greater with increasing initial angles, ultimately because of the pendulum's greater velocity. A pendulum was hung on a rotary motion sensor to detect its activity when released from different angles from the vertical. Its behavior was observed and fit to the equation for the behavior of a damped pendulum. It was found that decay time and …

Comparing Leibniz With Newton, Peter C. Kaemingk

Agora

This essay attempts to analyze the differences between the calculus systems of Newton and Leibniz, mainly regarding the foundations and justifications of their art of calculus.

Statistical Analysis Of 2017-18 Premier League Match Statistics Using A Regression Analysis In R, Bergen Campbell

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

This thesis analyzes the correlation between a team’s statistics and the success of their performances, and develops a predictive model that can be used to forecast final season results for that team. Data from the 2017-2018 Premier League season is to be gathered and broken down within R to highlight what factors and variables are largely contributing to the success or downfall of a team. A multiple linear regression model and stepwise selection process is then used to include any factors that are significant in predicting in match results.

The predictions about the 17-18 season results based on the model …

Evaluating The Historical Accuracy Of Blackwork Embroidery With Fractal Analysis, Rhiannon Cire

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

The intricate monochromatic embroidery that graced the collars and cuffs of Renaissance nobility and domestic materials from that era has been little studied beyond the historical costuming and crafting communities. This style, known as blackwork, for it was traditionally done in black silk on white linen, exemplifies how complex and visually-appealing designs can arise from repetition of simple forms, often demonstrating the fractal property of self-similarity. Though most blackwork patterns are not true fractals, fractal analysis offers a means of objectively quantifying their complexity and new lens through which to examine this embroidery technique. The purpose of this study was …