Description

Waves are everywhere around us. A disturbance in a calm pond distorts the image reflected on the water surface and sends ripples outwards. The pitch of the siren of an ambulance changes as it approaches us. The way we see, hear and communicate is due to the way waves travel and transfer energy. Waves can transfer energy with little displacement of the medium [sound and water waves], or no medium at all [light waves].

Students will:

• learn about transverse and longitudinal waves
• observe waves in action and how they interact with each other
• gain an understanding of the properties of waves, such as wavelength, frequency and amplitude.

Description

Electromagnetism is responsible for many phenomena encountered in our daily lives. While it was first discovered by Hans Christian Ørsted, it was Michael Faraday’s breakthrough in 1821 that propelled electromagnetism into modern applications. He successfully built two devices to produce “electromagnetic rotation”, one of which is now known as the homopolar motor. He further discovered electromagnetic induction and all these led to the foundation of modern electromagnetic technology, i.e. DC motors and AC generators.

Students will:

• learn the basics of electromagnetism
• make their own homopolar motor and experience the phenomenon of electromagnetic induction.
• observe and investigate the turning effect on a current-carrying coil and the effects of a changing magnetic field on a conductor.

Description

What does meteorology have to do with particle physics? In this workshop, participants will learn how a serendipitous observation led to the development of the cloud chamber particle detector by Charles Wilson (Nobel prize 1927). “The most wonderful and original instrument in scientific history”, as Lord Rutherford, the “father of nuclear physics”, called it, enabled further work resulting in several other Nobel prizes.

Students will:

• construct a diffusion cloud chamber.
• observe the different signatures left behind by ionizing radiation, such as cosmic ray particles.
• experience and realize the omnipresence of background ionizing
  radiation.

Description

How can planes navigate in fog? How can a GPS (global positioning system) receiver determine its position (and why is it sometimes considerably off the mark)? Radio waves penetrate fog and clouds and have mostly obsoleted the lighthouses of old.In this workshop, we use ultrasonic waves as a model for radio waves.

Students will:

• use ultrasonic receivers and an oscilloscope to determine  their position in the lab using direction (angulation) and time (lateration) measurements.

Description

We use sound for numerous purposes such as to communicate with people, for entertainment (music and movies) and even as a second form of sight. In physics, sound is an excellent model for introducing wave phenomena in general.

Students will:

• learn to use an oscilloscope to measure the time it takes sound to travel for a given distance, and accurately determine the speed of sound.
• observe the phenomenon of sound reflection (echos).

Description

Besides gravity, electromagnetism is the next most encountered force
in our everyday life. It is of immense practical importance and underlies
numerous innovations that propelled humanity into the modern age –
e.g. electricity generation (motors and transformers), modern
communications and optics.

This workshop explores the relation between static magnetic fields,
electrical currents, and forces resulting from their interaction. The
methods used are of high relevance to “current events” as the
international system of units and measurements (SI) is expected to
switch to electromagnetic methods for defining base units such as the
kilogramme in the near future.
 
Students will:

• measure the Earth’s magnetic field strength using a compass and a
  current-carrying conductor.
• determine the magnetic constant (“permeability of free space”),  𝜇o
  using a current balance.
• get a taste of how fundamental constants and units are determined
  or reproduced.

Description

19th century experiments (e.g. by Michelson and Morley) and new theoretical approaches (Lorentz/Einstein) established the speed of light, c, as a fundamental property that ties together space-time, the fabric of the universe. The speed of light is hence not just of great importance in the fields of optics and astronomy, but also fundamental for the microscopic structure of the world, e.g. in quantum physics. The speed of light also lies at the heart of everyday measurements: since 1983, the SI unit for length, the metre, is derived from the speed of light.

Students will:

• (Basic) determine the speed of light in air using a laser diode, a photo detector, and common electronic measurement instruments.
• (Advanced) explore and appreciate general problems in fast measurements (and how to deal with them) which may also clear some common misconceptions on how signals travel along a cable.

Description

The power to make tiny objects or structures visible has greatly expanded our understanding of nature, and has made micro- and nanotechnology possible. Today, it is even possible to observe individual atoms and molecules!

Students will :

• learn about the principles of projective vs. scanning microscopy 
• experience live demonstrations of common microscope types used in research laboratories: an optical microscope, an atomic force microscope, and a scanning electron microscope.

Description

Spectroscopy is a class of techniques that investigates how radiation (such as, but not limited to light) is affected by interactions with matter. Our understanding of the world is largely based on spectroscopy – for example, many chemical elements were first discovered through their spectra, and our knowledge how atoms and molecules are built has been almost entirely derived from spectroscopic observations.

Students will

• build their own spectroscopes (which they can keep and use for further investigations) and use them to observe spectra of various light sources, culminating in the observation of Fraunhofer spectral lines in daylight. The characteristic properties of different types of spectra (atomic, molecular and solid-state origin) are qualitatively explained.

• Physics O-Level: Light, Thin lens, Real & virtual images, Electromagnetic spectrum
• Physics A-Level: Waves, Superposition (diffraction), Energy levels, Line spectra
• Chemistry O-Level: Atomic structure, Covalent bonding, Chemical elements/periodic table
• Chemistry A-Level: Atomic structure, Orbitals, Chemical bonding

Description

Fuel cells hold great promise in today’s global relentless search for the demand and supply of clean energy. In this workshop, participants will learn about different fuel cell technologies.

Students will:

• experiment with a Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cell 
• determine how efficient it is in converting hydrogen fuel into electrical energy, and how efficiently hydrogen fuel is generated by electrolysis.

Description

Darkfield & Differential Interference Contrast (DIC) Microscopy are popular techniques to study unstained transparent cells and motile cells. The illumination techniques create good contrast between samples and the background, making fine details more pronounced. Commonly these techniques are used to observe pond organisms e.g. protozoas, algae.

Through group exploration and reasoning, participants will understand the principles of light microscopy.

Students will:

• carry out slides preparation and observation of biological samples under dark-field microscopy.
• appreciate the complexity of DIC Microscopy through simple activities and demonstrations.

Description

The electrical conductivity of certain materials changes dramatically as they are cooled to sufficiently low temperatures. In 1911, Heike Kamerlingh-Onnes (Nobel Prize 1913) found that some materials might enter a state where electrical resistance completely disappears. While in this superconducting state, quantum mechanical effects in the material manifest themselves at the macroscopic scale, in the form of zero electrical resistance, as well as perfect diamagnetic properties (resulting in Meissner levitation).

Students will:

• learn to reliably measure very small resistances using the  4-point method.
• conduct resistance measurements on a superconducting material as it is slowly cooled to liquid nitrogen temperatures.
• determine the critical temperature TC.
• observe the disappearance of electrical resistance at low temperatures. 

Description

The advent of solar cells in 1883 by Charles Fritts was the beginning of the vast advancement of methods to harness the renewable energy as a form of clean energy. In the 1990s, the notion to mimic photosynthesis has led to the development of Organic Solar Cells. This technology replaces chlorophyll in green plants with organic dyes (such as blueberry extract) and uses other electrolytes and catalysts to simulate the internal environment of a leaf.

Students will: 

• fabricate and assemble an organic solar cell. 
• Using our homebuilt kit, students will perform characterization of their solar cell and plot a graph to identify the maximum power of the solar cell.

Description

Everything moves in our universe. In 1687, Sir Isaac Newton’s published his three laws of motion, establishing the foundation of classical mechanics. Quantities that describe motion can be calculated precisely. Motion leads to collision, where two or more bodies exert forces on each other for a relatively short time.

Students will:

• investigate the relationship between a body and the forces acting upon it, and its motion in response to those forces.
• observe and compare between elastic and inelastic collisions and determine momentum as a conserved physical quantity.

Description

Science makes extensive use of models to describe reality. The predictive powers of models are also the foundation of technology/engineering. However, even the application of simple models can quickly result in challenging mathematical problems. Numerical simulations on computers are a much easier way to understand the behavior of a model.

Students will:

• formulate mathematical models of simple mechanical systems such as the motion of projectiles including air drag, the non-harmonic motion of a physical pendulum, or the motion of a planet.
• get introduced to the principles of solving the equations of motion by numerical integration and program computers using the Python language accordingly.

Description

Light, being a transverse wave, can assume two distinct polarisation states which are commonly exploited by sunglasses, agricultural/chemical/ food science instruments, optical measurement instruments, liquid crystal displays, photographic filters, and many more.

Students will:

• use linear polarisers, analysers, and optoelectronic equipment to test Malus’ law,
• investigate the degree of polarisation of specular reflected light (Brewster angle and Fresnel formulas),
• explore the effect of birefringent and optically active (chiral) materials on polarisation.

Description

The study of light has been a major topic since the time of the ancient Greeks. In early 18th century, Sir Isaac Newton proposed that light must be made up of particles to explain its straight line propagation. It wasn’t until the early 19th century that the wave theory of light gained popularity when Thomas Young demonstrated diffraction effects using two closely spaced slits. This laid the foundation for a modern understanding of optics, including breakthrough applications like crystal/molecular structure analysis using X-ray diffraction (Laue and Bragg/Bragg, Nobel prizes 1914 and 1915, and many more Nobel prizes).

Students will:

• appreciate how diffraction arises as a consequence of the constructive and destructive interference.
• relate the wavelength of light, the microscopic structure of the diffracting object, and the resulting diffraction patterns to each other.
• use the characteristics of diffraction to perform measurements of wavelengths or microscopic structure sizes. 

Description

In physics, sound is an excellent model for demonstrating wave phenomena in general. In this workshop, students will use a signal generator and oscilloscope to generate/investigate both traveling and standing (stationary) waves.

Students will determine the speed of sound in 3 different ways:

1. based on the time of travel;
2. by determining the wavelength of a standing (stationary) wave; and
3. by determining the resonance frequencies of a waveguide.

Description

Soon after the introduction of spectral analysis in the 19th century, an empirical relation for the wavelengths of spectral lines of hydrogen atoms was found (Rydberg formula). The physical reason for this relation only became clear with the introduction of a naive quantum mechanical model of the hydrogen atom by Niels Bohr (Nobel Prize 1922). While Bohr’s atomic model is not quite right from today’s perspective, it introduces key characteristics of quantum physics (e.g. de Broglie waves, Nobel prize 1929) at a level that is easily within JC students’ reach.

Students will:

• measure the wavelengths of visible spectral lines from a hydrogen lamp.
• identify quantum numbers (electron shells) related to the observed spectral lines.
• determine the Rydberg constant and use it derive the mass of an electron.
• appreciate how spectroscopic evidence provides insight into the structure of atoms and molecules.

Description

Semiconductors are the building blocks in almost all modern electronics (radios, televisions, computers, cell phones) that we use in our everyday lives. While devices using semiconductors were first built based on empirical knowledge, understanding the behavior of semiconductors, through single-electron models such as the valence band / conduction band model, has been pivotal in the construction of more capable, efficient and reliable devices.

Students will:

• use the band model of semiconductors to explain semiconductor characteristics and the effect of doping and temperature.
• appreciate how a p-n semiconductor junction rectifies electric current.
• measure the response of Schottky (metal-semiconductor) and bipolar (PN) diodes to voltage and temperature changes.
• Using the Shockley diode equation, determine the charge of an electron and the band gap of a semiconductor. 

Description

Aside from its technological relevance, the analysis of AC circuits is a model showcase for the application of mathematical techniques to science/engineering problems that is specifically listed as a possible context for exam questions in the A-level mathematics syllabi.

Participants should have some familiarity with calculus, complex numbers, and linear algebra (vectors and matrices); special physics knowledge is not required.

Students will:

• use calculus to formulate equations describing AC circuits, transform them to matrix form, and solve them in terms of (complex) eigenvalues and –vectors.
• build the circuits on a breadboard and, using oscilloscopes, compare observed behaviour with their mathematical predictions.