Teaching Interests
As most students of physics will tell you, concepts in physics, such as field and potential, are rather abstract. In addition, preconceived – mostly Aristotelian – intuitions about how the world works often get in the way of learning Newtonian mechanics. Students' learning styles can also vary widely: Some are visual learners, and some are logical thinkers. To facilitate learning for all students, I use a variety of tools to supplement the traditional lectures. They include:
- demonstrations
- animations and computer simulations
- group work using worksheets
The following are examples of animations I have developed using Mathematica and MATLAB:
- Uniform circular motion
- Simple harmonic oscillation
Larger amplitude Smaller amplitude - Standing wave with two fixed ends
Fundamental mode Second harmonic Third harmonic - Standing wave with a fixed end and an open end
Fundamental mode Third harmonic Fifth harmonic - Other standing waves
Triangular Polynomial - Linear polarizer
0 degree 30 degrees 60 degrees 90 degrees - Double-slit interference
Wavelength=1, slit separation = 3 Wavelength=1, slit separation = 5 Wavelength=2, slit separation = 5 - Reflection of a pulse on an interface
No phase shift 180-degree phase shift - Reflection of a sinusoidal wave on an interface
No Phase shift 180-degree phase shift