The Mechanical Universe and Beyond (27 to 52) [avi]

The Mechanical Universe and Beyond



http://www.learner.org/resources/series42.html



A video instructional series on physics for college and high school classrooms and adult learners

52 half-hour video programs and coordinated books [This part contains 27-52]



This series helps teachers demystify physics by showing students what it looks like.



Field trips to hot-air balloon events, symphony concerts, bicycle shops, and other locales make complex concepts more accessible.



Inventive computer graphics illustrate abstract concepts such as time, force, and capacitance, while historical reenactments of the studies of Newton, Leibniz, Maxwell, and others trace the evolution of theories.



The Mechanical Universe helps meet different students' needs, from the basic requirements of liberal arts students to the rigorous demands of science and engineering majors.



This series is also valuable for teacher professional development.



27. Beyond the Mechanical Universe

The world of electricity and magnetism, and 20th-century discoveries of relativity and quantum mechanics.



28. Static Electricity

Eighteenth-century electricians knew how to spark the interest of an audience with the principles of static electricity.



29. The Electric Field

Faraday's vision of lines of constant force in space laid the foundation for the modern force field theory.



30. Potential and Capacitance

Franklin proposes a successful theory of the Leyden jar and invents the parallel plate capacitor.



31. Voltage, Energy, and Force

When is electricity dangerous or benign, spectacular or useful?



32. The Electric Battery

Volta invents the electric battery using the internal properties of different metals.



33. Electric Circuits

The work of Wheatstone, Ohm, and Kirchhoff leads to the design and analysis of how current flows.



34. Magnetism

Gilbert discovered that the earth behaves like a giant magnet. Modern scientists have learned even more.



35. The Magnetic Field

The law of Biot and Sarvart, the force between electric currents, and Ampère's law.



36. Vector Fields and Hydrodynamics

Force fields have definite properties of their own suitable for scientific study.



37. Electromagnetic Induction

The discovery of electromagnetic induction in 1831 creates an important technological breakthrough in the generation of electric power.



38. Alternating Current

Electromagnetic induction makes it easy to generate alternating current while transformers make it practical to distribute it over long distances.



39. Maxwell's Equations

Maxwell discovers that displacement current produces electromagnetic waves or light.



40. Optics

Many properties of light are properties of waves, including reflection, refraction, and diffraction.



41. The Michelson-Morley Experiment

In 1887, an exquisitely designed measurement of the earth's motion through the ether results in the most brilliant failure in scientific history.



42. The Lorentz Transformation

If the speed of light is to be the same for all observers, then the length of a meter stick, or the rate of a ticking clock, depends on who measures it.



43. Velocity and Time

Einstein is motivated to perfect the central ideas of physics, resulting in a new understanding of the meaning of space and time.



44. Mass, Momentum, Energy

The new meaning of space and time make it necessary to formulate a new mechanics.



45. Temperature and Gas Laws

Hot discoveries about the behavior of gases make the connection between temperature and heat.



46. Engine of Nature

The Carnot engine, part one, beginning with simple steam engines.



47. Entropy

The Carnot engine, part two, with profound implications for the behavior of matter and the flow of time through the universe.



48. Low Temperatures

With the quest for low temperatures came the discovery that all elements can exist in each of the basic states of matter.



49. The Atom

A history of the atom, from the ancient Greeks to the early 20th century, and a new challenge for the world of physics.



50. Particles and Waves

Evidence that light can sometimes act like a particle leads to quantum mechanics, the new physics.



51. From Atoms to Quarks

Electron waves attracted to the nucleus of an atom help account for the periodic table of the elements and ultimately lead to the search for quarks.



52. The Quantum Mechanical Universe

A last look at where we've been and a peek into the future.



Produced by the California Institute of Technology and Intelecom. 1985.