http://sites.science.oregonstate.edu/physics/portfolioswiki/ 2020-01-26T17:01:35-08:00 http://sites.science.oregonstate.edu/physics/portfolioswiki/ http://sites.science.oregonstate.edu/physics/portfolioswiki/lib/images/favicon.ico text/html 2018-07-19T10:35:58-08:00 http://sites.science.oregonstate.edu/physics/portfolioswiki/swbq:ppsw:ppbound?rev=1532021758 Prompt “Graphically represent any bound states you can think of.” Context This SWBQ is useful for making connections between the energies observed in classical systems and those in quantum systems. Students will also have the opportunity to reflect on where they have previously encountered bound states in physics and how these bound states are commonly represented physically or graphically. text/html 2018-07-19T10:32:50-08:00 http://sites.science.oregonstate.edu/physics/portfolioswiki/swbq:ppsw:ppeigenstateshow?rev=1532021570 Prompt “Show that $\left[\begin{array}{c} 1\\ 1\\ \end{array}\right]$and$\left[\begin{array}{c} 1\\ -1\\ \end{array}\right]$ are eigenvectors of the 2-well system Hamiltonian, and find the eigenvalues.” Context This SWBQ is designed to be a small review for finding eigenvectors and eigenvalues, and this activity also gives a glimpse into the general strategy for calculating the energies of eigenstates in the larger N-well system. The 2-well system is one of the simplest cases students… text/html 2018-07-19T10:37:53-08:00 http://sites.science.oregonstate.edu/physics/portfolioswiki/swbq:ppsw:ppenergywarm?rev=1532021873 Prompt “How much energy is necessary to warm up some air or water (you choose the amount)?” Context This SWBQ is designed to be very general to force students to consider what important factors could change the answer, such as the temperature, volume, or pressure of the sample, and whether any of those parameters are being held constant. Whenever performing a calculation in any physics problem, one should have a general idea of the magnitude of the answer. By the end of this SWBQ, stu… text/html 2018-07-19T10:40:23-08:00 http://sites.science.oregonstate.edu/physics/portfolioswiki/swbq:ppsw:ppidentify?rev=1532022023 Prompt “Name a periodic system in any context that you can think of.” Context This SWBQ challenges students to think about periodic systems in contexts they have previously encountered. By asking this question, the instructor can also gauge how familiar the class is with periodic systems and help clarify any inconsistencies in student answers that are not considered a periodic system. Although very common in solid state physics, periodic systems can be found in a multitude of contexts… text/html 2018-07-19T10:44:56-08:00 http://sites.science.oregonstate.edu/physics/portfolioswiki/swbq:ppsw:pplcao?rev=1532022296 Prompt “Consider a 3-chain potential well system with separation distance $a$. Sketch the first three eigenstates for this system in real space.” Context This SWBQ gives students the chance to practice drawing the allowed envelope functions of an electron and compare the graphical representation to the values given by inserting information into the LCAO function. After learning how to represent an electron in a potential landscape as a linear combination of atomic orbitals, some studen… text/html 2018-07-19T10:46:33-08:00 http://sites.science.oregonstate.edu/physics/portfolioswiki/swbq:ppsw:ppphononnum?rev=1532022393 Prompt “If the frequency of a normal mode is $\omega_{mode}=10^{12}\, rad \, s^{-1}$, what phonon number $n_{phonon}$ does the equipartition theorem predict at room temperature?” Context This SWBQ demonstrates to students how the energy stored in a normal mode is directly proportional to the frequency of the normal mode and how the equipartition theorem is useful for finding the phonon number of a normal mode as long as not on the scale $n_{phonon}\, \sim \, 1$. In particular, studen… text/html 2018-07-19T10:48:14-08:00 http://sites.science.oregonstate.edu/physics/portfolioswiki/swbq:ppsw:pprecheatcap?rev=1532022494 Prompt “Write down something you know about heat capacity.” Context This SWBQ helps students recall what they can remember about heat capacity and help the instructor assess how much students already know. This SWBQ transitions well into approximating the heat capacity of a substance using the equipartition theorem. Commonly, students only think of finding or using the heat capacity in a thermodynamics course. text/html 2018-07-19T10:51:01-08:00 http://sites.science.oregonstate.edu/physics/portfolioswiki/swbq:ppsw:ppsingleosc?rev=1532022661 Prompt “Consider a single particle that is free to move between and connected to two fixed points on opposite sides by springs with spring constant $\kappa$. The system is one dimensional. What is the differential equation that tells this atom what to do?” text/html 2018-07-19T10:53:42-08:00 http://sites.science.oregonstate.edu/physics/portfolioswiki/swbq:ppsw:ppspecheatwater?rev=1532022822 Prompt “Water has the same number of vibrational modes as a crystal with the same number of atoms. Calculate the specific heat of 1 mol of water.” Context This SWBQ is a good exercise to see if students can effectively use the internal energy to find the specific heat of a material at room temperature. The answer to this problem will also give the common value seen for the specific heat of water at room temperature. Students must first be shown the equipartition theorem for solids.