Physics Discussion Group Webpage : 2007-2008

Professor John Boccio


This academic year (2007-2008) I will be offering a 
non-credit reading group. 

We will read and discuss physics articles from the 
American Journal of Physics.

The reading group will meet once a week for an hour.

The material will be accessible to anyone who has taken 

		Physics 5 and Physics 7
		
The potential topics for next year are listed below:

	The Physics of the Space Elevator

	The Physics of Stone Skipping

	The Quantum Mechanical Picture of the World

	The 1st-Order orbital Equation

	A Block Slipping on a Sphere: Exact and Perturbative 
	                              Solutions

	Projectiles, Pendula and Special Relativity

	Spacetime Physics with Geometric Algebra

	Flow of Sand and a Variable Mass Atwood Machine

	Hamilton's Principle: Why is the Integrated Difference 
	                      of the Kinetic and Potential 
	                      Energy Minimized?
                      
	Quantum Tic-Tac-Toe: A teaching Metaphor for 
	                     Superposition in Quantum 
	                     Mechanics
                     
	Fun with Stacking Blocks
	
Please email me (boccio@swarthmore.edu) if you think you might
be interested where "interest" is defined as you will read 
the papers each week and you will participate in the discussions.
	
We will schedule a time in the fall.

Take care,

John Boccio

Papers to be read (PDF files)