Table of contents

For pt. I see ibid., vol. 6, no. 2, 121 (1971). Part I of this article discussed the general principles of practical work as the author saw them at the time when a first- year laboratory was to be restructured in line with the rest of the undergraduate courses. The great problem was how, in a single long vacation, to go a substantial way towards achieving the stated objectives (realizing that it would take a much longer time to complete the operation). This article is an account of the scheme adopted and an assessment of its first year of operation.

The wave-particle description of matter and radiation, implicit in the quantum theory, has long been accepted-if at times imperfectly understood-by professional physicists, but often even a qualitative description is lacking at school level. Often too, the examples chosen to illustrate the effects involved utilize unreal situations or dated photographs and experimental details which leave much to be desired. This note illustrates the oscillatory description of matter by considering recent data (obtained in high energy physics experiments) involving the scattering of subnuclear particles.

This article reports the results of an alternative approach to the teaching of the wave model of light to that used in the PSSC (Physical Science Study Committee) text. In this approach, three Grade II classes in a large suburban high school in Melbourne were taught the entire PSSC section on light, including diffraction and interference, using microwave equipment rather than the PSSC course approach. The performance of these students was compared with students in Grade 12 in the same school who had studied interference and diffraction by the PSSC approach in their Grade 12 year. One difficulty in this comparison was that only about 60% of Grade II physics students go on to study Grade 12 physics, and in general, those who continue are the most able students in physics.

This article describes an approach to simple circuits involving transistors which might be suitable for use at A level. The emphasis is on understanding the basic function of the circuit components; the detailed theory of a transistor is avoided.

Describes an integrated-circuit DC amplifier which can be used for accurate temperature measurement and measurement of very small temperature changes without sensitive and delicate galvanometers. Temperature sensing devices may be either thermistors or thermocouples.

In Volume IV of the Nuffield Physics Teachers Guide the teacher is advised to introduce the idea of electromotive force. Some understanding of this concept is certainly necessary at O level because the sources which pupils use in the laboratory will usually be characterized by their emf. Moreover, the pupils should have some qualitative understanding why the voltage supplied by a battery, say, changes with circumstances. A thorough understanding of what emf really means is, however, difficult to achieve with O level pupils. For this reason an alternative procedure in two parts is proposed. Such possible complications as the change in emf due to chemical changes or temperature effects in the cell, or to the change of the rotational velocity of a dynamo are ignored and the internal resistance is considered to be constant.