Physics Research
Here are some websites to help you get started researching the physics topics in the assignment. You are not limited to these sites, but you must choose sites that are either 1. on this list, or 2. .gov, .edu, or .org sites.
1. Magnetic levitation definition, explanation, and applications worldwide
- A Popular Mechanics slide show that gives a good overview of maglev applications; some already in use and some still in the theoretical stage. You can use these ideas to look up other websites
- From a Georgia State Physics professor
- Los Alamos Lab: Magnetic Levitation Trains
- A Discovery News article about maglev trains in Japan
- Could we levitate humans?:
Most of these sources are about maglev trains, one of the most developed applications of magnetic levitation. But can you find other applications?
Magnetic levitation downsides/concerns:
Maglev train canceled, Germany:
Can you find more sources that discuss the cost of magnetic levitation technologies?
Maglev train crashed on test run
Is there such a thing as too fast?
Maglev train accident, Germany: Does this accident raise any questions about the technology, or is it purely human error?
Can you find sources that discuss the cons of other applications of magnetic levitation?
2. Tesla's wireless electricity
"Power That Could Have Been," Washington Times. An opinion piece about why Tesla's wireless electricity isn't used today.
Modern scientists and companies working on wireless electricity
and Wireless city could be months away
How this new effort started at MIT
Resonant induction, a type of wireless electricity...how does it work, and how might it be limited by distance and health concerns? (Click "Continue to Site" in upper right corner):
Primary sources about Tesla's ideas from the time period in which he lived. What did people think about it then?
Primary source written by Tesla himself.
Wireless electricity was only one of Tesla's ideas. Can you find more ideas of Tesla's that are being developed today?
3. Power transmission lines
A basic intro to the types of power lines currently in use.
A university of Las Vegas engineering professor's PPT about transmission lines
By now, you have probably discovered that AC can be used to make electricity travel greater distances than DC. Here's a new innovation scientists are working on, HVDC, to make DC travel further.
How much energy is lost in transmission in the U.S.? (just figures, not a lot of explanation, although you may be able to find it elsewhere on this site...):
On your own: Can you find any sources about the effects of power line placement on people's health? What about the environment? How does that affect where people choose to place power lines?
4. Batteries
A condensed history of batteries by the Edison Tech Center.
This one is a blog article, but it's by a UC San Diego Physics professor. He discusses the physics limitations of batteries. Do the laws of physics limit us from building a better battery?:
Science Daily, links to news articles about scientific developments in batteries:
Can batteries be used to store renewable energy?
Physics and Psychology:
How do these two branches of science, Physics and Psychology, combine to give us a more complete understanding of how the world works? What do they have in common?
Definitions of Physics and Psychology
