Search results for " microcomputer based laboratory"
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MODELLING THE DISPERSION PROPERTIES OF MASS LINEAR CHAINS: EXPERIMENTS AND SIMULATIONS
2009
We analyze and discuss the results of an experiment with the goal of revealing the phonon-like acoustic dispersion curve. The experimental apparatus consists of a sonometer and an electromagnetic driver connected to a signal generator in order to establish standing waves along a stretched metal string (a guitar string) upon which a set of beads (used normally for fishing) has been fixed. The oscillation amplitude is measured by means of a detector connected to an MBL interface. We detect the resonance frequencies as function of the wave-number and obtain the corresponding dispersion curve. The results show that deviations from linearity occur when the wavelength is comparable with the dista…
The Boltzmann factor through experiments and simulations
2009
The Boltzmann factor is at the basis of a great amount of thermodynamic and statistical physics, both classical and quantum. It describes the behaviour of natural systems that are exchanging energy with the environment. However, why does the expression have this specific form? The Feynman Lectures on Physics justifies it heuristically by reference to the “exponential atmosphere” example. Thermodynamics textbooks usually give a more or less complete explanation that mainly involves the mathematical analysis, where it is hard to see the logic flow. Moreover, the necessary mathematics is not at the level of high school or college students’ preparation. Here we present an experiments and a simu…