Category Archives: Uncategorized

Stochastic Resonance in a Hysteretic Circuit (Jr IS guest blog by Gabe Dale-Gau)

This project uses an electronic circuit to demonstrate something called stochastic resonance. Stochastic resonance (SR) is present many places in nature–from dictating the timing of ice ages to aiding in fish hearing. So, what is it? SR is simply when … Continue reading

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RLC circuit resonance with an oscillating inductor (Jr IS Guest blog by Kyle McNickle)

The purpose of my experiment was to analyze whether the behavior of an RLC (Resistor, Inductor, Capacitor) circuit is noticeably affected by replacing the inductor with an oscillating spring. Common inductors take the form of solenoids which are helical coils … Continue reading

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This is not black magic. This is physics. This is laminar flow. (Jr IS guest blog by Emma Brinton)

For my Junior Independent Study, I looked into some cool physics videos to find an interesting topic to explore. I found a youtube video about the University of New Mexico Couette cell apparatus for demonstrating laminar flow and decided that … Continue reading

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Walker’s Walker: Building a Passive Robot for Active Learning (Jr IS guest blog by Justine Walker)

Walking – we all do it. But why do we walk so often? Why doesn’t everyone skip down the block to work? Aside from that being deemed as weird by society, walking is the most efficient way for people to … Continue reading

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Student blog reports from their Junior Independent Study self-designed projects

This spring, each Wooster Junior physics major undertook a six-week scientific investigation of their own design, as a part of our junior independent study course. Watching their projects come to fruition over the course of the semester was a very … Continue reading

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Commencement 2017

Congratulations to the class of 2017! We caught up with a number of our senior physics majors for a group picture in the “organized chaos” following the commencement ceremony. Best wishes to all our graduates in your future endeavours, and … Continue reading

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Rubik’s Cube Puzzles

As a kid, I enjoyed solving the “15 puzzle”, a sliding puzzle consisting of a 4×4 grid of 15 squares. However, I was amazed by a kind of 3D analogue of the 15 puzzle: Ernö Rubik’s 1974 masterpiece, which is … Continue reading

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