Catalog Search Results
Pub. Date
2017.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (29 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Description
Gravity is by far the weakest of the fundamental forces. Learn how Newton achieved the first major unification in physics by showing that terrestrial and celestial gravity are the same. He also tacitly equated inertial mass and gravitational mass, leading to the startling theory 250 years later.
Pub. Date
2009.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (28 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Description
Light propagates through space as a wave, but it exchanges its energy in the form of particles. You learn how Louis de Broglie showed that this weird wave-particle duality also applies to matter, and how Max Born inferred that this relationship makes quantum mechanics inherently probabilistic.
Pub. Date
2017.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (31 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Description
Study the weak nuclear force, which is responsible for beta decay: the emission of an electron from a nucleus during radioactive decay. Discover that much more is going on, including weird transformations that pose a challenge to a theory of everything.
Pub. Date
2018.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (28 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Description
High-energy radiation has been used against cancer tumors since the discovery of X-rays in 1895. Discover the powerful arsenal of radiation sources and procedures that radiation oncologists use today. Visit the Hampton University Proton Therapy Institute to look at a technique that targets cancer cells with remarkable precision, while sparing the surrounding tissues.
Pub. Date
2009.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (32 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Description
Quantum mechanics is the most successful physical theory ever devised, and you learn what distinguishes it from its predecessor, classical mechanics. Professor Schumacher explains his ground rules for the course, which is designed to teach you some of the deep ideas and methods of quantum mechanics.
Pub. Date
2018.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (29 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Description
Now open the hood to see how the nucleus works. Start simple with a hydrogen atom, which has a nucleus of one proton orbited by a single electron. Build from there, adding neutrons and more protons, forging elements and their isotopes and seeing how the nucleus behaves much like a liquid drop. Then use the Fermi gas model to refine your understanding of nuclear structure.
Pub. Date
2009.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (32 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Description
You investigate the age-old debate over whether the physical world is discrete or continuous. By the 19th century, physicists saw a clear demarcation: Matter is made of discrete atoms, while light is a continuous wave of electromagnetic energy. However, a few odd phenomena remained difficult to explain.
Pub. Date
2009.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (31 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Description
Macroscopic objects obey the snowflake principle. No two are exactly alike. Quantum particles do not obey this principle. For instance, every electron is perfectly identical to every other. You learn that quantum particles come in two basic types: bosons, which can occupy the same quantum state; and fermions, which cannot.
Pub. Date
2014.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (34 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Description
Understand how pressure, volume, and temperature are state functions related by a formula known as the ideal gas law. Contrast these variables with work and heat, learning why they are not state functions. See how the ideal gas law can be used to calculate the work done by a piston.
Pub. Date
2009.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (29 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Description
You focus on the Einstein-Bohr debate, which pitted Einstein's belief that quantum events can, in principle, be known in every detail, against Bohr's philosophy of complementarity - the view that a measurement of one quantum variable precludes a different variable from ever being known.
Pub. Date
2014.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (34 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Description
Evaluate four other approaches to generating work from thermodynamic forces: magnetism, phase change, entropy, and surface tension. These unusual engines demonstrate the many different ways to produce mechanical energy from the unique properties of materials.
Pub. Date
2009.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (31 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Description
Why is matter solid, even though atoms are mostly empty space? The answer is the Pauli exclusion principle, which states that no two identical fermions can ever be in the same quantum state.
Pub. Date
2014.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (31 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Description
Investigate the properties of different materials as they change phase from solid to liquid to gas. Witness the surprising behavior of supercooled water, and discover that phase diagrams are an important tool for predicting how temperature and pressure determine when phase transitions occur.
Pub. Date
2020.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (31 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Description
After the dust settled from the quantum revolution, physics was left with two fundamental theories: the standard model of particle physics for quantum phenomena and general relativity for gravitational interactions. Follow the quest for a grand unified theory that incorporates both. Armed with Karl Popper’s demarcation criteria, see how unifying ideas such as string theory fall short.
Pub. Date
2018.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (31 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Description
See how hydrogen, helium, and a few other light nuclei were forged in the fiery aftermath of the Big Bang. Then, trace the formation of heavier nuclei in the interiors of stars, in supernova explosions, and in the collisions of neutron stars. Special attention is paid to the sequence of reactions and the required conditions that gave us the complete periodic table of elements.
Pub. Date
2017.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (33 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Description
Trace the discovery of missing mass surrounding most galaxies, which leads scientists to infer that 85% of all matter is "dark" and can't be observed directly. Evaluate the major theories about this discrepancy, and consider its implications for a theory of everything.
Pub. Date
2018.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (28 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Description
The discovery of the neutron in 1932 led to the insight that neutrons can incite certain heavy elements to fission (break apart), releasing more neutrons and a prodigious amount of energy. In this lecture, lay the groundwork for understanding nuclear weapons and nuclear power by investigating nuclei that are prone to fission, how to initiate fission, and the "daughter nuclei" that result.
Pub. Date
2014.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (30 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Description
Marvel at the power of osmosis by investigating the thermodynamic force that drives a liquid to flow from one side of a barrier to another. This force is called the chemical potential gradient, and it has wide application in performing work, from desalinating water to generating electricity.
Pub. Date
2014.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (35 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Description
Review major concepts. Then look ahead at innovative technologies that may help solve the world's urgent energy and fresh water needs. These promising processes rely on the design of new materials, which can only be achieved through a deep understanding of thermodynamics.
Pub. Date
2017.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (30 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Description
Einstein's greatest triumph was his general theory of relativity, which built on special relativity and led to a radically new understanding of the geometry of space and time. Einstein followed a rocky road to this breakthrough, with mistakes that hampered his progress and almost gave the honor of discovery to a rival.
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