Mercer Physics News

Mercer Physics News: Spring 2000

Fall 2000

Dr. Peter Ozimba joins the physics faculty as Visiting Assistant Professor. He is a native of Cameroon, but has lived in the US for many years.
Physics Club gets organized! Society of Physics Students officers Taha Yarahmad and Hilary Loupee laid out their plans at the first meeting on Monday 8/28. A trip to NASA is in the works...

Spring 2000

Physics major Taha Yarahmad organizes a local chapter of the Society of Physics Students.

First-ever Physics Web Contest: Design a Physics Logo for the New Millennium! For students only...

Fall 1999

Dr. Diane Lynch joins the physics faculty as Visiting Assistant Professor. (Note: Diane leaves after Spring 2000.)

Interactive Physics Experiments are here! Play around with our Interactive Pendulum!

You may have noticed the smell of charred paper - Our new CO2 laser is burning! Not to worry...

October 15, 10:00am, Willet Science Center Lecture Hall
Professor Louis Bloomfield, Physics Department, University of Virginia
"How Things Work: Using Everyday Objects
to Teach Physics to Non-Scientists"

Spring 1999

Nobel Laureate Charles Townes
spoke on March 19, 10:00 a.m., in Willingham Hall.
Faith and Physics:
"Logic and Uncertainty in Science and Religion"
Mercer trivia question: Who was the featured speaker at the dedication of
the Willet Science Center approximately three decades ago?

Fall 1998

The new Mercer Physics "regime" takes over. The new department chair is Dr. Randall Peters. New faculty members are Drs. Jose Balduz, Matt Marone, and Doug Young. Dr. Bruce Dod remains in charge of the Earth Sciences program.
This semester we will be doing some laboratories with the MUL, a multipurpose undergraduate laboratory instrument using the patented SDC sensor. Two experiments using the MUL involve simple harmonic oscillation and the magnetic force. We have just completed construction of a support constrained rigid spherical pendulum, which produces beautiful artforms. We invite you to come by Willet Science center and generate your own "Science as Art" masterpiece! Instrument Development: Dr. Peters has developed a number of instruments for physics demonstration and laboratory purposes, such as the TEL-Atomic Cavendish balance. The sensor for these systems is the symmetric differential capacitive (SDC) device used in the MUL, mentioned above.