Lava lamps are just cool, that's all there is to it. Most everyone has spent at least an hour of their life just staring at a lava lamp. While the experiment outlined here isn't really the same as a commercial lava lamp it does demonstrate many of the important fluid and thermodynamic properties. Most importantly it provides students with an interesting and fun visual demonstration intended to motivate thought about the physics behind the experiment itself.

Computer modeling is used to estimate physical quantities that are difficult to measure, in this case, the landing shock experienced by ski jumpers. The landing shock is difficult to measure because attaching instruments to the skiers would affect their balance and possibly cause them to fall or reduce their performance. Using basic principals of physics, the flight trajectories of two forms of competitive ski jumping, Freestyle Aerialist and Nordic Jumpers, were modeled and the landing shocks compared.

Police officers, air traffic controllers, and astronomers all use the Doppler Effect to determine the speed of an object as it approaches or recedes from their radars or telescopes. The frequency (or pitch, for sound) of waves coming from a moving object is changed an amount directly proportional to the speed of approach or recession. The effect of the change, to raise or lower the frequency, specifically indicates that the source is approaching or receding, respectively.

The common plastic water bottle makes a useful container for demonstrating properties of gases and liquids. As typical examples, we know that "air" is a gas (made up of nitrogen, oxygen, water vapor, ozone, carbon dioxide, and several "trace" gases) and water is a liquid. We should also note that gases and liquids are both "fluids". That is, they can flow or change shape, rather than having a fixed shape like a solid.

The numerous annual volcanic eruptions that occur worldwide evidence the potential dangers they often create. Volcanoes are found across a wide variety of geologic settings, including subduction zones (i.e.: Andes, Cascades, Aleutian Islands) and hotspot settings (i.e.: Hawaii-Emperor Seamounts, Galapagos, Azores). Regardless of their location, history has demonstrated that volcanoes pose a vivid and real hazard to regional settlements and environments. The eruption of Mt. St. Helens (Washington - 1980), Nevado del Ruiz (Colombia - 1985), Mt. Hudson (Chile - 1991), Mt.

We frequently hear about volcanoes, eruptions, explosions, and probably think these things will never affect us, that volcanoes only exist at places far away. However, they should be a concern to everybody, since more than 50 volcanoes scattered throughout the world are active every year and their eruptions affect millions of people. Volcanic explosions produce clouds, which the atmosphere transports. This means that volcanic clouds can travel long distances and affect people that live far from their sources.

What powerful mathematical tool do you use everyday? If you have ever considered how much food you can eat and still leave room for dessert, or made a rough calculation of how long it will take to travel to school, you are using estimates to help guide and inform your decisions.

Even the most casual observers note the changes in the phase of the Moon as it goes from crescent to half to full and back again with a "monthly" cycle. (See Glenn Simonelli's PUMAS submission "Modeling the motions of the Earth, Sun and Moon" [PUMAS Example 03_10_04_1].) Their observations, or what is "common knowledge", lead them to believe the Moon does loops around the Earth. But is this true?

Many students approach college level math courses with anxieties approaching phobic levels. Math instructors continue to search for innovative teaching methods which make math concepts easier to understand, and at the same time, lessen student fears. Various techniques, such as mnemonics, acronyms and other minds/hands-on techniques, have been used in attempts to increase student understanding, encoding, retrieval and usage of information. This article presents a conceptual teaching tool which consists of attaching new ideas or techniques to a previously learned concept or behavior.