Physics 20 Term Project

Project Description

(1) Research an application of optics or thermodynamics to astronomy or a natural process. You  may choose from the list below, or choose your own topic. You should confirm a topic with me by Wednesday, February 16.
(2) Design and build a web page which describes the application. The page should clearly relate connections between concepts discussed in class and the application.
(3) Present your page to the class 9th week. The presentation will be in class and should be between 5 and 10 minutes in length. Leave at least 2 minutes to answer questions from the audience.

Possible Research Topics

Possible topics include, but are NOT LIMITED to the following (use your imagination and choose something of interest to you!)

Adaptive or Active Optics in Astronomy (Adaptive and Active Optics compensate for atmospheric refraction)
Modern Techniques in Large Telescope Construction
Very Long Baseline Interferometry
Radio Astronomy (broad field with many possible research topics)
Interstellar Dust and its Effects on Light
Energy Transport in Stars
Planetary atmospheres, e.g. energy transport
Planetary cooling: Jupiter vs. Earth
Global warming
Comet Interaction with inner solar system
Interstellar gas phases and interactions
Meteors: interaction with Earth’s atmosphere
Thermal noise in semiconductor detectors (including CCD’s)
Thermal processes in nature
Stellar Remnants: Matter states; cooling of remnants
Weather systems, e.g. formation of hurricanes
Is weather predictable using thermodynamics?
 

Possible References

Ask me - I can help you find and photocopy material from books I have available
Internet
Library
Interviews with other faculty in the department
 

Web Page Construction

You may construct your web page using any software package to which you have access and are comfortable using. Here are possible routes:

(1) HTML editing in a text editor   NCSA - A Beginner's Guide to HTML    Introduction to HTML
    HTML Goodies with Basic HTML: An Introduction
(2) Microsoft FrontPage: available in Olin 301 and probably at other locations on campus.  Microsoft Frontpage Website
(3) Microsoft FrontPage Express, which is provided with many copies of Internet Explorer later than version 4.0.
(4) Construct a Word Document and save in HTML format.

To place your page on the internet, you will need to have access to idol or some other server (if you have a dial-up internet account, you may have some disk space included for a web site). Instructions for placing your page on idol will be given in class.
 

Other Links Relating to Web Page Design


 Writing for the Web
 The Need for Speed
 Resources on Web Style
 Software Trials
 
Dreamweaver Web Page Construction

Last updated: February 18, 2005