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The spin quantum number
What does "spin" refer to in particle physics? And why is this a
necessary concept?
Let's start with some classical ideas. Angular momentum is the
rotational analogue of (linear) momentum. If an everyday object is
spinning, it has angular momentum. If we attach electric charge to
that spinning object, the circulating charge acts like a loop of
current, and produces a magnetic dipole, ie a little electromagnet.
So, when we find that an electron has angular momentum and a
magnetic dipole, it is natural to talk of its spin. Natural, but
somewhat misleading, because on the very small scale one must
use quantum mechanics, rather than classical mechanics. Like
the energy of electrons in an atom, the spin of a fundamental
particle is quantised: only discrete values are allowed (+ and - 1/2
for the electron). Further, if one imagines the electron is a little
ball of spinning charge and applies classical physics, one gets the
wrong answer for the magnetic dipole.
So why is it a necessary concept? If we apply an external
magnetic field, the energy of an electron will be increased or
decreased depending on the direction of its magnetic dipole (and
thus on the value of its spin). It also gives an extra quantum
number. The Pauli exclusion principle forbids electrons to have
the same quantum numbers so, for any energy level in the atom,
there can be two electrons, with positive and negative spin. Thus
spin allows twice as many electrons, which has very considerable
consequences for the periodic table and chemistry!
Accelerators as probes of nuclear structure
Can you please explain why accelerators are used to probe into the
structure of matter?
One reason is related to the de Broglie hypothesis: that the
wavelength λ of any particle is λ = h/p, where h is Planck's
constant and p its momentum. So, in order to probe the nucleus
(size ~ 10-15m), we need a 'probe' particle smaller than this, which
means one with large momentum. To obtain information about
quarks (ie to look inside a nucleon), even higher momenta are
required. Accelerators provide particles with very large
momentum (travelling within a fraction of a percent of the speed
of light), and the momentum is well known.
To step back in history: Rutherford was able to probe the inside of
the atom by using 'probe' particles smaller than the atom. From
the angles of recoil, he was able to make an important conclusion
about the atom: that nearly all the mass was localised in a very
small region (the nucleus).
The second reason is to do with mass-energy equivalence. If you
organise a collision that, relative to the centre of mass of the
colliding particles, has a kinetic energy E, it is possible to create a
particle-antiparticle pair, provided that 2mc2 is less than E.
Smashing an accelerated particle into a target is therefore one
way to study structure. One drawback is that the kinetic energy in
centre of mass frame is not very high, particularly when relativistic
effects are included.
A better way of studying subatomic particles is to smash a proton
(mass mp) into an antiproton. Sometimes they destroy each other,
and then you get the kinetic energy of the collision, plus 2mpc2.
Which may be enough to create various different particle-
antiparticle pairs. Note that you usually create (or destroy)
particle-antiparticle pairs, so that the total charge and spin of the
things you create or destroy is zero.
Semiconductors, transistors, solar cells etc
What are n-type and p-type semiconductors?
n-type semiconductors are 'doped' with a small percentage of
atoms that have an extra valence electron. These extra electrons
can be considered to provide most of the charges available for
conduction. The electrons, being negatively charged, move in the
direction opposite that of the electric field (see drift velocity).
p-type semiconductors are 'doped' with a small percentage of
atoms that have the capacity to accept an extra valence electron.
This can be thought of as an electron hole. Further, the hole can
move: if an electron from a neighbouring atom enters the hole, it
leaves a hole next door, so the hole appears to have moved. And
since it was a negatively charged electron that moved to fill it, the
movement of the hole is effectively the movement of a positive
charge. In p-type semiconductors, one can think of the current
being carried by positively charged electron holes, moving in the
direction of the electric field (see drift velocity).
This is convenient as a way of thinking, although one can say that
it is really the electrons that are moving. Here is a good analogy:
take a sealed bottle of water and invert it. You will see the bubble
of air move upwards through the water. Now of course you know
that what is really happening is that water is flowing down into the
bubble and leaving a hole in the water where it has come from, so
really what you are watching is water motion. But because there
is lots of water and only a small bubble, it is easier to think of a
moving 'hole' in the water than to consider the motion of the
water.

How do diodes and transistors work?
When you take some p material and n material and put them
together, you get a diode (see the schematic diagram below). If
you make the p side positive and the n side negative, then holes
move from the p side to the junction, while electrons move from
the n side to the junction. At the junction, the electrons 'fill' the
holes, thereby destroying both the free electron and the hole. So
the process can continue indefinitely: the diode conducts in this
direction. If you reverse the polarity, holes and electrons both
move away from the junction. This leaves no charge carriers near
the junction, so there is no conduction. Thus a diode conducts
current in only one direction---the direction of the arrow in its
circuit symbol. Diodes are useful in rectification (turning AC to
DC), in logic circuits and in many other applications in electronics.
A junction transistor consists of a thin layer of one type of
semiconductor sandwiched between two layers of the other type,
as shown in the schematic diagrams above.
Let's look at the npn transistor. An electron can travel from the
emitter (n doped) to the collector (n doped) only if it can get
through the base without 'colliding' with a hole in the base (p
doped). If the layer is very thin, that is possible, but the chance of
an electron getting through is a sensitive function of the potential
difference between base and emitter (called the bias voltage). For
typical silicon transistors, if you set the base-emitter voltage at 0.2
V, there is hardly any current between collector and emitter. If you
set it at 0.6 or 0.7 V, you get close to maximum collector current
(the size depends upon the size and packaging of the transistor,
but tens or hundreds of mA is typical). If you set the base-emitter
voltage above this, you have an ex-transistor.
The pnp transistor operates similarly, except that it is the 'holes'
that migrate across the thin base region, and the electrons in this
region that control the flow. It is convenient to have symmetrical
transistors (npn and pnp) for circuits with positive and negative
supplies.
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The field effect transistor or FET is simpler than the junction
transistor. We show a p-gate transistor. The current through the
n-doped material passes through the narrow section where it
passes the 'gate' of p-doped material. The effective width of this
passage can be made thinner or thicker by varying the voltage of
the gate, and so removing conduction electrons from the thin
passage. An advantage of FETs is that the input resistance of the
device is high, which is what one usually wants when amplifying a
small signal. In junction transistors, the input resistance is low. A
disadvantage of FETs is that they usually can handle only small
currents.
Transistors as amplifiers and logic gates
Amplification. The circuit below left allows you to apply a small,
variable voltage or current to the base of npn transistor via the
(large) resistor Rbase. Raising this voltage or current (by
decreasing Rbase) turns the transistor 'on', i.e. it allows more
current to flow from collector to emitter (= more electrons from
emitter to collector). A bigger current in the collector means a
bigger voltage drop across the (smaller) resistance Rcollector. So a
small increase in the input voltage (voltmeter at left) causes a
large decrease in the output voltage (voltmeter at right). Thus this
is a (very simple) inverting amplifier.
Circuit diagrams for a simple amplifier (left) and a logic gate that
performs the NOR operation.
Logic operations. In the ciruit at right, let's consider digital
signals, ie voltages that we consider only as 'high' (1) or 'low' (0).
If either A or B is high, there will be a high base current, so the
transistor will be on, lots of current will flow through the load
resistor at right, so the output voltage will be low. A and B both
high gives the same result. The only way to turn the transistor off
(and so obtain low collector current and high output voltage) is if
neither A NOR B is on. For that reason, this circuit is a NOR gate.
Its output is 1 if neither A NOR B is 1, and 0 otherwise.
One can also use transistors and resistors to construct simple
gates for the logical operations NOT, AND, OR, NAND (= not
and) and XOR (exclusive or). Alternatively, one can construct any

of these from a combination of NOR gates. By putting together
combinations of gates, one can easily construct memory,
arithmetic and more complicated operations. Although this
material is usually taught in a laboratory course normally taught in
second year, it is possible to do some experimental work yourself,
if you are keen. The School of Physics at UNSW has an
interactive course in digital electronics set up as a series of
panels in the corridor. By manipulating knobs and switches you
can do a series of experiments, starting with resistors and
transistors and ending with the elements of a computer--it is a
small, self-contained experimental course in digital electronics.
Small groups would be welcome to visit by arrangement
(info@phys.unsw.edu.au).
History of the invention of the transistor.
For versions of the history of the invention of the transistor, see
American Institute of Physics version or the Bell Labs' version
and Time Magazine article on Shockley.
What was the impact of the invention of transistors, microchips and
microprocessors on society?
Simple logic circuits can be made with resistors and diodes, but
for complicated circuits one needs an amplifying component.
Which generally means valves or transistors.
o Thermionic valves are much bigger than transistors.
The volume of a valve varies from several ml to litres.
They are usually expensive and unreliable compared to
transistors. Part of their unreliability was due to
temperature: to eject electrons, the electrodes had to be
heated, and thermal deterioration is difficult to avoid.
Another part was due to the need to maintain a vacuum,
usually inside a glass capsule sealed to a metal base.
(Large size, cost and the need to replace from time to
time is not such a problem in very high power
applications, and so valves still have uses in such things
as radio transmitters.) Computers (Univac, CSIRAC etc)
using thermionic valves were very large, slow, expensive
and unreliable by modern standards. (The distortion
produced by valve amplifiers is different to that prodcued
by transistor amplifiers. Some rock and roll musicians,
who like distortion, prefer the distortion of valves. Further,
valve amplifiers make an electrical noise when you hit
them hard enough. So there is still a market for valve
amplifiers.)
o Transistors are usually small. When you buy a single
transistor, the package and wires are usually much bigger
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than the device. (This is often because a big package and
wires are necessary to get rid of the heat produced in the
transistor.) Physically big transistors (ie with packages
more than several mm across) are used for applications
where substantial amounts of power (several watts or
more) is required. Transistors are not good for very high
power applications, in part due to thermal runaway. The
conductivity of semiconductors increases with
temperature, this causes them to conduct more current,
which produces more heat, which raises their
temperature.... Unless you can get rid of this heat, it leads
to ex-transistors.
o Microchips and microprocessors are impossible
without transistors (though in the future they may have
optical or quantum components instead). In logic circuits,
one needs hardly any power, and the minimum size for
transistors may be determined by the lithography that is
used to make them. (Ultimately it is determined by
quantum effects and thermal noise.) So it is possible to
put many millions of them together on a single wafer of
silicon to make a chip. So transistors made microchips,
microprocessors and personal computers possible. For
the impact of microchips and microprocessors on society,
look around you.
More about transistors, computers
Can you provide more resources for teaching the Age of Silicon (NSW
syllabus topic)?
The US PBS has a website associated with their documentary
Transistorized. It has a good basic review of the science involved,
but much historical detail (including a lot of interesting things
about the various personalities involved).
Another possibility is the Nobel prize website. The 2000 prize in
Physics was awarded to Alferov, Kroemer and Kilby for
contributions to the foundations of much of modern electronics
and infomation technologies. The resources on this site range
from the somewhat technical (each awardee gets to write a
scientific article for reviews of modern physics on their work),
through to their acceptance speeches and so forth, right down to
the basic including graphics-heavy descriptions of their work, and
even an online game for kids to learn about the various prizes
(see , which relates to Kirby's work on the integrated circuit).
The more recent the prize, the more public stuff they have on the
website, but you can go right back to Bardeen, Brattain and

Shockleys prize in '56 for the transistor, and some of the greats
like Einstein, Heisenberg and co.
Solar cells and the photovoltaic effect
Could you please tell me about the relationship in solar cells between the
photoelectric effect, semiconductors, electric fields and current?
A photon of light interacts with an electron via the photovoltaic
effect and transfers it to a state with a higher electric potential.
This creates an emf: the electron with higher potential can flow
back to its original state via the external circuit and thus do work.
Solar cells are usually semiconductors. In solar cells, a photon
interacts with an electron, but does not remove it from the
material (as it does in the photoelectric effect). Rather, the energy
hf of the photon increases the potential energy of the electron by
eV, and so produces a potential difference which has an upper
limit of hf/e (which cannot be reached in practice because of the
thermal effects). The electron with higher potential energy (lower
voltage) can then flow through the external circuit and do
electrical work (e.g. charge a battery). This is explained in more
detail on an introductory page on the photovoltaic effect from the
UNSW Centre for Photovoltaics, which produces the world's most
efficient silicon solar cells.
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States of matter
The syllabus asks us to recall the states of matter and their
properties and debate whether superconductivity is a new "state"
This question is mainly about the taxonomy of matter. Taxonomy
is sometimes rather arbitrary, but let's put in some physical
insight. We begin with the four commonly defined states of
matter, which, ranked by increasing temperature, are:
solid, liquid, gas, plasma.
We can differentiate these by considering the thermal energy---a
measure of the typical energy of a molecule or mole due to its
thermal motion. In molecular terms, the thermal energy is kT
(where k is Boltzmanns constant and T is the aboslute
temperature) and in molar terms it is RT (where R is the gas
constant). Let's compare this with the energies of intermolecular
interaction (U) and the energy of ionisation or work function (W).
Roughly speaking, molecules with lots of thermal energy escape
from their neighbours and evaporate. Those will little energy stay
close to the same neighbours (solid). Those with intermediate
energy can exchange neighbours but not escape from them
(liquid). Finally, if molecules or atoms have enough thermal
energy, their collisions may remove electrons and form a plasma.
So:
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solid: kT <~U
liquid: kT ~ U
gas: kT >~U
plasma: kT >~W
One could further subdivide solids into crystals (solids with
regular structure), glasses (solids with much less regular
structure) etc. Do these count as different states of matter, or are
they different forms of solids? It's a semantic question.
The ranking above neglects pressure (and only considers entropy
implicitly). If we make the pressure low, we can get gases at very
low temperature. Solids will sublime at low pressure (CO2 does at
atmospheric pressure). Very wide ranges of pressure and
temperature can deliver some exotic states of matter:
Bose-Einstein condensates. At very low temperatures and
pressures, Bose-Einstein condensation is sometimes possible.
This occurs when the wave properties of atoms or molecules
become important. The Heisenberg's uncertainty principle
imposes a constraint here: we need the thermal momentum so
slow that the error in position of the atom/molecule is large
enough for several of them to be superposed. What happens then
depends on the overall spin of the atom or molecule. If they are
bosons, then one may have several or many atoms all with the
same quantum numbers and all confined to the same region in
space. They are indistinguishable. There's a question about them
below.
Bose-Einstein condensates
Why is large wavelength so imporant? How does this tie in with
quantum mechanics?
I think that this is best introduced by an analogous concept: it's
what surfers might call a 'set' of waves. Suppose a surfer's 'set'
has 5 waves, with wavelength of 30 metres. This means that that
particular 'set' will not interfere with another 'set' that is more than
150 metres away. (Physicists would refer to a wave train, or wave
packet and its coherence length--and they would object to the
very simplified arm-waving explanation I'm giving here!)
Now the wavelength of a massive particle (the de Broglie
wavelength) is inversely proportional to its speed. And the speed
of an atom goes as the square root of its temperature. At room
temperature, the wavelengths of atoms are so small (smaller than
the atom itself) that interference effects are negligible. When you
cool them enough, however, their speeds become slower and
their wavelengths longer. And, if you can confine a number of
similar atoms in a small volume, they can begin to interfere.

This (roughly speaking) is what happens in a condensate. If you
have a collection of particles with the same quantum numbers,
and if they are 'in the same place', then they are indistinguishable.
This indistinguishability leads to some peculiar statistics, first
worked out by Bose and Einstein.
We don't notice this at normal temperatures, because atoms are
not 'in the same place', which here means being close enough
and having long enough de Broglie waves for interference to
occur.
news item on BECs
NIST site on BECs
Are Bose-Einstein condensates a new state of matter.
They certainly have properties that are very different from those
of solids, liquids, gases & plasmas. Is that enough to be called a
new state of matter? This is a semantic question.
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Neutron stars. At exceedingly high pressures and temperatures,
electrons and protons can combine to form neutrons. This
happens in some massive stars when they cool enough for their
gravity to squeeze the atoms into ultra high density. A whole, star
bigger than the sun, becomes something rather like a gigantic
atomic nucleus, several km in diameter, containing only neutrons.
Dark matter. Most of the matter in the universe is not in stars, as
was thought until recently. Because it's not in stars, this matter
doesn't shine, whence 'dark matter'. Planets, comets and dust are
all dark matter, but these are thought to be much less massive
than their stars, and so negligible in cosmology. Many
cosmologists believe that most of the matter (or perhaps energy)
in the universe exists in large 'clouds' around galaxies called
MACHOs (MAssive Compact Halo Objects). Many others believe
it is in undetected particles called WIMPS (Weakly Interacting
Massive Particles.). Do the WIMPS count as a new state of
matter? Probably not, but there maybe news on this subject soon.
Exotic matter. There are a number of types of matter so unusual
that they are only encountered in high energy laboratories, or
perhaps in extreme conditions that may exist or have existed in
the universe. Antimatter is in principle very much like ordinary
matter. Antihydrogen consists of a positive antielectron (a
positron) and a negative antiproton. As far as we know, it has the
same spectrum as hydrogen. It is very much harder, but in
principle possible, to make antimatter versions of heavier
elements. Antimatter has the disagreeable habit of annihilating
ordinary matter to make lots of E=mc2 energy in the form of
gamma rays.
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It is also possible to make 'atoms' (often very short lived) using
other combinations of positive and negative particles, such as a
proton and a muon or an electron and a positron. Further,
whereas the neutron and proton are made only of up and down
quarks, it is in principle possible to make much more massive
hadrons using less common quarks. When we think of matter, we
usually think of lots of atoms together, rather than a single briefly
existing entitiy. Are there places in the universe hot enough to
make such exotic matter in quantity? I don't know, but if there are,
it is nice to be a long way away from them!
Superconductors
How do superconductors work?
It is difficult to give a qualitative/conceptual description without
missing something, but here is a simplistic explanation:
Electrons in normal metals occupy a set of quantum states, up to
some maximum energy (called the "Fermi energy"). The relatively
free "conduction electrons" (those which come from the unpaired
valence electrons of the atoms) interact strongly with the
positively charged ion cores, and as an electron moves through
the lattice it will cause the cores to be displaced from their
equlilibrium positions. Electrons with energies near the Fermi
energy are able to change their quantum state relatively easily,
and thus any interaction, such as with the lattice, can result in a
drastic change in the quantum states of these electrons. It
happens that in superconductors the electrons near the Fermi
energy become highly correlated, forming a macroscopic
coherent quantum state with exotic properies. This state can be
thought of as being made up of "electron pairs", but it is important
to understand that these pairs are transitory things which change
continuously in a dynamical way. At any instant a given electron
is a member of many pairs.
Does superconductivity qualify as a new state of matter? Not
according to the classification scheme proposed here. If we had a
scheme that made metals a different state of matter from
materials that don't share electrons, then under such a scheme
superconductors might be a new state of matter. However, this is
all taxonomy and semantics, and is not of great importance to
physics.
What is a phonon?
The atoms of a crystalline solid form a regular lattice structure,
which can be likened to an array of balls connected by springs,
the springs representing forces between neighbouring atoms.
Such structures can vibrate mechanically in various ways, either
because of thermal motion or some external force. A sound wave

travelling through a solid is an example of the latter. Quantum
mechanics tells us that these vibrations can only gain or lose
energy in discrete amounts and these are called 'phonons', by
analogy with photons for light. Under ordinary conditions there is
an enormous number of phonons or photons present and we do
not see this 'graininess'. However, careful experiments confirm
the picture.
What causes the lattice distortions in a superconductor?
A conducting solid, such as a metal, contains electrons which can
move relatively freely through the background of positively
charged ion cores. As an electron moves it exerts a Coulomb
attraction on neighbouring ions and will distort the lattice structure
locally. This is referred to as 'electron-phonon interaction'. In
some materials, at sufficiently low temperatures, this effect can
lead to a dynamic pairing between electrons. This is believed to
the mechanism behind superconductivity in most, but not all,
superconductors.
(The answers in the phonon and lattice distortion section were
supplied by Prof Jaan Oitmaa.)
Levitation of a magnet by a superconductor
The magnetic field does not penetrate into a superconductor. This
is called the Meissner effect. This effect together with
conservation of the magnetic flux provides the levitation of a
magnetic object above a superconductor or a superconductor
above the magnet.
When a magnet is brought near a superconductor, this exclusion
of the magnetic field distorts the field lines, as shown in the
diagram below.
There are some further subtleties in magnetic levitation discussed
in www.calpoly.edu/~rbrown/levitation.html.
In order to be quantitative about it, we observe that the smaller
the gap between the object and the superconductor, the larger
the magnetic field in the gap: the field is compressed in this gap.
We can calculate the magnetic pressure (a force per unit area),
which at any point is equal to the energy density (energy per unit
volume) of the magnetic field. This is given by:
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p = B2/2μo.
where B is the field strength and μo is the magnetic permeability
of space. As we bring the magnet closer to the superconductor
(middle picture), the field lines must be closer together, so the
field is more intense, so its energy density and magnetic pressure
p rise. Mechanical equilibrium (levitation) is achieved when the
force due to this magnetic pressure is equal to the weight of the
object.
To estimate the size of this effect, let us consider a cubic iron bar
magnet with side a = 1 cm. Let the mass of the magnet be
0.01 kg, and let the field near the pole, in the absence of any
superconductor (picture at left), be Bo ~ 0.01 Tesla. Now let us
put the cube at distance x from the superconductor. To do the
geometry properly is a little difficult, but we can make some
approximations.
In the diagram at left, the field from the pole diverges over a
distance comparable with the size of the magnet, ie over ~a. In
the middle diagram, it diverges over the distance x, so the field
lines have been concentrated by a factor of about a/x, so the field
between the magnet and the superconductor has a field strength
B ~ Boa/x
For mechanical equilibrium, we want the force of the magnetic
pressure acting on the pole of the magnet to equal the weight, so
mg = pa2 = a2B2/2μo.
Rearranging gives an estimate for x, the levitation height:
You probably don't have liquid nitrogen to do the experiment, but
you can make a similar measurement using two similar magnets
and by taking advantage of symmetry. If you keep the magnets
symmetrical while bringing similar poles towards each other, then
(because the magnets are equally strong) no field lines cross the
plane of symmetry. So the top half of the field diagram looks just
like that of the levitation case.

So the obvious question is why you cannot levitate in the second
case. Well, the problem is that the symmetry of the two magnets
is unstable and you will need to supply horizonatl forces to keep
them upright. With some ingenuity, you may be able to supply
such horizontal forces without much vertical force. If you do, you
can measure the distance at which the upper magnet is
supported, and this is roughly twice the distance at which it would
levitate over a superconductor. It is also possible to supply the
horizontal forces using an array of magnets, and some 'executive'
toys use this principle to levitate permanent magnets.
By the way, this trick of using two similar magnets in symmetry
would also be an easy way to calculate the forces, rather than to
estimate them as we have done above. We treat the
superconductor as a 'magnetic mirror' and calculate the 'image
forces' due to the mirror image of the magnet.
The Meissner effect
The two following properties are specific for superconductors:
o 1) Zero resistance to electric current;
o 2) Repulsion of the magnetic field (Meissner effect).
Actually a normal metal (non superconductor) also has zero
resistance at zero absolute temperature. However a normal metal
never manifests the Meissner effect. Thus the Meissner effect is
the most important property of a superconductor.
The Meissner effect is a complex quantum phenomenon. It is due
to the fact that electrons in the superconductor are in a quantum
condensate described by a collective wave function for all
electrons. For an introduction to quantum condensates, see Bose
Einstein condensates.
This wave function has a very special property of rigidity: it
requires a lot of applied energy to change the 'shape' of the wave
function. (To discuss this correctly, we really do need complex
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mathematical operations, so this simplified discussion is not quite
correct. and the shape we are talking about is a shape in Hilbert
space.) As a result of this rigidity, the curl of the electric current
density is proportional to the magnetic field. (The curl is a
mathematical way of representing properties of the shapes of
lines in a vector field, the current density in this case. It is a
measure of the amount of twist in the lines.) Let us assume now
that the magnetic field penetrates inside volume of the
superconductor. Hence, because of the property mentioned
above, the field induces currents inside the volume of the
superconductor. Any current is related to some internal
movement and hence to the kinetic energy related to this
movement. Therefore such a state would have a very high
energy. To minimize the energy the superconductor develops
currents on the surface in such a way that they exactly
compensate the magnetic field inside. In this case current flows
only within thin 10-8m surface layer and therefore energy of the
system is relatively low. This explains the mechanism of the
Meissner effect.
The Meissner effect is very important for condensed matter
physics and it is equally important for elementary particle physics.
The masses of the particles arise due to the effect that is very
similar to the Meissner one because the physical vacuum is in the
state similar to the state of a superconductor (Meissner state).
However at early stages of the history the Universe was very hot,
the vacuum was in the "normal" (non "superconducting") state,
and all the particles were massless.
(The answers on levitation and the Meissner effect were provided
by Prof Oleg Sushkov.)
Superconductivity and computers
I've read several books now all describing superconductors, if used
in computers, will allow them to operate at higher speeds. None of
them describe how this actually happens.
There are a few different effects.
First, if you have higher conductivity, you can make thinner
conducting elements. That makes chips physically smaller,
signals travel smaller distances and that improves speed.
Second, with higher conductivity, you produce less heat. Getting
rid of heat limits the size and sometimes the clock speed of
processors. If you reduce that problem, you can pack large arrays
of circuits, again making distances shorter. Instead of having two
dimensional circuits (all the elements located at or very near a
single, plane surface of semiconductor), you could have three
dimensional ones (many parallel interfaces in a block), and that

would much reduce the distances and increase the maximum
number of components.
Then there are RC charging times. The junctions of a transistor
have a capacitance C that is charged via the conductors (with a
resistance R) leading to them. To charge a capacitor takes
typically a time RC (ohm*farad = second). So low R means a
faster switching time. See RC filters for more information.
By the way, a current set up in a superconductor circuit keeps
flowing until you do something to stop it. This could in principle be
used as a memory element.
Applications to magnetic fields, motors, power distributions, MRI
I'm finding it really difficult to find any info of "the effects of those
applications [of superconductivity] on computers, generators,
motors and transmission of electricity through power grids".
Currently, these are almost entirely potential applications, so do
not expect to find much information. For potential applications to
computers, see the previous section.
There are also potential applications to motors and generators.
The stationary magnets or stators in these devices are often
electromagnets, in order to save weight or initial expense. (See
Motors and generators for details.) If we could easily make these
electromagnets superconducting, then we would save on the
electrical power required to keep current flowing in them to
maintain the field. This would make them more efficient. However,
the insulation required to retain the liquid helium necessary for
high current super conductors makes such systems large, heavy
and expensive.
Power engineers dream of using superconducting cables for the
transmission of electricity through power grids. About two
thirds of the power generated by power stations is lost in the
distribution network, including ohmic heating of the transmission
cables. However, the prospect of cooling the distribution network
is daunting. 'High' temperature superconductors (those that
superconduct at liquid nitrogen temperatures) are not (yet)
suitable for transmission cables because they cannot transmit
high current density, they are usually not ductile or flexible.
(A little parenthesis about comparing electric cars with
petrol cars. Although fossil fuelled power station
generators are much more efficient than motor car
engines, the distribution of electrical energy is much less
efficient than the distribution of petrol, which tends to
cancel out the efficiency of generation. However, power
stations are less polluting than cars, and electric cars are
still much more efficient than petrol cars. This is because
8
electric cars are designed rationally for intelligent driving.
Petrol cars are constrained by the need to protect the
fragile egos of some male drivers and so are almost
always vastly overpowered. In principle one could design
efficient petrol cars but, because of the temporarily low
price of oil, there is little incentive to do so.)
There are however some actual applications of superconductors.
One relatively common example is in the large electromagnet
used for the constant field in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (see
MRI). Liquid helium cools the wire coils to allow the large currents
required to maintain the large, uniform magnetic field efficiently.
An interesting problem arises when one wishes to turn off the field
and bring the magnet back to room temperature. The magnet is a
large inductance (see AC circuits) with value L, carrying a large
current i, and thefore storing an energy Li2/2. When the
temperature starts to rise, resistance appears in the coils and the
ohmic (i2R) heating would quickly dissipate all this magnetic
energy as heat. Despite the presence of the liquid helium, there
are difficulties in disposing of this energy safely, so the current
must be gradually reduced to zero before the coils can be
warmed.
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Nuclear physics, radioisotopes, neutrinos etc
What are some of the industrial and medical applications of
radioactivity and nuclear physics?
Radioactive materials give off charged particles (electrons,
antielectrons, helium nuclei) and (uncharged) neutrons, and also
high energy photons (packets of light). The charged particles
collide with the charged particles in ordinary matter and give off
more high energy photons.
A photon has (is?) an electromagnetic field. If it has sufficient
energy, it can interact with an electron and remove it from its
atom. This is called ionizing radiation.
Such radiation can, in sufficient doses, kill cells because, if it
strikes DNA in enough places, it disrupts the molecule and
prevents reproduction.
and how is this property utilised in medicine and industries?
In medicine, hard (high energy) X-rays are used to treat cancer.
Because the cancerous cells divide more quickly than normal
ones, they are more vulnerable, so the radiation kills the cancer
cells preferentially. Sometimes the photons are delivered directly
from an X-ray beam (e.g. breast cancer). In other cases,
radioactive sources may be used.

In industry, radioisotopes are sometimes used as 'tracers': label a
chemical by making one of its atoms radioactive, and you can
trace where that chemical goes. They are also sometimes used to
measure the composition of materials by measuring the amount
of radioactivity absorbed. Radioactive tracers are used to identify
organs and pathways for different chemicals. Positron Emission
Tomography is also used to identify the distribution of different
substances. (See also Medical physics.)
How are isotopes used in engineering or agriculture?
An important example is in nuclear engineering: In countries such
as France, the construction of power stations involves lots of
nuclear engineers. One of the more important isotopes is 235U.
There are also nuclear reactors used for producing diverse
isotopes for medical and other uses. Some bad and good news:
in various countries, engineers are involved both in the building
and the dismantling of nuclear weapons.
Radioactive isotopes are used in some measurement devices.
The domestic smoke detector is the most common: they
sometimes use Americium. Radioactive sources are also used to
measure the thickness and composition of thin films (suitably
calibrated, a measure of transmitted radiation tells you how much
material was present to absorbe the radiation.
How are isotopes used in agriculture?
I don't know much about this, but I'll put down these suggestions
and perhaps others can add to them.
13
C has been widely used (ie sufficiently widely that I've heard of
it) in plant physiology to study the carbon cycle and
photosynthesis. If you put 13C into a particular sugar and you find
it in starch, then you know that there is a pathway from that sugar
to starch etc. Often when researchers study biochemistry they
choose a radioactive isotope to 'label' the biochemical in which
they are interested. Then you can measure the concentration by
measuring the radiation, and even better you can trace where it
has come from. (Biologists would have better examples.)
As to agriculture, the link below reports the use of 15N to study
root biomass and uptake, 13C for carbon exchange and 137Cs for
studying soil redistribution.
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What are the links between high energy particle physics and
cosmology?
Much astronomical evidence (particularly the galactic red shifts
for which Hubble is famous and the ubiquitous 3 Kelvin
background microwave radiation in the sky (Penzias and Wilson,
more recently the cosmic background explorer COBE)) point to a
9
'Big Bang' about 13 billion years ago. At that time, the universe
was extremely dense and hot. Let's imagine going backwards in
time towards t =0.
As the temperature gets higher, the typical energy due to thermal
motion (kT, where T is the absolute temperature and k is
Boltzmann's constant) gets greater. When it becomes
comparable with the ionization energy of hydrogen (kT ~ 10 eV),
nuclei can no longer hold on to the electrons and so there are no
longer atoms, just a plasma.
Keep going back in time, hotter and hotter. Eventually the protons
are colliding with each other with the same sorts of energies
produced in the big atom smashers (kT ~ GeV), and so all of the
weird particles recorded at e.g. CERN are now present in the tiny,
dense universe. To understand cosmological evolution at this
stage, one needs to understand about these particles.
Hotter and hotter, and the difference between the different forces
ceases to be evident: first electromagnetism and the weak force,
then the strong force all become one (in the language of
cosmology, they have not yet 'frozen out'). Some theoreticians
think that in the early universe quantum gravity was as strong as
the other forces.
Finally one gets back to the Planck length ((Gh/c3)1/2 ~ 10−35m)
and the Planck time ((Gh/c5)1/2 ~10−43s), over which the
spontaneous creation of transient black holes dominates
proceedings. On this scale time and space cease to have a
separate meaning, or even a meaning at all. Without time and
space, cause and effect cease to have a meaning and so one of
the Big Questions (How did it all start?) disappears. (The last
sentence may seem glib, but I think that it is actually quite
important and profound.)
What is a neutrino, what is an anti-neutrino?
Neutrinos (or perhaps neutrini?--Pauli was an Italo-American)
have anglular momentum--and not much else. The sign of the
angular momentum (+ve or −ve) is used to assign a spin,
although spin in this sense is abstract, and not very similar to the
spin on a cricket ball. If something has spin and is travelling, you
can picture it tracing out a helix, as a spot on a ball bowled by
Shane Warne would do. One of the particles produced by beta
decay is an antineutrino--it has left-handed helicity.
If neutrinos are massless and travel at the speed of light, then
they can be classified as having positive helicity or negative
helicity. The neutrino has the same helicity as a normal screw:
you turn clockwise and it goes away from you. The anti-neutrino

has the helicity of a left-handed thread. See http://230nsc1.phy-
astr.gsu.edu/hbase/particles/neutrino3.html for diagrams.
Note that it is only possible to make this distinction if neutrinos
travel at the speed of light. If they have mass and travel at less
than c, then it is theoretically possible to overtake one. Viewed
from a spacecraft travelling faster than the hypothetical sub-c
neutrino, its helicity would be reversed.
Do neutrinos have mass? We don't know yet, although if they do,
it must be VERY small. Nevertheless, there are so very many
neutrinos in the universe, that even a tiny mass for each one
could turn out to be a substantial fraction of the total mass of the
universe, which has important implications for cosmology and the
future of the expansion of the universe.
How is beta decay described in terms of quarks?
A neutron can decay into a proton, an electron and an
antineutrino. A neutron consists of an 'up' quark and two 'down'
quarks. A proton consists of two 'up' quarks and one 'down'
quark. The electron and the antineutrino are both leptons. How is
it that one of the quarks appears to have changed from a 'down'
quark to an 'up' quark?
A neutron consists of "up" and "down" quarks: n = (udd).
Similarly, a proton is p = (uud)
The electric charge of the u quark is 2/3 (in units of the
elementary charge) and the electric charge of the d quark is -1/3.
As a result the proton has charge 1 and the neutron is neutral.
The neutron decay goes via the following mechanism:
The d quark decays into u quark and a virtual W- boson. As a
result of the decay, the neutron is converted to proton. The virtual
W- boson lives for 10-26 seconds and than decays to electron and
antineutrino. Blink and you miss it!
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Medical Physics
Scanning: what are the features and advantages of MRI, PET,
CT, X-Rays?
10
All four are useful for non-invasive medical imaging. X-
rays Conventional X-ray images are usually on
photographic film or a fluorescent screen. X-rays from an
X-ray tube pass through the body and the difference in
absorption by different structures in the body is what
produces contrast in the images. The images are 2D
projections of a 3D object so they contain overlapping
structures. They are good for imaging structures which
have a density very different from that of the material
around them (eg bones) but are less effective for
differentiating between different types of soft tissue.
CT Computed Tomography (CT) provides a 2D image of
a thin cross-sectional slice so that structures within the
body are clearly separated. They are produced by
combining 2D projections taken from a number of angles.
X-ray CT gives good images of the anatomical shape and
structure.
PET and MRI also give images of thin cross-sectional
slices. The images in fact resemble X-ray CT images and
employ similar computational methods to convert
detected signals to images but that is where the similarity
ends.
PET Positron Emission Tomography (PET) requires an
injection of positron-emitting radioactive tracer (eg 18F,
11
C, 13N, 15O) into the patient. The positrons anilhilate with
electrons in the body to produce pairs of gamma rays. So
the gamma rays used to produce the image arise from
inside the patient. PET gives images related to
biochemistry, metabolism and function, not just
anatomical structure.
MRI Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is based on the
way certain atomic nuclei respond to radio waves while in
the presence of a magnetic field. MRI images can show
great detail, even in soft tissue and is often used to image
the brain and spinal chord. It is also able to show function
and biochemistry. And while all the above imaging
techniques are non-invasive and safe, MRI causes the
least damage to tissue.
Medical physics: ultrasound, optical fibres and MRI
1. Describe how ultrasound is used to measure bone
density.
Ultrasound measurements of bone are usually
done on the calcaneous (heel bone*). Two
quantities are usually measured:

 the speed of sound vs, which tells us
about the bone density, and
 the broadband ultrasound attenuation
(BUA), which tells us about the bone
structure.
vs is determined by sending an ultrasound wave
pulse through the heel and measuring the time it
takes for the pulse to pass through. The speed of
the wave through the heel bone depends on the
stiffness or flexibility of the bone as well as the
density of the bone. In general, sound waves
travel faster through relatively stiff and dense
objects than through more flexible objects.
Measurement of BUA uses a broadband
ultrasound pulse made up of waves of many
frequencies between 200kHz and 600kHz. BUA
is determined by sending the broadband pulse
through the bone and measuring how much of
each frequency is absorbed by the bone. The
absorption spectrum depends on the structure
within the bone.
*NB. The heel bone is used because(i) of the
type of bone it contains (trabecular bone) (ii) it
has flat parallel surfaces and (iii) it is a weight
bearing site.
2. Explain why different types of optical fibres will affect
the image produced by an endoscope.
In endoscopes, optical fibres are used to transmit
light into the human body to illuminate tissue and
they are also used to transmit the image of that
tissue back out of the body to be viewed.
The fibre diameter is one property of the optical
fibres, which can affect the endoscope image.
Images are transmitted through a bundle of up to
300,000 fibres with their ends bound and
polished. Each individual fibre transmits the
intensity and colour of one point (pixel) in the
image. The resolution of the image therefore
depends on the diameter of the fibre. So smaller
fibre diameters produce images with finer
resolution.
3. Explain that the amplitude of the signal given out when
precessing nuclei relax is related to the number of nuclei
present.
11
4. Explain that large differences would occur in the
relaxation time between tissue containing hydrogen
bound water molecules and tissues containing other
molecules.
5. Describe the changes that occur in the orientation of
the magnetic axis of nuclei, identify data sources, gather,
process and present information using available evidence
to explain why MRIs can be used to
 detect cancerous tissues
 identify areas of high blood flow
 distinguish between grey and white matter in the
brain
MRI is a rather broad subject, and we shaln't try to
develop the necessary physics here. Instead we give
links to dedicated sites.
 There is a good explanation of MRI, including
relaxation, signal strength and image contrast at
www.erads.com/mrimod.htm. It has lots of helpful
diagrams and the explanations are easy to
digest.
 Another website that covers the basics of MRI is
www.simplyphysics.com/page2_1.html.
 This link is a periodic table with spins (and fancy
graphics).
 For more detailed info there is an online textbook
about MRI at www.cis.rit.edu/htbooks/mri and a
useful site for NMR and related issues.
This set of medical physics answers are provided by Wendy Tsui,
one of the recent graduates in medical physics at UNSW. And
now a message from our sponsors: There is a shortage of
medical physicists. This not only means that our graduates
have no trouble finding jobs, it also means that all of our current
(2002) fourth year students already have jobs in hospitals and are
finishing their degrees part-time. If you want to keep it in mind as
a career option, see medical physics courses.
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Magnetic focusing
This section refers to a question (#30 part C) from a trial exam. It
raises the important features of magnetic focusing. The question
begins "An electron microscope has a magnetic lens for focusing
a wide beam of electrons to a point. Theoretically, a beam of
electrons can be focused to a point by a magnetic field with the
shape shown in Diagram 1, on condition that all hte electrons are

moving at the same speed." The full question and two answers at
different levels are given in this .pdf file.
Motors and Generators
See Motors and generators for a background to this topic. There are
descriptions and diagrams of the main classes of motors.
Analyse the environmental impact of the development of AC
generators.
i) AC generators have the advantage over DC generators that
they allow transformers. Therefore long distance transmission
may be at high voltage and low current, so there is less I2*R
losses in the wires. This is a very important advantage: even with
supply lines at hundreds of kV, we still lose much of the electric
power generated as heat generated in the distribution system. AC
therefore also allows power stations to be relatively remote from
users, so users are isolated from environmental affects of the
stations. This remote delivery may save energy elsewhere (e.g.
goods transport and commuting).
ii) AC allows the supply to be transformed to lower voltages, and
therefore allows its safe use in a range of small appliances that
operate from low voltage AC and DC. Without AC, these might be
operated by batteries, which are inefficient and whose production
and disposal pose environmental hazards.
iii) Without any sort of electricity generation, mechanical power
might be distributed via shafts and pulleys, usually only within one
site. This concentrates and limits the use of mechanical energy.
iv) AC and DC generators produce ozone in small quantities.
Released into the atmosphere remote from people, this probably
does little damage.
v) AC generators radiate low frequency EM radiation. The eddy
currents thus generated may some effects, though these are
poorly understood, except in obvious cases like their effect on
cardiac pacemaker circuits. The very high voltage transmission
lines, which are permitted by AC, can create large electric fields.
In areas where there are naturally ocurring radioactive gases
(radon), ions may be trapped in these fields, and this may have a
health effect. Likewise, charged dust particles trapped in these
fields might have an environmental health effect (via allergies?).
vi) The very high voltage transmission lines, which are permitted
by AC, have much weaker magnetic fields than would low voltage
DC lines transmitting the same power, so eddy current losses and
other magnetic effects are much smaller.
What is the application of the motor effect in the
galvanometer?
12
The galvanometer is very much like a motor: a current in a coil
experiences a torque. Two main differences: i) The magnet poles
and therefore field in a galvanometer are shaped so that the
torque does not depend on the angular position of the coil, only
on the current. Equal torque is less important in a motor. ii) The
coil rotates against a spring, and so only rotates a fraction of a
circle. If the spring is linear, then the angular displacement is
proportional to the torque and so to the current.
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Force between two wires
The HSC physics syllabus, in the Motors and Generators topic, asks us to
"solve problems and analyse information about simple motors using F/L =
k.I1I2/d". I have never seen a problem relating this equation to motors. Can
you suggest any? What relevance does this equation have to the
operation of a simple motor?
Sorry, I cannot see any important direct relevance. The equation
refers to infinite wires, ie wires whose separation is much smaller
than their lengths. So the forces that make a motor work don't
relate to this equation. The forces between say elements of wire
in a stator coil and a rotor coil that are parallel are calculated
using the Biot-Savart law rather than this equation. The only
places where lengths of wires in motors are much closer than
their length are between adjacent wires in the coil winding. And
yes it's true that there would be a force tending to push the wires
closer together, but as the wires (or their lacquer) are touching
already, this doesn't have much effect.
Indirectly, one could say that the equation that you quote defines
the ampere. So many electrical measurements on motors depend
indirectly on this equation.
Does the force between current carrying wires on either the same or
opposite side of the coil effect the torque?
Internal forces in a rigid object have no direct effect on its motion.
If the force were large enough to change the geometry of the coil,
then there could be an effect, but this would be very small for any
normal coil.
What is the implication of the force between current carrying wires
for power distribution networks?
The wires must be very close together for the force to be
important. In power distribution, the wires are usually separated
by distances that make the force tiny. In transformers, wires are
wound closely together and they exert larger forces on each
other. I expect that transformers are tightly wound so that they
don't rattle.
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Transformers
This section includes transformers, power lines, induction cooktops, eddy
current switching and regenerative braking. See Transformers for
background.
Explain why voltage transformations are related to conservation of
energy
In normal operation, with a load, the rate of electrical energy
supplied to the primary coil of a transformer (power in) is
approximately equal to the rate at which the secondary coil
supplies power to the load (power out).
Vin*Iin = Vout*Iout
or Vout/Vin = Iin/Iout
These equations neglect some losses of energy (hysteresis
losses in the core, heat, sound and low frequency EMR). Strictly,
they should either include a phase factor or should be considered
as complex quantities, because the voltage V and the current I
are not exactly in phase. See Transformers.
Transformers in electricity supply and the home
Why does one need to have transformers in the transfer of
electrical energy from a power station to its point of use?
Much of the energy generated by a power station is lost in ohmic
losses in the distribution network. The power lost in a wire of
resistance R is R*i2. To make R small requires thicker wire, which
is expensive. So i is made smaller. To deliver the same power P
= Vi, V must be made bigger. So, near the power station, a 'step-
up' transformer steps the voltage up to a high value (e.g. 110 kV).
At local substations and surburban transformers, this is
successively stepped down to 240 V.
Discuss why some electrical appliances in the home that are
connected to the mains domestic power supply use a
transformer Many appliances require low voltage for solid state
electronics (transistor circuits typically require 5 - 20 V DC) or for
safety. (eg a low voltage electric toothbrush is safer than a 240
one).
Some appliances require high voltage (neon lights, the cathode
ray tubes in TVs and computer monitors).
The usual approach is to use a transformer to get the voltage to
the appropriate value, and then (if required) a rectifier, capacitors
and regulator to convert AC to DC. (There are also DC voltage
converters that 'chop' the AC on and off, allowing capacitors to
charge to the desired voltage. These do not need transformers.)
How is heating caused by eddy currents in transformers overcome?
Laminating the core reduces the heat loss. The core is made out
of strips of metal, separated by lacquer or other insulator, so the
13
area of the eddy currents is reduced. Consequently, the flux and
therefore the Faraday emf are smaller, so smaller eddy currents
flow. You may notice transformers buzzing at 100 Hz (near G at
the bottom of the bass clef) as the laminations all become
electromagnets 100 times per second.
Eddy current heating is never completely overcome, and
transformers are usually at least a little warm. (In Sydney,
cockroaches like to live on or near transformers because they are
warm.)
How does the principle of induction apply to cooktops in electric
ranges?
Some electric ranges have a coil of wire instead of a hot plate.
This carries AC and produces a strongly varying magnetic field.
When a conducting saucepan is placed upon it, eddy currents are
induced in the metal in the base of the saucepan. These produce
heat via ohmic losses (and hysteresis in magnetisation).
One could consider the coil in the cooktop as a primary and the
metal in the saucepan as the secondary of a transformer.
As the heat is produced directly in the saucepan itself, less heat is
wasted in the cooktop or the air.
There is a further subtlety. Let's compare a pot made from
aluminium , which is non-magnetic but has low resistivity, with
one made from iron, which is magnetic but has rather higher
resistivity. If the two were placed in the same magnetic field
varying in the same way, the Faraday emf would be the same.
The ohmic power loss in the two would be given by V2/R, where V
is the Faraday emf and R the resistance. R would be lower in the
Al, so the ohmic power loss would be less.
However, there are three complications to this argument. First,
the magnetic field in the Al pan will be less, because it is non-
magnetic. This makes it a less effective transformer, just as an
air-cored transformer is less effective than an iron cored one in
low frequency applications. (Technically, we say that the
magnetic permeability Al is much lower than that of Fe. The ratio
is a few thousand times, so the effect is large.) Second, a higher
secondary current actually decreases the magnetic field, because
it provides a back emf in the primary. And thirdly, ohmic losses
are not the only losses. Energy is also lost in magnetising and
demagnetising the iron each time (technically hysteresis losses).
So for these three reasons, the heating in the iron pot will be
greater than in the Al pot.
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How have eddy currents been utilised in electromagnetic braking?

The most useful sort of electromagnetic braking is what is called
regenerative braking. This is used in trains and some other
electric vehicles. To decelerate, the electric motor is used as a
generator and converts the train's kinetic energy back to electrical
energy which is fed back in to the grid. Great for energy
conservation, and engineers try to maximise this. However, this is
not really eddy current braking, because 'eddy currents' is usually
used only when the currents waste energy.
Eddy current braking is used on some trains: the train carries a
powerful electromagnet positioned near the rails produces eddy
currents whose magnetic field opposes the motion of the magnets
on the train. It has the advantage over mechanical brakes of
having no pads to replace and being silent and smooth. It is of
course more wasteful than regenerative braking.
Eddy current braking has the feature that it is strong at high
speeds and weak at low. This is sometimes a disadvantage (e.g.
for parking!) so mechanical brakes are required as well. This
feature makes eddy currents useful for damping: to stop
unwanted oscillation in things like balances.
How are eddy currents used in switching devices?
Proximity switches often involve eddy currents. These switches
have the advantage that they have no (internal) moving parts or
electrical contacts. This is an advantage because springs and
bearings can wear out and because electrical contacts can
become corroded. Proximity switches are activated by the
proximity of a conductor, such as a human finger. You will have
noticed them in the control panels of lifts, for example. If the
proximity of your finger throws the switch but the proximity of a
non-conductor does not, the switch may work on eddy currents
(although it could also work by capacitance). Proximity switches
of one type work like this:
The switch contains an oscillator using a resonant circuit
operating at radio frequencies. The coil sets up a high frequency
magnetic field. When a conductor enters this field, eddy currents
flow in the conductor. This can have two effects. First, it changes
the impedance of the coil, and so changes the frequency* of the
resonant circuit. Also, because of ohmic losses in the conductor,
energy is lost from the resonant circuit into the conductor. This
may be large enough to stop* the oscillations. One or other of
these changes then activates the switching circuitry. The actual
switching of a high current circuit might achieved by a solid state
device (MOSFETs, TRIACs etc) but for high current applications
a relay is often used.
14
* You can think of the coil and the conductor as the primary and
secondary of a transformer. The resistive load of the secondary is
'reflected' into the primary circuit, changing its properties. Note
that both the frequency and the Q value of a resonant circuit
depend on the resistance of the coil.
Eddy current braking
Electromagnetic current braking is smoother, but why is it an advantage
over conventional braking? Does it brake smoother in less time and less
distance then conventional braking?
The deceleration due to friction braking is limited (i) by how much
normal force you can apply to the brake pad or brake shoe (often
not a problem with servo-assisted hydraulic cylinders application),
(ii) by the mechanics and size of the pad: it may shear or break
up if the forces are too great and (iii) by what to do with the heat
generated. The last is quite important: think of how much kinetic
energy a train has at speed: if you turn that into heat in a series of
small brake pads they may melt, vaporise, weld to the wheels etc.
The deceleration due to magnetic braking is limited by (i) the
strength and size of the magnetic fields available, (ii)
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Oscilloscope
Could someone please explain to me the timebase properties in
CRO. Does it relate to horizontal or vertical movements?
The timebase affects horizontal motion of the beam. (The voltage
inputs affect vertical motion of the beam when in 'timebase' mode,
but in X-Y mode, the two different input voltages deflect in the X
and Y directions.)
The electron beam in a CRO can be deflected left-and-right or up-
and-down by electric fields. These are produced between two
metal plates which have a potential difference supplied by the
horizontal and vertical amplifiers.
In the timebase mode, a voltage which increases linearly with
time is generated and input to the horizontal amplifier: this
sweeps the beam smoothly from left to right. (It then starts again
from the left, at a time determined by the trigger, so the timebase
waveform is actually a sawtooth. You never see this waveform on
the screen, however: it's used to drive the beam.)
Without any voltage input, the timebase thus causes the
oscilloscope to "draw" a horizontal line across the screen. The
speed of 'drawing' the graph depends on the timebase settings,
sometimes called the SWEEP SPEED.
This control knob (usually towards the right) sets the time axis so
that that one division represents the time interval indicated around
the dial from seconds (fully counterclockwise) down to

microseconds (fully clockwise). If you set this knob fully
counterclockwise, the beam will sweep so slowly across the
screen that you can see it cross. Fully clockwise and the sweep
will look like a continuous line, because your eyes are not fast
enough to see the motion.
Simple Harmonic Motion under gravity
We attach a mass m below a vertical spring with constant k
(fig b). At equilibrium, the spring is extended a distance x, where
kx = mg.
Let us now measure position with respect to this equilibrium
position, using the new variable y. For instance, we might apply a
steady force F vertically and achieve a new equilibrium at position
y (fig c) where
F + k(x - y) = mg.
Substituting for x gives us
F + mg - ky = mg, or
F = ky.
Put in words: the weight of the mass and the force due to the
equilibrium displacement of the mass cancel out. Displacement
from this equilibrium position requires a force ky, and so the
potential energy at position y (with respect to y = 0) is
Utotal = integral of ky dy = (1/2)ky2
This potential energy could be said to include a compent due to
the spring and another due to gravity. The choice of a reference
for potential energy is arbitrary. Let's take it instead with respect
to the unstretched position, and signify this difference with a
prime.
U'total = U'grav + U'spring = (1/2)k(x - y)2 + mgy
= (1/2)kx2 - kxy + (1/2)ky2 + mgy
= (1/2)kx2 + (1/2)ky2
15
where the first term is a constant (the spring energy at
equilibrium) and the second term is the energy required to
displace it from that position.
So, from both the Newtonian and Hamiltonian points of view, the
mass on the spring in the gravitational field behaves exactly as it
would in the absence of gravity, except for the altered equilibrium
position.
Drift velocity
There is a page about drift velocity and Ohm's law that introduces this
topic. The text below is a summary of several questions about drift
velocity of charge carriers in a conductor. It arises from a peculiar and
confusing statement about drift velocity in the physics syllabus in New
South Wales, Australia, and two multiple choice quesions in specimen
papers in which insufficient information was given to allow one to answer.
Briefly, if you are not studying in a NSW high school, you don't need to
read this section.
What affects the drift velocity v of charge carriers in a conductor?
We assume that steady state conditions are achieved, that the
temperature is not changing and that the medium is behaving in a
linear way. These conditions are well approximated in many
experiments.
v = constant.E.q
where E is the applied electric field and q is the charge of the
carrier. The constant depends on the material and the charge
carrier being considered: it is high for a good conductor and a
mobile carrier.
Why v depends on E: In steady state, the speed is (approx)
proportional to the force moving it, which is Eq. If we increase the
electric field (eg increase the voltage applied to a fixed length of
conductor), then the force causing the charge carriers to move is
greater, so they achieve a higher drift velocity before the 'driving
force' is equal to the 'drag force' due to in the conductor. The
driving force is (approx) proportional to the force moving it, which
is Eq. If we increase the electric field (eg increase the voltage
applied to a fixed length of conductor), then the force causing the
charge carriers to move is greater, so they achieve a higher drift
velocity before the 'driving force' is equal to the 'drag force' due to
interactions with the medium. (More formally, we would normally
do this in terms of average speeds and consider the acceleration
in the field and the regular collisions with the atoms in the
material.)
Notice that the drift velocity does not depend explictly on the
geometry of the conductor in question (its area and length): if the
cross sectional area were larger, and if we kept the electric field

the same, then more charge would move at the same speed and
we would get a larger current. If we made the conductor longer,
but kept the field constant, then we would have a larger voltage
applied to a higher resistance sample and the current would be
constant, the same number of charge carriers would pass a given
point per unit time at the same speed.
Given the drift velocity, the material and the geometry, we can
then work out the current. This is proportional to the number of
current carriers available per unit volume, their charge, their drift
velocity and the cross sectional area
I = nqvA
Does this mean that v and A are inversely proportional? Only
in the special and rather peculiar case where you keep the
current constant. But to keep I constant, you would have to
change the field. Far more common and easy to do would be to
keep E constant (e.g. keep the voltage constant and change A).
Is it possible to make v inversely proportional to A? Yes, over
a limited range of currents. One way would be to use a very large
EMF in series with a resistance R that was very much greater
than the resistance of your sample.
Question from the specimen paper (as quoted by one
correspondent)
"In a certain experimental arrangement, the effect of the
variation of the cross-sectional area of a conductor on the
drift velocity of the electrons was investigated. If the
original drift velocity was v m/s, then after doubling the
cross-sectional area the new drift velocity would be
expected to be:
a) v m/s b) v/2 m/s c) 2v m/s d) 4v m/s"
Answer to the specimen question
This question cannot be answered without more
information about the experimental arrangement. If the
potential difference were held constant (a fairly common
experiment), then the answer closest to correct would be
(a). If the current were held constant (a less common but
possible experiment), then the answer closest to correct
would be (b).
Question from another specimen paper (as quoted by another
correspondent)
Q8 Which of the following does the drift speed of
electrons in a conducting wire depend on?
(A) The length of the wire (B) The cross-
sectional area of the wire (C) The insulating
16
material around the wire (D) The straightness
of the wire
Answer to the specimen question
This question cannot be answered without more
infomation. If one connected the wire to an ideal EMF, the
answer would be (A). If the internal resistance of the
battery were much larger than the resistance of the wire,
the answer would be approximately (B).
Advice to students trying to answer a question to which there is no
correct answer
First, the real HSC paper is expected to contain few mistakes.
When/if you encounter them, don't waste too much time. Give the
answer that is least wrong---here (a)---and then quickly write that
the question is incomplete. Then move on to the next question.
After the exam is over, raise the point with your teacher (and on
the bulletin board if you like) and then start making a fuss. If a
question has been set and the correct answer is not given, or if
the question is confusing, then the markers would be under
considerable pressure to omit that question from the result.
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Miscelleaneous questions in history and social studies
Michael Frayn's play "Copenhagen" treats the relationship
between Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg. Bohr's wife
Marguerite is the only other character, but many of the great
theoretical physicists of the 1920's are mentioned. It is a great
piece of theatre, and a painless way of learning a bit of history.
(Physicists usually don't know much history--many of us went into
physics because we didn't like rote learning. Be aware that
physics syllabi in other states and in universities have much less
history and rote learning than does the NSW high school
syllabus.)
The Einstein-Planck debate
What debate? Einstein and Planck met (for instance at the Solvay
Conference in 1927), they presumably spoke together, and they
presumably must have disagreed on at least something, even if
only on where to go for a beer after a hard day's physics. So in
that sense, there probably has been a debate. The trouble is that
there seems to be no evidence of it. This question was posted to
a newsgroup for historians of science, and no-one responded with
evidence. Because the peculiar syllabus taught in high schools in
New South Wales devotes a segment to a debate between these
two people, students in that state have been searching for
evidence of such a debate. So far, no-one has posted any
evidence on this site, although Bob Emery reported juxtaposed

quotations of Einstein and Planck in the prologue of the book
Planck M. (1931) Where is Science Going? Ox Bow Press,
Woodbridge, CT (1981 reprint).
So it's one of those delightful rare things: an open question to
which an answer just might possibly be found, particularly if you
read German and have access to previously unpublished
correspondence from the early twentieth century. Good luck! If
you find something, please let us know and we shall make the
answer available here.
The Nobel prizes in physics
Some of the history questions in the new syllabus involve winners
of the Nobel prize in physics. This site is maintained by the Nobel
foundation.
What has been the impact of advances in understanding of matter
on work of physicists ?
This question is pretty vague, and many answers are possible.
Here are just a few.
The atomic model and quantum mechanics led physicists do
develop Condensed Matter Physics into a sophisticated and
powerful science (whose most important practical implications are
in semicondutors and thus in electronics, computing etc).
They also led to molecular physics (with many applications in
chemistry, biochemistry, pharmacy, medicine, materials science,
engineering etc).
Knowledge of the nucleus led to the Standard Model, a
comprehensive theory that explains what we know about nuclear
interactions and which unifies the strong and weak nuclear forces
with electromagnetism. This also led to a greater comprehension
of the early stages of the universe.
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2001 HSC Paper on Physics
Question 4 caused a lot of feedback. Was it B or C?
Both answers are correct. B is true: both generators produce AC.
C is also true: Generator 1 produces DC and Generator 2
produces AC.
This comes about because generator 1 produces both AC and
DC at the same time (ie a current that has both an AC and a DC
component.
The splits in the ring in generator 1 are in such a position that the
circuit is reversed at two orientations when the flux is changing at
a reasonably high rate, so it goes quickly from an emf in one
direction to an equal emf in the other. The current produced
would in the shape of sin(ωt) for half a cycle then −sin(ωt) for the
other half cycle, but it doesn't change at π/4 or 3π/4 radians, so
17
the output has some DC component, and a larger AC component.
Exactly where it changes depends on how you estimate the angle
in the drawing. The current will not be discontinuous because of
the inductance of the coil, and there will be some spikes and
sparking.
So the examiners should have marked both B and C correct.
Other problems with the 2001 paper
Q3. 'Resistance' should be 'Resistivity', or else there should be
some words between 'resistance of' and 'mercury'. The question
as asked is dimensionally incorrect. This error is unlikely to have
confused anyone.
Q28 The quantity should really be the 'specific acoustic
impedance' or 'wave impedance', rather than the 'acoustic
impedance', but this is unlikely to have confused anyone.
2003 HSC Paper on Physics
Question 5
An astronaut set out in a spaceship from Earth orbit to travel to a
distant star in our galaxy. The spaceship travelled at a speed of
0.8 c. When the spaceship reached the star the on-board clock
showed the astronaut that the journey took 10 years. An identical
clock remained on Earth. What time in years had elapsed on this
clock when seen from the astronaut¹s spaceship?
(A) 3.6
(B) 6.0
(C) 10.0
(D) 16.7
This confusion arises regularly in discussions on Special
Relativity. The word "when", as used here, implies that
simultaneity is absolute. One of the important conclusions of
Special Relativity is that simultaneity is relative. This is explained
in any introduction to SR, or on my web page Special Relativity.
So yes, the question as written is meaningless. I am informed that
it was not included in calculating marks.
This is another problem with mutliple guess questions: there is no
room for the student to write an explanation of why the question
does not have an answer. Rather the (good) student wastes a lot
of time trying to decide which answer is least wrong. This
question was probably intended as a "plug and chug" question to
determine how well students could remember a formula and
insert values. No-one seems to have stopped to wonder what it
meant.
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Short answers suitable for the high school syllabus in NSW
 18
Many of the questions posed on the bulletin board, both by • Thinking about light. An essay by physics teacher Russell Downie
teachers and students, sought a fact or sentences about a on the history of our understanding of light.
particular fact. Many 'syllabus bullet points' and many questions Thanks to all those who asked the original questions, and to John Storey
on the exams set on that syllabus are about factual recall: some for comments on the original version of this page. However, the opinions
physics facts, some history facts and suppositions, some social expressed here are those of
studies facts and speculations. The practice of learning such facts Joe Wolfe / J.Wolfe@unsw.edu.au phone 61-2-9385 4954 (UT + 10, +11
etc (or even whole paragraphs about them) by rote is apparently Oct-Mar).
widespread. It may also be effective, because the new syllabus
(especially since the 2001 exam) puts a heavier emphasis on
learning such facts etc and a lighter emphasis on understanding
physics.
It's rather sad to think people across the state teaching and
learning in this style in timeslots supposedly reserved for physics,
but the reality is that, while this syllabus and exam style remain in
force, it will be a good way to succeed. It is therefore feasible that
we could use this FAQ or the HSC bulletin board to prepare and
to polish a canonical set of the required historical, social,
geographical, technical and physics facts in ways that are easy to
remember and that will earn good marks. Suggestions are
welcome.
Glossary and skill list
What exactly do they mean by 'appreciate', 'discuss',
'recommend', 'recount', 'synthesise' etc? The NSW Board of
Studies has a glossary of such verbs and a skills module. We
reproduce this list on a separate page for the benefit of HSC
students and teachers, and for the amusement of others.
Hints on doing tests
See Hints for doing physics tests.

Other useful links

• The UNSW resource site for high school physics.
• A list of some of Joe Wolfe's educational web sites.
• Interesting and inexpensive experiments for high school physics.
• The Australian Academy of Science's Education page (try the
'Basics' link).
• The Australian Multimedia for Physics Students website has a
range of resources for high school physics students and teachers,
including demonstrations, lesson plans and interviews with
physicists.
• The PSIgate Physical Sciences Information Gateway has links to
many physics resources.
• Physics Education Technology has a range of "virtual
experiments".