2015 BFY II Abstract Detail Page
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| Abstract Title: |
Experimental Plasma Station for the Undergraduate Curriculum |
| Abstract: |
Plasmas are a type of an ionized gas that constitutes the fourth and most common naturally occurring state of matter in the visible universe. Despite providing a wealth of applications from all areas of classical physics, playing an important role in many industrial applications and the likelihood that plasmas will play a key role in the world's future energy portfolio, plasma physics does not often appear in the undergraduate curriculum. This is particularly true in the laboratory setting, where most experiments involving plasmas require the use of fairly complicated and complex experimental setups. In this poster, we present the design of a relatively simple and inexpensive experimental setup that supports a number of experiments that use plasmas as an experimental medium to explore many areas of classical physics and can be used throughout the undergraduate physics curriculum. The apparatus is designed to be easy to implement and can be replicated at many institutions, regardless of the presence of local expertise. We will also present three experiments that can be perfomed in both the intermediate and advanced laboratory, including plasma spectroscopy, electrical breakdown of a gas into a plasma (Paschen's Law), and measurement of electron temperature and density using a simple probe. |
| Abstract Type: |
Poster
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Author/Organizer Information |
| Primary Contact: |
Jeremiah Williams
Wittenberg University
Physics Department
225 N
Springfield, OH 45504
Phone: 9377174256
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Co-Author(s)
and Co-Presenter(s) |
Arturo Dominguez
Science Education Department
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
PO Box 451
Princeton, NJ 08543
Andrew Zwicker
Science Education Department
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
PO Box 451
Princeton, NJ 08543
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Presentation Documents |
| Contributed Poster: |
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