The Physics Educator

The aim of this paper is to derive an alternative way to investigate an object’s equilibrium position in a liquid. The investigation was prolonged for an accurate description of a physical model. Restrictive conditions were discussed along the path. Principles of mechanics were used to alternate Archimedes’ principle.

We study the kinematic and dynamic characteristics of body motion along an inclined hanging cable in the approximation of its masslessness and inextensibility. It is shown that in this case, the motion of the suspended body occurs along an inclined ellipse, the foci of which are the cable attachment points. Herewith, at any given moment, the net tension force of the cable is perpendicular to the instantaneous velocity of the body. Besides, the tension force is a dynamic characteristic of the cable and increases as the body descends along with the increase in the speed. There is also a sharp increase in the tension at the end of the trajectory, which is explained by a decrease in its radius of curvature.

We show that for the ground state of a one-dimensional free electron gas on a circle the analytic expression for the canonical ensemble partition function can be easily derived from the density matrix by assuming that the thermodynamic limit coincides with the limit of the eigenfunction expansion of the kinetic energy. This approximation fails to give the finite temperature partition function because those two limits cannot be chosen as coincident.

In this paper, we briefly describe and assess some specific cases where ChatGPT’s direct application in classical thermodynamics is evident, addressing scenarios of varied complexity with inherent educational interest. These scenarios specifically suggest how the virtual assistant might engage and aid students. Yet, there is a multitude of reported difficulties and critical concerns when addressing tasks that should not be overly complex. It currently seems that ChatGPT, along with similar tools, has not yet solidified its capability to correlate theoretical concepts with practical exercises in thermodynamics, and might, at least in its present form, act more as an educational impediment rather than a facilitator.

We present a self-contained derivation of the Friedel oscillations in a degenerate ideal electron plasma using a not commonly known theorem on the asymptotic behavior of the Fourier transform of a generalized function presenting some singularities.

Self-motivated collective motions, which superficially seem to be in violation of the second law of thermodynamics by decreasing entropy, arise throughout physics, chemistry and biology. A well-known example in a petri dish is the spontaneous emergence of spiral waves in the so-called Belousov–Zhabotinski reaction. In biology, morphogenesis is another example in the differential development of bone and muscle in a growing organism. Collective motion is also found in various bird and animal systems where long-range information exchange is obtained by vision, and we here focus on the spectacular synchronized flying of flocks starlings in what are called murmurations. Recent work has shown how the birds can achieve this by focusing on dark-to-light edges in their distant view of the far-off flying birds. Averaging unit vectors that point at these edges defines, with other clues, their instantaneous flight instructions.