Department of Physics and Astronomy - Minnesota State University Moorhead

Department of Physics and Astronomy
College of Health, Science, & the Environment

Department SeminarLife after Science
by Beau Scheving (Cirrus Aircraft)

Friday, February 22 at 3:00 pm in Hagen 325
For my presentation I will be exploring the differences between college and the workforce as well as the skills you learn in college you need to be successful in the workplace. From the first day you stepped onto campus your future is laid out for you. You will take the classes required by your major, follow a syllabus provided by a professor, and answer the questions laid out in front of you. But in work and life the path isn’t always this clear. There won’t always be someone to hand you a problem and ask you to fix it. You will have to find the problems for yourself. The skills you learn here at MSUM go much farther than memorizing equations or spitting out the correct numerical answer. The most important skills you will want to leave MSUM with is your problem solving abilities and your adaptability to many different situations. These are the skills that have helped me the most and is what we will be exploring together in this presentation.Senior Project Proposals
by Adam Kline, Boston Heaford, & Sakurako Tani

Friday, March 1 at 3:00 pm in Hagen 325
Making Measurements with a Force Plate by Adam Kline
One way to measure mass is with a force plate. A force plate is created by connecting piezo electrics in parallel and measuring the voltage created across the circuit when a pressure is applied to the piezos due to the piezoelectric effect. This voltage can be related to the charge built up on the piezo electrics with Q = CV, which can be related to the force applied to the piezo electric with Q = dxF. A force plate will be created to measure the mass of standard lab weights using a homemade force plate and compare to their actual mass.
Regenerator Effectiveness on Stirling Engine by Boston Heaford
For my presentation I will be discussing my plans to design and build a Stirling engine with a removable or disableable regenerator. A Stirling engine is a type of heat engine that works by using the compression and expansion of a fluid in a constant volume cylinder to drive a piston and do useful work. A regenerator is an addition to the engine that increases efficiency by allowing the working fluid to give up some of its heat as it flows to the cold side of the cylinder, and pick that heat back up as it flows back to the hot side. My goal is to study this gain in efficiency by testing an engine with and without the regenerator and comparing the gain in efficiencies to the efficiency gain predicted by theory.
Electrical Efficiency of Thermopile by Sakurako Tani
In 1770-1831, Thomas Seebeck Found out that even electricity is traveling with heat. The Seebeck-Effect is considered as one of the thermoelectric effects. Electrical Conductivity depends on the structure of metal. The metal which has high electrical conductivity can carry electron more than less electrical conducive material. There is a phenomenon that when we heat material, electrons or electron holes occur and once the density of the electrons and the electron holes collapse. The electrons and electron holes try to move to make equilibrium. Those motions are going to make the potential difference. A potential difference induces voltage difference. The amount of voltage which is provided by the Seebeck-Effect is directly proportional to the temperature difference of material. Thermopile is the devise which can provide the electricity based on Seebeck-Effect. The propose of experiment is obtain best combination of metal that can provide current with best efficiency with the ground temperature.

Department News

Interested in Summer Research?: Consider looking into Summer Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REUs). A list of REU opportunities is available and application deadlines for various positions are scattered throughout January and February.
Society of Physics Students wins national award: The Society of Physics Students (SPS) has been once again recognized by the SPS National Council for their quality and quantity of activities they do with the wider community. The SPS National Council awarded the Minnesota State University Moorhead SPS Chapter a 2017-18 Distinguished Chapter. This is the sixth consecutive year that the MSUM SPS Chapter has been recognized with a Distinguished or Outstanding chapter award. (Dec. 11)
Sherry Fieber-Beyer '03 awarded Distinguished Alumni Award: Physics and Astronomy alum Dr. Sherry Fieber-Beyer is currently "a research assistant professor at the University of North Dakota, [and] has devoted herself to teaching graduate students the art of scientific space research. She is the sole female faculty member in the department. Beyer also currently acts as the Space Studies Alumni Coordinator and has assisted in the establishment of their alumni website and many alumni events and communication." (June 25).

Mission Statement

Our mission is to provide excellent undergraduate instruction in physics and astronomy. In lower division courses, faculty use lecture demonstrations, cooperative learning methods, hands-on activities, and field trips to develop a broad working knowledge of physics. In upper division courses, in addition to the above methods, students learn through cooperative projects, research with faculty, and hands-on instrumentation and computation projects.

About the Department of Physics and Astronomy

The MSUM Physics and Astronomy program is a student-centered program. We provide students with educational opportunities in the classroom and outside it in order to improve their preparation for a career using physics.

We have facilities including a nanotechnology and robotics lab, a student-built NMR machine, and the Paul P. Feder observatory.

Our faculty have high quality research programs in space physics, robotics, extragalactic, galactic, and solar system astrophysics, and physics education. Our undergraduate students participate in these research programs and gain experience to prepare them for careers in physics and related fields.

Contact Information
Office: Hagen Hall 307
Phone: (218) 477-2141
Email: lindellj@mnstate.edu

Send ground mail to:
Department of Physics and Astronomy
Minnesota State University Moorhead
1104 7th Avenue South, Hagen Hall 307
Moorhead, MN 56563

An interactive campus map of Minnesota State University Moorhead is available to find Hagen Hall.