Over the summer, Dr. Blane Baker, professor of physics, and Grant Ryals, sophomore physics major, submitted a paper to the Journal of Physics Education on the topic of RC circuits that was accepted for publication. The pair worked together as part of Jewell’s Pillsbury Scholar Program, which allows students to participate in paid undergraduate research during the summer.

Originally the two started a project about global warming, but unfortunately this did not go as planned. After some further research, Dr. Baker discovered that one of his demos, or a model that is used to demonstrate a particular concept to a group of students, could be useful for other educators across the nation, particularly other college professors or high school teachers who teach AP Physics. 

The demo was an RC circuit, which is a fundamental circuit used in various timing applications for electronics. Dr. Baker found that a lot of students failed to understand the principles behind the RC circuit because of the lack of a visual representation. 

The paper was meant to provide a way to create an RC circuit with readily available materials so that students could have a visual representation of complicated mathematical principles. 

Dr. Baker, who wrote much of the paper, included instructions on how to set up the circuit and suggestions for question that students would answer to test their comprehension. Ryals tested combinations of conductors and resistors that would change the frequency that a small light bulb would flash. 

But, what exactly is an RC circuit? 

An RC circuit is used as a timing circuit. The batteries, which can be found easily in any classroom, provide a voltage in the circuit. The resistor and capacitor can be switched out for larger or smaller resistance or capacity, which will change the frequency of the neon light flashing at the end of the circuit. Both the resistor and the capacitor are used to create a threshold that the voltage must exceed before the neon light can flash. 

An important part of the learning experience is the trial and error involved in switching resistors and capacitors. Dr. Baker believes that this RC circuit model helps students understand, in a more visual way, the mathematical principles behind circuits. 

 “[The students]… have to use their knowledge and principles to show understanding of what is going to occur in the circuit,” Dr. Baker said. 

This hands-on experience allows students to use prior physics studies to predict something that is happening in the real world; thus creating a stronger educational experience. 

Ryals said that these RC circuits are an important physics building block, so making sure that students understand exactly what goes on in the circuit is important for their future endeavors. 

This model for an RC circuit was submitted to the Journal of Physics Education to show teachers an easy way to set up this type of circuit so as to facilitate classroom learning. Dr. Baker chose to submit the article to this journal because it is constantly on the look-out for innovations in the field of physics education, and this RC circuit model is exactly the kind of thing that would be discussed in the journal. 

In order to be accepted as part of the journal, the article had to be submitted for review by the editors of the journal. Dr. Baker submitted various drafts that would then be sent back for necessary edits. Ryals noted that this process can be time-consuming, but because of Dr. Baker’s expertise, the paper actually went by a lot faster than Ryals expected. 

Ryals was selected by Dr. Baker to help the article because of the fact that Ryals had already taken a course wherein Dr. Baker had used this very same RC circuit model. Dr. Baker kept Ryals in the loop and would update him when the journal asked for revisions on the article. Ryals  worked mostly on testing different configurations of resistors and capacitors to alter the frequency of the light flashing. 

According to Dr. Baker, the model isn’t meant to be perfect, but the fact that it visually demonstrates mathematical principles is what is really important. Physics can be extremely difficult for students because it is so theoretical, so classroom experiments such as this RC circuit are invaluable supplemental materials. 

When asked about his experience working with Dr. Baker, Ryals mentioned that he had “so much fun” interacting with Dr. Baker, who is extremely experienced in his field. 

Ryals believes that this kind of undergraduate research, apart from being a great resume-booster, gives him the necessary tools to be able to succeed as an engineer in the future. Dr Baker’s and Ryals’ cooperation is a paradigm for the kind of innovation that all Jewell students should strive for. 

The paper is now a frontline for the Journal of Physics Education under the title “Classroom Activity to Visually Show Variation of RC Time Constant in an Operating Circuit.”

A current sustainable housing project came out of their Physics and Sustainability class curriculum during the spring 2015 semester. Dr. Bunton and Dr. Baker, the course instructors, guided students as they mounted solar panels on the outside walls of houses, connected wiring so inside lights connected to the panels, and turned the panels on with normal light switches. Drs. Baker and Bunton provided the initial idea, but the students have designed the panels completely on their own. A second project is focused on a solar camp for a juvenile center in west Texas. This camp will allow exposure to scientific development for young people who are unlikely to experience it elsewhere.

Simone Stewart, junior physics and Spanish major with a mathematics minor, and Samantha Cobb, junior physics major, are two students who have been continually involved in the department’s focus on sustainability. Stewart and Cobb will use their Journey Grants to travel to St. Maarten, Guatemala with a group of six other students during the summer of 2015 to work with Xela Aid, a company that partners with groups to encourage self reliance in global communities. Additionally, they will work with local students in a science and engineering camp that teaches the students about solar energy and the work that goes along with it. This specific community is also interested in outdoor floodlights, so the department believes that the wiring techniques Stewart and Cobb have learned in the classroom will be helpful in that implementation.

Bunton’s goal for this project is to provide skills that will be useful in the long term for the young people involved in the camp.

“[The goal] is to both build enthusiasm for science and technology, and Xela Aid is actually hoping that we’ll be able to provide some education in solar energy that they can use to start micro-businesses,” Bunton said.

The current in-class sustainable housing project aims to guide Jewell students toward teaching others.

“It’s good to get the experience here at Jewell, in a safe environment, before we go out and implement it and teach it to someone else,” Stewart said.

These students and their professors have focused on St. Maarten’s specific needs while preparing for the trip. The department has found this to be the most effective way to design projects from past sustainability-focused trips to Haiti and the Bahamas.

“One of the things that we’ve learned is, instead of implementing what we want, we want to listen to them and get feedback from them about what they need,” Stewart said.

Bunton leads a book discussion with physics department students and other campus faculty that focuses on the avoidance of unhelpful, and sometimes even harmful, charity. The group reads books like economist William Easterly’s “The White Man’s Burden: Why the West’s Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good” that encourage critical analysis of whether the aid being given is truly impactful.

“One thing we’re careful to do is, first, do no harm, make sure we’re working with people who know the culture and know the people. We’re not just trying to be white saviors and drop in some technology and leave,” Bunton said.

In fact, the group working on this project originally planned to implement a water purification system. However, they realized that they would not be able to do so in a way that was effective for the community and thus decided to change directions.

“We didn’t have a very good knowledge of [what was] in the water, so we didn’t know what kind of purifier to build,” Cobb said.

Another group of students, including Cobb, is going to a west Texas juvenile center to run a solar camp for students in the summer of 2015. One goal of this project is to inspire interest in the sciences for the young people in this community. For example, the group has designed solar-powered lanterns in mason jars.

“[Students are] more passionate about something when they can make something themselves and then take it home, so we wanted to give them an opportunity to do that,” Cobb said.

The kids in this center are generally from impoverished families and have become involved in drug smuggling to help alleviate financial troubles. Cobb said that the center is interested in bringing science-based activities to them because of this.

Bunton is working to bring an Engineers Without Borders chapter to the College. He hopes this organization would assure both interdisciplinary involvement in sustainability projects and a continued investment in global sustainability at Jewell.

Stewart and Cobb both plan to attend Washington University in St. Louis  upon graduation to pursue master’s degrees in chemical engineering. Stewart plans to maintain a global focus in her engineering, and Cobb hopes to use her education to promote sustainability in global communities.