Advanced Equipment for Both Introductory and Upperclass Students

物理学专业的学生需要知道，毕业后他们将准备好在接近物理学前沿的领域表现。化学和生物专业的学生需要了解物理技术，这些技术将以新的测量仪器的形式渗透到他们的工作生活中。非理科专业的学生需要决定是否想要他们的税款(以及电话服务的价格)来支付继续探索边疆的费用。物理专业的学生将从新设备中受益最明显：他们将在米勒斯维尔探测比以往任何时候更低的温度、更短的时间和更弱的信号。他们将测量Muon的寿命，超导体的临界电流和临界场，并确定晶体的结构和取向。我们计划将我们的大部分设备安装在移动台上，供高级实验室学生使用，并(对我们来说是新的一步)在向入门学生讲授时进行演示。入门的学生将看到超导转变；超导电性被磁场破坏。他们将看到在报告厅中产生的布拉格x射线衍射峰，并将它们与他们在实验室中观察到的光学衍射(以及通过他们的第一和第二个手指形成的狭缝)进行比较。他们将看到金属蒸发，在真空中移动，并形成薄膜。他们将使用同样的想法(质量守恒)来估计厚度，即将软管内的慢水连接到从被挤压的一端喷出的快速水。我们的目的是引导入门学生相信，他们可以使用他们所知道的物理知识来理解物理前沿的报告。如果他们相信他们能理解，那么科学就有机会让他们相信在前沿工作的美丽和价值。我们将通过暑期工作坊扩大我们的覆盖面，这样老师们就可以把故事带回他们的高中生那里。

Physics majors need to know that they will be prepared to perform near the frontiers of physics after graduations. Chemistry and biology majors need to know about the physics techniques that will diffuse into their working lives in the form of new measurement appliances. Non-science majors need to decide whether they want their taxes (and the price of their telephone service) to pay for continued exploration of the frontiers. Physics majors will benefit most obviously from the new equipment: They will probe lower temperatures, shorter times, and weaker signals than ever before at Millersville. They will measure the lifetime of the muon, the critical current and critical field of superconductors, and determine the structure and orientation of crystals. We plan to set much of our equipment up in mobile stations, for use by advanced laboratory students, and (in a new step for us) for demonstration in lecture to introductory students. Introductory students will see the superconducting transition; see superconductivity destroyed by a magnetic field. They will see Bragg x-ray diffraction peaks generated in the lecture hall and compare them to the optical diffraction that they observed in laboratory (and through a slit formed by their first and second fingers). They will see metal evaporate, travel through a vacuum, and form a film. They will estimate that thickness using the same idea (conservation of mass) that connects the slow water inside a hose to the fast water squirting from its pinched end. We mean to lead introductory students to believe that they can use the physics they know to understand reports from the frontiers of physics. If they believe they can understand, then science has a chance to convince them of the beauty and value of work at the frontier. We will extend our reach with summer workshops so that teachers can take the story back to their high school students.