Sponsored by the American Association of Physics Teachers

In the Spring 2013 issue of Radiations we published the winning pieces from the 2012 Quadrennial Physics Congress art contest. The pieces shown here were awarded Honorable Mention. To see images of all of the artwork, visit the congress website at www.spscongress.org/
physconprogram/artwork-contest.

Honorable Mention

Plasma Plume: Towards Freedom, Prajwal Niraula, Saint Peter's University
I work with plasma as a part of my research work. When I look at the plasma plume that escapes from the end of the glass tube, it evokes a sense of freedom. I see a strong parallelism between the liberation I feel when learning the rules of the universe I live in, and the freedom argon gets in coming out of a pressurized gas cylinder as resplendent plasma, and finally dying out in the air as a minority. Thus, I believe my photograph serves as an emblem for connecting different world, as it signifies bridging the gap of the experiments with the experience of the experimenter.

Honorable Mention

Into the Heart of a Supercell, Glenn A. Marsch, Grove City College
Literally showing Sturm und Drang, this photo shows the spectacular violence of a supercell thunderstorm. Over its lifetime, a supercell thunderstorm generates more energy (> 20 kilotons TNT equivalent) than that liberated by an atomic bomb. On a basic level, the lightning may demonstrate the triboelectric effect, or electrical charging by friction, as the violent convection cells in a thunderhead rub electrons off ice crystals and water droplets in the cloud. This charge builds up, and if the electric field surpasses the dielectric strength of air (~ 3x106 V/m), an explosive discharge occurs across regions of high potential difference and the molecules of air break down and ionize.

Honorable Mention

Organized Chaos, Sarah Rozman, University of Central Florida
In this painting I attempted to create a sense of chaos, and I incorporated birds because of their natural built-in sonar systems. Birds almost never collide with each other, despite their quick speeds and sudden changes in movement. There is a theory that relates to the process of synesthesia, a human condition that blurs senses so that a person can hear colors, taste a smell, or visually see music. According to this theory, birds in flight sense one another’s closeness (by eyesight) and read the signals as a form of touch. Birds read their personal “sonar” and thus, avoid colliding with one another.