Laboratory of General Physics Education
Laboratory of General Physics Education was founded December 8th, 1992 by a dean´s decision following to the recommendation of the Council of Physics Departments.
The Laboratory is a department for the teaching of physics in bachelor study program General Physics, and for the experimental part of two other programs, namely Applied Physics and Teachers Education.
The Laboratory provides lecture experiments, and four courses of basic physical laboratories. The students use there modern equipment, commonly used in basic or applied research. As a learning extension, of special laboratory programs devoted to the applications of modern methods of calculations, measuring and DAQ systems in physics experiments are offered. Acquired knowledge can then be used in modern branches not only in physics, but also in chemistry, medicine and biology.
As a result of continuous upgrading all the teaching processes, the department offers more then 400 lecture experiments and more then one hundred basic laboratory measurements, completely covering problems of all physics courses, from elementary to advanced and financially expensive ones.
The Department has a long term commitment in solving computer problems for high school and university science laboratories. Several remote laboratories with experiments controlled by internet browser were opened in 2002, among the first in Europe. The aim is to interconnect computer controlled remote virtual laboratories as components of scientific research laboratories.
Though scientific research is not one of the main activities, some members of its staff take part in the work of research groups, just now engaged in the study of of light metal alloys with hexagonal and/or face centered cubic structure. Mechanical, electrical and thermal properties of metals have been studied in the Laboratory as well as microstructure characteristics in cooperation with the Department of Material Physics. The studied aluminium alloys are designed for car and aircraft industry, and the investigated magnesium alloys not only for traditional applications in transport industry, but also in medicine. Thus is due to their reactivity and rapid corrosion in physiological environment: magnesium alloys are very suitable materials for degradable implants for healing or replacement of bone tissues or cardiovascular stents.
Another branch of the Laboratory scientific activity - applied research of conveyor rubber belt layers ageing. This is performed in cooperation with the Department of the Macromolecular Physics and the Institute of Macromolecular chemistry of the he Czech Academy of Sciences, and is devoted mainly to the physical properties of liquid crystalline polymers, polymer nets and polymer nanocomposites. Use is made of the methods of dynamic mechanical and dielectrical microscopy and of differential scan calorimetry.
