*****************************************************************
                                PlanetPhysics
*****************************************************************

The PlanetPhysics Newsletter

Edition #1
January 13th, 2006
www.planetphysics.org

Contents

*  QM:               Time Independent Schrodinger Equation
*  Mechanics:   Kinetic Energy
*  EM:                Electric Field
*  Thermo:        Wien Displacement Law
*  Math:            Laplacian Operator in Spherical Coordinates
*  Feedback:    Comments and Questions

*****************************************************************

2005 saw the public opening of  PlanetPhysics and 2006
promises to be our break out year.  As of today, we have 77
registered users and 64 encyclopedia entries.  In this
inaugural issue, we are experimenting with the format of the
newsletter so feel free to give us feedback to make
it better.  This newsletter is part of a new initiative to give
PlanetPhysics a greater feel of community.  Along these lines,
you'll start to see polls to vote for the entry of the month.
The winning entry will be set so everyone can contribute and
edit its contents.  The newsletter is expected to be published
quarterly until there is more activity around PlanetPhysics.
Finally, tell all your friends to come visit us and contribute to
the cause of freeing Physics knowledge.

******************************************************************

** Time Independent Schrodinger Equation **

"The Schr�dinger equation can be a little intimidating the first
time you see it. One wonders where to begin mathematically
and what physical situations to work with. In mechanics, we
always seem to begin with simple examples such as a ball
dropping from a building, while ignoring things like drag. So
where do we start with the Schr�dinger equation?"

http://planetphysics.org/encyclopedia/TimeIndependentSchrodingerEquation.html

** Kinetic Energy **

"Kinetic energy is energy associated to motion. The kinetic energy
of a mechanical system is the work required to bring the system
from its `rest' state to a `moving' state. When exactly a system is
considered to be `at rest' depends on the context: a stone is
usually considered to be at rest when its centre of mass is fixed,
but in situations where, for example, the stone undergoes a
change in temperature the movement of the individual particles
will play a role in the energetic description of the stone."

http://planetphysics.org/encyclopedia/KineticEnergy.html

** Electric Field **

"In physics, an electric field or E-field is an effect produced by an
Electric Charge that exerts a force on charged objects in its vicinity.
The SI units of the electric field are newtons per coulomb or volts
per meter (both are equivalent). Electric fields are composed of
photons and contain electrical energy with energy density
proportional to the square of the field intensity. In the static case,
an electric field is composed of virtual photons being exchanged by
the charged particle(s) creating the field. In the dynamic case the
electric field is accompanied by a magnetic field, by a flow of energy,
and by real photons"

http://planetphysics.org/encyclopedia/ElectricField.html

** Wien Displacement Law **

"The Wien Displacement Law can be used to find the peak wavelength
of a blackbody at a given temperature.  Planck's radiation law gives us
a function of $ \lambda$ and temperature so we can find the maximum of this
function and hence the peak wavelength emitted"

http://planetphysics.org/?op=getobj&from=objects&id=20

** Laplacian Operator in Spherical Coordinates **

"The Laplacian operator in spherical coordinates is"

  $\displaystyle \nabla _{sph}^{2} = \frac{1}{r^2}
\frac{\partial}{\partial r}\lef... ...\theta}\right) + \frac{1}{r^2
sin^2 \theta} \frac{\partial^2}{\partial \phi^2} $
http://planetphysics.org/encyclopedia/LaplacianInSphericalCoordinates.html

** Feedback and Comments **

Since this is the first issue of the newsletter, there are no comments
to post.  However, with your emails filled with insightful comments and
questions this area will contain the 'most interesting' received.

* Send Feedback to 

* To be removed from this email list, please reply with
REMOVE in the subject line.