Hyewon Pechkis

Research Interests: 

• Quantum behavior of ultracold atoms 
• Spinor dynamics of ultracold atoms

CURE-E Course: Physics for Students of Science and Engineering: Electricity and Magnetism (PHYS 204B), first introduced with CURE-E Fall 2022

Project Title: Designing and Developing Efficient Capacitors

PHYS 204B is an introductory physics course on electricity and magnetism. Capacitors are one of the key elements/devices in the electricity portion of the course and require a deep understanding of electric fields and potentials, which have also important applications in engineering, as well (a significant fraction of PHYS 204B students are engineering majors). Capacitors are also devices that have many applications in daily life. I am going to restrict the material that can be used in construction of a capacitor within items that are readily found around us. A capacitor is a device that stores electric energy. Depending on how it is designed and constructed, the capacitance (the quantity that characterizes how much energy the device can store) of the capacitor can be dramatically varied. Students will research what variables can enhance the capacitance, design and construct a prototype, and measure the capacitance by analyzing the dependence on the variables. This process will involve many practices that reflect various methods that are used in a real research environment.