How to Write your Physics Essay
What is an essay?
1. It must have a Thesis – they must express an opinion i.e. choose one technology
as superior and advocate that position. (See example)
2. see the diagram of the 5 para. Essay. (3 technologies – so 3 paragraphs)
3. length – 400 – 600 of YOUR words – not including quotes.
4. NEVER say “I” or “you” or “we” or “this essay will discuss …” (puking sound here)
Basic Structure:
1. Intro. leading to your
Thesis
Hypothesis
2. Paragraph 1
Observations (Data)
3. Paragraph 2
Observations (Data)
4. Paragraph 3
Observations (Data)
5. Conclusion
Summary and
Conclusion
SAMPLE TITLE: A New Look at Television Technology
1. SAMPLE INTRO.: Since the days of cave paintings, humans have been trying to represent vivid
stories. The Greek amphitheatres permitted one person to speak to thousands at a time, but for
many years, not much progress was made. Finally, television reached millions of viewers who
could share the same visual experience, though only in black and white. Since then, TV
technology has continued to advance. Today, there are three basic types of TV screens on the
market based on the following technologies: the liquid crystal display (LCD), the plasma display
panel (PDP) and the Light Emitting Diode (LED). Each of these technologies has had impact on
the electronics industry and on our homes. However, the Light Emitting Diode or LED is the best
because of its reliability, cost-effectiveness and great performance. (129 words)
OTHER POSSIBLE THESES – WHICH IS BEST?
The LED is the technology of the future because it is cheaper and shows better colours.
Viewers like the LED best because it shows deep blacks and sharp lines.
The LED is the newest technology.
The LED is the most expensive and complicated technology.
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2. – 4. The Compare and Contrast Paragraphs:
There are 2 methods – Horizontal and Vertical – see notes.
a) Topic Sentence – choose one car safety technology.
b) How the technology works:
Scientific Principles: Friction, energy, etc. (not my job)
N.B. will be mostly quoted materials – long quotes.
beware making it to long and boring)
c) Evaluation: compare/contrast
: effectiveness, cost, reliability – give data, use quotes
d) Each paragraph needs its own conclusion.
SAMPLE:
The plasma display panel (PDP) shows great potential but this technology has major flaws.
Basically, the PDP functions as follows:
Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah
blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah
blah blah blah blah blah blah very technical and very boring blah blah blah blah blah blah blah
blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah
blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. (Richardson, 2007, p. 20)
This technology has certain advantages and disadvantages. On the positive side, the image is very bright
and extremely sharp (Richardson, 2007, p. 21) However, these advantages are outweighed by two serious
problems. First of all, the voltage needed for a PDP is very high for microcircuitrry (Sobel & Persaud,
1998) and, “As a result, the cost of drive circuitry for plasma displays is higher than for many competing
display technologies.” (Sobel & Persaud, 1998) Secondly, “… that ion bombardment tends to destroy the
phosphors over time, reducing their light output” (Sobel & Persaud, 1998.) Despite the high quality image,
the high cost and the fact that the screen will burn out over time, make it obvious that the PDP is a poor
choice for today’s consumers.
MY Word count 20 + 24 + 32 = 76
TOTAL word count 208 (oops, there are not enough of “My Words”)
N.B. This paragraph does not contain any History! There is no “Who invented it or when etc.”
But basically this is a Level 3+ effort. The quotes are ok, but the author did not discuss basic science
principles. If, instead of the “blah blah” quote, he had included something like … “The PDP uses basic
scientific principles of light, optics and atomic physics. Ions bombard a screen made up if gas and the gas
atoms, when struck by the ions, emit light. The frequency (or colour) of the light depends upon … “ etc.,
he might have deserved a Level 4.
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Citations have 2 parts:
1. the “embedded” or “in-body” citation = the part in your essay that identifies the source.
2. the “Reference” in the References List at the end, where the reader can find the full
details about your source.
SAMPLE: eLibrary Article:
Date: 01 May 1998
Reading Level: 11
Size: 20K
Keyword Score: 100
The New Shape of Television: Television's Bright New Technology Scientific
American Alan Sobel
Within this article, I found the following:
Problems, Problems
The most fundamental problem of all matrix displays is that many drive circuits are required-one for each row and each column, plus the control circuitry needed to activate the electrodes
at the right times. In plasma displays the problem is exacerbated by the fact that the
voltages needed are high (for microcircuitry, that is)--about 100 volts. Furthermore, the
circuitry must be able to accommodate the brief but large pulse current at the beginning of
each discharge cycle. As a result, the cost of drive circuitry for plasma displays is
higher than for many competing display technologies, although this cost will certainly
come down as production volumes increase.
Another lingering problem with plasma displays is that ion bombardment tends to destroy
the phosphors over time, reducing their light output; this phenomenon has limited life to
10,000 hours or so in the past, but now lifetimes of 30,000 hours (to half the initial
luminance) are claimed by some manufacturers. Most life-lengthening strategies involve
keeping the discharge away from the phosphor.
Citation for your reference
M
L
A
Sobel, Alan and Persaud, Amil. "The New Shape of Television: Television's Bright New Technology."
Scientific American. 278. 1998. 70-77. eLibrary. Proquest CSA. YORK MILLS COLLEGIATE INST. 11
Sep 2007. <http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/curriculumca>.
You may need the following: issue
SAMPLE: References
Richardson, E. (2007) Television Technology. New York: Oxford University Press.
Sobel, A. __________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________
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For the full APA pages go to this link:
http://www.tdsb.on.ca/libraries/library_files/APA.pdf
You Note it, You Quote it! an interactive Web tutorial (Pick the Science Student
avatar!) http://library.acadiau.ca/tutorials/plagiarism/
Library Resources for you:
The Reference Section: The Science of Everyday Things and How it Works
– multi-volume sets. You can make Free Copies!!
The Regular Shelves: The 600s – Applied Science, Invention and Technology
– try a big white book called How it Works.
Databases: Accessscience (user & password both cool_yorkmills)
Or Electric Library (User: 53-65612 Password: bigchalk)
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