Physics Department

Welcome!

The Roddy Science Center houses physics classrooms, laboratories, a departmental library, machine shop equipment, and microcomputers. Majors have access to the departmental library and computers. The department's well-equipped laboratories include separate rooms for optics, electronics and applied physics. They support teaching laboratories for introductory, intermediate and advanced work. In the student project area we have a small machine shop with lathe, drill press, break, end mill, and several saws. Our facilities provide students with large range of equipment, tools, and materials. Recent acquisitions include a high speed camera and two 10" telescopes with a CCD camera. We strongly support undergraduate research and work to provide students with everything they may need for their projects.

Please follow the links on the right to learn more about the physics program at Millersville University. You can examine our course work, see what seminar research projects our past students have performed, try out the Experiment of the Month (and see an archive of over 100 past experiments), learn about our faculty, and see what our alumni have to say about the value of a physics degree from Millersville.

Strategic Learning Outcomes

The following are the skills and abilities that our physics majors will have upon successively completing our degree program.

1. The ability to apply key physics concepts to solve problems. Our graduates will develop the understanding of key concepts and be able to apply them correctly to solve physics problems.  This is measured with student performance on homework assignments, quizzes, and tests, as well as solving problems in the laboratory.
2. Quantitative skills. Students will gain strong mathematical skills and will appreciate the quantitative, objective, and reproducible description of the physical universe.  Many of our graduates also minor in Mathematics.
3. Written Communication skills.  Physics is not just about doing the math and running the experiments, you need to explain to others what you have done.  Our students learn these skills in the laboratory and during their Senior Research projects. 
4. Oral Communication skills.  Making your fellow physicists and the general public aware of new discoveries requires strong communication skills.  Our students are required to defend their work in a public forum and respond to questions from their fellow students and faculty member about their work.
5. Become Life-long Learners.  Students will gain professional skills (physics, computer sciences, mathematics, leadership, etc.) that will allow them to be success in their future.  The have learned how to learn and will apply these skills as they move forward in academia or in the business world.

Experiments of the Month

How can we study gravity if things fall too quickly? Over 400 hundred years ago Galileo realized that an inclined plane can slow the motion down so we can observe the acceleration clearly. This classic experiment demonstrates HOW object fall, but the WHY would have to wait for century until Newton came along.

View this page for past labs of the month, including our Foucault Pendulum.