Prof. Derin A. Sherman
West Science Room 021
319-895-4354
DSherman@cornellcollege.edu
I am a physics professor at Cornell College. My research interests include non-invasive medical imaging technology and photovoltaics.
I am also interested in optical illusions and fractal growth phenomena, as well as
innovative science education.
I teach a number of classes, including the PHY 312
advanced lab course, and PHY 125
Science through Film and Fiction.
I am also known for making cookies.
Instructional Technology
Technology I use to help me teach. Includes:
Educational videos
Educational video clips created by myself and my students. Includes:
Optical Illusions
Deceptions of the senses are the truths of perception. This means that optical illusions provide the
means to understand how we perceive the world. Visual stimuli are often ambiguous, yet we do a surprisingly
good job at reconstructing the real world. Use the illusions on this page to help determine how we are able
to make sense of what we see.
Blender Physics Game
The Blender physics game is a game I created that permits students to perform a number of
physics experiments in a virtual world. The game uses the Blender
program which is freely available for Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems. Students can
easily modify this program to create their own simple physics experiments. Blender can be used to perform simple
mechanics experiments in real time. It can also be used to perform fluid dynamics experiments and geometrical optics
experiments.
Fractals
Fractals are objects that display self-similarity: a piece of the object is similar to the entire object.
Many objects in nature display fractal behavior. These include fern leaves, clouds, coastlines, lightning,
arterial branching, colloidal aggregation, and bacterial growth patterns. The figure to the right shows a fractal
pattern on a sea shell. The pattern consists of triangles inside triangles inside triangles. This pattern is
known as a Sierpinski triangle and it also appears when four mirrored spheres are nestled close together.