The dependence of magnetization on the applied magnetic field and temperature was measured carefully near their Curie temperatures for two perovskite manganite samples: La0.67Ca0.33MnOδ and La0.60Y0.07Ca0.33MnOδ. It is suggested by the results that these materials can be utilized as both the thermal storage (passive regeneration) and as the working material (active regeneration) in an active magnetic regenerative refrigerator with very large temperature span, for their significant entropy change upon the application of a magnetic field and the easily tuned Curie temperatures.

We have measured and calculated the magnetocaloric effect in macroscopic samples of oriented high-spin molecular clusters like Mn 12 and Fe 8 as a function of the temperature and both the intensity and the sweeping rate of the applied magnetic field.We have observed a high magnetic entropy variation around the blocking temperature of the magnetic moment of molecules and calculated the shift of the entropy variation and cooling temperature, with the sweeping rate of the magnetic field.

A large entropy variation (magnetocaloric effect) has been discovered in ceramic perovskites with the formulas La0.65Ca0.35Ti1−xMnxO3−z and La0.5+x+yLi0.5−3yTi1−3xMn3xO3−z. Both Curie temperature and entropy change were studied from 4.2 to 400 K for different stoichiometric compositions and applied magnetic fields. Our conclusion is that these materials are excellent candidates for working materials in magnetic refrigeration and liquefaction devices in a wide temperature range.

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Our first objective was to detect misconceptions about the microscopic nature of sound among senior university students enrolled in different engineering programmes (from chemistry to telecommunications). We sought to determine how these misconceptions are expressed (qualitative aspect) and, only very secondarily, to gain a general idea of the extent to which they are held (quantitative aspect). Our second objective was to explore other misconceptions about wave aspects of sound. We have also considered the degree of consistency in the model of sound used by each student. Forty students answered a questionnaire including open-ended questions. Based on their free, spontaneous answers, the main results were as follows: a large majority of students answered most of the questions regarding the microscopic model of sound according to the scientifically accepted model; however, only a small number answered consistently. The main model misconception found was the notion that sound is propagated through the travelling of air particles, even in solids. Misconceptions and mental-model inconsistencies tended to depend on the engineering programme in which the student was enrolled. However, students in general were inconsistent also in applying their model of sound to individual sound properties. The main conclusion is that our students have not truly internalised the scientifically accepted model that they have allegedly learnt. This implies a need to design learning activities that take these findings into account in order to be truly efficient.

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A nanocomposite material has been characterized that contains nanometer size magnets that are free to rotate in response to an applied magnetic field. The composite consists of 5-10 nm crystals of ␥-Fe 2 O 3 dispersed in a solid methanol polymer matrix. The material was prepared by freezing a methanol-based ferrofluid of ␥-Fe 2 O 3 and subjecting it to a magnetic field applied in alternate directions to anneal the matrix. Before the field treatment, the solid displays magnetic behavior characteristic of an ordinary nanoscopic magnetic material. It is superparamagnetic above the blocking temperature ͑160 K͒ and hysteretic below, showing magnetic remanence and coercivity. After the field treatment to anneal the matrix, the same solid shows only Curie-Weiss behavior above and below the blocking temperature over the temperature range from 4.2 to 200 K and in response to applied magnetic fields as low as 1.59 kA/m. The data are consistent with a solid containing rotationally free, nanoscopic magnets encased in cavities of very small dimensions. The free rotation of the particles precludes the observation of magnetic relaxation phenomena that are characteristic of magnetic solids and ferrofluids. The present solid portends a class of magnetic materials with very little or no electrical and magnetic loss.