National
| Median wages (2008) |
$49.47 hourly, $102,890 annual |
| Employment (2006) |
17,000 employees |
| Projected growth (2006-2016) |
Average (7% to 13%)
|
| Projected need (2006-2016) |
5,000 additional employees |
19-2012.00 - Physicists
Conduct research into the phases of physical phenomena, develop theories and laws on the basis of observation and experiments, and devise methods to apply laws and theories to industry and other fields.
Sample of reported job titles:
Health Physicist, Scientist, Research Scientist, Physicist, Research Consultant, Research Physicist, Biophysics Scientist
Tasks
- Perform complex calculations as part of the analysis and evaluation of data, using computers.
- Describe and express observations and conclusions in mathematical terms.
- Analyze data from research conducted to detect and measure physical phenomena.
- Report experimental results by writing papers for scientific journals or by presenting information at scientific conferences.
- Design computer simulations to model physical data so that it can be better understood.
- Collaborate with other scientists in the design, development, and testing of experimental, industrial, or medical equipment, instrumentation, and procedures.
- Direct testing and monitoring of contamination of radioactive equipment, and recording of personnel and plant area radiation exposure data.
- Observe the structure and properties of matter, and the transformation and propagation of energy, using equipment such as masers, lasers, and telescopes, in order to explore and identify the basic principles governing these phenomena.
- Develop theories and laws on the basis of observation and experiments, and apply these theories and laws to problems in areas such as nuclear energy, optics, and aerospace technology.
- Teach physics to students.
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Tools & Technology
Tools used in this occupation:
| Lasers — Argon ion lasers; Diode lasers; Single frequency dye lasers; Zeeman split lasers |
| Monochromators — Double monochromators; Grating monochromators; Scanning monochromators |
| Scanning probe microscopes — Atomic force microscopes; Friction-force microscopes; Magnetic force microscopes; Scanning tunneling microscopes |
| Signal generators — Arbitrary function generators; Function generators; Optical detectors; Radiofrequency RF generators |
| Spectrometers — Gamma ray spectrometers; High-resolution spectrometers; Prism spectrometers; Visible spectrometers |
Technology used in this occupation:
| Analytical or scientific software — CERN Physics Analysis Workstation PAW; Synergy Software KaleidaGraph; The Mathworks MATLAB; Vector Fields OPERA-3d |
| Computer aided design CAD software — Autodesk AutoCAD software; Mathsoft Mathcad; RibbonSoft QCad |
| Development environment software — C; Formula translation/translator FORTRAN; Microsoft Visual Basic; Pascal |
| Graphics or photo imaging software — Adobe Systems Adobe Photoshop software; GNU image manipulation program GIMP software; Xfig; XV |
| Object or component oriented development software — Microsoft Visual C++; Practical extraction and reporting language Perl; Python; Sun Microsystems Java |
