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Dr. Philhour and Dr. Dann

"Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the life-long attempt to acquire it." — Albert Einstein

AP Physics C (2° & 3°) 3rd Quarter 2004-05

Most recent update March 8, 2005 8:52 AM

Schedule

• Week of Wednesday, January 5th: Gravity I
  • Day 1 (Activity Schedule)
    • Exam Review
    • HW: Begin AP test corrections (due Day 3); read Tipler Ch 10-2, 10-5
  • Day 2 (Activity Schedule)
    • Newton's Universal Law of Gravity
    • HW: do Tipler Ch 10 #s 9, 41; continue AP test corrections (due Day 3); read Tipler Ch 10-6, 10-7
  • Day 3 (Activity Schedule)
    • HW Questions [10 min]
    • Do Tipler Ch 10 #39 in class
    • Gravitational shells and such
    • AP test corrections due
    • HW: do Tipler Ch 10 #s 28, 29, 30 (and produce a graph of F vs. r for #30 from r =0 to r = 500 m; you can use your graphing calculator!); catch up on reading assignments above

• Week of Monday, January 10th: Gravity II
  • Day 1
    • HW Questions [10 min]
    • Gravitational Potential Energy U(r); bound & unbound orbits
    • Important to stress concept that U(r) < 0 and that this makes sense since U = 0 at infinite distance
    • Graphs of U(r)
    • HW: do Tipler Ch 10 #s 23ab, 34, 35, 57
  • Day 2
    • ANNOUNCEMENT: On Wednesday, January 12, Mr. Cannady and Dr. Philhour will be giving a talk 4th and 5th periods in Bannan Theater. This talk will introduce Saturn's moon Titan and the spacecraft (Huygens) which will be landing there later in the week. Please come and bring a friend! You can come to either 4th or 5th period.
    • HW Questions [15 min]
    • Escape velocity (including computer simulations at fear of physics)
    • Recap Newtonian gravity / review for quiz on Day 4
    • HW: do Tipler Ch 10 #s 21, 36, 55 and 56 (these last two are for the brave); review for Quiz on Day 4
  • Day 3
    • HW Questions [15 min]
    • 3°: Lecture/presentation: Einstein's Gravity (in .swf format) This is not AP exam material, but it's awfully fun to think about.
    • HW: do Tipler Ch 10 #s 46 & 47; review for Quiz on Day 4
  • Day 4
    • HW Questions [15 min]
    • Quiz on Gravity
    • HW: read Tipler Ch 12-1 &12-5; do Ch 12 #s 5, 42

• Week of Tuesday, January 18th: Simple Harmonic Motion (short week: Martin Luther King Jr. holiday)
  • Day 1
    • HW Questions [15 min]
    • Differential equation for a mass on a spring
    • Set up the equation and pick out the angular frequency (or period)
    • Vertical springs cause offsets ("pedastal shift")
    • HW: do Ch 12 #s 8, 9, 13, 24
  • Day 2
    • HW Questions [15 min]
    • Differential equation for a pendulum (small angle approximation)
    • Taylor series / cutting off the expansion at small angles (so sin(x) is approximately x for small x)
    • Physical pendulums (using torque, moment of inertia, and angular acceleration)
    • Demo: physical pendulums
    • HW: do Ch 12 #s 30, 32, 57, 69
  • Day 3
    • HW Questions [15 min]
    • Gravity Train and a table of useful latitudes and longitudes
    • Work AP problem in-class
    • HW: do Ch 12 #s 64 & 65; read a great Tipler essay on chaos theory (pp. 397-402)

• Week of Monday, January 24th: Wrap up SHM and begin Electromagnetism
  • Day 1
    • HW Questions [15 min]
    • Explain how Hecht book works (MC, solutions to bold, set of 3, etc.)
    • Electric charge, conductors and insulators
    • Electrostatic induction
    • Demo: electric charge demonstration (fur, rods, pith balls, electroscope)
    • The Triboelectric sequence
    • Coulomb's Law
    • HW: begin practice exams for SHM (Ch 12) and Gravity (Ch 10) for exam on Day 4
    • HW: read Hecht Ch 15, pp. 610-624 (top); be sure to read the sample problems; do #s 1 & 3 in Problems (p. 648)
  • Day 2
    • HW Questions [15 min]
    • Short Quiz: on last night's reading
    • Coulomb's Law & the Electric Field
    • Permittivity
    • Demo: Field Lines simulation on Hecht disc
    • Field line understanding - vector nature, conceptual strength, etc.
    • HW: Hecht Chapter 15: Multiple Choice Question #s 1, 2, 3, 5 & 7; Problem #s 7, 9 &13
  • Day 3
    • HW Questions [15 min]
    • Pracitice Exam Questions
    • Electric Field lines (Recap: vector lines, F=qE, E=kq/r^2, etc.)
    • Electric field between two parallel plates
    • HW: Review for exam on Day 4
  • Day 4
    • Exam: Gravity, Simple Harmonic Motion, and Coulomb's Law
    • HW: Hecht Chapter 15: Multiple Choice Question #s 9, 11 &12; Problem #s 19, 39, 45 & 59; recommended reading: Hecht Chapter 15 pp. 624 - 646, particularly the material on "Gauss's Law" in section 15-6

• Week of Monday, January 31st: The Law of Gauss (Gauss' Law aka Gauss's Law)
  • Day 1
    • HW Questions [15 min]
    • The Law of Gauss I (flux, charge density, point charge)
    • 3° only: Dr. Philhour will hand out an assignment for you to work on during Day 2; please bring Hecht to class tomorrow (Tuesday), you'll need it for the assignment
    • HW: Hecht Chapter 15: Problem #s 58, 65, 79 & 83
  • Day 2
    • HW Questions [15 min]
    • Important: 3°: Dr. Philhour is proctoring the sophomore retreat on Tuesday; you will have study hall in the library with an assignment (in preparation) due at the end of the period; at the end of the class period, choose one student from among you to collect and take the entire set of assignments to the faculty lounge; there, have a teacher put them in my box
    • The Law of Gauss II (different geometries)
    • HW: Hecht Chapter 15: Problem #s 81, 86, 89, 91 & 99
  • Day 3
    • HW Questions [15 min]
    • The Law of Gauss III (problem solving in-class)
    • HW: prepare for Quiz on Day 4
    • Dr. Philhour's class: please sign up to meet with me for a 15 minute conference; the sign-up sheet, with many available dates and times, is posted to my office door (Room 312). First come, first served.
  • Day 4
    • Quiz on electrostatics (big one!)
    • HW: read Hecht Chapter 16; do Discussion Questions (p. 686) #s 1, 14 & 21 and Multiple Choice Questions 3 & 4 and Problem #1
    • Advice: when reading science textbooks, you should begin by skimming the material and reading all the figures and diagrams. Build up questions in your mind ("what is this about? why do I care?") then go back and do a more careful reading. Often the figures and diagrams frame the issues in your mind in a nice way, and the text fills in your understanding.

• Week of Monday, February 7th: Electric potential energy, electric potential, and capacitance
  • Day 1
    • HW Questions [15 min]
    • Wrap up Gauss's Law for volume-distributed charges (sphere, coaxial cable)
    • Gauss's law with a dielectric constant (epsilon does not equal epsilon_naught)
    • In-class density problems (made-up)
    • SAVE THE DATE: Saturday, April 9, we'll have a joint AP Physics / Astronomy trip to the Dann Ranch in Dixon to do balloon launches (by day) and astronomy (by night).
    • HW: do Hecht Ch 15 #s 101, 102 & 103; also, read this important information about the AP Physics C exam (you can reach this from Dr. Philhour's homepage as well)
  • Day 2
    • HW Questions [15 min]
    • Electric potential ("voltage") ... analogies to gravity
    • Volts ain't energy
    • Graphics from the electrostatics java applet
    • Demo: Tesla coil with fluorescent tube
    • HW: Hecht Ch 16 Discussion Question (DC) #2; Multiple Choice (MC) Question #s 1, 5, 9; Problem #s 21, 43, 48, 68; check out the USF physics colloquium schedule
  • Day 3
    • HW Questions [15 min]
    • Hiking contour map
    • Demo: Water plate finger-tingle demonstration / 9V battery
    • Work voltage problems in-class
    • HW: Hecht Ch 16 Discussion Question (DC) #s 6 & 8; Multiple Choice (MC) Question #s 8, 11; Problem #s 20, 42, 50, 55; for tomorrow, bring two quarters to class, we'll melt them together!
    • Dr. Philhour's class: please sign up to meet with me for a 15 minute conference; the sign-up sheet, with many available dates and times, is posted to my office door (Room 312). First come, first served.
  • Day 4
    • POP QUIZ (Retreatants: please make this up within a week of your return)
    • Capacitance
    • Demo: Capacitor discharge through quarters
    • Work capacitance problems in-class -- emphasis on geometry as sole determinant of capacitance (unless a dielectric is inserted)
    • Dielectrics, and how they influence capacitance
    • HW: Hecht Ch 16 DC # 18; MC #s 13, 16, 17, 18; Problem #s 71, 73, 89, 91, 92

• Week of Monday, February 14th: Capacitance / Begin DC Circuits
  • Day 1
    • HW Questions [15 min]
    • Capacitors wired in parallel
    • Capacitors wired in series
    • Energy storage in a capacitor
    • HW: Hecht Ch 16 DC # 17; MC #s 15, 19; Problem #s 72 (See Table 15-3), 74 (see section 16.7), 102, 104, 111, 119
  • Day 2
    • HW Questions [15 min]
    • Class problem ch.16 #109
    • Direct Current (DC) Circuits aka Constant Current Circuits (Chapter 17)
    • Definition of current as time derivative of charge flow
    • Cells and batteries -- how they differ from capacitors
    • "Loads"
    • Circuit / Water Flow analogy java applet
    • HW: Read Hecht Ch 17-1; Ch 17 DC # 5; MC # 1
    • Do this practice test (Electro Test) and bring questions for tomorrow. This is great prep for fridays test on ch. 15 and 16. Discuss and ask questions on the public folder
  • Day 3
    • HW Questions [15 min]
    • Practice Test Questions
    • Drift velocity; (Vive la) Resistance and resistivity
    • Ohm's Law
    • Parallel and series resistances (also: how to read resistors!)
    • HW: Study for test tomorrow! Especially study your HW questions from Ch. 15 and 16. Also, go over the figures in these chapters -- they are pretty good! Discuss and ask questions on the public folder
  • Day 4
    • Test on Hecht Chapters 15 & 16
    • HW: Hecht Ch 17 DC #s 8, 10; MC #s 9, 10, 11, 12; Problem #s 2, 13, 18; 3rd period: write up test corrections for multiple-choice portion of the test

• Week of Tuesday, February 22nd: DC Circuits (short week due to President's Day Holiday)
• Day 1
• HW Questions [15 min]
• Circuit analysis: voltage drops, power dissipation in resistors, current flows
• HW: Dr. Dann's class: Test corrections for multiple choice;
  Both classes: Read "Suggestions on problem solving" on p.721 of Hecht; then do Problem # 19; then read Hecht Ch 17-1
• Day 2
  • HW Questions [10 min]
  • Light bulb demonstration (use web-cam for current and voltage meters)
  • More circuit analysis and practice problems
  • HW: Ch 17 DC # 5; MC # 1 then read Hecht Ch 17-2
• Day 3
  • Dr. Philhour's class: Lab on DC Circuits
  • Dr. Dann's class: Makeup test for ch. 15 and 16
  • HW: Ch 17 DC # 16; MC #s 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 then read Hecht Ch 17-3, 4 & 5
    

• Week of Monday, February 28th: DC Circuits continued
• Day 1
  • HW Questions [10 min]
  • DC Circuits Lab (thanks to Andrew L. for these pictures!!)
    • Station 1 pictures: 1, 2 (remember you can expand these pictures by clicking on the icon in the lower-right corner)
    • Station 2 pictures: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and video
    • Station 3 pictures: 1, 2
    • Station 4 pictures: coming soon
    • Station 5 pictures: 1, 2, 3
    • Station 6 pictures: coming soon
    • Station 7 pictures: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
    • Station 8 pictures: 1, 2, 3
    • Station 9 pictures: 1, 2
  • HW: Ch 17 Problem #s 67, 79, 84, 88
  • READ THIS IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT
• Day 2
  • HW Questions [10 min]
  • RC Circuits (Lecture) [15 min]
  • DC Circuits Lab
  (3rd period finishes today)
  • HW: do Ch. 18 #s 35, 47, 65 & 67 and Ch 17, problem # 17 (take the integral because I = dq/dt)
• Day 3
  • HW Questions [10 min]
  • Finish DC Circuits lab (both periods)
  • 3rd period: DC Circuits quiz based on laboratory (about 30 minutes total)
  • HW: Write up your DC Circuits lab; ch.17 #40, 42
• Day 4
  • Fun circuits (outside the AP curriculum): transistors, diodes, operational amplifiers ("opamps"), etc.
  • HW: Review for midterm exam and get caught up on homework!!
  • SAVE THE DATE : Saturday, April 9, we'll have a joint AP Physics / Astronomy trip to the Dann Ranch in Dixon to do balloon launches (by day) and astronomy (by night).

• Week of Monday, March 7th: Midterm Examinations
  • Day 1: Review for Midterm Exam; remember that you can download sample tests from the College Board website! Go to our own Preparing for the AP Physics C Exam website (bookmark this while you're at it) and then scroll down to the College Board Central site. Register and download old tests and solutions to practice with!
  • Circuit Lab due Day 1
  • Midterm Exam will cover all the material from the Electricity and Magnetism portion of the course so far.
  • Join Dr. Dann and Dr. Philhour in attending this Wednesday's USF PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY COLLOQUIUM : Dr. Geoff Marcy will speak at USF on the topic of "The Properties of Planetary Systems." Dr. Marcy is among the founders of an exciting new field: finding planets orbiting stars other than the Sun. Wednesday, March 9, at 4:00 PM on the USF Campus, room 127 Harney ... coffee and social beginning at 3:30 PM. See you there!
  • Hey: is anybody interested in working with Dr. Philhour and building differentiation and integration circuits using opamps, then using them to take the derivative and integral of our voice signals? We could listen to the difference by recording the output onto tape or computer.

 

AP Physics Saturdays: mandatory review sessions for the AP exam in physics.

Saturday, April 30: 10:30 AM to 1:30 PM, meet in Physics room (313). On this day we will take the multiple choice parts of both the mechanics and electricity & magnetism exams. We will score them right then and go over them for the rest of the period. Remember: this serves as your final exam, so be sure to study hard and be sure to make it! If you can't make it on Saturday, please attend a make-up session the afternoon of Friday, April 29. We'll supply the pizza.

Saturday, May 7: 10:30 AM to 1:30 PM, meet in Physics room (313). On this day we will take the free-response sections of both the mechanics and electricity & magnetism exams. We will score them as a group and go over them for the rest of the period. Remember: this serves as your final exam, so be sure to study hard and be sure to make it! If you can't make it on Saturday, please attend a make-up session the afternoon of Friday, May 6. We'll supply the pizza.