SI Prep -- AP Physics C Weblog 2006-07

Philhour

"The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery." - Mark Van Doren

AP Physics C 2006-07 / 2nd Semester

Most recent update May 16, 2007 10:49 AM

Schedule

Week of Friday January 5th - Objectives for 2nd Semester
- Friday
  - Brief review of 1st semester performance
  - Four fundamental forces: gravity, strong & weak nuclear forces, and electromagnetism
  - Transition from more physical units (Mechanics) to more abstract concepts
  - Objectives worksheet for 2nd semester
  - Layout of 2nd semester:
    - Unit VII: Electricity (Hecht Chs 15 & 16)
    - Unit VIII: Circuits (Hecht Chs 17 & 18)
    - Unit IX: Laboratory Methods
    - Unit X: Magnetism (Hecht Chs 19 & 20)
    - Unit XI: Mechanics (Hecht Chs 2 through 8)
  - Hand out Scantron forms
  - HW: Read Hecht Ch 15; do the Multiple Choice questions on pp. 647 & 648 on the provided Scantron form; turn in on Day 1 of next week

Week of Monday, January 8th - Electric Charge, Electric Forces, Electric Fields & Gauss's Law
- Unit VII: Electricity
- Day 1
  - Turn in Scantron form
  - Laptops: PhET Simulations here are some long-term goals that we'll begin working with today. Keep coming back to these simulations again and again throughout the unit.
    - Balloons & Static Electricity: play around with this one and verify the things we talked about in class. In particular, write down a sentence describing why both a positively charged balloon and a negatively charged balloon can stick to a neutrally charged wall.
    - John Travoltage: this is just fun; what is he saying?
    - Charges & Fields: make an electric dipole field; figure out how to plot equipotentials, use the tape measure, and plot electric fields. Learn to predict what the equipotential will look like and what the
    - Electric Field of Dreams: begin with two charges of equal mass and charge and try varying the external (applied) electric field. Get a feeling for this motion. Note that collisions are elastic so the energy is constantly divided between kinetic form and electric potential energy form.
    - Electric Field Hockey: get through all the levels. Thank your teacher profusely for allowing you to play computer games in class.
  - HW: Hecht Ch 15 Problem # 25
- Day 2
  - Handout packet of old exams; due Day 3 of next week
  - Demo: hand-held Tesla coil
  - What is an electric field? -- finding the electric field at any point near an arbitrary collection of "point" charges
  - Electrical permittivity (see table in book)
  - Gauss's Law and charge density (rho, sigma, lambda) "Gaussian surfaces"
  - HW: Hecht Ch 15 Problem # 65 & work on packet
- Day 3
  - Electric fields and conductors: zero inside, perpendicular to surface; insulators can maintain an internal charge distribution
  - Gauss's Law for uniform solid non-conducting and conducting spheres
    - In-class problems: Hecht Ch 15 Problem #s 101, 102
  - HW: Hecht Ch 15 Problem #s 79, 81, 91 & work on packet
- Day 4
  - Gauss's Law and density: in-class problems: Hecht Ch 15 Problem #104
  - QUIZ on material from Ch 15
  - Hand out Scantron forms for weekend HW
  - HW: Read Hecht Ch 16; do the Multiple Choice questions on p. 688 on the provided Scantron form; turn in on Day 1 of next week // also check out this page of useful applets and lectures

Week of Tuesday, January 16 - Gauss's Law, Electric Potential Energy, Capacitance (3 days -- MLK JR day on Monday)
- Unit VII: Electricity
- Day 1
  - Turn in Scantron form from weekend HW
  - Finding electric fields without Gauss's Law (i.e., the HARD way ... like in Example 15.7)
  - Demos: Flash-Bang Capacitor
  - Review: definition of electric potential energy; relationship to electric potential ; electric potential energy of a capacitor
  - HW: Hecht Ch 16 Problem #s 19 & 71 & work on packet
- Day 2
  - Integral relationship between electric field and electric potential & practice
  - In-class problems: Hecht Ch 16 Problem #s 48 & 68
  - HW: Hecht Ch 16 Problem #s 43, 51, 93 & work on packet
- Day 3
  - Packet of old exams due today!
  - Brief QUIZ (MC)
  - Capacitance problems
  - In-class problems: Hecht Ch 16 Problem # 94
  - Hand out Packets 25, 26, 27, 29 & 30 (due dates over the next few weeks -- see below; be sure to put your copy in a safe place)
  - HW: Prepare for exam on Day 1 of next week

Week of Monday, January 22nd - Circuits
- Unit VIII: Circuits
- Day 1
  - EXAM on Material from Chapters 15 & 16
  - HW: Read Hecht Ch 17; do the Multiple Choice questions on pp. 720 & 721 (Scantron will be provided tomorrow to turn in on Day 3); also, work on Packet 25, due Day 4
- IMPORTANT: Yearbook Photo for Physics Club on TUESDAY at RECESS in Room 310
- Day 2
  - Hand out Scantron forms
  - Laptops: PhET Simulations (DC Circuit Construction Set / Battery-Resistor Circuit / Resistance in a Wire / Ohm's Law / Battery Voltage)
  - HW: Fill out Scantron with MC answers from Ch 17; and work on Packet 25, due Day 4
- IMPORTANT: Yearbook Photo for Physics Club on TUESDAY at RECESS in Room 310
- Day 3
  - Turn in Scantron form for MC Ch 17
  - Review of material from Honors Physics: resistors, batteries, conducting wire; resistors in parallel and series; analysis of complex circuits made only of resistors and batteries; equivalent circuits
  - In-class work: solving simple circuits using the PhET Simulations... here are my parallel and series circuits class today. You can download and save them to your desktop, then open them from within the PhET simulation.
  - HW: Packet 25 due Day 4
- IMPORTANT: MAKEUP Yearbook Photo for Physics Club on THURSDAY at RECESS in Room 310
- Day 4
  - Hand out Scantron forms
  - RC Circuits
  - Packet 25 due
  - HW: Read Hecht Ch 18; do the Multiple Choice questions on pp. 747 & 748 on the provided Scantron form; turn in on Day 1 of next week; also work on Packet 26 due Day 4

Week of Monday, January 29th - Circuits Lab
- Unit IX: Laboratory Methods
- Day 1
  - Circuits Lab Day 1/4
    - Complete all the stations by the end of Day 4. Do rough data analysis as you go so you don't find yourself needing to remake measurements next week. You have time to write up much of your lab as you do it.
    - Work in GROUPS OF THREE or smaller - you will all turn in individual write-ups.
    - Station 1: A simple voltage source and resistor circuit
      - Download this file and save it to your desktop. // NOTE there seems to be a problem with downloading this file. I e-mailed it to your account. However, when you save the file out of your e-mail, it gets corrupted. So for today we'll just ignore the simulations. Sorry!
      - Open the file from within the DC Circuit simulation in PhET. You'll use this simulation to guide your thinking.
      - Verify that the circuit provided matches the simulation; note that there is a second lightbulb provided in case the first one burns out. Do not alter the circuit.
      - With the real circuit, perform the following experiment:
        
        Turn on the DC power supply
        
        Vary the voltage coming from the DC power supply between 0 and 10 V. Use the DC Voltmeter to read the voltage; measure the current flowing through the circuit at each of these points.
        
        Important to notice: the DC Voltmeter is in parallel with the lightbulb. This means the voltmeter must have VERY HIGH resistance so that it draws no current.
        
        Also important to notice: the DC Ammeter is in series with the lightbulb. This means the ammeter must have VERY LOW resistance so that it generates no voltage drop. You must never put an ammeter in parallel with a voltage course -- it must always be in series with a resistor. To do otherwise would destroy the ammeter.
        
        Use Graphical Analysis (available on the PCs here in the lab) to plot voltage (y-axis) vs. current (x-axis). Fit a line to your data and measure the slope. Interpret this slope in terms of the resistance of the light bulb.
        
        Look in your data for so-called 'non-ohmic' behavior. Does the resistance (slope) seem to change at higher temperature? If so, how? Does it increase? Decrease? Can you explain why this might be so?
        
        Turn off the DC power supply.
    - Station 2: The advantages of parallel wiring
      - Download this file and save it to your desktop. // NOTE there seems to be a problem with downloading this file. I e-mailed it to your account. However, when you save the file out of your e-mail, it gets corrupted. So for today we'll just ignore the simulations. Sorry!
      - Open the file from within the DC Circuit simulation in PhET. You'll use this simulation to guide your thinking.
      - Verify that the circuit provided matches the simulation. Do not alter the circuit.
      - With the real circuit, perform the following experiment:
        
        Turn on the DC power supply. One or both light bulbs should light up.
        
        Use the switch to control the power to the second light bulb.
        
        Does the power dissipated (i.e. brightness) of the first bulb depend on whether or not the second bulb is on or off? Why or why not?
        
        What is happening to the current provided by the power supply when you light the second bulb?
        
        What is happening to the voltage provided by the power supply when you light the second bulb?
        
        Based on your answer to the last two questions, what happens to the total resistance of the circuit when you turn on the second bulb?
        
        Turn off the DC power supply.
    - Station 3: Describing the current into and voltage across a capacitor as it charges
      - Download this file and save it to your desktop. // NOTE there seems to be a problem with downloading this file. I e-mailed it to your account. However, when you save the file out of your e-mail, it gets corrupted. So for today we'll just ignore the simulations. Sorry!
      - Open the file from within the AC & DC Circuit simulation in PhET. You'll use this simulation to guide your thinking. (This circuit is very similar to Station 7.)
      - Verify that the circuit provided matches the simulation. Do not alter the circuit.
      - With the real circuit, perform the following experiment:
        
        Turn off the DC power supply. Use the scissors to make a conducting bridge between the two connectors on the capacitor. This will discharge the capacitor. There may be a small spark.
        
        Open Logger Pro. You should be provided with Current and Voltage vs. time plots. Hit collect.
        
        Turn on the power to the DC power supply. Verify that the current vs. time and potential vs. time graphs are what you should expect from a charging capacitor.
        
        Integrate the current vs. time graph to figure out the total charge (in Coulombs) stored in the capacitor once it is charged.
        
        From the potential graph and the total charge, determine the capacitance of the capacitor.
        
        Compare this capacitance to the value written on the side of the capacitor.
        
        Determine the RC time constant by looking for the point when the current drops to 1/e of its initial value.
        
        Use the capacitance and the time constant to determine the resistance of the lightbulb.
        
        Turn off the DC power supply.
    - Station 4: Adding capacitance
      - Verify that you have 5 of the 10,000 micro-Farad capacitors (dark blue), a 6 V battery, and an LED. Note that the battery has a + and a - side, but also the capacitors are "polarized" in that they also have a preferred + and - side. The - sides are labaled by a white stripe with two rectangles on the side. Also, the LED has a "preferred" direction that you can figure out through trial and error.
      - Charge a single capacitor by touching the appropriate leads to the battery; discharge the capacitor through the LED. The LED should light up -- if it doesn't, turn it around and try again.
      - Estimate how long it takes for the capacitor to discharge by watching the light fade in the LED.
      - Use the alligator clips (located in the red bin to your left on the brown table) to wire two capacitors together in parallel. Now charge this with the battery and discharge it through the LED. Did the LED take more or less time to fade? Why?
      - Wire up the capacitors to make the most capacitance you can. What happens when you discharge through the LED? Can you make a quantitative statement about the capacitance of your group of capacitors?
      - Wire up two capacitors in series. What happens to the amount of charge they can hold? Measure this by discharging through the LED.
      - Put everything back where it began.
    - Station 5: Electric charge exploration
      - [First be warned that this lab will take the longest to complete, however much of it (the online portions below) can be completed at home or on any computer]
      - Check out the triboelectric sequence
      - Verify that your station includes three rods (hard rubber (black), glass, and plastic), rabbit fur, wool, two hanging pith balls, and an electroscope with two hanging gold leaves.
      - Play around with the hanging pith balls by charging them using a rod and rabbit fur. Then complete this online video experiment
      - Play around with the electroscopye by charging it using a rod and rabbit fur. Then complete the following online video experiments: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
      - Play around with the Scotch Tape and complete the following online video experiments: 1, 2, 3, 4
    - Station 6: Fun with High Voltage
      - Verify that your station includes two metal spheres, a high voltage (3000 V) power supply, some rabbit fur, and a purple folder.
      - Confirm that the two spheres are not touching (never let them touch) but are about 1 cm apart. Then plug in the high voltage supply.
      - Shake the rabbit fur so that a piece of fur lines itself up between the two spheres. If you do this just right, you'll see the piece of fur jump back and forth between the two spheres. Try to get more fur "jumping". Move the spheres apart and bring them closer and write down your observations. Explain what is happening to the hair in terms of the material of this unit.
      - With two fingers on one hand, touch the two spheres. You should feel a light electric shock. Do not let this current run through your heart by touching with two hands. The current is limited to 10 microamps, which should be safe. But let's be careful anyhow. Now you know what a 3000 V shock feels like =) (Note that power lines are not current limited, so you can get a much larger current from them, which is dangerous. Likewise a 12 V car batter can generate a very large current. Current kills.)
    - Station 7: Curve-fitting the unknown capacitor
      - Download this file and save it to your desktop. // NOTE there seems to be a problem with downloading this file. I e-mailed it to your account. However, when you save the file out of your e-mail, it gets corrupted. So for today we'll just ignore the simulations. Sorry!
      - Open the file from within the AC & DC Circuit simulation in PhET. You'll use this simulation to guide your thinking. (This circuit is very similar to Station 3.)
      - Verify that the circuit provided matches the simulation. Do not alter the circuit.
      - With the real circuit, do the following:
        
        Turn the DC power supply on, but have both switches off.
        
        Verify that one of the switches is the 'charge' switch and the other is the 'discharge' switch. Turn on the charge switch briefly, charging the capacitor, then turn off the charge switch.
        
        Open Logger Pro. You should be provided with Current and Voltage vs. time plots. Hit collect. Once it is taking data, hit the 'discharge' switch.
        
        Verify that the current vs. time and potential vs. time graphs are what you should expect from a charging capacitor.
        
        Integrate the current vs. time graph to figure out the total charge (in Coulombs) stored in the capacitor once it is charged. If your graph is below zero, be sure to zero it before taking data.
        
        From the potential graph and the total charge, determine the capacitance of the capacitor.
        
        Compare this capacitance to the value written on the side of the capacitor.
        
        Determine the RC time constant by fitting an exponental curve. Use the curve-fit ability of Logger Pro (Graphical Analysis) to do this.
        
        Use the capacitance and the time constant to determine the resistance of the unknown resistor..
        
        Turn off the DC power supply.
    - Station 8: Design your own experiment
      - This time, you'll design your own circuit experiment with the supplies given. Your experiment should teach the student something about voltage, current, resistance, and capacitance. All of the supplies on the table are fair game. In addition, design a PhET circuit that matches the circuit you have designed. E-mail me this PhET simulation when you turn in your lab report. Also, use the web cam (attached to the computer) to take a photo of your completed experiment so you can refer to it in your lab.
  - Turn in Scantron form
  - HW: Packet 26 due Day 4
- Day 2
  - Circuits Lab Day 2/4
  - HW: Packet 26 due Day 4
- Day 3
  - Circuits Lab Day 3/4
  - HW: Packet 26 due Day 4
- Day 4 (Scroll upwards for lab instructions)
  - Meet in regular classroom for QUIZ on material from Chapters 17 & 18
  - Once finished with the quiz, move on to finish up the Circuits Lab (Day 4/4)
  - Packet 26 due
  - HW: Prepare for exam on Day 1 of next week and work on lab write-up, due Day 4 of next week
  - Here are some YouTube videos on capacitance: 1 (how dielectrics work), 2 (in Chinese), 3 (don't do this at home)

Week of Monday, February 5th - Electrostatics Review with Calculus
- Day 1
  - Step 2 EXAM on material from Chapters 17 & 18
  - HW: Packet 27 due Day 4 and continue lab writeup
- Day 2
  - Review of the whole electrostatics program:
    - using charge to determine electric field
      - using electric field to determine motion of charges
    - using electric field to determine electric potential
      - using electric potential to determine motion of charges
      - resistance to motion through resistors
    - using electric potential to determine capacitance
      - controlling the flow of charge with capacitors and resistors
  - Using Coulomb's Law in differential form to determine electric fields
    - the general equation dE = kdq/r^2
    - electric field on the axis of a rod with varying charge density
    - electric field on the axis of an arc or semi-circle
    - electric field about a cylinder; determining electric potential from this (logarithmic --so, how to define the zero value)
    - In-class work: Ch 15 #s 72 & 73
  - HW: Packet 27 due Day 4 and continue lab writeup -- bring exam and HW questions for tomorrow
- Day 3
  - HW and Exam questions?
  - In-class work: continue Ch 15 #s 72 & 73 from yesterday, then do #74 and #70
  - HW: Packet 27 due Day 4 and continue lab writeup (due tomorrow)
- Day 4
  - Last Week's Lab write-up due
  - Packet 27 due
  - In-class work: Electrostatics Practice Sheet from Randy Knight's 5 Easy Lessons (due Day 1)
  - Reading HW: Now is an excellent time to go back and re-read material that troubles you from Chapters 15, 16, 17 and 18
  - HW: Continue work on practice sheet from class and work on Packet 29 due Day 4 of next week

Week of Monday, February 12th - Electrostatics Review with Calculus
- Unit VII: Electricity
- Day 1
- Day 2
  - Grade practice exam from Day 1
  - Grab-bag of missing topics: resistivity equation, emf and internal resistance
  - Objectives checklist: do we have everything we need from parts A, B, and C?
  - New textbook for next year?
  - HW: Packet 29 due Day 4
- Day 3
  - BJP at Learning & Brain conference THU and FRI
  - Video: Mechanical Universe (Electric Potential / Circuits)
  - HW: Packet 29 due Day 4 and study for exam
- Day 4
  - BJP at Learning & Brain conference THU and FRI
  - Packet 29 due
  - Step 3 EXAM on material from Chapters 15, 16, 17 & 18
  - HW: Packet 30 due Day 2 of next week

Week of Tuesday, February 20th - Magnetostatics (2 days -- President's day on Monday and Magazine Holiday on Friday)
- Unit X: Magnetism
- Day 1
  - Lecture/informal lab: measuring and describing magnetic fields
  - Demo: magnet and B&W TV
  - Lorentz force equation
  - Right-hand rule
  - Ampere's Law
  - HW: Packet 30 due Day 2
- Day 2
  - Packet 30 due
  - Video: Mechanical Universe (Magnetism)
  - Practice F, v, B, I problems (basically practice with both versions of the right-hand rule)
  - Using the right hand rule in a third version to get the direction of B-field pointing through a ring
  - Crossed E and B fields
  - HW: Prepare for quiz on Day 1 of next week
  - IMPORTANT: I am going to release keys for all the packets we've been doing on Day 1 of next week. Please have all packets completed by that time for credit.

Week of Monday, February 26th - Magnetostatics
- Unit X: Magnetism
- Day 1
  - Post keys to Packets from electrostatics and circuits unit // hand out Packet 32 (Magnetic Field)
  - Demo: kicking wire
  - Step 1 QUIZ on magnetism
  - The meaning of the permeability of free space and the permeability of a material (MU)
  - Calculating the radius of circular orbit in a B-field by treating the B-field as centripetal
  - The workings of a Mass Spectrometer
  - Aurora and the Earth's Magnetic field
  - HW: begin Packet 32, due at Midterm Exam
- Day 2
  - Practice drawing B-fields of simple objects (lines, rings, toroids)
  - From ring to solenoid
  - Properties of solenoids
  - Using Ampere's Law to calculate the B-field inside a SOLENOID and inside a TOROID
  - Work on Packet 32
  - HW: continue working with Packet 32, due at Midterm Exam
- Day 3
  - Using the Biot-Savart Law to calculate the field of a ring
  - Work on Packet 32
  - HW: continue working with Packet 32, due at Midterm Exam, and prepare for exam
- Day 4
  - Step 2 EXAM on magnetism
  - HW: continue working with Packet 32, due at Midterm Exam, and prepare for midterm exam

Week of Monday, March 5th -- Midterm Week and Quarter Break
- Midterm Exam will consist of 3rd step exams for Unit VII: Electricity and Unit VIII: Circuits note that this does not include Magnetostatics
  - Monday is 0, 1, 2, 3 // Hand out Packet 33 for after midterm break
  - Tuesday is 4, 6, 7, 5 // Hand out Packet 33 for after midterm break
  - Wednesday is Career Day
  - Thursday is Faculty Inservice
  - Friday is Quarterbreak

Week of Monday, March 12th -- Magnetic Induction
- BJP on Junior Retreat during Days 1 and 2: go to library to work on Packet 33
  - Some useful websites: Lenz's Law and Faraday's Law (note the left side of that equation is just the voltage drop -- a changing magnetic flux acts as a source of emf, or "pure" voltage)
- Day 3
  - Calculating magnetic flux for easy systems or for simply integrated systems
  - Lenz's Law and Faraday's Law of induction
  - Demo: Tesla Coil and Fluorescent Light
  - HW: continue Packet 33, due Day 1 of next week
- Day 4
  - (Quiz moved to Day 1 of next week)
  - Lenz's Law and Faraday's Law of induction
  - Mutual induction and the operation of a transformer
  - Reading HW: begin Hecht Chapter 20 on Electromagnetic Induction
  - HW: continue Packet 33, due Day 1 of next week

Week of Monday, March 19th -- Motional EMF and Magnetic Self-Induction
- Day 1
  - Packet 33 due
  - Step 1 QUIZ on Magnetic Induction
  - Lecture on motional emf (the emf generated is vBL -- there are a number of ways to derive this, either by noting that qE = qvB so E = vB and V = E*L = vBL .... or by noting that for a loop of width L and length x the area is xL and so the flux is xBl. The time derivative of the flux is V = vBl.)
  - Reading HW: continue Hecht Chapter 20 on Electromagnetic Induction
  - HW: print out and begin the Magnetic Induction Exam 2005-06 available on my AP Prep site due Day 4
- Day 2
  - BJP out today at professional development conference on curriculum design
  - Video: Mechanical Universe episodes on Magnetic Induction and Alternating Current
  - Reading HW: continue Hecht Chapter 20 on Electromagnetic Induction
  - HW: continue work on the Magnetic Induction Exam 2005-06 available on my AP Prep site due Day 4
- Day 3
  - Demo: ring launcher
  - Lecture on magnetic self-induction and inductors (L) in circuits
  - Setting up and solving differential equations describing LR and LC circuits
  - Reading HW: finish Hecht Chapter 20 on Electromagnetic Induction
  - HW: print out and complete the Magnetic Induction Reading Quiz 2005-06 (note this is a different assignment that the one you've been working on this week) available on my AP Prep site -- due Day 4
- Day 4
  - Step 2 EXAM on Magnetic Induction
  - HW: catch up on missing test corrections from this semester

Week of Monday, March 26th -- LR and LC circuits continued
- Day 1
  - Laptops: PhET simulations of inductors in circuits
    - Create a new Microsoft Word document called '(Your Name) Inductor Circuit Simulations.' So, if your name is Felix Meekwad, your document will be called 'Felix Meekwad Circuit Simulations'. For each of the following sub-projects, use the shift-print screen button to take a snapshot of your circuit that demonstrates the pertinent ideas and include this in your document.
    - Build a circuit with just an inductor, a battery, and a switch. Turn on the switch and you'll notice that, despite there being no resistance in the circuit, the current still starts out very low. Graph the current through and voltage across the inductor with time. These shapes should start to look familiar to you: they are either e^(-t/tau) or 1-e^(-t/tau).
    - Build an LC circuit (also known as an oscillator) in the AC simulator for PhET. You'll need to introduce some switches and a battery so you can charge the capacitor with the battery, then disconnect the battery from the capacitor, then connect the capacitor to the inductor. Choose values for capacitance and inductance so that the circuit oscillates back and forth fairly quickly. Add a current meter and a voltage meter so you can see how the voltage across the inductor varies with the current -- you should expect them to be 90 degrees out of phase: since the voltage is proportional to the time derivative of current, if the current goes like sine, the voltage will go like cosine. Be sure to turn on the values of the circuit elements, and to verify that the period of the circuit is what you'd expect (2*PI*sqrt(LC)).
    - Build an LR circuit in the AC simulator for PhET. As before, you're going to need to think of a way to "charge" the inductor (i.e. get a current running through it) before you let it go. We expect the current to just die away according to the formula we derived in class last week.
    - Build an LRC circuit. Put the inductor, resistor, and capacitor all in series. Again you'll have to use switches to introduce a battery to charge the capacitor at the beginning. The mathematics behind the LRC ("damped harmonic oscillator") circuit are too difficult for this class, but you'll see that with the right combination of L, R, and C you'll get oscillations that decrease in amplitude with time, like a ringing bell that is slowly fading out.
    - We know that putting two resistors in series raises the resistance, and putting two capacitors in series lowers the capacitance. We also know that the reverse of these is true for parallel circuits. What happens when you put inductors in parallel and series? Play around and see what you can figure out. There is no "right answer" to this part, I just want you to experiment.
    - Open the Faraday's Electromagnetic Lab and write up a sentence for each of the five projects contained therein. Your sentence should describe the "take-home point" of the project. Different projects are on different tabs at the top, and include Bar Magnet, Pickup Coil, Electromagnet, Transformer, and Generator.
    - This project is due Day 4 of this week by e-mail to me.
    - Rubric:
      - Grade of 4.0: in addition to the requirements of a 3.0 grade, work goes above and beyond what is expected and required, introducing new ideas, new concepts, a fresh approach, or some other spontaneous demonstration of mastery EXAMPLES of 4.0 WORK: Conley and Tang
      - Grade of 3.0: in addition to the requirements of a 2.0 grade, work would provide an excellent stand-alone handout to next year's AP Physics C students; no significant conceptual or style errors
      - Grade of 2.0: project completed as assigned with some conceptual or style errors
      - Grade of 1.0: incomplete project or major conceptual errors in one or more parts
  - HW: continue work on PhET project from today and catch up on missing test corrections from this semester
- Day 2
  - Laptops: PhET project continued
  - Handout: Maxwell's equations and his addition to Ampere's Law ("displacement current")
  - HW: finish Maxwell's equations handout and PhET project by Day 4
- Day 3
  - Grab bag:
    - Ampere's law when we have current density J(r) rather than current I
    - Converting from current density to electric field
    - Current as drift velocity
    - Energy stored in a capacitor or inductor
  - HW: finish Maxwell's equations handout and PhET project by Day 4
- Day 4
  - Step 2 EXAM on Magnetism (all)
  - HW: catch up on missing test corrections in advance of our final exams; we have finished introducing new material for this course

Week of Monday, April 2nd -- Devices Project
- Day 1
  - Introduce Devices Project (in preparation)
  - Video: Mechanical Universe, Episode 39: Maxwell's Equations
  - Practice problems
  - HW: continue Devices Project and review material of this and last semester
- Day 2
  - Electrostatics review
  - HW over break: continue Devices Project, makeup missing work, and review material of this and last semester
  - ALL OUTSTANDING SECOND SEMESTER WORK DUE BY FRIDAY, APRIL 27

Mechanics Flashcards (.pdf format) ... the last page is a template for cutting the other pages. The answers to a certain page are in the opposite column on the next page so that when you print or photocopy to double-sided, everything works out fine. This is the first time we're using these so please let me know if you find any problems.
Electricity and Magnetism Flashcards (.pdf format) (ditto instructions above)

Week of Monday, April 9th -- Easter Break (no classes)

Important notice: if Mr Philhour is absent any day this week please visit this alternate site

Week of Monday, April 16th -- Electricity and Magnetism Review and Exams
- Day 1
  - Examples of Excellent Work on the PhET sims lab writeup: Conley and Tang
  - Demo: Toroidal Transformer! (yes, it's so awesome it requires italics)
  - We'll work the 2003 and 2006 AP Exams (Electricity and Magnetism) together
  - HW: continue Devices Project and study for exam on Day 2
- Day 2
  - Step 3 EXAM (Magnetism and Inductor Circuits)
    - Note: in problem 2 I neglected to include a length for the wires; the answers are for a length of 1 m for each wire. I didn't grade this one as a result.
  - HW: continue Devices Project and review material of this and last semester
- Day 3
  - Demo: Van de Graff generator (ol' sparky)
  - We'll work the 2004 and 2005 AP Exams (Electricity and Magnetism) together
  - HW: continue Devices Project and study for exam on Day 4
- Day 4
  - Step 3 EXAM (Electrostatics and Capacitor Circuits)
  - HW: continue Devices Project (due Day 4 of next week) and review material of this and last semester
  - ALL OUTSTANDING SECOND SEMESTER WORK DUE BY FRIDAY, APRIL 27

Important notice: if Mr Philhour is absent any day this week please visit this alternate site

Week of Monday, April 23rd -- Mechanics Review and Exam
- Day 1
  - Calculus methods for mechanics: air resistance, center of mass, rotational inertia
  - Handout (.pdf, .doc) on using calculus to determine centers of mass and rotational inertias (key in preparation) (due Day 4)
  - Also remember to check out the Mechanics Objectives and the Electricity and Magnetism Objectives worksheets! This will ensure you know what is potentially tested on the AP exams (practice and real!)
  - HW: begin working handout from today and continue Devices Project (both due Day 4)
- Day 2
  - We'll work the 2003 and 2006 AP Exams (Mechanics) together
  - HW: continue handout from Day 1 and continue Devices Project (both due Day 4)
- Day 3
  - We'll work the 2004 and 2005 AP Exams (Mechanics) together
  - HW: continue handout from Day 1 and study for exam on Day 4
- Day 4
  - ALL OUTSTANDING SECOND SEMESTER WORK DUE TODAY (FRIDAY, APRIL 27)
  - Devices project due
  - Handout from Day 1 due
  - Step 3 EXAM (Mechanics)
  - HW: study for Practice AP exam all next week!

Week of Monday, April 30th -- Practice Exams
- Day 1
  - Practice AP EXAM -- Mechanics MC or FR (Step 4)
  - HW: study for Practice AP exam
- Day 2
  - Practice AP EXAM -- Mechanics MC or FR (Step 4)
  - HW: study for Practice AP exam
- Day 3
  - Practice AP EXAM -- E&M MC or FR (Step 4)
  - HW: study for Practice AP exam
- Day 4
  - Practice AP EXAM -- E&M MC or FR (Step 4)
  - HW: study for Practice AP exam

Week of Monday, May 7 -- Review
- AP Exams this week
  - US Government on Monday AM
  - Spanish Tuesday AM; Stats on Tuesday PM
  - Calculus Wednesday AM
  - English Thursday AM
- Day 1
  - Most of 3rd and 4th period absent for US Government exam
  - Practice exam grading
  - HW: none
- Day 2
  - Practice exam grading
  - HW: none
- Day 3
  - Most of 4th period absent for AP Calc exam
  - Practice exam grading
  - HW: none
- Day 4
  - Review for exam

Week of Monday, May 14 -- Decompression (AP Exams this week; AP Physics C exam on Monday)

Day 1
- AP EXAM
- 3rd period: Koyannisqatsi
- HW: none
Day 2
- Decompression
- Video: Einstein Revealed
- HW: none
Day 3
- Decompression
- 4th period: Go
- HW: none

Week of Monday, May 21st (3 days, activity schedule) -- Decompression

Day 1
- Seniors out ("Ditch day")
- HW: none
Day 2
- Decompression
- HW: none
Day 3
- Seniors out (Senior day)
- HW: none

Week of Tuesday, May 29th -- Final Exams week

We will not meet at all this week

About SI | Contact Us | Virtual Tour | Jobs at SI | Directions