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Dr. Philhour, Mr. Cannady, and Dr. Dann
"Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the life-long attempt to acquire it." — Albert Einstein
Physics Honors (1°, 2°, 3°, 4°, 6° & 7°) 1st Quarter 2004-05
Most recent update April 11, 2005 2:58 PM
Schedule
- Friday, August 27th: First Day of Class (Activity Schedule), Syllabus, Introductions
& Unit Conversions, Demos (Jacob's Ladder: regular at start; honors at
end of period) or slideshow
- Homework (HW): Read pages (pp.) 5 & 6 in The People's Physics Book (PPB) and do Basic Stuff #s 1, 2, and 3 (p. 7)
- Week of Monday, August 30th:
Units; Motion in One Dimension
- Day 1
- Warmup: [5 min] Estimation: How many students holding hands would it take to stretch all the way to the beach?
- Homework check & student solutions [5 min]
- Textbook introduction / use of our library of books
- Fermi problems [5 min]; unit analysis & dimensional analysis / conversion [10 min]; PPB Thinking it Out #1; SI/metric system [10 min]; powers of 10 [5 min]
- HW: Basic Stuff #s 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 (p. 7)
- Day 2
- Warmup: [5 min] If you drive to Sacramento (160 km away) at a speed of 100 km/hour, how long does it take you to get there?
- Homework check & student solutions [5 min]
- Definitions [10 min]: position x, time t, distance d vs. displacement Dx , positive & negative (coordinate systems), what it means to travel -5 meters
- String Displacement Activity [30 min]
- HW: Read PPB pages 9 & 10; finish in-class activity; do problem #1 on p. 11 using this site
- Day 3
- Warmup [5 min]: Your buddy travels (in one dimension) +5 meters, then -8 meters, then +7 meters, then -11 meters. If it took her 10 seconds to complete all this, what is her total displacement Dx, total distance d, and average speed v?
- Homework check & student solutions [5 min]
- Outside (bring running shoes & be prepared to run!); groups of two; 20 yards hopping, running, and spinning; there & back for one of the three, times measured by stopwatch; calculate velocities and speeds for each one. [25 min]
- Inside: convert your results to meters per second and MPH. [15 min]
- HW: finish conversions from class; do problem #2 on p. 11
- Day 4
- Warmup [15 min]: The bird and truck problem: two trucks approach each other, and each is going 100 MPH. The distance between them starts at 100 miles. A bird flies right in front of one of the trucks and panics. It's a fast bird, so it starts heading down the road at 150 MPH. Unfortunately, it is heading right for the other truck! When it gets to that truck, it panics again and turns around. It continues flying back and forth, always at 150 MPH, from truck to truck, until the two trucks pass each other and the unfortunate bird is smashed between them. What is the total distance traveled by the bird?
- Homework check & student solutions [5 min]
- Graphing position vs. time and velocity vs. time [15 min] USE RANGE FINDER
- Definition of acceleration (ticker tape and graph versions) [15 min]
- HW: do #s 5 & 9 on pages 12 & 13 of PPB. NOTE: for 9f the answer should be 2 and 2/3 m/s (2.6666 m/s).
- Day 1
- Week
of Tuesday, September 7th: Motion in One Dimension; Acceleration;
The Big Three
- Day 1 (Activity Schedule)
- Warmup [5 min]: You are traveling at a velocity of +10 m/s. You begin accelerating at a rate of -2 m/s^2. What is your velocity after three seconds? What is your velocity after ten seconds? Is your speed higher after three seconds or after ten seconds?
- Project Genesis (Dr. Philhour's students)
- In-class work: graphing handout
- HW: do #s 6, 7 & 8 on page 12 of PPB
- Need a laugh?
- Day 2 (Activity Schedule)
- Marble Lab in classroom (no warmup) PROVE THAT THIS MARBLE IS ACCELERATING; one paragraph write-up with data written so that a non-physics student (say, your little brother) would understand.
- HW: finish & write-up marble lab; do # 12 (a & b only) on page 13 of PPB
- Day
3 (Activity Schedule)
- Warmup [5 min]: You are traveling at a velocity of -5 m/s. You begin to accelerate at a rate of 2 m/s^2. You accelerate for three seconds. Then, you accelerate at a rate of -1 m/s^2 for three more seconds. What is your velocity at the end of all this motion?
- Homework check & student solutions [10 min]
- The Big Three Equations of Motion (x-direction first)
- HW: do #s 10, 12 (parts c, d, e and f this time), 15
- Day 1 (Activity Schedule)
- Week of Monday, September
13th: The Big
Three Kinematic Equations
- Day
1
- Warmup [5 min]: A car starts at rest and accelerates for 5 minutes, covering a distance of 3 km. What was its acceleration?
- The Big Three Equations of Motion (y-direction and acceleration due to gravity g)
- HW: do #s 11, 13, 14, 16; begin exam review sheet
- Day 2
- Warmup [5 min]: A car starts at rest and accelerates to a speed of 30 m/s over a distance of 1 km. What was its acceleration?
- In-class work & review
- HW: prepare for test; work on exam review sheet
- Note: for #15 on page 14, cross out the distance given (the problem is over-constrained.)
- Day
3
- Exam: motion in one dimension, the Big Three, acceleration, velocity, position
- HW: read page 15 in PPB
- Day 4
- Warmup [5 min]: You throw a rock up into the air with an initial velocity of 15 m/s. How long do you have to wait until it hits you on the head?
- Projectile motion / Motion in two dimensions introduction (not yet shot at an angle)
- Shoot vs. fall two-ball demo
- HW: do #s 1, 2, 5, 9 in the Projectile Motion Problem Set (starting on page 17)
- Day
1
- Week of Monday, September 20th: Projectile Motion (Spirit
Week)
- Day 1
- Warmup [5 min]: You fire a gun downwards from the top of a 100 m building. The initial speed of the bullet is 100 m/s. In the absence of gravity, it would only take 1 second to hit the ground. How long does it actually take?
- James Bond Demo
- Projectile motion; shooting a projectile at an angle; breaking the initial velocity into x and y components.
- HW: do #s 3, 4, 6, and 7 in the Projectile Motion Problem Set (starting on page 17)
- Day
2 (8th grade visitors for Dr. Philhour's
7th period class on Wednesday)
- Warmup [5 min]: None! (Lab)
- Bullseye Lab!!!! (1°: two A-level bullseyes!; 7°: no A-level bullseyes, sadly)
- Matrix-style Ping Pong (low-tech)
- HW: do #s 8, 10, 11, 12 in the Projectile Motion Problem Set (starting on page 17)
- Day 3
- Warmup [5 min]: You fire a projectile at a 30 degree angle with respect to the ground. The speed of the projectile is 20 m/s. What are the horizontal and vertical components of its velocity?
- Monkey Gun
- Firing a projectile off of a cliff
- HW: do #s 13, 14, and 15 (optional) in the Projectile Motion Problem Set (starting on page 17)
- Day 4 NOTE:
MR CANNADY'S STUDENTS: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,10,11,12 are DUE
- Warmup [5 min]: None! (Lab)
- Air-blaster Activity meet in classroom then go outdoors to practice field
- HW: do #s 16, 17, and 18 in the Projectile Motion Problem Set (starting on page 17)
- Day 1
- Week
of Monday, September 27th: Projectile Motion &
Newton's Laws
- Day 1
- Warmup [5 min]: You fire a projectile at a 25 degree angle with respect to the ground. What are the x- and y-components of its velocity just before it lands?
- HW Questions & Review / (Monkey Gun for 1°)
- do #19 and begin review sheet in class
- HW: work on review sheet; review and study for quiz on Day 2; check your grade at my front page / sorted by student ID
- Day 2
- Quiz on Projectile Motion -- retreatants please take the makeup test Wednesday after school or Thursday at 5th period -- go to room 313 (the regular physics room). In future, makeup exams will only be available Monday or Thursday at 5th period in Room 313.
- Dr. Philhour's classes: turn in Air-blaster Activity sheet from Day 4 of last week
- HW: read pp. 21-23 in the People's Physics Book
- Day 3
- Warmup [5 min]: You roll a ball on the floor. Why does it eventually stop moving? You fire a bullet in deep outer space. What happens to it? (Thinker.)
- Now that we know what to do with acceleration, how do we determine acceleration to begin with?
- Newton's Laws begun! Mechanical Universe on inertia [10 min]
- Newton's 1st Law; Aristotle vs. Newton (views of nature)
- "Force" as something that changes a state of motion
- HW: Visit and explore Lessons 1 and 2 on Newton's Laws at The Physics Classroom; be sure to treat this as you would a homework assignment from the book: do the questions as you get to them, check your answers, struggle with the material. You will be tested on this stuff.
- Day
4
- Warmup [5 min]: Describe the motion of a box in the back of a truck as the truck drives through a city (with a bunch of stop lights and near-accidents).
- Newton's 3rd Law: identifying action/reaction pairs; drawing Free Body Diagrams (FBDs)
- Here are the solutions to the Projectile Motion Quiz
- HW: Visit and explore Lesson 4 on Newton's Laws at The Physics Classroom, as before; then do #s 2, 3, 4, 7, & 8 on p. 25 of the textbook
- Day 1
- Week of Monday, October 4th: Newton's Laws
- Day 1
- Warmup [5 min]: Draw a FBD for (a) a bird in level flight, (b) a bird diving after its prey and (c) a bird standing on the ground next to its kill
- Recap of Newton's 1st and 3rd Laws and Free Body Diagrams ("FBD"s)
- Students make some FBDs in class (group work)
- Newton's 2nd Law (acceleration = net force / mass)
- HW: do #s 20, 22, 23, 24 on p. 27; also check out this timeline (in .swf format) that places Newton's life in historical context
- Day 2
- Warmup [5 min]: Calculate the acceleration of a 5 kg mass experiencing a net force of 10 N.
- More Newton's Laws problems (group work)
- 7th period / Dr. Philhour only: work on Newton's Laws worksheet
- HW: do #s 13, 14, 15, 25 on p. 26-27
- Day 3
- Warmup: None (Lab)
- Fan Cart Lab!! (exploring the vector nature of F = ma using an accelerometer)
- 1st period / Dr. Philhour only: work on Newton's Laws worksheet
- HW: Finish the Lab and do #s 1, 5, 6, 9 in Newton's Laws chapter
- Day 4 (Note: for 1st period, activities
on Days 3 and 4 will be switched to accomodate Dr. Philhour's absence
for professional development)
- Warmup [5 min]: If you are accelerating upward while standing in an elevator, which is bigger: the force of gravity on you, or the normal force exerted on you by the floor of the elevator?
- More Newton's Laws (group work)
- Elevator problems
- 2-D problems
- 1st period / Dr. Philhour only: Fan Cart Lab!! (see Day 3)
- HW: do #s 11, 16, 26, 32, 33 in Newton's Laws chapter; read about Nobel prize winners in physics
- Day 1
- Week
of Monday, October 11th: TBA (short week -- weird Wednesday)
- Day 1
- Warmup [5 min]: (2-d problem with vectors)
- Fuzzy Dice Problem! (do #18 on p. 26 in class)
- Students work problems in groups (elevator problems, 2-d problems, fuzzy dice problems, gravity, normal force)
- Springs!!!
- HW:Newton's Laws chapter #s 17, 30, 31 & 37
- Day 2
- Warmup [5 min]: Friction stood in the way of Newton's First law for years. Why?
- Friction (static and kinetic)
- Friction demonstration
- HW: Newton's Laws chapter #s 28, 29 & 39
- Day 3
- Warmup [5 min]: A baseball player sliding on the ground goes from 10 m/s to 0 m/s in 4 seconds. His mass is 85 kg. What is the magnitude of the frictional force acting on him?
- More friction!!!
- HW: Newton's Laws chapter #s 34, 35 & 41 and begin working on Midterm Review Sheet
- Day 1
- Week
of Monday, October 12th: Midterm Week
- Day 1
- Warmup [5 min]: None (Lab)
- Homework questions [10 min]
- Friction Lab Day 1 (Dr. Philhour's classes: one day only)
- HW: Prepare for Midterm Exam (review Newton's Laws chapter # 36, do The Stunt Driver on p. 32, and check out Midterm Review Sheet); also check out this ULTRA-SECRET METHOD FOR SOLVING ALL NEWTON'S LAW PROBLEMS (shhh!)
- Day 2
- Warmup [5 min]: None (Lab)
- Homework questions [10 min]
- Friction Lab Day 2 (Dr. Philhour's classes: review for midterm exam)
- HW: Prepare for Midterm Exam with Midterm Review Sheet; also check out this ULTRA-SECRET METHOD FOR SOLVING ALL NEWTON'S LAW PROBLEMS (shhh!)
- Day 3/4: Newton's Laws Exam (expect to see the Big Three as well ... all material from quarter is free game, but we'll focus on Newton's Laws) (Solutions page 1, 2, 3, 4 )
- Optional: Join Dr. Dann, Mr.
Cannady & Dr. Philhour at Wednesday's Physics
colloquium at USF (Harney Science Center, Room 127) 4-5 PM:
Prof. Lori Lubin
of UC Davis on "Massive Clusters of Galaxies"
- Day 1
END OF FIRST QUARTER