"Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the life-long attempt to acquire it." — Albert Einstein
Physics Honors (1°, 3°, 6° & 7°) 4th Quarter 2005-06
Most recent update May 30, 2006 3:21 PM
Schedule
Attention everyone! Interested in taking a week-long engineering course at Santa Clara University in August? Let us know and fill out an application -- we'll be happy to write you a letter of recommendation.
Attention all AP Physics B students: we would like to enter the PhysicsBowl 2006 competition, which will amount to some number of you taking a 45-minute multiple choice exam administered here at school in the first week of April. If you are interested in being a part of this competition, email BJP . I'm hoping to get about 10 of you -- the test is on all aspects of physics. Should be good practice for AP-B in any event.
Attention all AP Physics B test-takers: I am out of loaner copies, but you can purchase (fairly cheap) a newer version of Barron's "How to Prepare for the AP Physics B Exam". Some important information: please save the date Saturday, April 29th, from 10 AM to 1 PM, when I will give you a practice exam under real exam conditions here at school.
- Week of Tuesday, March 14th: Atomic Energy & Nuclear Weapons (short week)
- Day 1
- Nuclear war (Power Point document in .swf format)
- Nuclear weapons and war: data from the Natural Resources Defense Council (this is an important resource)
- HW: Use the NRDC website to answer the following questions:
- How many nuclear weapons are in the US arsenal?
- How many are in the Russian, Chinese, French, UK, Indian, and Pakistani arsenals?
- When was the last time the US made an above-ground ("atmospheric") nuclear test? What about a below-ground test?
- When was the last time an atmospheric test by any country was made?
- When did the last Indian and Pakistani nuclear tests occur?
- What is the range in 'tonnage' for the nuclear weapons the US possesses? (For comparison, take a look at the 'effects' slides in today's Power Point presentation) HW Packet H
- Day 2
- Video: The Arms Race
- HW: read the preamble and articles I, II, III, and VI of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, then write a paragraph response to the following question: "What are the obligations of the United States under the Non-Proliferation Treaty? According to your understanding, have these obligations been met?" HW Packet H
- Day 3
- Short reading quiz on assigned HW and video from last two days
- Nuclear fission and fusion as energy sources (including Cold Fusion a la Pons and Fleischman)
- Nuclear waste (also, visit Andra, the French Radioactive Waste Agency)
- Time permitting: brief review of vectors in advance of next week's unit
- HW: read this recent article on Fraud and Cold Fusion and write a 1-paragraph summary HW Packet H
AP Physics B exam HW: in your AP Physics B practice book, read the chapters related to 'Temperature and Heat' and 'Thermodynamics and Kinetic Theory of Gases' and do the practice multiple choice and free-response problems in those sections. (In Barron's, these are Chapters 15 and 16) Answers are typically given at the end of the chapter. If you have any questions with the material, come see a physics teacher and ask! This is self-teaching, and it can be hard to do! Due Day 1 of next week.
- Day 1
- AP Physics B students: turn in work from chapters on Temperature and Heat
- Short introduction to electric charge (fundamental charge, neutrality, etc.)
- 1°: here's Ms. Howard's power point talk in .swf format
- Demo: electroscope leaves & webcam
- Demo: Van de Graff generator & hair-raising
- HW: Ch 12 #s 1, 2, 3, 4 HW Packet I
- Day 2
- HW Packet H due
- Scotch Tape Activity I (a shortened version of this exercise)
- Charge by induction / contact / polarization
- Coulomb's Law (time to get your vectors straight again!!!)
- Vector example in class
- HW: Ch 12 #s 11, 13, 14 HW Packet I
- Day 3
- HW Questions
- Re-cap Coulomb's Law (vectors!)
- Sample problems with Coulomb's Law (we'll make them up in class)
- In-class work: Begin working on Electroscope Activity HW Packet I
- HW: Ch 12 #s 18, 19 & electroscope activity from class (note # 23, which is a doozy, has been pushed until Day 4 of next week) HW Packet I
- Internet HW: Check this out -- nice!
- Day 4
- HW Questions
- Play Electric Field Hockey in the lab (30 min)
- Introduction to the Electric Field
- HW: Ch 12 #s 5, 8, 9, 12 & electroscope activity from class HW Packet I
AP Physics B exam HW: in your AP Physics B practice book, read the chapters related to 'Quantum Theory' and 'The Atom' and do the practice multiple choice and free-response problems in those sections. (In Barron's, these are Chapters 24 and 25). Due Day 1 of next week.
- Week of Monday, March 27th: Electrostatics continued
- Day 1
- HW questions
- Electric Fields (1-d and 2-d)
- Electric field lines -- how density is related to strength, how many lines to draw, where lines go
- Electric monopole and dipole fields
- HW: study for quiz tomorrow
- Day 2
- HW Packet I due
- Electrostatics Quiz: electroscopes, charge, induction/contact/polarization, Coulomb's Law, Electric Fields
- HW: Ch 12 #s 16, 17, 20 HW Packet J
- Day 3
- HW Questions
- Introduction to Electric Potential (note that we are NOT saying Electric Potential Energy, which is related, but different)
- Voltage / altitude analogy
- HW: Ch 12 #s 6, 7, 10 & 21 HW Packet J
- PhysicsBowl participants! Check out this site that has all the past exams.
- Day 4
- HW Questions
- Recap electric potential
- Demo: Tesla Coil
- Voltage and the motion of electrons that results (that is, current)
- HW: Ch 12 #s 22 & 23 (and here's the solution to #23) HW Packet J
AP Physics B exam HW: Carefully print out and read through the equation sheet and find all sections needed for AP Physics B. This equation sheet will be available for you on the exam. Research the Fluid Mechanics and Thermal Physics section and the Atomic and Nuclear Physics as follows: over the following week, find a physics teacher and ask him/her to explain to you what the equations are trying to say. Write up a one or two page summary that describes each equation you don't understand. In addition, look through the Waves and Optics and Newtonian Mechanics sections and make sure you are comfortable with all those equations. Remember that we're still working on the Electricity and Magnetism stuff in class, so don't worry about that.
- Week of Monday, April 3rd: Electrostatics continued / brief intro to electric circuits
- Day 1
- 1st period: Guest Lecture on the production of electric potential (i.e. batteries!!)
- Generating electric potential through chemistry
- Electric current
- HW: Ch 12 #15; Ch 13 # 1 HW Packet K
- Day 2
- HW Packet J due!
- Electric resistance, Ohm's Law& the dissipation of electric power
- Short quiz on material from HW Packet J
- (Note: we'll come back to this electric circuits material, including series & parallel circuits, towards the end of the term!)
- HW: Ch 13 #s 2, 3 , 5, 6 HW Packet K
- Day 3
- Lecture: using an ampmeter and a voltage source
- Lab: Ohm's Law (Day 1 of 2) - due with HW Packet K
- HW: Ch 13 # 17 HW Packet K
- Day 4
- Lab: Ohm's Law (Day 2 of 2) - due with HW Packet K
- Check out this exam from summer school last year -- problems 1 - 3 are good review material for the exam on Monday
- Also, check out the solutions to the last quiz in Mr. Cannady's class. You may find this good review for the test on Monday.
- HW: Ch 13 # 18 & prepare for exam on Day 1 of next week HW Packet K
- Day 1
AP Physics B exam students: sometime this week, come visit with one of us (Mr. Cannady or Mr. Philhour) to discuss an individualized study plan using your AP Physics B guide book. In the mean time, find chapters you are having trouble with and study the material. The best way to study is not just to read, but to also work problems having read.
- Week of Monday, April 10th: Capacitors (short week)
- Day 1
- Exam on material from last three weeks
- HW: read Ch 15 and do Ch 15 #s 1 & 2 // begin Conceptual Physics handout // read this recent article about nuclear armament HW Packet L will be due Day 3
- Day 2
- PhysicsBowl Tuesday during 5th period lunch in Room 310
- HW Packet K due!
- Storage of charge in a capacitor
- Demo: flash-bang capacitor
- Parallel plate capacitors
- Charging and discharging capacitors (RC time constant)
- HW: Ch 15 #s 4, 5, 6, 7 & 10 // continue work on Conceptual Physics handout HW Packet L will be due Day 3
- Day 3
- HW Packet L due!
- Lab: capacitor circuits
- Day 1
.....EASTER BREAK!.....
- Week of Monday, April 24th: Magnetostatics
- Day 1
- Magnetic Fields: playing with magnets and compasses, sketching out fields
- Forces on charges moving through Magnetic Fields (right hand rule #1!)
- Force problems with magnetic fields; crossed electric and magnetic fields
- HW: Ch 14 #s 1, 4, 6, 7 (HW Packet M due Day 2 of next week)
- Day 2
- Magnetic Fields created by moving charges (currents) -- right hand rule #2
- Firing charged particles at wires: direction of deflection
- Wires immersed in magnetic fields - force on a wire in a magnetic field (F = ILB)
- HW: Ch 14 #s 5, 8, 9 (HW Packet M)
- Day 3
- Attraction and repulsion of current-carrying wires
- Magnetic forces as centripetal (center-pointing) forces
- Practice problems, including the 'hanging rectangular loop' problem
- HW: Ch 14 #s 10, 11, 12 (HW Packet M)
- Day 4
- Test on magnetic fields and forces
- HW: play with this magnetic induction java applet and answer these questions:
(HW Packet M)
- What causes a voltage spike: the position of the magnet or the motion of the magnet?
- Does the speed with which you move the magnet alter the voltage you get out?
- Does the voltage stay steady or does it swing back and forth?
- Would a swinging voltage like this create a steady current (DC) or an alternating current (AC)?
- How would you design a machine that would use the motion of water over a dam to move a magnet back and forth near a coil of wire
- Day 1
- Week of Monday, May 1st : Magnetic induction
- Day 1
- AP exam: English Language (juniors) on Monday
- 1st period: Video: Bill! Bill! Bill! Bill Nye the Science Guy (most of class missing due to AP exam)
- HW: 1st period: read photocopies about magnetic induction
- Day 2
- AP Exam: Calculus (seniors) on Tuesday
- Demo: magnetic induction
- Magnetic Induction: Lenz's Law and using the right-hand rule to determine direction of induced current
- Using Faraday's Law of Induction to determine emf
- Force restraining loop from being removed from a region with a magnetic field
- Reading HW: Magnetic Flux and Electromagnetic Induction ; How generators work ; How hydroelectric dams work
- HW: Ch 14 #s 13, 14 & 15 (HW Packet N)
- Day 3
- AP exam: English Literature (seniors) on Thursday
- Lab: building speakers
- HW: begin studying for test on Monday on magnetism & magnetic induction; here's a Review Sheet & Answer key
- Day 4
- AP exam: US History (juniors) on Friday
- Lab: building motors
- HW: begin studying for quiz on Monday on magnetism & magnetic induction; here's a Review Sheet & Answer key
- SAT exams on Saturday; AP Physics on Monday
- Day 1
- Week of Monday, May 8th: Circuits Revisited / Circuits Projects
- Day 1
- AP Physics B exam today in the afternoon! Good luck folks!
- Quiz on Magnetism & Magnetic Induction
- HW: re-read Ch 13 and do #6 (again) (HW Packet N)
- Day 2
- HW Packet N due
- Resistors in series and parallel - complicated circuits
- In class: Ch 13 # 10
- HW: Ch 13 #s 8, 9, 11 (HW Packet O)
- Day 3
- Circuits practice problem as warmup
- Begin Circuits Project!
- I think it's time you played with the picture guitar!!! (a creation of BJP's brother, EDS guitarist Jesse Hall)
- HW: Ch 13 #s 12, 13, 14 (HW Packet O)
- Day 4
- Circuits practice problem as warmup
- Continue Circuits Project!
- HW: Ch 13 #s 19, 20, 21 (HW Packet O)
- NOTE: 1st period: did anybody accidentally pick up Scott Lensing's TI-84 calculator? Please check to make sure -- his name is etched on it.
- Day 1
- Week of Monday, May 15th: Circuits Revisited / Circuits Projects
(short week)
- Day 1
- Minor circuits quiz: finding currents, voltages, and powers in a circuit made from just voltage supplies and resistors
- Capacitors in series & parallel
- Internal resistance and emf of a battery
- HW: Ch 13 #s 16 & 17 (HW Packet O)
- Day 2
- HW Packet O due
- Continue Circuits Project!
- HW: Ch 13 # 18 (not collected)
- Day 3
- Hand out final exam review packet -- answers are in preparation!
- Continue Circuits Project!
- HW: begin final exam review packet; Note: in the past, grades have dipped at finals time because students aren't doing enough review of material get started early and be sure to visit the HOMEWORK PARTIES!!!
- Day 1
- Week of Monday, May 23rd: Final Exam Review & Circuits Projects
(short week)
- Day 1 Activity Schedule
- It's time for a CUTE BABY PICTURE
- Final Exam Review packet - work in class & go over
- HW: study for final exam! Note: in the past, grades have dipped at finals time because students aren't doing enough review of material get started early and be sure to visit the HOMEWORK PARTIES!!!
- Day 2 Activity Schedule
- Continue Circuits Project!
- HW: study for final exam! (Here's the solution to Problem 21 in the textbook)
- Day 3 Activity Schedule
- Continue Circuits Project!
- HW: study for final exam! Note: in the past, grades have dipped at finals time because students aren't doing enough review of material get started early and be sure to visit the HOMEWORK PARTIES!!!
- Day 1 Activity Schedule
FINAL EXAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!