Download LabList2005 - Mentor High School

Feb 8, 2005
Physics Department
Baldwin-Wallace College
Berea, OH
To whom it may concern:
Attached is a list of the labs that the AP students do at Mentor High School. I
have developed this lab curriculum using ideas that have come from attending
local and national meetings of the AAPT(American Association of Physics
teachers) over the past 30 years. We use Vernier and Pasco interfaces to collect
data. Excel and Mathematica are used to number crunch and model data. I have
been greatly influenced by David Vernier and Pricilla Laws in my thinking about
labs.
I certify that these were the labs performed by Andrew Miskimen when he
attended Mentor High. He was a very diligent student and did excellent work.
If you have any questions or need additional documentation, feel free to contact
me by email.
Sincerely,
Mr. Thomas W. Ramsey
B.S. Physics Georgetown
M.S. Physics Case
AP Physics
Honors Physics
Mentor High School
[email protected]
AP Physics Mentor High School: Labs/Simulations
First Semester: Mechanics
1. Motion at Constant Speed
Measure and graph position versus time of a toy bulldozer.
2. MacMotion:Sonic Ranger
Using computer interfaced probe ware(Vernier): distance and velocity
match
3. Graphs and Tracks(Computer Simulation)
Build ramps to match x-t, v-t and a-t curves
4. Video Analysis of Motion
Students digtize and analyze a bouncing ball.
5. F=ma
Pasco interfaced smart pulley
6. Atwood Machines
Pasco interfaced smart pulley
7. Friction
8. Pasco interfaced picket fence
9. Friction
Blocks/wood compare static and kinetic friction
10. Air Resistance
Coffee filters used to determine relation ship between f and v.
11. Hooke’s Law
Determine k; conservation of energy
12. Horsepower
Measure horsepower of students running up stairs
13. Marble Run
Build rollercoaster from strips of foam insulation; explain kinematic
and dynamic concepts.
14. Centripetal Force Lab
Relationship between F, v and r.
15. Honey Bears
Work, Power and conservation of energy in a child’s toy.
16. Top
Factors that affect the time a top spins
17. Simple Machines
Pulleys, Inclined Plane
18. Torques: Balancing With A Meter Stick
Static Equilibrium
Second Semester
Thermodynamics
1.Specific Heat Lab
Relate the rate at which an immersion heater heats water to the electrical
power consumed.
2. Carnot Cycle Spreadsheet
Excel as a number cruncher
Waves/Optics
1. Ripple Tanks
Reflection, Refraction, Diffraction, Interference
2. Snell Law
Glass blocks
3. Optical Bench
Mirrors and lens: focal lengths
4. Diffraction Grating: Interference
Determine  of laser light
5. Speed of Sound
Standing waves/oscilloscope
6. Sonometer Lab
Log/log plots, oscilloscope, relate f to linear density/tension
Electricity/Magnetism
5 days of Pasco Labs on Electricity:
1- Resistors
2- Voltage Series and Parallel
3- Current Series and Parallel
4- Capacitors: Time Constants: Series and Parallel
5- Kirchoff’s Laws: Loop/Junctions
2 days: Magnetism: E & B fields
(Vernier Sim on how E and B fields work simulates mass spec)
Build an Electromagnet:
Shop project—factors that affect strength of B field.
Nuclear:
1. Stopping Radiation
Compare difficulty in stopping radiation.
2. Secular Equilibrium
Spreadsheet/gieger counter model radiation from Radon’s daughter
species. Compare with sample from basement.