Download Physics - Aurora City Schools

Physics Syllabus
Mr. LoGalbo/Miss Heflin
2013-2014
Course Overview
The main goal of this course is to give students a well-rounded foundation and
understanding of the behaviors that govern our universe. There will be a large
laboratory component to this class so that we may emphasize the scientific process and
the communication of scientific information. This class will be a study of major concepts
in physics to prepare students for college physics courses. A strong foundation in
algebra and trigonometry is essential for success in the course.
Text
The textbook we will be using this year is Conceptual Physics published by Prentice Hall.
Contact Information
E-mail:
Voicemail:
Mr. LoGalbo
[email protected]
(330)954-2246
Miss Heflin
[email protected]
(330) 954-2493
Materials (needed daily)
-a covered textbook
-a writing utensil
-a notebook or binder to keep notes
-a scientific calculator
-a designated area to keep your warm-up questions
Physics Objectives – The student will…
1. Analyze the relationships that exist between the fundamental quantities of motion.
2. Demonstrate an understanding of Newton’s Laws of Motion by applying them to analyze,
describe, and predict the net effects on objects or systems.
3. Analyze the relationships among quantities influencing circular motion and apply
Newton’s Universal Law of Gravity in an analysis of orbital motion.
4. Utilize work-energy relationships and conservation principles to analyze energy transfers
within a physical system.
5. Describe and explain the characteristic behaviors associated with wave motion.
6. Develop an understanding of the nature of light and electromagnetic radiation.
7. Demonstrate a conceptual and mathematical understanding of geometric optics.
8. Apply the concepts of a “field” and “field force” in analyzing the influence of a field on
the behavior or an object or particle exposed to that field.
9. Analyze the relationships between voltage, resistance, and current in simple DC circuits.
10. Analyze the inherent relationship between electrical and magnetic phenomena
Classroom expectations
 Be on time for class. You are expected to be in class when the bell rings. You are expected to
immediately begin working on the “Question of the Day”. If you are tardy three times in a given
SEMESTER, you will receive a detention. Any tardy beyond the third will also result in a detention
 Be prepared for class. Bring all necessary materials (see list above) and any assignments that are
due to each class.
 Be respectful of yourself, others and property. This sounds simple, but there is a lot implied
here. In a nutshell, behave in a manner that does not distract from the learning process of yourself
and those around you. Disruptive and/or destructive behavior will not be tolerated.
 Be Productive. Participate in everything we do. You must be an active, engaged member of the
class to draw any value from the course.
 Stay in the classroom. Students should only expect to leave the classroom in the event of an
emergency.
 Food and drink must remain outside of the classroom.
Consequences
I want our class to be a safe, comfortable learning environment. The guidelines above are
chosen so that we can make the most of our time together. If you choose to break a rule, you
will be given a warning, detention, or office referral, depending on the severity of the behavior.
Homework
Homework is a necessary component of the learning process as it allows reinforcement on topics
covered in class. You can anticipate having homework at least 3 times per week. You need to
show all work for homework problems in order to receive full credit. The purpose of homework is
to allow you to think about the topics covered in class and assess your understanding of the
material. Completing homework will be crucial to your success on tests. Homework assignments
may be checked for completion or collected and graded. All should be done with the expectation
of collection. Homework quizzes may be given asking students to answer questions similar to
those from homework assignments.
Assignments and Attendance
-You are responsible for obtaining and turning in any work missed during an absence by taking
the following steps.
1. Check my tentative lesson plans online.
2. Verify with a classmate the information you found online.
3. If you missed any handouts, check the class bin.
4. If you have questions about your absence, please see me before school starts or at the
end of your class period.
-If you are absent on the day of a test, you will be expected to arrange a time to take the test.
The test will not be given to you during your class period but can be made up during a study hall,
lunch, or before or after school. The test should be completed the day you return to school. It is
your responsibility to arrange a time with me. Students who take tests after the common test
date may be given an alternate version of the test.
-If you are absent the day before a test, you will be expected to take the test at the scheduled
time (exceptions will be made for extended absences)
Grading
Scale:
90-100%…….….A
80-89%…………B
70-79%…………C
60-69%…………D
59% or below…..F
The semester grade is determined from the individual nine weeks grades and a final exam. 1 st nine weeks =
40%, 2 nine weeks = 40%, exam = 20%
nd
The nine weeks grade will be determined from all work completed during a nine week grading period.
The nine-week grade will consist of the following:
70%
TESTS/ASSESSMENTS
-Multiple choice
-Essay
-Problem solving
-Review and practice will usually take place in class the day before a test
-Extra help will be available after school a few days prior to tests
PROJECTS/LAB ASSESSMENTS
-Most projects will be completed in pairs or small groups
-Some projects will be built at home and brought into class for presentation and
grading
-Some labs requiring a report will be counted in this category
30%
CLASSWORK
-Questions of the day (to be collected and graded on a quarterly basis)
-Practice worksheets
-Book assignments
-Reading assignments
HOMEWORK
-Readings
-Book assignments
-Practice worksheets
-Preparing for a lab / finishing a lab
QUIZZES
-Announced or unannounced
-Lab quizzes will often be given the day after a lab
-Homework quizzes will often be given after several assignments
LABS
-Informal (conducted in class in lab groups with analysis and conclusion to be
completed individually as homework)
-Formal (requiring a lab report write-up)
Reassessment Policy
In an effort to promote mastery of the skills and content of the Physics course, a student may be
reassessed on end of unit assessments when deemed appropriate by the teacher. To be eligible for a
reassessment, one must…
 have scored a grade less than 75% on the original assessment..
 Within two days of receiving the test back, submit, in writing, the following:
 Identify your problem areas. If you don’t know what’s wrong, it cannot be fixed!
 A plan for improvement that addresses how you intend to fix the identified
problems…what interventions are needed.
 Put your improvement/intervention plan into action
 Schedule a time and date for a re-take with the teacher (this is your responsibility, I will not hunt
you down)
*Failure to do ALL of the steps as described above will result in a forfeiture of your re-take
opportunity and the original grade will remain in place.
General information:
- a successful re-take of an assessment will change the grade for that test to a maximum of a
“middle C” or 75%
- the re-takes will generally take the form of an interview/oral exam, although you may be
asked to put some things in writing.
- You may re-take any given assessment only once for a particular unit.
Tentative Physics Content Outline
I. Mechanics
a. Mechanical Equilibrium
i. Force
ii. Equilibrium
iii. Vectors
b. Newton’s First Law – Inertia
i. Historical development
ii. Mass
c. Linear Motion
i. Speed vs Velocity
ii. Acceleration
iii. Free Fall
iv. Graphical representation of motion
v. Air Resistance
d. Projectile Motion
i. Vector vs. Scalar
ii. Vectors and Components
iii. Horizontal Projectiles
iv. Projectiles launched at angles
e. Newton’s Second Law
i. Force and Acceleration
ii. Friction
iii. Pressure
iv. Free Fall
f. Newton’s Third Law
i. Forces as Interactions
ii. Action and Reaction
iii. Systems
g. Momentum
i. Impulse
ii. Bouncing and Collisions
iii. Conservation of Momentum
h. Energy
i. Work
ii. Power
iii. Mechanical energy: Kinetic vs. Potential
iv. Conservation of Energy
v. Machines and efficiency
i. Circular Motion
i. Rotation
ii. Centripetal Force and acceleration
j. Gravitation
i. Falling objects
ii. Universal Law of Gravitation
iii. Gravitational Fields
iv. Weight
II. Sound and Light
a. Vibrations and Waves
i. Pendulum
ii. Wave motion
iii. Transverse vs Longitudinal
iv. Interference
v. Standing Waves
vi. Doppler Effect
b. Sound
i. Origin and media
ii. Speed of sound
iii. Loudness
iv. Resonance and forced vibration
v. Interference Beats
c. Light
i. Nature of light
ii. Speed of light
iii. Electromagnetic waves
iv. Polarization
d. Color
i. Spectrum
ii. Reflection and Transmission
iii. Color mixing
iv. Natural phenomena
e. Reflection and Refraction
i. Law of Reflection
ii. Mirrors
iii. Reflection of sound
iv. Refraction and index of refraction
v. Dispersion and Rainbows
vi. Internal reflection
f. Lenses
i. Converging and Diverging Lenses
ii. Image formation
iii. Ray Diagrams
iv. Optical instruments
v. Eye and vision
g. Diffraction and Interference
i. Huygens’ Principle
ii. Diffraction
iii. Interference
iv. Young’s experiment
v. Thin films
vi. Lasers
III. Electricity and Magnetism
a. Electrostatics
i. Forces and charge
ii. Conservation of charge
iii. Coulomb’s Law
iv. Conductors vs. insulators
v. Charging by different means
b. Electric Fields and Potential
i. Fields and field lines
ii. Shielding
iii. Electric Potential Energy
iv. Electric Potential
c. Electric Current
i. Flow of Charge
ii. Voltage Sources
iii. Resistance
iv. Ohm’s Law
v. Direct vs. Alternating current
vi. Power
d. Electric circuits
i. Batteries and bulbs
ii. Series Circuits
iii. Parallel Circuits
iv. Compound Circuits
e. Magnetism
i. Poles, Fields and Domains
ii. Electric current and magnetism
iii. Forces on charged particles and current carrying wires
iv. Motors
IV. Atomic and Nuclear Physics
a. The Atom
i. Models of the atom
ii. Photoelectric effect
iii. Waves and particles
b. Atomic Nucleus
i. Radioactive Decay
ii. Isotopes
iii. Half-Life
iv. Transmutation (natural and artificial)
v. Carbon Dating and other applications of radioactivity
c. Fission and Fusion
i. Fission reactions
ii. Reactors
iii. Mass-Energy Equivalence
iv. Fusion reactions
By the end of the Aurora High School Physics course the student will be able to…
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Identify questions and concepts that guide scientific investigations;
Design and conduct scientific investigations;
Use technology and mathematics to improve investigations and communications;
Formulate and revise explanations and models using logic and evidence (critical thinking);
Recognize and analyze explanations and models; and
Communicate and support a scientific argument.
Distinguish between distance and displacement; distinguish between speed and velocity
Recognize and mathematically analyze the relationships amongst the variables associated with linear
motion.
Construct, interpret and compare graphs of position, velocity, or acceleration versus time.
Describe motion in terms of changing velocity. (acceleration)
Apply kinematic equations to calculate displacement, acceleration, time, or velocity under conditions
of constant acceleration.
Relate the motion of a freely falling body to motion with constant acceleration.
Calculate displacement, velocity, and time for the motion of a freely falling object
Compare the motion of different objects in free fall.
VECTOR INTRODUCTION
 Distinguish between and give examples of scalar and a vector quantities.
 Add and subtract vectors by using the graphical method.
 Multiply and divide vectors by scalars.
VECTOR OPERATIONS
 Apply the Pythagorean theorem and tangent function to calculate the magnitude and
direction of a resultant vector.
 Resolve vectors into components using the sine and cosine functions.
 Add vectors that are not perpendicular.
PROJECTILE MOTION
 Recognize examples of projectile motion.
 Describe the path of a projectile as a parabola.
 Resolve vectors into their components and apply the kinematic equations to solve
problems involving horizontally launched projectiles.
 Recognize the independence of the horizontal and vertical components of projectile
motion.
 Describe the velocity of a projectile at various points throughout its parabolic path.
 Explain how inertia relates to objects at rest and objects in motion at a constant speed
(1st Law)
 identify forces that act on objects in motion at a constant speed and objects at rest (1st
Law)
 explain examples of inertia in terms of Newton’s 1st Law (ex. the tablecloth trick) (1st
Law)
 recognize that inertia is synonymous to the mass of an object (1st Law)
 describe the path a ball being spun on a string will take if the string breaks (1st Law)
 describe how mass and acceleration are related in the equation F=ma (2nd Law)
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describe how force and acceleration are related in the equation F=ma (2nd Law)
apply Newton’s second law in problem solving situations (2nd Law)
know the units for each of the variables in Newton’s 2nd Law (2nd Law)
analyze the action/reaction pairs of forces in a situation (3rd Law)
describe how the forces on objects in an action-reaction pair compare (3rd Law)
recognize that action-reaction pairs always act on only two objects (ex. If the action is
bat hits ball, the reaction is ball hits bat) (3rd Law)
 draw labeled free body diagrams that show the correct direction and relative
magnitudes of forces
 write ƩF equations for the horizontal and vertical directions
 solve problems relating force, velocity, time, displacement, and acceleration of objects
on horizontal surfaces.
 solve problems relating force, velocity, time, displacement, and acceleration of objects
experiencing forces applied at an angle.
 solve problems relating force, velocity, time, displacement, and acceleration of objects
on frictionless inclines.
 explain and describe the nature of frictional forces and the factors that influence it
 differentiate between kinetic and static friction
 calculate the coefficient of kinetic or static friction
 Distinguish between the concepts of centripetal and tangential
 Associate centripetal accelerations with changes in direction
 Solve problems involving centripetal acceleration and centripetal force
 Provide an explanation for the apparent existence of a centrifugal force observed when
traveling in a circular motion
 Distinguish between centripetal and centrifugal force
 Identify forces in common situations that act centripetally (i.e. Gravity in the case of an
orbiting satellite)
 Interpret or create diagrams illustrating the directions of acceleration, speed and net
force
 Analyze how changes in mass or distance influence the strength of gravitational force
 Solve problems requiring manipulation of the universal gravitation equation
 Differentiate between contact and field forces
MOMENTUM AND IMPULSE
 Compare momentum of different moving objects.
 Compare the momentum of the same object moving with different velocities.
 Identify examples of change in momentum of an object.
 Describe changes in momentum in terms of force and time.
CONSERVATION OF MOMENTUM
 Describe the interaction between two objects in terms of the change in momentum of each object.
 Compare the total momentum of two objects before and after they interact.
 State the law of conservation of momentum.
 Solve problems relating to the conservation of momentum.
ELASTIC AND INELASTIC COLLISIONS
 Identify different types of collisions.
 Define the concept of work and distinguish it for the everyday use of the term
 Solve problems utilizing the mathematical definition of work (remember what the θ refers to in the
equation!) to determine work done by an individual force
 Calculate the net work done when multiple forces act on an object
 Recognize work as a scalar quantity, but also interpret what is meant by positive or negative work
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Relate the concept of power to work conceptually and mathematically
Differentiate between kinetic energy and potential energy
Differentiate between gravitational potential energy and elastic potential energy
Relate the distance stretched/compressed in a spring to the restoring force of the spring (i.e. Hooke’s
Law)
Manipulate the three equations for KE, GPE, EPE in problem solving situations
Demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between work and energy qualitatively and in
problem solving (work-kinetic energy theorem)
Qualitatively trace the energy transformations that occur during a process
Identify locations/moments of maximum and minimum KE and PE during a process
Use the principle of energy conservation to analyze and solve problems
Recognize the presence of friction causes mechanical energy to be converted into non-mechanical
forms (heat, sound, etc…)
PROPERTIES OF WAVES
 Distinguish local particle vibration from overall wave motion.
 Differentiate between pulse waves and periodic waves.
 Interpret waveforms of transverse and longitudinal waves.
 Apply the relationship among wave speed, frequency, and wavelength to solve problems.
 Relate energy and amplitude.
WAVE BEHAVIORS
 Apply the superposition principle.
 Differentiate between constructive and destructive interference.
 Predict whether specific traveling waves will produce a standing wave.
 Identify nodes and antinodes of a standing wave.
 Define refraction and recognize situations in which it will occur.
 Define reflection and recognize situations in which it will occur.
SOUND WAVES
 Explain how sound waves are produced.
 Relate frequency to pitch.
 Compare the speed of sound in various media.
 Explain why resonance occurs.
 Differentiate between and calculate the harmonic series of open and closed pipes and vibrating
strings.
CHARICTERISTICS OF LIGHT
 Identify the components of the electromagnetic spectrum.
 Identify the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum with the highest/lowest wavelength,
frequency, energy
 Understand that white light is the combination of all colors of the visible light spectrum.
 Associate colors of the spectrum with frequency and energy
 Relate the color of an object to the frequency of light that is reflected/absorbed.
 Recognize that light has a finite speed.
 Describe how the brightness of a light source is affected by distance.
 Recognize the wave and particle nature of light
 Describe how the thermal energy of an object changes as light is absorbed or transmitted.
REFLECTION
 Distinguish between specular and diffuse reflection of light.
 Apply the law of reflection for flat mirrors.
 Describe the nature of images formed by flat mirrors.
 Calculate distances and focal lengths using the mirror equation for concave and convex spherical
mirrors.
 Draw ray diagrams to find the image distance and magnification for concave and convex spherical
mirrors.
 Distinguish between real and virtual images.
REFRACTION
 Recognize situations in which refraction will occur.
 Identify which direction light will bend when it passes from one medium to another.
 Relate the index of refraction to the behavior of light
 Solve problems using Snell’s Law.
 Use ray diagrams to find the position of an image produced by a converging or diverging lens, and
identify the image as real or virtual.
 Solve problems using the thin-lens equation.
 Calculate the magnification of lenses.
INTERFERENCE
 Describe how light waves interfere with each other to produce bright and dark fringes.
 Identify the conditions required for interference to occur.
DIFFRACTION
 Describe how light waves bend around obstacles and produce bright and dark fringes.
Solve problems relating to single and double slit diffraction
THE NATURE OF ELECTRIC CHARGE AND FORCE
 Associate electric charge to particles, electrons and protons
 Differentiate between conductors and insulators.
 Describe charge distribution for a charged conductor.
 Distinguish between charging by contact, charging by induction and charging by polarization.
 Calculate electric force using Coulomb’s law.
 Apply the superposition principle to find the resultant force on a charge and to find the position at
which the net force on a charge is zero.
THE ELECTRIC FIELD
 Define and calculate electric field strength.
 Associate the direction of the electric field with respect to force on a positive test charge
 Draw and interpret electric field lines.
ELECTRIC POTENTIAL
 Distinguish between electrical potential energy, electric potential, and potential difference.
 Solve problems involving electrical energy and potential difference.
Describe the energy conversions that occur in a battery that give rise to a potential difference.
CURRENT AND RESISTANCE
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Describe the basic properties of electric current, and solve problems relating current, charge, and
time.
Calculate resistance, current, and potential difference by using the definition of resistance (Ohm’s
Law applications).
ELECTRIC POWER
 Relate electric power to the rate at which electrical energy is converted to other forms of energy.
 Calculate electric power and the cost of running electrical appliances.
CIRCUITS
 Interpret and construct circuit diagrams for series and parallel arrangements of resistances.
 Identify circuits as open or closed.
 Differentiate between the relationships for resistance, voltage and current for series vs. parallel
circuit arrangements.
 Calculate the equivalent resistance for a circuit of resistors in series, and find the current in and
potential difference across each resistor in the circuit.
 Calculate the equivalent resistance for a circuit of resistors in parallel, and find the current in and
potential difference across each resistor in a circuit.
 Calculate the equivalent resistance for a circuit of resistors in a mixed circuit arrangement, and find
the current in and potential difference across each resistor in a circuit.
 Compare the total current into a junction with the total current flow out of a junction
Realize that the sum of potential differences within a closed loop of a circuit must equal zero.
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Relate the direction of a magnetic field to the behavior of a compass (a magnet)
Draw magnetic field lines for a single bar magnet and between poles of two magnets
Recognize that moving electric charge produces a magnetic field
Recognize that a changing magnetic field gives rise to an electric field and thus an electric force on a
charged object within the field.
Describe how a changing magnetic field can be utilized to produce a current in a wire
Describe the operation of a simple generator
Describe the operation of a simple motor
Use the electric-magnetic field relationship to explain the propagation of electromagnetic radiation.