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PHYSICS I (L)
Classification:
Prerequisites:
Intended Students:
Course Length:
Credits:
Core 40 and AHD
Algebra I-2 and Geometry 2
11-12
Two Semesters
2
Course Description:
Physics I is a laboratory-based course in which students synthesize the fundamental concepts
and principles related to matter and energy, including mechanics, wave motion, heat, light electricity,
magnetism, atomic and subatomic physics. Through regular laboratory study using such quantities as
velocity, acceleration, force, energy, momentum, and charge, students (1) examine the nature and scope
of physics, including its relationship to other sciences and its ability to describe phenomena using
physical laws, (2) describe the history of physics and its role in the birth of technology, (3) explore the
uses of its models, theories and laws in various careers, and (4) investigate physics questions and
problems related to personal needs and societal issues. This is a Core 40 and AHD Physical Science
course.
Principles of Physics
Students recognize the nature and scope of physics, including its relationship to other sciences and its ability to
describe the natural world. Students learn how physics describes the natural world, using quantities such as
velocity, acceleration, force, energy, momentum, and charge. Through experimentation and analysis, students
develop skills that enable them to understand the physical environment. They learn to make predictions about
natural phenomena by using physical laws to calculate or estimate these quantities. Students learn that this
description of nature can be applied to diverse phenomena at scales ranging from the subatomic to the structure
of the universe and include everyday events. Students learn how the ideas they study in physics can by used in
concert with the ideas of the other sciences. They also learn how physics can help to promote new technologies.
Students will be able to communicate what they have learned orally, mathematically, using diagrams, and in
writing.
The Properties of Matter
P.1.1 Describe matter in terms of its fundamental constituents and be able to differentiate among those
constituents.
P.1.2 Measure or determine the physical quantities including mass, charge, pressure, volume, temperature,
and density of an object or unknown sample.
P.1.3

Describe and apply the kinetic molecular theory to the states of matter.
Determine the energy required to change the physical state of matter.
P.1.4
Employ correct units in describing common physical quantities.
The Relationships Between Motion and Force
P.1.5 Use appropriate vector and scalar quantities to solve kinematics and dynamics problems in one and two
dimensions.
P.1.6 Describe and measure motion in terms of position, time, and the derived quantities of velocity and
acceleration.
 Use distance and time measuring devises to measure speed and acceleration.
P.1.7 Use Newton’s Laws (e.g., F = ma) together with the kinematic equations to predict the motion of an
object.
 Use force, mass, time, and displacement measuring devises to check predictions of Newton’s laws for
dynamic systems.
P.1.8 Describe the nature of centripetal force and centripetal acceleration (including the formula
a = v2/r), and use these ideas to predict the motion of an object.
P.1.9 Use the conservation of energy and conservation of momentum laws to predict, both conceptually and
quantitatively, the results of the interactions between objects.
 Measure distance, and time of an objects motion to determine kinetic or potential energy.
 Use the conservation of energy to solve dynamic problems.
P.1.10 Demonstrate an understanding of the inverse square nature of gravitational and electrostatic forces.
The Nature of Energy
P.1.11 Recognize energy in its different manifestations, such as kinetic (KE =
1 mv2), gravitational potential
2
(PE = mgh), thermal, chemical, nuclear, electromagnetic, or mechanical.
P.1.12 Use the law of conservation of energy to predict the outcome(s) of an energy transformation.
P.1.13 Use the concepts of temperature, thermal energy, transfer of thermal energy, and the mechanical
equivalent of heat to predict the results of an energy transfer.
P.1.14 Explain the relation between energy (E) and power (P). Explain the definition of the unit of power, the
watt.
Momentum and Energy
P.1.15 Distinguish between the concepts of momentum (using the formula p = mv) and energy.
Relate the change in momentum of an object to its change in kinetic energy.
P.1.16 Describe circumstances under which each conservation law may be used.
Make qualitative and/or quantitative measurements before and after collisions to test the conservation of
momentum.
Use conservation of momentum to solve one and two dimensional collision problems.
The Nature of Electricity and Magnetism
P.1.17 Describe the interaction between stationary charges using Coulomb’s Law. Know that the force on a
charged particle in an electrical field is qE, where E is the electric field at the position of the particle, and q is the
charge of the particle.
 Find the force exerted a charged particle by one or more other charged particles or by an electric field.
P.1.18 Explain the concepts of electrical charge, electrical current, electrical potential, electric field, and magnetic
field. Use the definitions of the coulomb, the ampere, the volt, the volt/meter, and the tesla.
 Use Ohm’s law to describe and calculate the relationships between current, resistance and voltage.

P.1.19 Analyze simple arrangements of electrical components in series and parallel circuits. Know that any
resistive element in a DC circuit dissipates energy, which heats the resistor. Calculate the power (rate of energy
dissipation), using the formula Power = IV = I 2R.
 Find the equivalent resistance for resistors connected in series and in parallel.
P.1.20 Describe electric and magnetic forces in terms of the field concept and the relationship between moving
charges and magnetic fields. Know that the magnitude of the force on a moving particle with charge q in a
magnetic field is qvBsina, where v and B are the magnitudes of vectors v and B and a is the angle between v and
B.
P.1.21 Explain the operation of electric generators and motors in terms of Ampere’s law and Faraday’s law.
The Behavior of Waves
P.1.22 Describe waves in terms of their fundamental characteristics of velocity, wavelength, frequency or period,
and amplitude. Know that radio waves, light, and X-rays are different wavelength bands in the spectrum of
electromagnetic waves, whose speed in a vacuum is approximately 3  108 m/s (186,000 miles/second).
 Calculate speed, wavelength, frequency and period of waves.
 Distinguish between transverse and longitudinal waves and give examples of each.
P.1.23 Use the principle of superposition to describe the interference effects arising from propagation of several
waves through the same medium.
P.1.24 Use the concepts of reflection, refraction, polarization, transmission, and absorption to predict the motion
of waves moving through space and matter.
P.1.25 Use the concepts of wave motion to predict conceptually and quantitatively the various properties of a
simple optical system.
P.1.26 Identify electromagnetic radiation as a wave phenomenon after observing refraction, reflection, and
polarization of such radiation.
 Identify the various categories of electromagnetic radiation, their relative energies, and how they are
produced.
The Laws of Thermodynamics
P.1.27 Understand that the temperature of an object is proportional to the average kinetic energy of the
molecules in it and that the thermal energy is the sum of all the microscopic potential and kinetic energies.
P.1.28 Describe the Laws of Thermodynamics, understanding that energy is conserved, heat does not move
from a cooler object to a hotter one without the application of external energy, and that there is a lowest
temperature, called absolute zero. Use these laws in calculations of the behavior of simple systems.
The Nature of Atomic and Subatomic Physics
P.1.29 Describe the nuclear model of the atom in terms of mass and spatial relationships of the electrons,
protons, and neutrons.
P.1.30 Explain that the nucleus, although it contains nearly all of the mass of the atom, occupies less than the
proportion of the solar system occupied by the sun. Explain that the mass of a neutron or a proton is about 2,000
times greater than the mass of an electron.
P.1.31 Explain the role of the strong nuclear force in binding matter together.
P.1.32 Using the concept of binding energy per nucleon, explain why a massive nucleus that fissions into two
medium-mass nuclei emits energy in the process.
P.1.33 Using the same concept, explain why two light nuclei that fuse into a more massive nucleus emit energy
in the process.
P.1.34 Understand and explain the properties of radioactive materials, including half-life, types of emissions, and
the relative penetrative powers of each type.
P.1.35 Describe sources and uses of radioactivity and nuclear energy.
Historical Perspectives of Physics
Students gain understanding of how the scientific enterprise operates through examples of historical events.
Through the study of these events, students understand that new ideas are limited by the context in which they
are conceived, are often rejected by the scientific establishment, sometimes spring from unexpected findings, and
grow or transform slowly through the contributions of many different investigators.
P.2.1 Explain that Isaac Newton created a unified view of force and motion in which motion everywhere in the
universe can be explained by the same few rules. Note that his mathematical analysis of gravitational force and
motion showed that planetary orbits had to be the very ellipses that Johannes Kepler had proposed two
generations earlier.
P.2.2 Describe how Newton’s system was based on the concepts of mass, force, and acceleration; his three
laws of motion relating to them; and a physical law stating that the force of gravity between any two objects in the
universe depends only upon their masses and the distance between them.
P.2.3 Explain that the Newtonian model made it possible to account for such diverse phenomena as tides, the
orbits of the planets and moons, the motion of falling objects, and Earth’s equatorial bulge.
P.2.4 Describe how the Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell used Ampere’s law and Faraday’s law to
predict the existence of electromagnetic waves and predict that light was just such a wave. Also understand that
these predictions were confirmed by Heinrich Hertz, whose confirmations thus made possible the fields of radio,
television, and many other technologies.
P.2.5 Describe how among the surprising ideas of Albert Einstein’s special relativity is that nothing can travel
faster than the speed of light, which is the same for all observers no matter how they or the light source happen to
be moving, and that the length of time interval is not the same for observers in relative motion.
P.2.6 Explain that the special theory of relativity (E=mc2) is best known for stating that any form of energy has
mass and that matter itself is a form of energy.
P.2.7
time.
Describe how general relativity theory pictures Newton’s gravitational force as a distortion of space and
P.2.8 Explain that Marie and Pierre Curie made radium available to researchers all over the world, increasing
the study of radioactivity and leading to the realization that one kind of atom may change into another kind, and so
must be made up of smaller parts. Note that these parts were demonstrated by Rutherford, Geiger, and Marsden
to be small, dense nuclei that contain protons and neutrons and are surrounded by clouds of electrons.
P.2.9 Explain that Ernest Rutherford and his colleagues discovered that the radioactive element radon
spontaneously splits itself into a slightly lighter nucleus and a very light helium nucleus.
P.2.10 Describe how later, Austrian and German scientists showed that when uranium is struck by neutrons, it
splits into two nearly equal parts plus two or three extra neutrons. Note that Lise Meitner, an Austrian physicist,
was the first to point out that if these fragments added up to less mass than the original uranium nucleus, then
Einstein’s special relativity theory predicted that a large amount of energy would be released. Also note that
Enrico Fermi, an Italian working with colleagues in the United States, showed that the extra neutrons trigger more
fissions and so create a sustained chain reaction in which a prodigious amount of energy is given off.
Teachers Guide
Fall Semester:
Topic: Introduction to Physics
Timeline: 4 days
Objectives:
 Define Physics.
 Identify the scientific method and it’s constituent steps.
 Identify the SI prefixes.
 Convert Units within the metric system and with English standard.
 Use scientific notation for computation and expression of significant digits.
 Discuss significant digits in relation to precision and accuracy.
 Perform vector addition
 Discuss measurement technique
 Practice appropriate lab report preparation
Possible Activities:
 Have students develop an example of the scientific process using a relationship they are curious about.
(i.e. Does the temperature cause the leaves to fall off trees?)
 Have students measure objects with varying degrees of calibration. (i.e. measure a textbook with a meter
stick using only the decimeter scale vs. centimeter vs. millimeter)
Demonstration Suggestions:
Topic: Vector Addition
Timeline: 4 days
Objectives:
 Explain the properties of vectors
 Add vectors using graphical and algebraic methods
 Resolve vectors
Possible Activities:
 Have students determine the linear distance to some point in the school using a measuring wheel and
vector addition.
Demonstration Suggestions:
Topic: Motion
Timeline: 8
Objectives:
 Distinguish between and calculate speed and velocity
 Define acceleration and perform acceleration calculations
 Distinguish between graphs of velocity and acceleration
 Solve problems using the various relationships between v,a,t,d.
 Discuss the affects of gravity on the motion of objects.
Possible Activities:
 Time cars on Main Street over and known distance and calculate speed
 Time motorized cars in hallway and calculate speed
 Use motion sensors to match student motion to graphs of velocity and acceleration
 Form PwC: Calculate g on an Incline, Modern Galileo Experiment, Picket Fence Free Fall
Demonstration Suggestions:
Topic Newton’s Laws
Timeline: 9 days
Objectives:
 Discuss Newton’s 1st law; define inertia.
 Define the four fundamental forces. Discuss force how it affects motion; Newton’s 2 nd Law.
 Create free body diagrams to represent v, f, and a for a given situation.
 Discuss Newton’s 3rd law.
 Define and distinguish between static and kinetic friction.
 Define projectile motion and understand the relationship with Newton’s Laws.
 Solve computational problems using Newton’s Laws; both one and two dimensional.
Possible Activities:
 Calculate friction forces using scales and various surfaces, or, from PwC, use force sensors.
 Determine the relationship between f, a, and m using dynamic carts and masses with a pulley.
 From PwC: demonstrate Newton’s 3rd Law using force sensors.
 Determine the landing position of marbles as the roll of a table, using Vernier photo-gates for velocity.
 Use “pulley tables” to solve two dimensional dynamics problems using vector addition and/or algebraic
computation.
Demonstration Suggestions:
 Use the air-track to demonstrate Newton’s 1st law.


Pull a sheet of paper out from under a cup of liquid to demonstrate Newton’s 1 st law.
Use a dart guy or toy cannon to demonstrate parabolic path of projectiles.
Topic: Circular Motion
Timeline: 2 days
Objectives:
 Describe circular motion
 Use centripetal acceleration and centripetal force to predict the motion of an object.
Possible Activities:
Demonstration Suggestions:
 Rotate a rubber stopper on the end of a string and discuss direction of applied force to maintain circular
motion. Also discus the tangential path of the rubber stopper.
Topic: Universal Gravitation
Timeline: 1 day
Objectives:
 Use Keplar’s laws of planetary motion to solve problems involving periods and average radius’ of orbiting
bodies.
 Use Newton’s law of universal gravitation to understand the relationship between gravitational force,
mass, and distance.
Possible Activities:
Demonstration Suggestions:
Topic: Momentum
Timeline: 6 days
Objectives:
 Define momentum and how it is changed (impulse).
 Use the impulse-momentum theorem to solve problems involving force, time, and momentum.
 Discuss the law conservation of momentum.
 Use the law of conservation of momentum to solve one and two dimensional collision problems.
Possible Activities:
 Test the conservations of momentum law using dynamics carts that interlock, and repel by measuring
mass and velocity before and after elastic and inelastic collisions.
 Egg toss
Demonstration Suggestions:
 Newton’s ladder.
 Demonstrate elastic and inelastic collisions using dynamics carts of varying masses.
Topic: Energy and Work
Timeline: 8 days
Objectives:
 Categorize the different forms of energy as potential, kinetic, thermal, mechanical, chemical, nuclear, and
electromagnetic.
 Analyze dynamic systems using the various energy equations.
 Use the conservations of energy law to solve dynamic problems.
 Explain the relationship between energy, work, and power.
 Discuss simple machines and how they change the force input vs. output, but obey the conservation of
energy.
 Define mechanical advantage.
 Explain the concept of thermal equilibrium and how thermal energy is transferred.
 Discuss the Celsius, Fahrenheit, and Kelvin temperature scales.
 Use the heat of fusion, the heat of vaporization, and specific heat to determine the energy change in a
material as it’s temperature changes.
 Discuss the first law of thermodynamics
 Discuss the second law of thermodynamics
Possible Activities:
 Have students calculate the power needed to run/walk up a flight of stairs.
 Students can calculate the specific heat of materials by submerging in boiling water and then moving to
cooler water and calculating the temperature change.
 Predict the velocity of a pendulum bob at the bottom of its path by calculating it’s gravitational potential at
the starting height. Test using motion sensors or photo-gates.
Demonstration Suggestions:
 Use repelling rope and equipment to set up pulley systems. Students can have a tug or war or pull a
vehicle.
 Demonstrate the increase velocity of a pendulum as potential energy is converted to kinetic.
Spring Semester:
Topic: States of Matter
Timeline: 6 days
Objectives:
 Distinguish between the different states of matter.
 Define pressure.
 Discuss the factors that determine the pressure within a fluid.
 Use Pascal’s principle to determine the mechanical advantage of hydraulic systems.
 Discuss buoyant force
 Use Archimedes’ principle to determine if objects will float or sink.
 Discuss Bernoulli’s principle.
 Use the equations for linear and volume expansions along with the coefficients for expansion to
determine change in various objects.
 Define Plasma.
Possible Activities:
 Have students determine the apparent weight of an object immersed in water by calculating the weight of
water displaced then compare to the reading on a spring scale.
 Student can build boats out of poster board and determine how far they will sink when holding a known
mass.
Demonstration Suggestions:
 Use the “hoop and bearing” to demonstrate expansion when heated.
 Siphon water from a bucket through a clear tube and discuss why this works.
 Show the different pressures on a balloon with a blunt object and then with a needle applies with the
same force.
Topic: Waves
Timeline: 4 days
Objectives:
 Distinguish between longitudinal and transverse waves.
 Describe the parts of a wave.
 Demonstrate the relationship between period and frequency of a wave.
 Calculate the speed, wavelength, or frequency when the others are know.
 Discuss speed of a wave in a fixed medium.
 Discuss wave interference.
 Compare and contrast diffraction and refraction.
Possible Activities:
 Calculate the period and frequency of any cyclical situation.
 Calculate the period and frequency of the student’s heart rate.
Demonstration Suggestions:
 Show a transverse wave and a longitudinal wave using a spring and slinky.
 Discuss the different parts of a wave while demonstrating with the spring or slinky.
Topic: Sound
Timeline: 4 days
Objectives:
 Describe the molecular activity when sound is transmitted.
 Discuss that the amplitude on a graph of a sound wave represents pressure and is not directly related to
loudness.
 Associate pitch with frequency.
 Describe the Doppler affect.
 Define natural frequency and it’s relation to resonance.
 Calculate the beat frequency generated by two other frequencies.
 Determine the average human range of hearing.
Possible Activities:
 Calculate the period and frequency of tuning forks using the Vernier microphones and laptops.
 Calculate the beat frequency using tuning forks and Vernier microphones.
Demonstration Suggestions:
 Demonstrate natural frequency by sounding one of the large tuning forks and then noting the ringing of a
second large tuning fork set nearby.
 Test the class’ hearing range with the function generator and speaker.
 Demonstrate resonance with a water filled graduated cylinder, a resonance tube, and tuning fork.
 Demonstrate resonance by rubbing an aluminum rod with resin-coated fingers.
Topic: Light
Timeline: 10 days
Objectives:
 Discuss the electromagnetic spectrum and visible lights location on the spectrum.
 Define the speed of light.
 Describe color by addition and color by subtractions.
 Discuss polarized light.
 Compare luminous flux, illumination, and luminous intensity.
 Use the law of reflection and Snell’s law to determine the paths of light at the interface of two mediums.
 Use the lens/mirror equation to determine the focal length, distance of an image, or distance of an image
in a simple optical system.
 Use the magnification equation to determine if images are upright or inverted, and to calculate the height
of the object or image.
 Describe diffraction of light.
Possible Activities:
 Have students calculate the index of refraction for a material using a laser and protractor. This is better
done as a “class lab”.
 Determine the focal length of a convex or concave mirror.
Demonstration Suggestions:
 Use chalk dust and with the laser to demonstrate laser light.
 Use the laser to show the laws of reflection and Snell’s law.
Topic: Electricity and Magnetism
Timeline: 15 days
Objectives:
 Discuss the concept of charge and how objects can become charged.
 Use Coulomb’s law to determine the various relationships between charges, force, and distance.
 Explain the concept of electric field and electric potential
 Use Ohm’s law to investigate the relationship between current, voltage, and resistance in series and
parallel circuits.
 Calculate the power dissipated in a circuit.
 Discuss the concept of magnetic polarity.
 Describe the relationship between moving charges and magnetic fields.
 Describe the operation of a motor and a generator.
Possible Activities:
 Use Vernier equipment to set up parallel and series circuits for student investigation
 Have students create circuits using light bulbs, wires, and batteries. Then have them calculate the
resistance based upon measured current and voltage.
Demonstration Suggestions:
 Show how charges repel and attract using rods and fur.
 Show charge by polarization (induced charge) by rubbing a balloon on hair and sticking it to the wall.
This can also be shown by sticking paper to the television.
 Demonstrate how parallel and series circuits affect the brightness of a light bulb, using the “bulb circuit
boards”.
 Use the VandeGraff to demonstrate electric field and electric potential difference. Bring a fluorescent light
bulb near the VandeGraff and it will illuminate.
 Use the Lyden Jar to demonstrate capacitance.
Topic: Nuclear Physics
Timeline: 2 days
Objectives:
 Describe the structure of the atom.
 Compare the strong and weak nuclear forces.
 Describe the types of nuclear radiation and their relative power.
 Discuss fission and fusion.
Possible Activities:
Demonstration Suggestions: