Download Semester 1 Objectives:

Mr. Coy’s Honors Physics Semester 1 Objectives
By the end of the first semester, you should be able to do all of these things.
Unit 1: Kinematics
Chapter 2
1. Explain the idea that motion is relative.
2. Define speed and give examples of units for speed.
3. Distinguish between instantaneous speed and average
speed.
4. Distinguish between speed and velocity.
5. Describe how to tell whether a velocity is changing.
6. Define acceleration and give examples of units for
acceleration.
7. Describe the motion of an object in free fall from rest.
8. Describe the motion of an object thrown straight up until it
hits the ground, when air resistance is negligible.
9. Determine the speed and the distance fallen at any time
after an object is dropped from rest, when air resistance is
negligible.
10. Describe how air resistance affects the motion of falling
objects.
11. Explain why acceleration is a rate of a rate.
Chapter 3
12. Distinguish between a vector quantity and a scalar quantity,
and give examples of each.
13. Draw vector diagrams for velocities.
14. Use the parallelogram method to find the resultant of two
vectors that have different directions.
15. Given a vector, resolve it into horizontal and vertical
components.
16. For a projectile, describe the changes in the horizontal and
vertical components of its velocity, when air resistance is
negligible.
17. Explain why a projectile moves equal distances
horizontally in equal time intervals, when air resistance is
negligible.
Unit 2: Newton’s Laws and Forces
Chapter 4
18. Define inertia.
19. State Newton’s first law of motion.
20. Distinguish among mass, volume, and weight.
21. Distinguish between the kilogram and the newton as units
of measurement.
22. Explain how something that is not connected to the ground
is able to keep up with the moving earth.
23. Explain why a clothesline or wire that can easily support an
object when strung vertically may break when strung
horizontally and supporting the same object.
Formulae and examples
24. For an object on a slope, resolve its weight into a
component that causes acceleration along the slope and a
component that presses it against the slope.
Chapter 5
25. Define and explain net force.
26. State the relation between acceleration and net force.
27. State the relation between acceleration and mass.
28. Distinguish between the concepts of directly proportional
and inversely proportional.
29. State and explain Newton’s second law of motion.
30. Describe the effect of friction on a stationary and on a
moving object.
31. Distinguish between force and pressure.
32. Apply Newton’s second law to explain why the
acceleration of an object in free fall does not depend upon
the mass of the object.
33. Describe what happens to the acceleration and the speed of
a falling object when there is air resistance.
Chapter 6
34. Define force in terms of interaction.
35. Explain why at least two objects are involved whenever a
force acts.
36. State Newton’s third law of motion.
37. Given an action force, identify the reaction force.
38. Explain why the accelerations caused by an action force
and by a reaction force do not have to be equal.
39. Explain why an action force is not cancelled by the reaction
force.
Chapter 7
40. Define momentum.
41. Define impulse, and relate it to momentum.
42. Give examples of how both the size of the force and the
length of the time interval affect the change in momentum.
43. Explain why impulses are greater when an object bounces
than when the same object simply comes to a complete
stop.
44. State the law of conservation of momentum.
45. Distinguish between an elastic collision and an inelastic
collision.
46. Give an example of how the vector nature of momentum
affects the law of conservation of momentum.
Unit 3: Work, Power, and Energy
Chapter 8
47. Determine the amount of work done, given the force and
the distance moved.
48. Determine the amount of power required, given the work
and the time.
49. Define work in terms of energy.
50. Distinguish among mechanical energy, potential energy,
and kinetic energy.
51. Give examples of situations in which (a) the gravitational
potential energy changes and (b) it does not even though
something is moved.
52. Describe how the kinetic energy of an object depends upon
the speed of the object.
53. State the law of conservation of energy.
54. Describe the function of a lever.
55. Give examples of situations in which the mechanical
advantage of a machine is (a) greater than 1 and (b) less
than 1.
56. Explain why no machine can have an efficiency of 100%.
Unit 4: Circular Motion
Chapter 9
57. Distinguish between rotate and revolve.
58. Distinguish between linear speed and rotational speed, and
explain what each depends on.
59. Give examples of a centripetal force.
60. Describe the resulting motion of an object if the centripetal
force acting on it ceases.
61. Explain why it is incorrect to say that a centrifugal force
pulls outward on an object being whirled in a circle.
62. Explain why a ladybug in a whirling can would experience
what seems to be an outward force, and why a physicist
would label this a fictitious force.
63. Describe how a simulated gravitational acceleration can be
produced in a space colony.
Chapter 10
64. Describe center of gravity.
65. Describe how a plumb line and bob can be used to find the
center of gravity of an irregularly shaped object.
66. Given the location of the center of gravity and the area of
support of an object, predict whether the object will topple.
67. Distinguish among stable equilibrium, unstable
equilibrium, and neutral equilibrium.
68. Give examples of how a human is affected by the need to
keep the body’s center of gravity over the support base.
Chapter 11
69. Define torque and describe what it depends on.
70. Describe the condition for one torque to balance another.
71. Given the location of the center of gravity of an object and
the position and direction of the forces on it, tell whether
the forces will produce rotation.
72. Describe what the rotational inertia of an object depends
on.
73. Give examples of how a gymnast changes the rotational
inertia of the body in order to change the spin rate.
74. Define angular momentum and describe the conditions
under which it a) remains the same and b) changes.
75. Give an example of a situation in which the rotational
speed changes but the angular momentum does not.
Chapters 12-14
76. State Newton’s law of universal gravitation.
77. Explain the significance of the inverse-square law.
78. Explain why an astronaut in earth orbit seems weightless
even though there is a gravitational force on the astronaut.
79. Describe how the speed of a satellite changes for different
portions of an elliptical orbit.
80. Apply the energy conservation law to describe changes in
the potential and kinetic energies of a satellite for different
portions of an elliptical orbit.
81. Describe what is meant by an escape speed.