Download 504 Advanced Placement Physics C Course Description Students

Department: Science
Course Number and Title: 504 Advanced Placement Physics C
Course Description
Students are expected to complete rigorous course and lab work consistent with college level
Physics and to complete 5-8 hours per week of independent practice such as homework,
reading, and projects. This course will follow the curriculum prescribed for an AP Physics C –
Mechanics class. Students will prepare and be required to take the AP Physics exam. AP
Physics C – Mechanics presents the areas of mechanics and wave phenomena. The course
stresses both the mathematical and the practical applications of the topics being studied. A
significant amount of class time is spent doing laboratory investigations. The topics addressed
in this course include one and two-dimensional motion, Newton’s laws of motion, work and
energy, momentum, circular motion and gravitation, rotational dynamics, periodic motion, and
geometric optics. Analysis of these topics will use calculus where appropriate. This course
assumes that students will be able to solve problems independently and have a high level of
math skill. A TI-80 series graphing calculator is used in this course.
MHS Learning Expectations:
• Demonstrate the ability to problem solve effectively.
• Demonstrate the ability to use technology responsibly and effectively.
Essential Questions:
How is it possible to describe to motion of objects?
What conservation laws govern the universe?
What is a system?
How can the interactions between bodies and systems be understood?
Students will know:
• The general relationships among
position, velocity and acceleration
• The special case of motion with
constant acceleration
• How to deal with situations in which
acceleration is a specified function
of velocity and time
• How to work with vectors
• The general motion of a particle in
two dimensions
• The motion of projectiles in a
uniform gravitational field
• How to analyze situation in which a
particle remains at rest, or moves
with a constant velocity, under the
influence of forces
Students will be able to:
• Analysis a graph of any of the
kinematic quantities to understand
the other quantities as functions of
time
• Given an expression of one of the
kinematic quantities as a function
of time find information about the
other quantities
• Use equations to generate
equations for other kinematic
quantities
• Write appropriate differential
equations
• Use vectors to describe the
kinematic quantities
• Describe the general motion of a
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The relation between force and the
changing of an objects velocity
How Newton’s second law applies
to an object or a system
The significance of the coefficient of
friction
The effect of drag forces on the
motion of an object
How Newton’s Third law applies to a
system
Definition of work
The work-energy theorem
The concepts of conservative and
non-conservative forces
The concept of potential energy
The concepts of mechanical energy
and of total energy
The concepts around conservation
of energy
The definition of power
What the center-of-mass, center of
gravity is of an object or a system
Impulse and Momentum
That linear momentum is conserved
in a system
The relationships between frames of
reference
The uniform circular motion of a
particle
The concept of torque and how it
relates to static equilibrium
Rotational inertial
The parallel-axis theorem
The analogy between translational
and rotational kinematics
The dynamics of fixed-axis rotation
The motion of a rigid object along a
surface
Angular momentum conservation
The vector relationship between
angular quantities
Simple Harmonic Motion\
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particle in two dimensions with
functions x(t) and y(t)
Use expressions in analyzing the
motion of a projectile
Calculate the changes in velocity
of an object due to a force that is a
function of time
Draw free-body diagrams and use
these diagrams to create equations
Use their understanding of vectors
to explain the actions of an object
or a system
Analyze situations involving
different types of frictional forces
Use their understanding of drag
forces to express the terminal
velocity of falling objects
Determine the differential equation
for the velocity or the acceleration
of an object falling as a function of
time
Apply Newton’s Third law to
systems and individual bodies
To solve problems in which
application of Newton’s laws lead
to two or three simultaneous linear
equations involving unknown
forces or accelerations
Use the concept of work to explain
and show the effects on bodies
and systems
Use the work-energy theorem to
calculate the kinetic energy and
speed of an object or a system
Apply their understand of different
types of forces to situations
involving both conservative and
non-conservative forces
State and apply the relation
between work and energy
Apply relations of conservation of
energy and a system to explain
changes to a system
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How to apply their understanding of
SHM to the case of a mass on a
spring
How to apply their understanding of
SHM to the case of a pendulum
Newton’s Law of Gravitation
How an object balances
gravitational and circular forces in
orbit
Kepler’s laws and how to apply
them
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Use the definition of power to
explain situations involving energy
and power
Apply their understanding of
center-of-mass and use integration
to find the center of mass of a thin
rod of non-uniform density
Understand and apply the relation
between center-of-mass velocity
and linear momentum, and
between center-of-mass
acceleration and net external force
for a system
Use center-of-mass and potential
energy concepts
Use their understanding of impulse
and Momentum to analyze
interactions of objects and systems
Relate their understanding of linear
momentum to the center-of-mass
of a system
Use graphs and functions to
calculate to momentum of systems
as functions of time
Relate momentum to forces and
Newton’s laws
Relate the actions of a system to
their understanding of energy,
momentum and forces
Analyze situations with multiple
frames of reference
Analyze situations involving
uniform circular motion and all the
kinematic vector quantities
involved
Calculate the torque in situations
Analyze situations that are in static
equilibrium
Analyze the rotational inertial of
various objects and collections of
points
Write and apply relations among
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angular quantities
Relate angular and linear
kinematic and dynamic quantities
Apply equations of translational
and rotational motion
simultaneously
Analyze situations using angular
momentum and torque
Apply conservation laws to
rotational motion, especially when
the rotational inertia changes
Analyze situations involving SHM
both graphically and using
equations
Derive equations involving object
in SHM
Analyze orbital motion using both
their understanding of gravity and
circular motion but also Kepler’s
laws
Use energy and momentum
concepts to express and explain
orbital motion
Course Outline
Semester One
Semester Two
Kinematics: One dimension
Circular Motion
Kinematics: Two dimensions
Rotational Motion: Torque & Statics
Linear Momentum: Center of mass
Rotational Motion: Kinematics
Linear Momentum: Impulse and Changes in
Momentum
Rotational Motion: Dynamics
Linear Momentum: Conservation in a
System
Oscillations: SHM
Newton’s laws of Motion: Static &
Oscillations: Pendulums
Rotational Motion: Angular Momentum
Oscillations: Mass & Springs
Equilibrium
Gravitation: Newton’s law
Newton’s laws of Motion: Dynamics
Gravitation: Orbits & Planets
Newton’s laws of Motion: Systems
Work, energy, power: Work & Kinetic Energy
Work, energy, power: Potential Energy
Work, energy, power: Conservation of
Energy
Work, energy, power: Power
Primary Course Materials
Textbook: Physics for Scientists and Engineers (Eighth Edition): Serway & Jewett (978-0538-49722-0)
Additional Materials: laboratory activities, computer simulations, scientific articles, teachercreated projects, and extensions to college level content
Grade Determination:
Quarterly grades will be based on:
Tests & Quizzes
Projects, Labs, Class Work
Homework
40 %
40 %
20 %
Major Assignments: Students are required to keep a lab journal containing all lab experiments,
data, and reports. This will be kept for the entire course to serve as a portfolio of the student’s
laboratory work. There will be multiple practice tests during the course to prepare the students
for taking the AP test in the spring.
Midyear and Final Exams Midyear and Final Exams will be given. These exams count as 10%
of the respective semester grade. The average of the first and second quarter grades will count
90% in determining the first semester average. Similarly, the second semester average will
include the average of third and fourth quarter grades at 90% and the final exam at 10%. The
average for the entire year will be the average of both semesters.
Q1 = 22.5% Q2 = 22.5% Midterm = 5% Q3 = 22.5% Q4 = 22.5% Final = 5%