Download AP Physics C - Mercer Island School District

AP Physics C Mechanics
This class is for students who want the challenge of a college level physics course.
Completion of two semesters of high school physics is required, as well as familiarity
with calculus; concurrent enrollment in calculus is adequate (and typical). You will cover
topics on the AP Physics C Mechanics examination offered by the College Board,
including: kinematics, dynamics, energy, momentum, rotation, oscillation and gravity.
The list of topics is considerably shorter for this course than for AP Physics B, but the
topics are studied in greater depth and with more mathematical detail. You may choose
to take the AP Physics C Mechanics exam, and satisfactory scores may offer advanced
placement and/or college credit.
Learning Goals:
1. Students will apply mathematics to physical situations and analyze (one-dimensional
motion (kinematics), including calculus-based rates of change.
Learning Outcomes:
1.1 – Utilize dimensional analysis.
1.2 – Execute rough calculations based on order-of-magnitude estimates
1.3 – Apply one-dimensional kinematics equations for constant acceleration to
unfamiliar scenarios.
1.4 – Analyze situations with time varying acceleration using the “power rule” for
derivatives and integrals of polynomials.
1.5 – Graphically represent and analyze kinematics quantities.
2. Students will apply one-dimensional kinematics (see Goal 1) to analyze unfamiliar
two-dimensional scenarios.
Learning Outcomes:
2.1 – Utilize vectors, component vectors and vector algebra.
2.2 – Utilize the velocity addition equation.
2.3 – Analyze circular motion, including both tangential and centripetal
acceleration.
2.4 – Apply various coordinate systems to two dimensional scenarios.
3. Students will apply Newton’s laws to analyze forces in, and motions of, unfamiliar
static and dynamic systems.
Learning Outcomes:
3.1 – Draw and analyze force (free-body) diagrams.
3.2 - Apply concepts of: inertia, net force, acceleartion and action/reaction-pairs
of forces.
3.3 - Analyze centripetal force and circular motion scenarios.
3.4 - Utilize Hooke’s law and spring constants to analyze scenarios involving
ideal springs.
4. Students will apply Work and Energy to analyze unfamiliar scenarios involving forces
and changes in position and velocity.
Learning Outcomes:
4.1 – Apply the dot (scalar) product of vectors to evaluate Work done by forces
that are constant and those that very with position, requiring integration.
4.2 - Evaluate Work done by and against conservative and non-conservative
forces.
4.3 - Apply kinetic energy, potential energy and the conservation of mechanical
energy to analyze systems in which energy is constant, transformed, or lost.
4.4 - Utilize Hooke’s law and spring constants to analyze scenarios involving
ideal springs.
5. Students will apply Momentum and Impulse to analyze unfamiliar systems involving
changes in velocity resulting from forces applied over intervals of time.
Learning Outcomes:
5.1 – Use the definition to evaluate momentum and determine whether it is
conserved.
5.2 – Use Kinetic Energy in addition to Momentum to evaluate elastic collisions.
5.3 – Use Impulse to take into account the time interval and force applied during
an interaction.
5.4 – Apply integral calculus analyze interactions involving forces that vary with
time.
6. Students will adapt concepts of linear mechanics to develop and apply an
understanding of kinematics, dynamics, momentum and energy in rotating systems.
Learning Outcomes:
6.1 – Use kinematics equations for one dimensional rotation with constant
angular acceleration as well as graphical representations of these equations.
6.2 – Identify and apply relationships between angular and corresponding linear
quantities, including position, velocity, acceleration, inertia, momentum, force,
and energy.
6.3 - Calculate and apply the rotational moment of inertia for point masses and
continuous masses with simple shapes.
6.4 – Apply both zero net force and zero net torque to systems in translational
and rotational equilibrium.
6.5 – Apply rotational kinetic energy to rotating and rolling objects.
6.6 – Use the cross product of vectors in multiple dimensions to evaluate and
apply torque and angular momentum.
6.7 – Apply the conservation of angular momentum in cases with zero net torque.
7. Students will analyze the kinematics, dynamics, and energy of systems in simple
harmonic oscillation.
Learning Outcomes:
7.1 – Understand and apply the required relationship between acceleration and
position in simple harmonic motion.
7.2 - Develop and apply general solutions for the position, velocity and
acceleration simple harmonic oscillators.
7.3 - Analyze frequency and period of simple harmonic oscillators.
7.4 – Apply and the small angle approximation for the sine function to evaluate
pendulums, simple and physical, as simple harmonic oscillators.
8. Students will apply Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation to systems where the force
of gravity cannot be approximated as a constant.
Learning Outcomes:
8.1 – Apply the Law of Universal Gravitation for both point masses as well as
continuous masses (using integration).
8.2 – Understand the concept of gravitational field, and fields in general as a
mechanism for (and model of) forces that act at a distance.
8.3 – Understand and apply Kepler’s Laws of orbital motion.
8.3 – Apply the concepts of energy and angular momentum conservation in
orbital motion.
9. Students will apply learning goals in laboratory investigations and develop and
demonstrate skills of data analysis.
Learning Objectives:
9.1 - Apply theoretical subject matter to practical experiments.
9.2 - Estimate uncertainty in measurements and propagate that error in data
analysis.
9.3 - Represent data in graphical and mathematical forms.
9.4 - Report results accurately and to appropriate precision (significant digits).
9.5 - Describe purpose, hypothesis, procedures and apparatus.