AP© PHYSIS B
Syllabus
Course Overview:
AP Physics B is the algebra-trig based course in general Physics. It is equivalent to that of a year-long university level introductory Physics course for non-majors. The course includes a laboratory component. Since this course presents the challenge of a rigorous academic curriculum as set forth by the College Board, students are encouraged to form study groups to work on out of class assignments.
Peer-Instruction, peer review (both based on Mazur’s book (1997)), and inquiry labs are utilized throughout the year to create an atmosphere in which the student develops critical thinking skills as the result of directed inquiry and student centered learning.
Classes meet 45-min/day everyday beginning the last week in August and ending the last week in May. The course is designed to cover the AP curriculum requirements so there is time for two weeks of review before the AP Exam.
Textbook: Giancoli, D. (2002). Physics: Principles with Applications, 5th revised edition Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-061143-3
Supplementary Resource: Belloni, M and Christian, W (2004). Physlet® Physics: Interactive Illustrations, Explorations, and Problems for Introductory Physics, Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-101969-4
Grading policy:
Major – 60 percent
Tests are administered after each chapter. Each test is formatted to the AP Exam style and consists of the following two sections:
1. Multiple-choice questions
2. Free-response problems
Labs, Quizzes, and Homework – 40 percent
Labs: Throughout the year, the hands-on labs evolve from problem based to guided inquiry. Each student is required to keep a portfolio of lab reports which is reviewed at the end of each grading period.
Most labs consist of two parts, each contributing 50% to the final lab grade:
1. A formal report which is required to be kept in the student’s lab portfolio.
2. A formal assessment over the lab. When appropriate, the assessment may be modeled after a lab-based question as asked on the AP Exam.
Note: A lab practicum may be given in lieu of the individual assessment when deemed appropriate.
Quizzes: Quizzes are given periodically on an impromptu basis and are used as a learning tool. Quizzes may include O’Kuma’s Ranking Tasks (1999) and/or Physlet problems.
Homework: Homework is assigned from the textbook, from old AP exams, and from the University of Texas Homework Service. The student may also be assigned Just-in-Time Teaching questions ( Nowark, M.G., et al, 1999) which are due before the class period.
Course Outline
The course consists of 5 units. The time scheduled for each of the units is determined by the percentage of time listed in the AP Physics Course Description for their respective importance on the AP Exam. This schedule
allows for a review the 2-weeks prior to the AP Exam.
I. Newtonian Mechanics (10 weeks)
A. Kinematics .................................................................................................................................. 7%
1. . Motion in one dimension – Chapter 2
2. Motion in two dimensions
a) Projectile motion – Chapter 3
b) Uniform circular motion – Chapter 5
c) Torque and Rotational statics – Chapter 8
d) Angular momentum and its conservation – Chapter 9
B. Newton’s Laws of Motion – Chapters 4 and 9 ............................................................................. 9%
1. Static equilibrium – 1st law
2. Dynamics of single particle – 2nd law
3. Systems of two or more bodies – 3rd law
C. Work, energy, and power – Chapter 6......................................................................................... 5%
1. Work and the work-energy theorem
2. Conservative forces and potential energy
3. Conservation of energy
4. Power
D. Systems of particles, linear momentum – Chapter 7….................................................................. 4%
1. Impulse and momentum.
2. Conservation of linear momentum, collisions
E. Oscillations and gravitation – Chapter 5 and 11 ........................................................................... .6%
1. Simple harmonic motion (dynamics and energy relationships)
2. Mass on a spring
3. Pendulum and other oscillations
4. Newton’s law of gravity
5. Kepler’s laws (circular orbits of planets)
II. Fluid and Thermal Physics (4 weeks)
A. Fluid mechanics – Chapter 10 …................................................................................................... 6%
1. Hydrostatic pressure
2. Buoyancy
3. Fluid flow continuity
4. Bernoulli’s equation
B. Temperature and heat – Chapter 11 …......................................................................................... 2%
1. Mechanical equivalent of heat
2. Heat transfer and expansion
C. Kinetic theory and thermodynamics …........................................................................................... 7%
1. Ideal gases – Chapter 13
a) Kinetic model
b) Ideal gas law
2. Laws of thermodynamics – Chapter 15
a) First law (pV diagrams)
b) Second law (entropy and heat engines)
III. Electricity and Magnetism (6 weeks)
A. Electrostatics – Chapter 16 …........................................................................................................5%
1. Charge, field, and potential
2. Coulomb’s law, point charge field and potential
B. Conductors and capacitors – Chapter 14 …................................................................................. 4%
1. Electrostatics with conductors
2. Capacitors – Parallel plates
C. Electric circuits ............................................................................................................................... 7%
1. Current, resistance, and power – Chapter 18
2. Direct current circuits – Chapter 19
D. Magnetostatics – Chapter 20 …...................................................................................................... 4%
1. Forces on moving charges in magnetic fields
2. Forces on current carrying wires in magnetic fields
3. Fields of long current carrying wires
E. Electromagnetic induction and waves – Chapters 21 and 22 …..................................................... 5%
IV. Waves and Optics (4 weeks)
A. Wave motion (sound and physical optics) ......................................................................................11%
1. Properties of traveling and standing waves – Chapter 11
2. Doppler Effect – Chapter 12
3. Superposition
4. Interference and diffraction – Chapter 24
5. Dispersion of light and the electromagnetic spectrum–Chapters 22, 24
B. Geometric optics – Chapter 23 …..................................................................................................... 5%
1. Reflection and refraction
2. Mirrors
3. Lenses
V. Modern and Nuclear Physics (2 weeks)
A. Atomic physics and quantum effects – Chapters 27–28 …............................................................. 7%
1. Photons and the photoelectric effect
2. Atomic energy levels
3. Wave-particle duality
B. Nuclear physics – Chapters 30-31 ….............................................................................................. 3%
1. Nuclear reactions (including conservation of mass # and charge)
2. Mass-energy equivalence
Laboratory:
Labs are interwoven into the curriculum throughout the year. Most Investigations are “hands-on” and inquiry based with a minimum of guidance. The students are often given a very general question which they refine into a researchable one, design the experiment, collect and analyze data, state their conclusions based on data and its trends, and suggest the direction of further investigation. Students use verbal, graphical, and symbolic models in their analysis of the data. As is often the case in a real-world situation, students must use equipment that is available or can be made from available resources. Equipment available to the student includes TI84+ calculators, Cambridge Physics lab equipment, an various probes available through the texas A&M regional Collaborative.
Fifteen 90-min lab sessions are required during the year. However, the total number and timing of individual labs is determined by student needs and interest.Most of the labs can be done within a 90 minute class period. With fewexceptions, the times listed below focus solely on designing the lab, recording data, and conducting preliminary data analysis. Lab write-up takes place outside class time.
Below is a list of the labs that have been performed by students. The list is a work in progress since it evolves in response to student generated questions and as equipment is added.
General Labs:
1. Build a scale model of a Hydrogen atom. (Done outside class. Peer review done within one 45-min period)
Objective: Correct methods of measuring length, mass, time, significant figures, and precision
Motion in 1-D:
2. Motion Match (60 minutes)
Objective: Use a motion detector to introduce the concepts of displacement, velocity, and acceleration by having the student match the motion on a series of teacher-generated graphs.
3. Car and Ramp I (three 90-minute periods)
Objective: Design experiment in order to describe the motion of a vehicle going down a straight ramp. The student will analyze raw data to recognize patterns, produce displacement-time, velocity-time, and acceleration-time graphs from which the Kinematics Equations can be derived, regardless of the angle of the ramp.
4. Gravity Drop (one 45-min period)
Objective: To measure the acceleration of a falling object, to compare the time of fall and acceleration of objects of different weight, and to create a graphical model for accelerated motion.
Motion in 2-D:
5. Scavenger Hunt or Force Table (one 45-min period)
Objective: Introduce vectors and the Head-to-Tail method for determining the resultant.
6. Car and Ramp II (one 90-minute period)
Objective: Reinforce motion in 2-D by using the raw data for various angles to analyze the affect of different ramp angles on displacement, velocity, and acceleration of the vehicle moving down a straight ramp.
7. Catapult or Marble Launcher (Built outside class. Data taken during one 45-
min period)
Objective: To introduce motion in 2-D by determining the initial velocity, maximum height, range, time of flight of the projectile and to determine the angle at which maximum height can be reached of the projectile.
Newton’s Laws:
8. Car and Ramp II (one 45-min period)
Objective: Use graphical analysis to determine the affect of different masses on acceleration and force.
9. Atwood’s Machine (one 45-min period)
Objective: To determine the acceleration of a system and the tension in the string.
10. Inclined Plane and Frictional Forces (one 45-min period)
Objective: Use of graphical analysis to determine the coefficient of static and kinetic friction for different surfaces and to derive the general equation for the force due to friction.
Work, Energy, and Power:
11. Energy of a Tossed Ball (one 45-min period)
Objective: To measure the change in kinetic and potential energies as a ball moves in free fall and to see how the total energy of the ball changes.
12. Rollercoaster (1.5 90-min periods)
Objective: To demonstrate conservation of mechanical energy and the workenergy theorem.
13. Work and the Inclined plane (one 90-min period)
Objective: Design two methods of determining the work due to non-conservative forces.
Systems of Particles, Linear Momentum
14. Dynamic Carts on a Track I (one 90-min period)
Objective: Verify conservation of mechanical energy during elastic collisions by
determining the velocity of each cart before and after the collision.
15. Dynamic Carts on a Track II (one 90-min period)
Objective: To observe completely inelastic collisions between two carts, testing for the conservation of momentum. Measure energy changes during completely inelastic collisions.
16. Dynamic Carts on a Track III (one 90-min period)
Objective: To measure a cart’s momentum change and compare to the impulse it receives. Compare average and peak forces in impulses.
Circular Motion and Rotation
17. Centripetal Motion (one 45-min period)
Objective: To determine the velocity of a whirling ball on a string and the resulting tension in the string.
Oscillations and Gravitation
18. Hooke’s Law (one 45-min period)
Objective: To design an experiment that will determine the spring constant of various springs and the effect of changes in the gravitational potential energy of the mass.
19. Energy in Simple Harmonic Motion (one 45 min period)
Objective: To examine the energies involved in simple harmonic motion and the test the principle of conservation of energy.
20. Simple Pendulum I (one 45-min period)
Objective: Use the law of conservation of energy to analyze the motion of a pendulum by determining how the period of the pendulum depends on the string length, mass, and amplitude and determine the acceleration due to gravity.
21. Simple Pendulum II (one 45-min period)
Projective: To use Newton’s second law to establish a relationship for the period of the pendulum.
22. Physical Pendulum (one 45-min period
Objective: To determine if the period of a physical pendulum can be predicted using the expression for the period of a simple pendulum.
Fluid and Thermal Physics
23. Archimedes Principle (one 45 min period)
Objective: To determine the density of various unknown materials.
24. Torricelli’s Theorem (one 45-min period)
Objective: To determine the exit velocity of a liquid and to investigate the range attained with hole at varying heights.
25. Newton’s Law of Cooling (one 45-min period)
Objective: To test Newton‘s law of cooling and the predict the temperature of the cooling water at any time.
26. Big vs. Little (one 45-min period)
Objective: To determine the dependence of cooling rate on the surface to volume ratio of various objects.
Electricity and Magnetism
27. Introductory Electrostatics Activity (one 45-min period)
Objective: To make qualitative observations of the behavior of an electroscope when charged by conduction and by induction and extend those concepts to other situations such as balloons, pith balls, and the Van de Graff generator.
28. Triboelectric Chart (one 45-min period)
Objective: Use common materials to generate a triboelectric chart.
29. Coulomb’s Law (one 45-min period)
Objective: To design a method of determining the charge on two polystyrene balls suspended by a string.
30. Series and Parallel Circuits (one 90-min period)
Objective: To determine the mathematical relationship between current, potential difference, and resistance in series and parallel circuits and to compare the potential vs. current behavior of a resistor to that of a light bulb.
31. Electrical Energy (one 45 min period)
Objective: To measure the power and electrical energy used by an electric motor, to measure the gain in potential energy of a mass lifted by a motor, to calculate the efficiency of the motor, and to study the efficiency of the electric motor under different conditions.
32. Magnetic Field Activity (one 45-min period)
Objective: To devise an experiment to determine the strength of the magnetic field around a bar magnet using a compass, meter stick, and protractor.
33. Magnetic Induction and Lenz’s Law (one 90-min period)
Objective: To qualitatively examine the effects of a changing magnetic field by observing currents induced in a solenoid and to compare the observations with the theory of magnetic induction and Lenz’s Law.
Waves and Optics
34. Standing Waves (one 90-min period)
Objective: To measure the frequency and wavelength of standing waves, to determine how wavelength and frequency relate to the speed of a wave, to discover how the energy of a wave depends on frequency and amplitude, and to learn how the boundary conditions affect a standing wave.
35. Natural Frequency and Resonance (one 45-min period)
Objective: To determine the natural frequency of a system, to discover the relationship between string tension, string length, and natural frequency in order to make their own oscillator using the interaction of restoring force and inertia.
36. Sound I: What is it and how do we hear it? (one 90-min period)
Objective: Introduce the range of human perception of sound, to design doubleblind experiments, and to use probability to evaluate the reliability of experiments.
37. Sound II: Interference and Diffraction of Sound (one 90-min period)
Objective: To investigate how beats arise from the interference of two sound waves, to use interference to measure the wavelength of a sound wave, and the demonstrate resonance of sound in different systems such as a wine glass and a glass bottle filled with varying amounts of water.
38. Light I: Properties of light (one 45-min period)
Objective: Introduction to how light is produced, to examine the effect of different colors of light, the quantum theory of light and to show that white light can be made from re, green, and blue.
39. Light II: The Law of Reflection (one 90-min period)
Objective: To measure the angles of incidence and reflection using a laser beam, to use ray diagrams to predict how and where a virtual image is formed, and to describe the difference between diffuse and specular reflection.
40. Light III: Refraction and Snell’s Law (one 90-min period)
Objective: To refract a laser beam through a prism, to use the laser beam to trace light rays through the prism to determine the angles of incidence and refraction, to measure the index of refraction of the type of glass in the prism, and to determine the critical angle for the glass.
41. Optics I: Convex Lens (one 90-min period)
Objective: To use the laser beam to trace light rays through a lens to determine its focus length, to show that spherical aberration causes the lens to focus light poorly, to show how ray diagrams are used to predict where images will form with lenses.
42. Optics II: Images (one 45-min period)
Objective: To use the principles of geometric optics to predict where images form with lenses, be able to describe the image (real, inverted, magnification, focal length, etc.) and to explain chromatic aberration and show how single lenses suffer from this defect.
43. Optics III: The Thin Lens Equation (one 45-min period)
Objective: To use the thin lens formula to predict how and where images are formed by a single and double lens optical system.
44. Light IV: Wave Properties of light (one 90-min period)
Objective: To observe and explain how a diffraction grating creates a rainbow, to observe and explain what happens when a laser shines through a diffraction grating, to observe the interaction of light and polarizers and explain the observations using the wave theory of light.
Syllabus
Course Overview:
AP Physics B is the algebra-trig based course in general Physics. It is equivalent to that of a year-long university level introductory Physics course for non-majors. The course includes a laboratory component. Since this course presents the challenge of a rigorous academic curriculum as set forth by the College Board, students are encouraged to form study groups to work on out of class assignments.
Peer-Instruction, peer review (both based on Mazur’s book (1997)), and inquiry labs are utilized throughout the year to create an atmosphere in which the student develops critical thinking skills as the result of directed inquiry and student centered learning.
Classes meet 45-min/day everyday beginning the last week in August and ending the last week in May. The course is designed to cover the AP curriculum requirements so there is time for two weeks of review before the AP Exam.
Textbook: Giancoli, D. (2002). Physics: Principles with Applications, 5th revised edition Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-061143-3
Supplementary Resource: Belloni, M and Christian, W (2004). Physlet® Physics: Interactive Illustrations, Explorations, and Problems for Introductory Physics, Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-101969-4
Grading policy:
Major – 60 percent
Tests are administered after each chapter. Each test is formatted to the AP Exam style and consists of the following two sections:
1. Multiple-choice questions
2. Free-response problems
Labs, Quizzes, and Homework – 40 percent
Labs: Throughout the year, the hands-on labs evolve from problem based to guided inquiry. Each student is required to keep a portfolio of lab reports which is reviewed at the end of each grading period.
Most labs consist of two parts, each contributing 50% to the final lab grade:
1. A formal report which is required to be kept in the student’s lab portfolio.
2. A formal assessment over the lab. When appropriate, the assessment may be modeled after a lab-based question as asked on the AP Exam.
Note: A lab practicum may be given in lieu of the individual assessment when deemed appropriate.
Quizzes: Quizzes are given periodically on an impromptu basis and are used as a learning tool. Quizzes may include O’Kuma’s Ranking Tasks (1999) and/or Physlet problems.
Homework: Homework is assigned from the textbook, from old AP exams, and from the University of Texas Homework Service. The student may also be assigned Just-in-Time Teaching questions ( Nowark, M.G., et al, 1999) which are due before the class period.
Course Outline
The course consists of 5 units. The time scheduled for each of the units is determined by the percentage of time listed in the AP Physics Course Description for their respective importance on the AP Exam. This schedule
allows for a review the 2-weeks prior to the AP Exam.
I. Newtonian Mechanics (10 weeks)
A. Kinematics .................................................................................................................................. 7%
1. . Motion in one dimension – Chapter 2
2. Motion in two dimensions
a) Projectile motion – Chapter 3
b) Uniform circular motion – Chapter 5
c) Torque and Rotational statics – Chapter 8
d) Angular momentum and its conservation – Chapter 9
B. Newton’s Laws of Motion – Chapters 4 and 9 ............................................................................. 9%
1. Static equilibrium – 1st law
2. Dynamics of single particle – 2nd law
3. Systems of two or more bodies – 3rd law
C. Work, energy, and power – Chapter 6......................................................................................... 5%
1. Work and the work-energy theorem
2. Conservative forces and potential energy
3. Conservation of energy
4. Power
D. Systems of particles, linear momentum – Chapter 7….................................................................. 4%
1. Impulse and momentum.
2. Conservation of linear momentum, collisions
E. Oscillations and gravitation – Chapter 5 and 11 ........................................................................... .6%
1. Simple harmonic motion (dynamics and energy relationships)
2. Mass on a spring
3. Pendulum and other oscillations
4. Newton’s law of gravity
5. Kepler’s laws (circular orbits of planets)
II. Fluid and Thermal Physics (4 weeks)
A. Fluid mechanics – Chapter 10 …................................................................................................... 6%
1. Hydrostatic pressure
2. Buoyancy
3. Fluid flow continuity
4. Bernoulli’s equation
B. Temperature and heat – Chapter 11 …......................................................................................... 2%
1. Mechanical equivalent of heat
2. Heat transfer and expansion
C. Kinetic theory and thermodynamics …........................................................................................... 7%
1. Ideal gases – Chapter 13
a) Kinetic model
b) Ideal gas law
2. Laws of thermodynamics – Chapter 15
a) First law (pV diagrams)
b) Second law (entropy and heat engines)
III. Electricity and Magnetism (6 weeks)
A. Electrostatics – Chapter 16 …........................................................................................................5%
1. Charge, field, and potential
2. Coulomb’s law, point charge field and potential
B. Conductors and capacitors – Chapter 14 …................................................................................. 4%
1. Electrostatics with conductors
2. Capacitors – Parallel plates
C. Electric circuits ............................................................................................................................... 7%
1. Current, resistance, and power – Chapter 18
2. Direct current circuits – Chapter 19
D. Magnetostatics – Chapter 20 …...................................................................................................... 4%
1. Forces on moving charges in magnetic fields
2. Forces on current carrying wires in magnetic fields
3. Fields of long current carrying wires
E. Electromagnetic induction and waves – Chapters 21 and 22 …..................................................... 5%
IV. Waves and Optics (4 weeks)
A. Wave motion (sound and physical optics) ......................................................................................11%
1. Properties of traveling and standing waves – Chapter 11
2. Doppler Effect – Chapter 12
3. Superposition
4. Interference and diffraction – Chapter 24
5. Dispersion of light and the electromagnetic spectrum–Chapters 22, 24
B. Geometric optics – Chapter 23 …..................................................................................................... 5%
1. Reflection and refraction
2. Mirrors
3. Lenses
V. Modern and Nuclear Physics (2 weeks)
A. Atomic physics and quantum effects – Chapters 27–28 …............................................................. 7%
1. Photons and the photoelectric effect
2. Atomic energy levels
3. Wave-particle duality
B. Nuclear physics – Chapters 30-31 ….............................................................................................. 3%
1. Nuclear reactions (including conservation of mass # and charge)
2. Mass-energy equivalence
Laboratory:
Labs are interwoven into the curriculum throughout the year. Most Investigations are “hands-on” and inquiry based with a minimum of guidance. The students are often given a very general question which they refine into a researchable one, design the experiment, collect and analyze data, state their conclusions based on data and its trends, and suggest the direction of further investigation. Students use verbal, graphical, and symbolic models in their analysis of the data. As is often the case in a real-world situation, students must use equipment that is available or can be made from available resources. Equipment available to the student includes TI84+ calculators, Cambridge Physics lab equipment, an various probes available through the texas A&M regional Collaborative.
Fifteen 90-min lab sessions are required during the year. However, the total number and timing of individual labs is determined by student needs and interest.Most of the labs can be done within a 90 minute class period. With fewexceptions, the times listed below focus solely on designing the lab, recording data, and conducting preliminary data analysis. Lab write-up takes place outside class time.
Below is a list of the labs that have been performed by students. The list is a work in progress since it evolves in response to student generated questions and as equipment is added.
General Labs:
1. Build a scale model of a Hydrogen atom. (Done outside class. Peer review done within one 45-min period)
Objective: Correct methods of measuring length, mass, time, significant figures, and precision
Motion in 1-D:
2. Motion Match (60 minutes)
Objective: Use a motion detector to introduce the concepts of displacement, velocity, and acceleration by having the student match the motion on a series of teacher-generated graphs.
3. Car and Ramp I (three 90-minute periods)
Objective: Design experiment in order to describe the motion of a vehicle going down a straight ramp. The student will analyze raw data to recognize patterns, produce displacement-time, velocity-time, and acceleration-time graphs from which the Kinematics Equations can be derived, regardless of the angle of the ramp.
4. Gravity Drop (one 45-min period)
Objective: To measure the acceleration of a falling object, to compare the time of fall and acceleration of objects of different weight, and to create a graphical model for accelerated motion.
Motion in 2-D:
5. Scavenger Hunt or Force Table (one 45-min period)
Objective: Introduce vectors and the Head-to-Tail method for determining the resultant.
6. Car and Ramp II (one 90-minute period)
Objective: Reinforce motion in 2-D by using the raw data for various angles to analyze the affect of different ramp angles on displacement, velocity, and acceleration of the vehicle moving down a straight ramp.
7. Catapult or Marble Launcher (Built outside class. Data taken during one 45-
min period)
Objective: To introduce motion in 2-D by determining the initial velocity, maximum height, range, time of flight of the projectile and to determine the angle at which maximum height can be reached of the projectile.
Newton’s Laws:
8. Car and Ramp II (one 45-min period)
Objective: Use graphical analysis to determine the affect of different masses on acceleration and force.
9. Atwood’s Machine (one 45-min period)
Objective: To determine the acceleration of a system and the tension in the string.
10. Inclined Plane and Frictional Forces (one 45-min period)
Objective: Use of graphical analysis to determine the coefficient of static and kinetic friction for different surfaces and to derive the general equation for the force due to friction.
Work, Energy, and Power:
11. Energy of a Tossed Ball (one 45-min period)
Objective: To measure the change in kinetic and potential energies as a ball moves in free fall and to see how the total energy of the ball changes.
12. Rollercoaster (1.5 90-min periods)
Objective: To demonstrate conservation of mechanical energy and the workenergy theorem.
13. Work and the Inclined plane (one 90-min period)
Objective: Design two methods of determining the work due to non-conservative forces.
Systems of Particles, Linear Momentum
14. Dynamic Carts on a Track I (one 90-min period)
Objective: Verify conservation of mechanical energy during elastic collisions by
determining the velocity of each cart before and after the collision.
15. Dynamic Carts on a Track II (one 90-min period)
Objective: To observe completely inelastic collisions between two carts, testing for the conservation of momentum. Measure energy changes during completely inelastic collisions.
16. Dynamic Carts on a Track III (one 90-min period)
Objective: To measure a cart’s momentum change and compare to the impulse it receives. Compare average and peak forces in impulses.
Circular Motion and Rotation
17. Centripetal Motion (one 45-min period)
Objective: To determine the velocity of a whirling ball on a string and the resulting tension in the string.
Oscillations and Gravitation
18. Hooke’s Law (one 45-min period)
Objective: To design an experiment that will determine the spring constant of various springs and the effect of changes in the gravitational potential energy of the mass.
19. Energy in Simple Harmonic Motion (one 45 min period)
Objective: To examine the energies involved in simple harmonic motion and the test the principle of conservation of energy.
20. Simple Pendulum I (one 45-min period)
Objective: Use the law of conservation of energy to analyze the motion of a pendulum by determining how the period of the pendulum depends on the string length, mass, and amplitude and determine the acceleration due to gravity.
21. Simple Pendulum II (one 45-min period)
Projective: To use Newton’s second law to establish a relationship for the period of the pendulum.
22. Physical Pendulum (one 45-min period
Objective: To determine if the period of a physical pendulum can be predicted using the expression for the period of a simple pendulum.
Fluid and Thermal Physics
23. Archimedes Principle (one 45 min period)
Objective: To determine the density of various unknown materials.
24. Torricelli’s Theorem (one 45-min period)
Objective: To determine the exit velocity of a liquid and to investigate the range attained with hole at varying heights.
25. Newton’s Law of Cooling (one 45-min period)
Objective: To test Newton‘s law of cooling and the predict the temperature of the cooling water at any time.
26. Big vs. Little (one 45-min period)
Objective: To determine the dependence of cooling rate on the surface to volume ratio of various objects.
Electricity and Magnetism
27. Introductory Electrostatics Activity (one 45-min period)
Objective: To make qualitative observations of the behavior of an electroscope when charged by conduction and by induction and extend those concepts to other situations such as balloons, pith balls, and the Van de Graff generator.
28. Triboelectric Chart (one 45-min period)
Objective: Use common materials to generate a triboelectric chart.
29. Coulomb’s Law (one 45-min period)
Objective: To design a method of determining the charge on two polystyrene balls suspended by a string.
30. Series and Parallel Circuits (one 90-min period)
Objective: To determine the mathematical relationship between current, potential difference, and resistance in series and parallel circuits and to compare the potential vs. current behavior of a resistor to that of a light bulb.
31. Electrical Energy (one 45 min period)
Objective: To measure the power and electrical energy used by an electric motor, to measure the gain in potential energy of a mass lifted by a motor, to calculate the efficiency of the motor, and to study the efficiency of the electric motor under different conditions.
32. Magnetic Field Activity (one 45-min period)
Objective: To devise an experiment to determine the strength of the magnetic field around a bar magnet using a compass, meter stick, and protractor.
33. Magnetic Induction and Lenz’s Law (one 90-min period)
Objective: To qualitatively examine the effects of a changing magnetic field by observing currents induced in a solenoid and to compare the observations with the theory of magnetic induction and Lenz’s Law.
Waves and Optics
34. Standing Waves (one 90-min period)
Objective: To measure the frequency and wavelength of standing waves, to determine how wavelength and frequency relate to the speed of a wave, to discover how the energy of a wave depends on frequency and amplitude, and to learn how the boundary conditions affect a standing wave.
35. Natural Frequency and Resonance (one 45-min period)
Objective: To determine the natural frequency of a system, to discover the relationship between string tension, string length, and natural frequency in order to make their own oscillator using the interaction of restoring force and inertia.
36. Sound I: What is it and how do we hear it? (one 90-min period)
Objective: Introduce the range of human perception of sound, to design doubleblind experiments, and to use probability to evaluate the reliability of experiments.
37. Sound II: Interference and Diffraction of Sound (one 90-min period)
Objective: To investigate how beats arise from the interference of two sound waves, to use interference to measure the wavelength of a sound wave, and the demonstrate resonance of sound in different systems such as a wine glass and a glass bottle filled with varying amounts of water.
38. Light I: Properties of light (one 45-min period)
Objective: Introduction to how light is produced, to examine the effect of different colors of light, the quantum theory of light and to show that white light can be made from re, green, and blue.
39. Light II: The Law of Reflection (one 90-min period)
Objective: To measure the angles of incidence and reflection using a laser beam, to use ray diagrams to predict how and where a virtual image is formed, and to describe the difference between diffuse and specular reflection.
40. Light III: Refraction and Snell’s Law (one 90-min period)
Objective: To refract a laser beam through a prism, to use the laser beam to trace light rays through the prism to determine the angles of incidence and refraction, to measure the index of refraction of the type of glass in the prism, and to determine the critical angle for the glass.
41. Optics I: Convex Lens (one 90-min period)
Objective: To use the laser beam to trace light rays through a lens to determine its focus length, to show that spherical aberration causes the lens to focus light poorly, to show how ray diagrams are used to predict where images will form with lenses.
42. Optics II: Images (one 45-min period)
Objective: To use the principles of geometric optics to predict where images form with lenses, be able to describe the image (real, inverted, magnification, focal length, etc.) and to explain chromatic aberration and show how single lenses suffer from this defect.
43. Optics III: The Thin Lens Equation (one 45-min period)
Objective: To use the thin lens formula to predict how and where images are formed by a single and double lens optical system.
44. Light IV: Wave Properties of light (one 90-min period)
Objective: To observe and explain how a diffraction grating creates a rainbow, to observe and explain what happens when a laser shines through a diffraction grating, to observe the interaction of light and polarizers and explain the observations using the wave theory of light.