Time Remaining Until the 2009 AP Physics Exam



The AP Physics exam is at 12:00 PM on Monday, May 11, 2009.

Physics First?

What is Physics First? Should MPH implement it? Visit the Science Department's Physics First Information Page and share your opinion.

Friday, December 14, 2007

Homework: 12/14/07 - 01/04/08

SC12: Physics
Day 1/2: In-class exam corrections
HW: Read Ch. 5
Day 3/4: Work
HW: ---
(Holiday Break)
Day 5/6: Work and Kinetic Energy
HW: P. 170, 5A: 1, 3; P. 174, 5B: 1, 3, 5

SC12P: AP Physics C (Mechanics)
Day 1: Exam: Applications of Newton's Laws
HW: Finish reading Chapter 6
Day 3: In-class exam corrections, non-uniform circular motion
HW: ---
(Holiday Break)
Day 5: Motion through a resistive medium
HW: Pp. 156-157: 13, 14, 15, 27

SC12APEM: Electricity & Magnetism Independent Study
Work homework set from Chapter 27

Homework: 12/04/07 - 12/13/07

SC12: Physics
Day 1/2: Lab: Force and Acceleration
(Note: Section 1 is a day behind because of the Day 1 snow day)
HW: Begin lab report
Day 3/4: Exam Review
HW: Study
Day 5/6: Exam: Newton's Laws
HW: Read Chapter 5

SC12P: AP Physics C (Mechanics)
Day 1: NO SCHOOL - SNOW DAY
HW: ---
Day 3: Lab: Force and Acceleration
HW: Begin lab report
Day 5: Friction and Centripetal Acceleration
HW: Pp. 155-156: 1, 8, 9

SC12APEM: Electricity & Magnetism Independent Study
Work homework set from Chapter 27

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Trebuchet Information

There are some interesting trebuchet videos available on YouTube:
If you are interested in making your own, here are plans for a popsicle stick trebuchet.

Finally, here are a few trebuchet related links:
Enjoy!

Homework: 11/26/07 - 12/03/07

SC12: Physics
Day 1/2: Work & Kinetic Energy
HW: P. 170, 5A: 1, 3; P. 174, 5B: 1, 3, 5
Day 3/4: Class Trips
HW: ---
Day 5/6: Class Trips
HW: ---

SC12P: AP Physics C (Mechanics)
Day 1: Friction
HW: P. 131-132: 37, 39, 42, 44, 60
Day 3: Class Trips
HW: ---
Day 5: Class Trips
HW: ---

SC12APEM: Electricity & Magnetism Independent Study
Finish up Ch. 26 problems and start reading Ch. 27

Homework: 11/13/07 - 11/20/07

SC12: Physics
Day 1/2: Friction
HW: P. 145, 4C: 1 - 3
Day 3/4: Film: Medieval Siege Engines (Nova)
HW: Read over Chapter 5
Day 5/6: Trebuchet discussion, Clip: Punkin' Chunkin'
HW: None - Enjoy Thanksgiving!

SC12P: AP Physics C (Mechanics)
Day 1: More Applications of Newton's Laws
HW: P. 130-131 : 26, 28, 31, 32
Day 3: Film: Medieval Siege Engines (Nova)
HW: Complete the practice exam
Day 5: Trebuchet discussion, Friction
HW: None - Enjoy Thanksgiving!

SC12APEM: Electricity & Magnetism Independent Study
Work Ch. 26 problems

Friday, November 09, 2007

Homework: 11/01/07 - 11/09/07

SC12: Physics
Day 1/2: Newton's First Law of Motion
HW: P. 133, 4A: 1 - 4
Day 3/4: Newton's Second and Third Laws of Motion
HW: P. 138, 4B: 1 - 5
Day 5/6: Free Body Diagrams
HW: Complete the Free Body Diagram worksheet

SC12P: AP Physics C (Mechanics)
Day 1: Newton's Laws of Motion
HW: P. 128: 1, 9, 12, 14
Day 3: Some Applications of Newton's Laws
HW: P. 129-130: 19, 23, 24, 25
Day 5: Free Body Diagrams
HW: Complete the Free Body Diagram worksheet

SC12APEM: Electricity & Magnetism Independent Study
Finish reading Ch. 25 and start reading Ch. 26

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Homework: 10/24/07 - 10/31/07

SC12: Physics
Day 1/2: Chapter 3 Review and Discussion
HW: Study for Exam; bring HW folder to next class
Day 3/4: Unit Exam: Vectors and Projectile Motion
HW: Read 4.1
Day 5/6: In-Class Corrections, Aristotelian vs Galilean Motion
HW: Read 4.2 - 4.3

SC12P: AP Physics C (Mechanics)
Day 1: Relative Velocity and Circular Motion
HW: P. 95: 29, 31, 34, 35, 39; bring HW folder to next class
Day 3: Unit Exam: 2-Dimensional Motion
HW: Read 5.1
Day 5: In-Class Corrections, Aristotelian vs Galilean Motion
HW: Read 5.2 - 5.6

SC12APEM: Electricity & Magnetism Independent Study
Work on Ch. 25 problems 9, 13, 19, 23, 43, 45, 50

Friday, October 19, 2007

MOST Science Lecture Series

The MOST has announced two science lecture opportunities which are appropriate for 6th - 12th grade students. Both programs are free and open to the public.

Junior Café Scientifique (Brochure)
A monthly Saturday morning program sponsored by the Technology Alliance of Central New York (TACNY) and hosted by the MOST.
  • The next lecture Café Scientifique lecture is tomorrow, Saturday, October 20, entitled Geology of the Sea Floor, Hydrothermal Systems and Life in the Abyss.

Space Science Speaker Series (Brochure)
A collaboration between the MOST and Cornell's Department of Astronomy.
  • The first lecture in the Space Science series is Thursday, October 25, entitled The Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA (ALFALFA) Survey: A Hunt for Starless Galaxies.

Syracuse University - Tuesday Night Physics

The Syracuse University Physics Department is announcing a new series of physics lectures, Tuesday Night Physics, that are free and open to the public. Parking for the general public is $3.25 in the Irving Garage, or free on the street. The first lecture of the new season is:

Speaker
Sam Sampere
Lab Manager SU Physics

Title
That’s Repulsive! The Marvels of Magnetism

Date and Time
Tuesday October 23 7:00 pm

Room
Physics Building Stolkin Auditorium

Sam is a great popularizer of physics and a very enthusiastic speaker, so it should be a lot of fun!

Homework: 10/16/07 - 10/23/07

SC12: Physics
Day 1/2: 2-D Motion: Projectiles Launched Horizontally
HW: P. 102, 3D: 1, 3
Day 3/4: 2-D Motion: Projectiles Launched at an Angle
HW: P. 104, 3E: 3, 5
Day 5/6: Frames of Reference, Relative Velocity
HW: P. 109, 3F: 1 - 3 (Unit Exam next Day 3/4)

SC12P: AP Physics C (Mechanics)
Day 1: Projectile Motion
HW: Pp. 93-94: 9, 11, 14, 16
Day 3: Vector Motion Review & Discussion
HW: Read 4.4
Day 5: Projectiles Launched from Cliffs
HW: Pp. 97-98: 52, 56; Read 4.5 - 4.6

SC12APEM: Electricity & Magnetism Independent Study
Work on the Take-Home test and read Chapter 25.

Friday, October 05, 2007

Homework: 10/05/07 - 10/15/07

SC12: Physics
Day 1/2: Experiment #2: Graphing Time and Motion
HW: Begin data analysis (Report due Day 5/6)
Day 3/4: Scalars and Vectors, Vector Operations
HW: P. 91, 3A: 1 - 4
Day 5/6: Resolving Vectors into Components, Vector Addition (Lab #2 due)
HW: P. 94, 3B: 1, 2, 5; P. 97, 3C: 1, 2

SC12P: AP Physics C (Mechanics)
Day 1: Experiment #2: Graphing Time and Motion, Coordinate Systems
HW: Begin data analysis (Report due Day 5), P. 65: 1-5
Day 3: Vectors and Scalars, Vector Properties, Vector Components
HW: Pp. 65 - 70: 7, 24, 25, 38, 62
Day 5: The Position, Velocity, and Acceleration Vectors; 2D Motion (Lab #2 due)
HW: P. 93: 2, 5, 6, 8

SC12APEM: Electricity & Magnetism Independent Study
Continue working on Gauss' Law, and in particular focus on Ch. 24 problems #29, 43, 53, 58, 69

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Homework: 09/27/07 - 10/04/07

Note: Quarter 1 Midterm is Friday, October 5

SC12: Physics

Day 1/2: More with Acceleration; Freely Falling Motion
HW: P. 55 (2D): 1, P.58 (2E): 3; P.64 (2F): 1, 2, 3
Day 3/4: Unit Review
HW: Study for Exam
Day 5/6: Exam 1: Accelerated Motion
HW: Read Chapter 3.1 - 3.2

SC12P: AP Physics C (Mechanics)
Day 1: Kinematic Equations derived from Calculus
HW: P. 50: 46, 47, 48
Day 3: Unit Review
HW: Study for Exam
Day 5: Exam 1: Uniformly Accelerated Motion
HW: Read Chapter 3

SC12APEM: Electricity & Magnetism Independent Study
Read Ch. 24, and work problems #5, 12, 14, 21

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Homework: 09/19/07 - 09/26/07

SC12: Physics
Day 1/2: Displacement & Velocity; Reaction Time
HW: P.44, Practice 2A: 2, 4, 6
Day 3/4: Acceleration
HW: P.49, Practice 2B: 1, 3
Day 5/6: Motion with Constant Acceleration
HW: P.53, Practice 2C: 1, 3, 5 (Lab #1 due next class)

SC12P: AP Physics C (Mechanics)
Day 1: Position, Velocity, & Acceleration; Experiment #1: Physics and Measurement
HW: Pp. 46-47: 1, 3, 5, 13, 15
Day 3: One-dimensional Motion with Constant Acceleration
HW: PPp. 47-49: 20, 23, 25, 26
Day 5: Freely falling objects (Lab #1 due)
HW: Pp. 49-50: 36, 44, 45

SC12APEM: Electricity & Magnetism Independent Study
Read Ch. 23.5 - 23.7, and work problems #20, 22, 29, 35, 45, 58, 68

Physics Applets

Well-written physics javascript applets provide a great way to visualize hard-to-grasp concepts. A good site is Paul Falstad's Math, Physics and Engineering Applets. While mainly of interest to my AP Physics E&M Independent Study students, others may enjoy it as well. I've also added an Applet section to the External Links on the right of the page, where other sites will be listed as they are found.

Sunday, September 09, 2007

Welcome Back! Homework: 09/10/07 - 09/18/07

SC12: Physics
Day 1/2: Class Introduction, SI Base Units, Metric Prefixes
HW: Read 1.1 - 1.2
Day 3/4: Accuracy and Precision, Significant Figures, Experiment #1
HW: Read 1.3; P.14, Practice 1A: 1-5
Day 5/6: Mathematics and Physics
HW: Finish data analysis

SC12P: AP Physics C (Mechanics)
Day 1: Class Introduction
HW: Read Chapter 1
Day 3: SI Base Units, Dimensional Analysis, Significant Figures
HW: Pp. 14-18: 4, 9, 33, 44, 60
Day 5: Introduction to Differential Calculus
HW: Read Chapter 2

SC12APEM: Electricity & Magnetism Independent Study
Read Ch. 23.1 - 23.4, paying particular attention to Coulomb's law and the definition of the electric field. Work problems #1, 5, 7, 8, 13, 16, 19

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Equations and Practice Final

Below are the Final Exam equation sheet, a practice final, and solutions to the practice final.
These files are in PDF format. If you don't have a PDF reader on your computer, you can download Adobe Acrobat here.

Monday, May 14, 2007

Physics Final Exam

Friday, June 1, 2007
9:00-11:00 am

End-of-Year Class Schedule

Monday, 5/14 - Thursday, 5/17
Films The Atomic Cafe and Trinity and Beyond plus class discussion of the role of physics in weapon production and the Cold War.

Friday, 5/18
Red and White Day

Monday, 5/21 - Friday 5/25
Review for Final Exam plus take a practice Final.

Tuesday, 5/29
U.S. Study Day - there are no classes, but I will be in my classroom during the normal school day if anyone wishes to come in for extra review.

Monday, April 02, 2007

Homework: 04/03/07 - 04/18/07

Spring Break (04/03/07 - 04/18/07) falls between Day 3 and Day 4.

SC12: Physics
Day 1/2: Energy in capacitors, electric current
HW: P. 695: 1, 3, 5
Day 3/4: Capacitor design and construction
HW: Read 19-1: Electric Current
Day 5/6: Review for Unit Exam: Electric Forces & Energy
HW: Study for Exam

SC12P: AP Physics
Day 1: Rolling motion, vector product
HW: Pp. 350-351: 3, 5, 11, 15, 17
Day 3: Angular Momentum
HW: Pp. 351-353: 21, 24, 25, 27, 31
Day 5: Conservation of Angular Momentum
HW: Study for Unit Exam

Monday, March 26, 2007

Homework: 03/26/07 - 04/02/07

SC12: Physics
Day 1/2: Electric field strength
HW: P. 652: 2, 3
Day 3/4: Electric potential energy and voltage
HW: P. 669: 1; P. 673: 1, 2
Day 5/6: Capacitance
HW: P. 681, Practice 18C: 2(a), 3(a)

SC12P: AP Physics
Day 1: Rotational energy, moments of inertia
HW: Pp. 318-320: 15, 18, 21, 23, 27 (choose two); 28, 29, 30 (all)
Day 3: Torque, rotational work
HW: Pp. 320-322: 32, 35, 37, 39, 43
Day 5: Exam: Momentum & Rotational Motion
HW: Read Ch. 11: Rolling Motion & Angular Momentum

Monday, March 19, 2007

Homework: 03/16/07 - 03/23/07

SC12: Physics
Day 1/2: Roller coaster demonstrations & evaluations
HW: Read Ch. 17.2
Day 3/4: Coulomb's Law
HW: P. 636: 1, 3; P. 641: 1; read Ch. 17.3
Day 5/6: The electric field
HW: P. 647: 2, 3; read Ch. 18.1

SC12P: AP Physics
Day 1: Old AP exam review
Day 3: Center of mass, motion of a system
HW: Pp. 285-286: 41, 45, 47, 50
Day 5: Rotational kinematics
HW: P. 317: 1, 5, 7, 9

Thursday, March 08, 2007

Homework: 03/07/07 - 03/14/07

Once again, a snow day at the end of the last cycle means some overlap with the last homework posting.

SC12: Physics
Day 1/2: Coaster Design (Day 1) / Momentum Exam (Day 2)
HW: Work on scale drawing of roller coaster
Day 3/4: Coaster design, hands-on time with track elements
HW: Finalize design elements
Day 5/6: Roller Coaster demonstrations & evaluations
HW: Read Chapter 17: Electric Forces and Fields

SC12P: AP Physics

Day 1: Collisions in one dimension
HW: Pp. 283-284: 16, 18, 21, 26, 27
Day 3: Quiz, two-dimensional collisions
HW: Pp. 284-285: 29, 31, 35, 36
Day 5: Quiz, center of mass
HW: Pp. 285-286: 41, 45, 47, 50

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

SC12 Bonus Question

Car A was traveling due north through an intersection when it was hit broadside by car B which was traveling due east. While both drivers admitted having ignored the four-way stop signs at the intersection, each claimed he was traveling at the 35-mi/h speed limit and that the other was traveling much faster. Knowing that car A weighs 2000 lb, car B 3600 lb, and that inspection of the scene of the accident showed that as a result of the impact, the two cars got stuck together and skidded in a direction 40 degrees north of east, determine (a) which of the two cars was actually traveling at 35 mi/h, and (b) how fast the other car was moving.



This is an "all-or-nothing" bonus question and will count as one quiz grade. Solutions should be submitted to Mr. G by Monday, March 5, 2007.

Homework: 02/27/07 - 03/06/07

Because of the two snow days before break, there will be some repetition of the previous assignment set.

SC12: Physics
Day 1/2: Elastic collisions
HW: P. 229: 6G: 1, 3
Day 3/4: Quiz, momentum review, roller coaster work
HW: Review for exam
Day 5/6: Momentum exam
HW: Finish up coaster design

SC12P: AP Physics

Day 1: Exam: Work and Energy
HW: Read Chapter 9
Day 3: Exam discussion, impulse and momentum
HW: P. 282: 3, 6, 8, 9, 11
Day 5: Quiz, collisions in one dimension
HW: Pp. 283-284: 16, 18, 21, 26, 27

Friday, February 09, 2007

18th Annual Balsa Wood Bridge Competition

The Student Construction Association at SUNY ESF is holding this year's bridge competition on Friday, March 23, 2007 (Day 6). Students build bridges beforehand and compete to see which can hold the maximum load. MPH has 3 teams registered and has room for 3 more teams of up to 4 students each. If you are interested in forming a team, see Mr. G for more information no later than Friday, March 2, 2007.

Homework: 02/12/07 - 02/26/07

SC12: Physics
Day 1/2: Inelastic collisions
HW: P. 224, 6E: 1, 3, 5; P. 226, 6F: 1, 3
Day 3/4: Elastic collisions, quiz
HW: P. 229: 6G: 1, 3
Day 5/6: Roller coaster research, quiz
HW: Review for exam

SC12P: AP Physics

Day 1: Conservative forces & potential energy, energy diagrams
HW: P. 244: 41, 42, 43, 45, 46
Day 3: Exam: Work and Energy
Day 5: Exam discussion, intro to momentum
HW: Read Chapter 7