Physics 30 - Nov 27

Today in class we talked about the lab that students did yesterday on horizontal projectile motion.  The reports for this lab are due on Monday.  There is a set of data in the course notes link under the Unit 4 folder if students were absent yesterday.  We started to look at universal gravitation today and how to some of the intricacies of using the law of universal gravitation.  This was all covered on slides 13-18.  On Monday we will look at gravitation circular motion.

Physical Science 20 - Nov 27

Today in class students wrote their quizzes on the speed of light, magnification and curved mirror equation.  Afterwards, students were given some time to complete their lab reports for Lab 3.1.  I talked about the analysis for the lab and particularly how to do the graph and analyze it.  Remember that this report is due Monday.  On Monday we will talk about the laws of refraction.

Physics 30 - Nov 26

Today we did Lab 4.1 on horizontal projectile motion.  The lab report for this report is due on Monday.  Tomorrow we will be moving on and learning about gravitational circular motion.  If students were absent today, you can use some sample data that is in the course notes link under the Unit 4 folder.  The file is called Lab 4.1 Sample Data.

Physical Science 20 - Nov 26

Today in class we started to look at the laws that govern refraction.  We did this by doing a simple lab.  Students spent the class period looking at how light travels through water using pins and cardboard again.  This was called Lab 3.1.  Tomorrow we will continue with this lab by looking at how we analyze the data.  If students were absent today, they can go into the physics folder of the course notes and find a set of sample data.  It is called Lab 3.1 Sample Data.

Physics 30 - Nov 25

Sorry everyone but I haven't updated the site in a little while.  We started Unit 4 last Thursday and have been learning about projectile motion since then.  Students some some demonstrations related to projectile motion and learned how to solve problems involving projectiles.  This was all covered on slides 1-12 in the Unit 4 Notes powerpoint.  Today students wrote the exam for Unit 3.  Tomorrow, we will be doing a lab associated with projectile motion.

Physical Science 20 - Nov 25

Sorry everyone.  I haven't updated the site in a little while.  Let us take a little trip down memory lane.

Last Thursday, Nov 19, students in Period 2 learned how to draw ray diagrams for curved mirrors and find image characteristics based on the diagram.  This is what students in Period 3 did the previous day on Wednesday.  Period 2 students were then assigned Assignment 2.3 and were told to hand it in on Monday.  Period 3 students worked on Assignment 2.3 on Thursday and it was due on Friday for them.

On Friday, Nov 20, both classes learned how to find the image mathematically using a set of equations.  We took some notes on the equations and how they work and then went through some examples.  This was covered on slides 32-37 on the powerpoint in the Physics folder of the course notes.  When this was finished, students then worked on Homework 2.6.  This was checked on Tuesday.

On Monday, Nov 23, students were still struggling with Homework 2.6, so we went over some more examples and then I just gave them some time to work on it.

Yesterday, I checked Homework 2.6 and we went over the answers to it.  Students then started learning about refraction.  This is another property of light that describes what happens when light enters another substance.  Students took notes on slides 44-51 in the powerpoint.  We finished those notes today and students then worked on Part A of the refraction practice problems worksheet.  These are worksheets that students picked up yesterday in class.

Tomorrow we will go through those problems and then look at the laws that govern refraction.

Physical Science 20 - Nov 18

Today in Period 2 we did what happened yesterday in Period 3.  We learned about the laws of reflection and the different types of reflection.  As well we started to learn about curved mirrors and some important terms for curved mirrors that will help us understand them better.  This was all covered on slides 22-31.

In period 3, we started to figure out how to draw ray diagrams for curved mirrors and how to find images in a curved mirror.  This involved drawing three separate light rays and having them reflect off of the mirror.  Students read through the instructions on how to draw the diagrams and then worked on Assignment 2.3.  They will get more time tomorrow to continue this.

Physics 30 - Nov 17

Today students had a work period to prepare for the in class assignment tomorrow.  They worked on Assignments 3.6-3.8, all of which are going to be covered on the assignment tomorrow.  Good luck everyone.

Physical Science 20 - Nov 17

Today in Period 2 students had a presentation about their options for post-secondary education.  It took all of the class period so therefore we didn't do anything with the course.  In period 3, students learned about the laws that govern reflection as well as the different types of reflection.  Then we started to learn about curved mirrors and how they work.  Students just learned about some different terminology that we are going to use to describe curved mirrors.  This was all covered on slides 22-31.  Students spent the remaining time in class working on Homework 2.5 which I will check tomorrow.  Tomorrow in Period 3 we will move on and learn how to find the image in a curved mirror using a graphical approach.  In Period 2, we will be doing what we did today in Period 3.

Physics 30 - Nov 16

Welcome back from the long weekend everyone.  Today we finished Unit 3 by going over examples 25 and 26 in your notes.  These were rather long an complicated examples.  If you were absent today, try to get the notes off of someone in class.  Tomorrow students will have a period to work on Assignment 3.8.  This will lead into the in class assignment on Wednesday, which is on Assignments 3.6 to 3.8.

Physical Science 20 - Nov 16

Welcome back from your long weekend everyone.  I hope you all had a good break and are ready to make the push to Christmas.  Today in class we went over the corrections to Lab 2.1 after I handed them back.  This should help students fix their mistakes on that lab.  Then we went over the analysis and conclusion to Lab 2.3 which is on the reflection of light.  Students who require help with the analysis can check out this handout.  It has on it all the labels that you need to analyze your lab.

After this, students then learned about image characteristics and the different values that they can have.  This is an important concept moving forward in physics as we will be talking about images in many different contexts.  This was covered on slides 18-21 in the notes powerpoint.  Students are to have Lab 2.3 done for tomorrow to hand in.

Physics 30 - Nov 10

Today we started looking at collisions in 2D.  These problems just turn out to be momentum conservation problems with vector analysis.  We went through Example 24.  On Monday, we will go through examples 24 and 25 to end the unit.  Have a great long weekend everyone!

Physical Science 20 - Nov 10

Happy Friday everyone!  Even though it is Tuesday - it is like Friday.  Today in class we went over Homework 2.4 and then started to discover another property of light.  We started examining the property of reflection.  Students did Lab 2.3 on the reflection of light in a plane mirror.  They were just learning how to anaylize their data before the bell went to end the class.  We will finish up the analysis on Monday. Have a great long weekend everyone!

Physics 30 - Nov 9

Today we finished looking at collisions in one dimension by doing examples 22 and 23 in the notes.  Students then had the remainder of the class to work on Assignment 3.7.  Tomorrow we will start to look at how to solve problems involving collisions in two dimensions.

Physical Science 20 - Nov 9

Today in class we learned about the magnification equation as well how a pinhole camera works.  We took some notes and one example covered on slides 9-16 in the powerpoint.  Students then had the remainder of class to work on Homework 2.4.  I will check this tomorrow.  Tomorrow we are going to look at another property of light - how it reflects.

Physics 30 - Nov 6

e began to look at the conservation of momentum and how we can apply that to different situations.  We went over a couple of examples related to explosions and how to solve them with the conservation of momentum and then we also learned about the different types of collisions.  This was covered on slides 49-53.  We will looking at collisions on Monday with an examination of collisions in one dimension.

Physical Science 20 - Nov 6

Today in class we learned about the next property of light, called the rectilinear propagation of light - this means that light travels in straight lines.  Students did the Activity called Lab 2.1 and most students handed it in by the end of the period.  This lab does not require a formal lab report; students just need to hand in the sheet the accompanied the activity. This will be due on Monday. Have a good weekend everyone!

Physical Science 20 - Nov 3

Today we started our new unit on Physics and particularly light. We talked about the different properties of light and started looking at the speed of light in particular.  We learned that light travels very fast in a vacuum (300 million meters per second) and this makes calculating distances of very far objects easy.  These distances are called astronomical distances and we went over the definition of a parsec, a light year, and an astronomical unit.  We then looked at an example using these and students were assigned Homework 2.2.  We will go over this on Thursday for Period 2.  In Period 3, we didn't quite get to this assignment.  We will discuss when this will be due on Thursday.

There is a new powerpoint that students can download to get the notes for this unit.  It is found in the Physical Science 20 link on the right and the notes are in the Physics folder called Physics Notes.  We went through slides 1-7 today.  Thursday we will be looking at the rectilinear propagation of light.

Reminder that tomorrow is your Midterm exam for chemistry. 

Physics 30 - Nov 3

Today we started to look at momentum, what it is and how we measure it.  We also learned about the impulse momentum theorem.  This means that in order to change an object's momentum, one needs to apply a force to an object for an amount of time.  The product of the force and the time is called the impulse.  We went through examples 16, 17, & 18 and I assigned Assignment 4.6 at the end of the class.  

Reminder that tomorrow you have your in class assignment for the first half of this unit.  It is on Assignments 3.1-3.5.  As well, on Thursday, you have the quiz for lab 2.1.  Study the analysis for Lab 2.1.