Physics 30 - May 27

Today in class we learned how to calculate the electric field as well as the electric potential difference. This was covered on slides 13-22 in the powerpoint for unit 5.  Students were then assigned Assignment 5.2. We will cover questions on this assignment on Monday.  Monday we will start looking at magnetic fields. Have a great weekend everyone

Physical Science 20 - May 26

I haven't posted in a little while.  On Tuesday, I was away from class but the substitute covered the beginning of the waves unit by looking at periodic motion and vibrations.  This was covered on slides 110-122 of the physics notes powerpoint.  Students then had time to work on Homework 5.1.  We took up that assignment yesterday and then went over the notes on some important terms used in describing waves.  As well we learned about different types of waves called mechanical waves.  There was just notes for this and they were on slides 123-132.  Today students had a study period to prepare for their exam tomorrow. Reminder of your exam tomorrow on light reflection and refraction.

Physical Science 20 - May 19

Today we studied the remainder of the properties of light as well as looked at the particle model for a viable option of explaining these properties.  Students copied down notes on a summary sheet and we came up with the conclusion that the particle model doesn't adequately explain the properties of light.  This was all covered on slides 83-96.  After the long weekend, we will start looking at the wave model after we get an understanding of what waves are.  

Physics 30 - May 19

Today we learned about Einstein's view of gravity.  We learned about the general theory of relativity.  Einstein believed that gravity wasn't a force itself, but an effect on space itself.  We watched a couple of videos that are linked below to try to explain this idea a little bit better.  If you were absent today, please watch the following videos to get a sense of general relativity.  

Physics 30 - May 18

Today we finished up special relativity by finishing our example on mass increase that we started last Friday.  Students then had time to work on Assignment 4.3 and get ready for the in class assignment on Tuesday on Unit 4.  Students should have done assignments 4.1-4.3 to prepare for the in class assignment. Tomorrow we will look at Einstein's Theory of General Relativity.

Physics 30 - May 17

Today in class we learned how relativity affects the addition of velocities and how it is used to account for the fact that objects seem to move faster than the speed of light.  THis was covered on slides 59-62 in the notes. Students spent the majority of time working on Part 3 of Assignment 4.3.  Tomorrow we will finish special relativity by looking at mass equivalence.

Physical Science 20 - May 16

Today we looked at how to find the image using the lens and magnification equations.  Students worked through a couple of examples and then they worked on Homework 3.5. We will go over this tomorrow. This was covered on slides 76-81.

Physics 30 - May 16

Today we started to look at length contraction, another consequence behind special relativity and the constancy of the speed of light.  This means that for objects approaching light speeds, lengths of those objects actually decreases in the direction of motion as observed in another frame of reference.  We then looked at a couple of examples on how to calculate the length contraction.  This was all covered on slides 50-56 in the Unit 4 Notes.  Students were assigned Part 2 of Assignment 4.3.  We will go over this tomorrow.

Physical Science 20 - May 13

Today in class students spent time drawing ray diagrams for lenses.  They followed instructions outlined on a handout called Finding the Image Graphically - Ray Diagrams for Lenses.  These instructions guided students through how to draw these diagrams.  It is similar to the diagrams we drew for curved mirrors and there are many analogies to it.  Students then spent the remainder of the class working on Assignment 3.2.  This will be handed in Monday.  We will then learn how to find the image mathematically.

Physics 30 - May 13

Today we finished example 9 on time dilation and then talked about the twin paradox.  Students then had time to work on Assignment 4.3 - Part 1 which was on time dilation.  This was after they wrote their quiz on Lab 4.1.

Physical Science 20 - May 12

Today we started to look at an application of refraction called optics.  We learned about some terms that will be important in studying optics.  We then went on to cover lens diagrams and how to discover image characteristics graphically.  This was covered on slides 64-75.  We didn't quite finish off the diagrams today.  We will finish those off tomorrow and work on Assignment 3.2.

Physical Science 20 - May 11

Today we moved on to look at critical angle and total internal reflection.  Critical angle is a special incident angle where the refracted angle will be 90 degrees.  If light tries to exit a substance at an angle greater than the critical angle, it wont be able to and it will just reflect around inside.  This is called total internal reflection.  They copied notes from slides 57-61 and worked on Part C of the Refraction Problems for the remainder of the class.  We will go over this tomorrow and begin to look at geometric optics

Physics 30 - May 11

Today in class we started into a new topic - the theory of special relativity.  This is an advanced topic explained by Albert Einstein that has some really neat consequences.  One of those consequences is called time dilation, or the fact the when you move faster, time actually moves slower for you.  We went through what this means and how to actually calculate the time difference.  This was all covered on slides 23-46 in the Unit 4 Notes powerpoint.  We only finished example 8 today.  We will do example 9 on Friday and look at something called the Twin Paradox.  Reminder that on there is no class tomorrow due to retreat.  On Friday you will write your quiz for Lab 4.1.  Study the analysis of the lab.

Physical Science 20 - May 10

Today in class we went over how to use Snell's Law.  After going through an example, students were then given time to work on Part B of the Refraction Practice problems as well as Assignment 3.1.  I will be taking in Assignment 3.1 tomorrow.  We will look at critical angle problems tomorrow.

Physics 30 - May 10

Today in class we then went on to learn about an extension to lab 4.2, the existence of something called dark matter.   We learned in the lab that more mass causes more speed for the centripetal motion.  This applies for simple motion that we see on Earth, like a stopper spinning around on a string, as well as the motion of stars in galaxies. 

We learned about a currently anomaly in physics.  This was the fact that stars in a galaxy are moving much faster than they should be.  The mass that consists within the galaxy that we can see is not enough to make the stars move so fast.  This is the basis for the search for dark matter. 

We watch a video today to explore these ideas a little further and to learn more about dark matter research.  Students answered a worksheet that went along with the video.  The worksheet is found here.  It is called Lab 4.2 Supplemental Worksheets.  The video is linked in 3 parts in the Course Video Youtube playlist.  It is called the Mystery of Dark Matter.  If you were absent today, please watch the video there.

Physical Science 20 - May 9

Today students wrote their quiz on the speed of light and curved mirrors.  After that, they handed in their reports for lab 3.1.  We then learned about the laws of refraction.  These 3 laws tell us how light behaves when it passes into a new material or substance.  Students took some notes (slides 53-55) and then we were given some time to work on the assignment on slide 56.  Students will get more time tomorrow to work on this.

Physical Science 20 - May 6

Today, 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 - May 6

Today in class we went over the analysis for Lab 4.2.  I have a handout of what we did today in the course notes link.  It is called Lab 4.2 Analysis Aid and it is found in the Unit 4 folder.  Monday we are going to explore these ideas a little further and watch a video related to them.

Physics 30 - May 5

Today we went through Assignment 4.2 and then did lab 4.2.  This lab was all about using circular motion to calculate the mass of an object.  Students collected data today and tomorrow we will look at how to analyze that data.  If you were absent today, there is some sample data in the Unit 4 folder.

Physical Science 20 - May 5

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.

Physical Science 20 - May 4

Today students started to learn 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 today in class. 

Physics 30 - May 4

May the Fourth be with you all!!  Today in physics we derived a couple of equations related to gravitational circular motion and went through a couple of examples that utilized those equations.  These were examples 6 and 7 in your notes covered on slides 19-22. Assignment 4.2 was given at the end of the class.Tomorrow we will be doing Lab 4.2

Physics 30 - May 3

Today in class we talked about the lab that students did yesterday on horizontal projectile motion.  The reports for this lab are due on Wednesday.  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 - May 3

Today we 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.  We will cover over these tomorrow.

Physical Science 20 - May 2

Today we continued learning how to draw diagrams to find the image in a curved mirror.  Today we looked at convex mirrors.  After this, students had some time to work on Assignment 2.3 which is due tomorrow.  Tomorrow we will learn how to find the image mathematically.

Physics 30 - May 2

Today we did Lab 4.1 on horizontal projectile motion.  The lab report for this report is due on Wednesday.  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 - April 29

Today 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 27-31.  
We then 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.  We only learned how to do concave mirrors today.  On Monday we will continue with convex mirrors.  The notes today were on slides 40-41 but students should have a handout called Drawing Ray Diagrams for Curved Mirrors.  The notes are all on this handout.