Physics 30 - Dec 3

Today we learned about energy transfer and kinetic energy.  Students also learned about the work energy theorem where work can be calculated simply by calculating the change in kinetic energy.  This was covered on slides 15-23.   We did 3 examples related to this and then students wrote the lab quiz for lab 3.1.  The rest of the class they worked on Assignment 4.3.  Tomorrow we will look at potential energy.

Science 90 - Dec 2

Today we went over the homework assigned yesterday.  We looked at the circuit diagrams that students did on the worksheet.  We then finished up the notes that we missed yesterday.  This was on slides 42-45.  We finished the class by talking about the circuit lab that we will be doing tomorrow.  I described how to use the circuit boards and how to use the multimeters to measure the various things in a circuit.

We are going to have a quiz on electricity on Thursday.  It will cover everything we have done in this unit so far including circuit diagrams.  So far we have covered all of chapter 6 in your text as well as section 7.1 & 7.2 in your text.

Physical Science 20 - Dec 2

Today in class we learned about the rectilinear propagation of light.  This allowed us to discover the magnification equation.  We also learned about how light travels and how to draw light diagrams.  This was covered on slides 8-15.  Students had about 15 min at the end of class to work on Homework 2.4.  We will go over this tomorrow and start looking at reflection.

Physics 30 - Dec 2

Today we looked at the concept of power and how it relates to work.  There are a couple of formulas one can use to calculate power.  We then worked through 3 different examples on how to calculate power.  Students then had the rest of the period to work on Assignment 4.2.  We will go over this tomorrow.

Students also received their exams back today from Unit 3.  Tomorrow we will start looking at energy.  Students will also be writing the quiz for Lab 3.1.

Science 90 - Dec 1

Today in class we continued our notes on circuits and we talked about the two different types of circuits.  We learned the difference between parallel and series circuits as well as how voltage, current and resistance are related in these types of circuits.

We also learned how to do circuit diagrams today.  Circuit diagrams are essential for understanding components in an electric circuit.  We did a couple of examples of circuit diagrams that showed how to draw parallel and series circuits as well as a combination of the 2.  The slides we covered were slides 34-41.  Students then spent the rest of the class working on the circuit diagram worksheet handed on in class.  This is in the Science 90 course notes link.  I will check this tomorrow.

Tomorrow we will finish the notes and then start work on the electric circuits lab.

Here are some videos that can explain how to draw circuit diagrams.  You might want to watch if you had trouble with today's lesson.

Physical Science 20 - Dec 1

We started our unit today on physics and the study of 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 exam using these and students were assigned Homework 2.2 to be done for tomorrow.

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.  Tomorrow we will be looking at the rectilinear propagation of light.

Physics 30 - Dec 1

Today we started out new unit on energy and momentum.  We began looking at the physical definition of work and what work is.  We did examples 1-3 and looked at some special situations where work is zero.  Students then had the remainder of class to work on Assignment 4.1. We will take this up tomorrow and move onto work on power.