Physical Science 20 - April 30

Today we started our new unit on Physics and particularly light. Before that though I handed out another assignment on Heat and enthalpy in particular. This was called Assignment H5 and students are to hand it in tomorrow to be marked.  If you were absent today, you can find this assignment in the Heat folder in the course notes link.

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.  Homework 2.2 will be due at a later date though due to Assignment H5 though.

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 - April 30

Today we did Lab 3.2 which was on using uniform circular motion to measure the mass of an object that causes that motion.  Students collected data today and started analyzing that data.  Tomorrow we will continue analyzing that data and I will talk about what that should look like.

For students who were absent today, you can find 3 sets of sample data in the Unit 3 folder of the course notes.  Use only 1 of those sets.  If you need help analyzing the data, there is a handout in the same folder labelled, Lab 3.2 Analysis Aid.  Use it to help analyze your data.

Physical Science 20 - April 29

Today in class we discussed the analysis for the lab that we did yesterday.  Students then used the remainder of the class to work on their lab reports.  These are due tomorrow.  Students who were absent for the lab yesterday can still complete the lab if they use the sample data that is able in the Heat folder of the course notes.  Look in the link on the right hand side of the webpage.  Tomorrow we are going to get started on the Physics unit.

Physics 30 - April 29

We had a work period today in class due to a meteor strike and Knievel had to calculate the chances of us surviving so he could not teach today. Pysch! Students were away for retreat today so we decided not to move on.

Physical Science 20 - April 28

Today in class we went over Assignment H4.  The answers are posted in the heat folder of the course notes link.  Afterwards, students completed Lab H1 where they determined the specific heats of 5 different metals.  Students just gathered information today.  Tomorrow we will talk about analysis and when the lab will need to be completed.

Physics 30 - April 28

Today in class we finished looking at planetary motion and how it relates to uniform circular motion. This involved some of the equations I introduced yesterday.  We then went through examples 26 and 27 and students than had the remainder of class to work on Assignment 3.8.  Tomorrow, with most students away at retreat, we will just have a work period.

Physical Science 20 - April 27

Today we went over a couple of examples that showed us how to use Hess's Law.  These examples were different than the ones given in class and allowed us to outline the process of Hess's Law.  After those examples, students then worked on Assignment H4 (Period 2 was assignment the even questions, period 4 was assigned the odd questions) for the remainder of the period.  This assignment will be checked tomorrow.  Tomorrow we are going to be doing Lab H1 on specific heats.