Physics
General   Honors

Topics to be explored this year in honors physics:

Describing Motion: Kinematics in One Dimension

- Speed
- Reference Frames and coordinate systems
- Average Velocity and displacement
- Instantaneous velocity
- Vectors and scalars
- Acceleration
- Uniformly accelerated motion
- Problem solving strategy
- Falling Bodies
- Graphical analysis of linear motion

Kinematics in Two Dimensions

- Addition of vectors - graphical methods
- Analytic methods for adding vectors
- Vectors in problem solving
- Projectile motion

Motion and Force: Dynamics

- Force
- Newton's first law of motion
- Mass
- Newton's second law of motion
- Newton's third law of motion
- Weight - the force of gravity and the normal force
- Solving problems with Newton's laws
- Problems involving friction, inclines

Circular Motion

- Kinematics of uniform circular motion
- Dynamics of uniform circular motion
- Centrifugation
- Newton's law of universal gravitation
- Satellite motion
- Kepler's laws

Work and Energy

- Work done by a constant force
- Kinetic energy and the work-energy principle
- Potential Energy
- Conservative and non-conservative forces
- Mechanical energy and its conservation
- Other forms of energy: energy transformations and the law of conservation of energy
- Energy conservation with dissipative forces

Linear Momentum

- Momentum and its relation to force
- Conservation of momentum
- Collisions and impulse
- Conservation of energy and momentum in collisions
- Elastic collisions in one dimension - solving problems using energy and momentum conservation
- Elastic collisions in two dimensions
- Inelastic collisions
- Center of mass
- Center of mass and translational motion

Rotational Motion

- Angular quantities
- Kinematics equations for uniformly accelerated rotational motion
- Torque
- Rotational dynamics; torque and rotational inertia
- Rotational kinetic energy
- Angular momentum and its conservation
- Vector nature of angular quantities
- Vector angular momentum; a rotating wheel
- Rotating frames of reference; inertial forces

Elasticity and Fracture

- Applications to muscles and joints
- Stability and balance
- Elasticity; stress and strain - Young's modulus of elasticity
- Fracture
- Spanning a space: arches and domes

Fluids

- Density and specific gravity
- Pressure in fluids
- Atmospheric pressure and gauge pressure
- Pascal's principle
- Measurement of pressure
- Buoyancy and Archimedes' principle
- Fluids in motion; flow rate and the equation of continuity
- Bernoulli's equation
- Applications of Bernoulli's principle: from Torricelli to sailboats & airfoils
- Viscosity
- Flow in tubes: Poiseuille's equation, blood flow, Reynolds number
- Object moving in a fluid; sedimentation and drag

Vibration and Waves

- Simple harmonic motion
- Energy in the simple harmonic oscillator
- Vertical spring derivations
- The reference circle; the period and sinusoidal nature of SHM
- The simple pendulum
- Damped harmonic motion
- Forced vibrations; resonance
- Wave motion
- Types of waves
- Energy transported by waves
- Reflection and interference of waves
- Standing waves; resonance
- Refraction and diffraction

Sound

- Characteristics of sound
- Intensity of sound
- Intensity related to amplitude and pressure amplitude
- Sources of sound: vibrating strings and air columns
- Quality of sound, and noise
- Interference of sound waves; beats
- Doppler effect
- Shock waves and the sonic boom

Electric Charge and Electric Field

- Static electricity; electric charge and its conservation
- Electric charge in the atom
- Insulators and conductors
- Induced charge; the electroscope
- Coulomb's law
- The electric field
- Field lines
- Electric fields and conductors

Electric Potential and Electric Energy; Capacitance

- Electric potential and potential difference
- Relation between electric potential and electric field
- Equipotential lines
- The electron volt, a unit of energy
- Electric potential due to single point charges
- Electric dipoles
- Capacitance
- Dielectrics
- Storage of electric energy

Electric Currents

- The electric battery
- Electric current
- Ohm's law: resistance and resistors
- Resistivity
- Superconductivity
- Electric power
- Alternating current
- Microscopic view of electric current

DC Circuits and Instruments

- Resistors in series and in parallel
- EMF and terminal voltage
- Kirchoff's rules
- EMFs in series and in parallel; charging a battery
- Circuits containing a resistor and a capacitor
- DC ammeters and voltmeters

Magnetism

- Magnets and magnetic field
- Electric currents produce magnetism
- Force on an electric current in a magnetic field; definition of B
- Force on an electric charge moving in a magnetic field
- Magnetic field due to a straight wire; force between two parallel wires
- Operational definition of the ampere and the coulomb
- Ampere's law
- Torque on a current loop; magnetic dipole moment
- Applications; galvanometers, motors, loudspeakers
- The Hall effect
- Mass spectrometer
- Ferromagnetism
- Electromagnets and solenoids
- Magnetic fields in magnetic materials

Electromagnetic Induction and Faraday's Law; AC Circuits

- Induced EMF
- Faraday's law of induction; Lenz's law
- EMF induced in a moving conductor
- Changing magnetic flux produces an electric field
- Electric generators
- Transformers
- Inductance
- Energy stored in a magnetic field

Electromagnetic Waves

- Changing electric fields produce magnetic fields; Maxwell's equations
- Production of electromagnetic waves
- Calculation of the speed of electromagnetic waves
- Light as an electromagnetic wave and the electromagnetic spectrum
- Energy in EM waves

Light: Geometric Optics

- The ray model of light
- The speed of light and index of refraction
- Reflection; image formation by a plane mirror
- Formation of images by spherical mirrors
- Refraction: Snell's law
- Total internal reflection; fiber optics
- Thin lenses; ray tracing
- The lens equation

The Wave Nature of Light

- Waves versus particles; Huygen's principle and diffraction
- Huygen's principle and the law of refraction
- Interference - Young's double slit experiment
- The visible spectrum and dispersion
- Diffraction by a single slit or disk
- Diffraction grating
- The spectrometer and spectroscopy
- Interference by thin films
- Polarization
- Scattering of light by the atmosphere

Optical Instruments

- The camera
- The human eye; corrective lenses
- The magnifying glass
- Telescopes
- Compound microscope
- Lens aberration
- Limits of resolution; the Rayleigh criterion
- Resolution of telescopes and microscopes
- Resolution of the human eye and useful magnification
- X-Rays and X-Ray diffraction

We will tackle these topics in a manner which allows for comprehension and retention. The extent to which we exhaust this list depends largely on how seriously you take your work and how diligently you work in lab.

General Physics

Physics: (I've called it general physics, but the students seem to like it better if its just called physics with no modifier.)

I.  Electric Circuits and Introduction to Scientific Thinking and Graphical Methods

II.  Constant Velocity Particle Model

III. Constant Acceleration Particle Model

IV.  Zero Net Force Particle Model

            -Newton's First Law

            -Static Equilibrium

            -Newton's Third Law

V.  Constant Net Force Particle Model

VI.  Combining Models

            -free fall

            -projectile motion

            -atwoods machines

            -practical applications

VII.  Conservation of Energy

VIII.  Central Net Force Particle Model - Circular Motion

IX.  Impulsive Force Model - Momentum

X.  Waves and Sound (If time)

 

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