AP Physics B Course Syllabus A. COURSE OVERVIEW Advance Placement Physics B, the third course in the accelerated science program, is designed for the student who has advanced skills in math and science and intends to pursue a post-secondary education in the fields of Science, Pre-Medical, Engineering or Mathematics. This is a first-year course in physics. Topics covered include mechanics, electricity and magnetism, sound and light. The student should be concurrently enrolled in Honors Precalculus and have the approval of the Science department. Evaluation is based upon homework, tests, quizzes, laboratory work, midyear and final exams. B. METHOD OF INSTRUCTION Class meetings will generally take three common forms, lab/activity, interactive lecture discussions, or problem solving/review. The design as such will allow students to experience and engage the subject conceptually, actively, and analytically. Individual classes may contain multiple elements of these models to suit the topic. Classes meet each weekday for 47 minutes. Every fourth day will be a double length period allowing for longer labs/activities. Lab activities will be of two varieties: investigation or application. Investigation labs and activities will allow students to do just that investigate a physical phenomenon, and draw conclusions from their measurements and observations. Investigation labs or activities may take place before any reading, or formal in-class discussion on the topic has begun in order to allow students to explore the subject and discover the principles via their own inquiry and collaborative group effort. Much of the course content will be initially discovered using this workshop physics approach. Application labs and activities will provide students the opportunity to conduct experiments that involve the concepts they are studying as well as apply understanding of physics to solve practical problems. These labs will frequently be open-ended or contain an open-ended component challenging students to solve a problem by utilizing both their understanding of the topic as well as their critical thinking skills. Individual labs may contain both application and investigation elements. Nearly all units will involve some hands-on lab component. Some activites will consist of a self-contained packet, while others will require the student take their own notes and write their own procedure, observations, data, conclusions etc. There will be at least one formal lab report per quarter. All lab materials are to be kept in a notebook for reference. Interactive lecture discussions will contain elements of a traditional lecture, where concepts are formally presented to students and problem solving is modeled. However, these sessions should also lead to a conversation between students and instructor where the observations from investigations are considered and generalized as well as considering students experience of the concepts from their lives and their interests. Classes will often begin with a starter exercise, which may be a problem or a demonstration of a discrepant event may be presented, and students will be asked to come up with a written explanation. Problem solving and review sessions may involve problems solving strategy and concepts to be reviewed by the class as a whole, or smaller group workshop sessions enabling peer interactive learning, facilitated by the instructor. C. COURSE OBJECTIVES 1. To utilize real-world experience to understand physical phenomena 2. To utilize controlled laboratory experience to understand physical phenomena 3. To gain an understanding of the workings of our physical world and be able to express that understanding in terms of: a) written/spoken language b) graphical diagrams c) mathematical analysis 4. To develop observational problem solving and critical thinking skills that will benefit you for any vocation D. TEXTBOOKS AND SOFTWARE Primary Textbook: James S. Walker, Physics, AP* Edition, 3 rd ed., Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River New Jersey, 2007. Secondary Textbook: Douglas C. Giancoli, Physics Principles with Applications 5 th ed., Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River New Jersey, 1998.
Data Collection/Analysis Software: Logger Pro, Vernier Software E. COURSE CONTENT AREAS 0. The Study of Physics Chapter 1 A. Scientific Method and Philosophy B. Measurement and Mathematics I. Newtonian mechanics A. Kinematics 1. Motion in one dimension Chapter 2 2. Uses of Vectors Chapter 3 3. Motion in two dimensions Chapter 4 B. Newton s laws of motion Chapters 5 & 6 1. Static equilibrium (1st law) 2. Dynamics of a single particle (2nd law) 3. Systems of two or more bodies (3rd law) 4. Uniform Circular Motion C. Work, energy and power Chapters 7 & 8 1. Work and the work-energy theorem 2. Power 3. Conservative forces and potential energy 4. Conservation of energy D. Systems of particles, linear momentum Chapter 9 1. Impulse and momentum 2. Conservation of linear momentum, collisions 3. Center of Mass F. Circular Motion and Rotation Chapters 10 & 11 1. Angular position, velocity, and acceleration 2. Torque and rotational statics 3. Rotational kinematics and dynamics 4. Angular momentum E. Gravitation Chapter 12 1. Newton s law of gravity 2. Orbits of planets and satellites a. Circular b. General II. Oscillations, Waves and Sound A. Oscillations about equilibrium Chapter 13 3. Simple harmonic motion (dynamics and energy relationships) 4. Mass on a spring 5. Pendulum and other oscillations B. Wave motion Chapter 14 1. Traveling Waves 2. Wave Propagation 3. Standing Waves 4. Superposition III. Fluid Mechanics and Thermal Physics A. Fluid Mechanics Chapter 15 1. Hydrostatic pressure 2. Buoyancy 3. Fluid flow continuity 4. Bernoulli s equation B. Temperature and heat Chapter 16 1. Mechanical equivalent of heat 2. Heat transfer and thermal expansion C. Kinetic Theory and Thermodynamics
1. Ideal gases Chapter 17 a. Kinetic model b. Ideal gas law 2. Laws of thermodynamics Chapter 18 a. First law (PV diagrams) b. Second Law (heat engines) c. Third Law (entropy) IV. Electricity and Magnetism A. Electrostatics Chapter 19 1. Charge and Coloumb s Law 2. Electric field and electric potential (including point charges) 3. Gauss s Law 4. Fields and potentials for charge distributions B. Conductors and capacitors Chapter 20 1. Electrostatics with conductors 2. Capacitors a. Capacitance b. Parallel plate c. Spherical and cylindrical 3. Dielectrics C. Electric circuits Chapter 21 1. Current, resistance, power 2. Steady-state direct current circuits with batteries and resistors only 3. Capacitors in circuits a. Steady State b. Transients in RC circuits D. Magnetic Fields Chapter 22 1. Forces on moving charges in magnetic fields 2. Forces on current carrying wires in magnetic fields 3. Fields of long current carrying wires 4. Biot-Savart law and Ampere s Law E. Electromagnetism Chapter 23 1. Electromagnetic induction (including Faraday s law and Lenz s law) 2. Inductance (including LR and LC circuits) 3. Maxwell s equations V. Electromagnetic Waves and Optics A. Physical Optics Chapters 25 & 28 1. Interference and Diffraction 2. Dispersion of Light and the electromagnetic spectrum B. Geometric optics Chapters 26 & 27 1. Reflection and refraction 2. Mirrors 3. Lenses VI. Atomic and Nuclear Physics A. Atomic physics and quantum effects Chapter 30 1. Photons and the photoelectric effect 2. Atomic energy levels 3. Wave particle duality B. Nuclear physics Chapters 31, 32, and 29 1. Nuclear reactions (including conservation of mass number and charge) 2. Mass-energy equivalence
F. PROPOSED LAB EXPERIMENTS The following is a list of proposed lab experiments. There may be other investigative activities, demonstrations, and virtual labs in addition to those listed below. # Lab Title Notes Type 1 Experimental Accuracy and Precision Introduce good lab practice, the concepts of accuracy and precision in measurement and calculation 2 Galileo s Experiment Study uniformly accelerated motion on an inclined plane Use a motion detector to observe one dimensional 3 One dimensional motion motion in terms of position, displacement, velocity and acceleration 4 Acceleration due to Gravity Determine the acceleration due to gravity by examining position at set time intervals using a ticker tape 5 Composition and Resolution of Use a force table to graphically and analytically add Forces and subtract force vectors Use a bowling ball on a level surface with regularly Whole 6 Two dimensional motion marked positions to visualize and measure two class dimensional motion / Plot two dimensional motion hands-on / using video analysis virtual 7 Bull s Eye Predict the landing location of a projectile based on measurement and calculation 8 Coefficient of Friction Determine the coefficient of static and kinetic friction of various objects including a student s sneaker Examining Newton s second law in several dynamic 9 Atwood s Machine and Friends systems involving changing direction of tension forces using pulleys. Friction on the system will also be investigated 10 Work-energy theorem and energy conservation 11 Collisions and Explosions 12 13 Torques and Rotational Equilibrium of a Rigid Body Simple Harmonic Motion Mass on a Spring 14 Simple Harmonic Motion Pendulum 15 Properties of Sound 16 Buoyancy 17 Specific Heat of Metals 18 Linear Thermal Expansion Exploring conservation of energy and work on a number of systems including cart on an inclined plane, human motion and a popper Conservation of momentum in collisions and explosions in one dimension on a motion track, and in two dimensions using video analysis Using a meter stick with lever knives to determine center of gravity, and determine unknown mass / video analysis of an irregular object in two dimensional motion about center of gravity Dynamics and conservation of energy for a mass on a spring, including damping using a motion detector Conservation of energy, period, variation of mass and length of a simple pendulum examined Examination of the wave properties of various sounds using a microphone and wave visualization software, determination of the speed of sound using resonance tubes To explore Archimedes Principle and the principle of Flotation and create the lightest boat that can carry the most mass without sinking Use of calorimetry to identify unknown metals based on specific heat Determination of the linear coefficient of thermal expansion for several metals by direct measurement of their expansion when heated / virtual / virtual
19 The Ideal Gas Law 20 Coloumb s Law 21 Equipotentials and Electric Fields 22 Circuit Challenge 23 Ohm s Law 24 RC Circuits 25 Magnetic Fields 26 Magnetic Induction of a current carrying wire 27 Interference Light as a wave 28 Reflection 29 Snell s Law 30 Bohr Theory of Hydrogen 31 Radioactive Decay and Half - life Boyle s law and Charles s law investigated using a homemade apparatus made from a plastic syringe Determination of charge on objects based on indirect measurement on electrostatic forces Mapping of equipotentials around charged conducting electrodes, construction of electric field lines, quantitative evaluation of the dependence of the electric field on distance for a line of charge Construction of series and parallel circuits based on functional requirements Exploring the relationship between voltage, current, and resistance for ohmic and non-ohmic materials Determination of the RC time constant using a voltmeter as circuit resistance, finding an unknown capacitance, finding an unknown resistance Mapping the magnetic field around a permanent magnet Determination of the induced emf in a coil as a measure of the magnetic field from an alternating current in a long straight wire Determination of the wavelength of a source of light by using a double slit, determination of grating spacing based on a known wavelength of light Establish the law of reflection, determine the focal length and radius of curvature of cylindrical mirrors using the ray box. Determination of focal length and radius of curvature of spherical mirrors using image height and object distance Determination of the index of refraction of a Lucite block and gelatin. Discovery of phenomenon of total internal reflection as an extension of Snell s Law Comparison of the measured values of the wavelengths of hydrogen spectrum with Bohr theory to determine the Rydberg constant Simulation of radioactive decay using dice as an analog, Geiger counter measurement of the half-life of 137 Ba