AP PHYSICS C SYLLABUS. Text Paul A. Tipler and Gene P. Mosca. Physics for Scientists and Engineers, 6 th edition Extended Veraion Course Description AP Physics C is equivalent to a first year college physics class and is designed to prepare students for the AP Physics C Mechanics Exam given in May. The curriculum for this course is designed by the College Board and follows the syllabus for that examination, students passing the exam may receive college credit. The course utilizes guided inquiry and studentcentered learning to foster the development of critical thinking skills. Students coming out of this course will have a strong conceptual understanding of physics and well developed skills in performing and analyzing laboratory experiments. The course requires and employs a basic understanding of calculus (differentiation and integration), and also requires a prior course, Honors or Magnet Physics. The prerequisite calculus course may be taken concurrently, Teaching Strategies Each day, students will be presented with a question and will be expected to
working small groups to answer that question. New topics will be introduced in this manner, but questions will also address topics already covered to enhance conceptual understanding. Students will have access to books, the Internet, lab equipment, computer simulations, etc. The teacher will act as a facilitator assisting and guiding students, at all times encouraging carefully articulated responses based on principles of physics. On a regular basis, students will also work in small groups on whiteboard problems. Each group will be given a problem and will be expected to work out and present their solution to the class. Throughout the course, examples of real life applications of interest to students will be used to challenge them to apply what they have learned; these examples will be used in the daily questions, in the whiteboard problems, in demos, etc. Final Grade Final grade will be determined from the combination of the following scores. Tests 40% Quizzes 15% Homework and Classwork 10% Laboratory work 20% Final Exam 15%
LABORATORY WORK Laboratory work is an integral part of this course and comprises 20% or more of the class time (One lab per week approximately). There is a 1.5 hour lab every week. The lab report will be graded on the student s participation in the actual experiment and the written report. Students must save all the graded lab reports. They will be required to present the lab reports as a proof of having done these labs when they seek credit for this course in college. A minimum of 12 of the following lab experiments will be performed. For many of these labs & experiments we will be using the PASCO equipment. Each lab will require: The formation of a hypothesis or hypotheses, based on in class discussion of the presented problem or focus of each experiment. Design of (an) experiment(s), also based on in class discussion, to test the hypothesis or hypotheses. Collection of data and observations. Calculations using the collected data. Conclusions about how well the hypothesis or hypotheses held up based on the experiment. Class discussion of variance and error analysis
Written report and /or presentation LABORATORIES & EXPERIMENTS 1. MEASUREMENT Indirect measurement of inaccessible heights and distances 2. MOTION Prediction and reproduction of kinematics graphs with motion detector 3. MOTION WITH UNIFORM ACCELERATION Air track and interval timer used to gather data to produce a v versus t graph. Covers slope differential and area integral concepts. g is found experimentally. Introduction to least squares fit. 4. MEASURING THE ACCELERATION OF GRAVITY, G Choice of three experimental methods for measuring g. 5. 2 D MOTION Relationship between θ and Range including hitting a target at a given distance and altitude. 6. NEWTON'S SECOND LAW Demonstration experiment using an air track, pulley, and decade timer combination to derive the second law. 7. PROJECTILE MOTION Measurements are made to determine final velocities in the x and y directions through the use of a trebuchet machine (student built). 8. ATWOOD'S MACHINE A simple mass/pulley Atwood's Machine is used to measure the acceleration of the system and compare it with
the theoretical acceleration found using Newton's laws. The apparatus is then used to measure the mass of a penny. 9. THE COEFFICIENT OF KINETIC FRICTION, μ k Demonstration experiment to determine the coefficient of friction between an air track cart and masking tape. 10. THE CONICAL PENDULUM Measurements are made with a toy airplane moving as a conical pendulum; centripetal force is related to the period of rotation of the plane, the radius of its circular path, and the tension in its support string. 11. HOOKE S LAW: Springs in series and parallel 12. CHANGES IN POTENTIAL ENERGY Energy exchanges in a springmass system. Relationship between the area of F versus x graph and potential energy integral investigated. 13. EXPLOSIONS AND COLLISIONS Photo slides of an "explosion" and collisions of disks on a low friction surface are used to investigate conservation of momentum, position and velocity of the center of mass, and energy exchanges. 14. CONSERVATION OF MOMENTUM AND COLLISIONS Using the PASCO 2.2 m track and collision carts, conservation of momentum is examined in further detail. 15. UNIFORM CIRCULAR MOTION Relationships between Fc and r for uniform circular motion
16. CONSERVATION OF ANGULAR MOMENTUM Bicycle Wheel rotation with student and Ballistic pendulum experiment with PASCO ;O0o examine conservation of angular momentum. 17. ROTATIONAL DYNAMICS Relationships among rotational variables 18. ENERGY, MOMENTUM, AND A CROSSBOW Using a ballistic pendulum and toy crossbow, momentum and energy conversions are investigated. 19. CENTER OF MASS Finding the center of mass of flat discs of various shapes 20. THE PHYSICAL PENDULUM Compares the experimental and calculated period of a physical pendulum, as well as the relationship between T and d COURSE OUTLINE WITH MAYOR THEMES & UNIT BREAKDOWN NEWTONIAN MECHANICS A. UNIT 1 UNITS; DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS; ESTIMATIONS (WEEK 1) B. UNIT 2: KINEMATICS (18% OF COURSE CONTENT AS COVERED ON AP EXAM) 1. LESSON 1: MOTION IN ONE DIMENSION (WEEK 2) 2. LESSON 2: MOTION IN TWO DIMENSIONS (WEEKS 3 & 4)
C. UNIT 3: NEWTON'S LAWS OF MOTION (20% OF COURSE CONTENT AS COVERED ON AP EXAM) 1. LESSON 3: NEWTON'S FIRST LAW (WEEK 5) 2. LESSON 4: NEWTON'S SECOND LAW (WEEK 5) 3. LESSON 5: NEWTON'S THIRD LAW (WEEK 5) 4. LESSON 6: APPLICATIONS OF NEWTON'S LAWS (WEEK 6) D. UNIT 4: WORK, ENERGY, AND POWER (14% OF COURSE CONTENT AS COVERED ON AP EXAM) 1. LESSON 7: WORK AND WORK ENERGY THEOREM (WEEK 7) 2. LESSON 8: CONSERVATIVE FORCES AND POTENTIAL ENERGY (WEEK 8) 3. LESSON 9: CONSERVATION OF ENERGY (WEEK 9) 4. LESSON 10: POWER (WEEK 9 ) E. UNIT 5: SYSTEMS OF PARTICLES, LINEAR MOMENTUM (12% OF COURSE CONTENT AS COVERED ON AP EXAM) 1. LESSON 11: CENTER OF MASS (WEEK 10) 2. LESSON 12: IMPULSE AND MOMENTUM (WEEK 10) 3. LESSON 13: CONSERVATION OF LINEAR MOMENTUM, COLLISIONS (WEEK 11)
F. UNIT 6: CIRCULAR MOTION AND ROTATION (18% OF COURSE CONTENT AS COVERED ON AP EXAM) 1. LESSON 14: UNIFORM CIRCULAR MOTION (WEEK 12) 2. LESSON 15: ANGULAR MOMENTUM (WEEK 13) 3. LESSON 16: CONSERVATION OF ANGULAR MOMENTUM (WEEK 13) 4. LESSON 17: TORQUE AND ROTATIONAL STATICS (WEEK 14) 5. LESSON 18: ROTATIONAL KINEMATICS AND DYNAMICS (WEEK 15) G. UNIT 7: OSCILLATIONS AND GRAVITATION (18% OF COURSE CONTENT AS COVERED ON AP EXAM) 1. LESSON 19: SIMPLE HARMONIC MOTION (WEEK 16) 2. LESSON 20: MASS ON A SPRING (WEEK 16) 3. LESSON 21: PENDULUM AND OTHER OSCILLATIONS (WEEK 16) 4. LESSON 22: NEWTON'S LAW OF GRAVITY (WEEK 17) 5. LESSON 23: ORBITS OF PLANETS AND SATELLITES (WEEK 17) II. REVIEW & CUMULATIVE FINAL EXAM (WEEK 18) TOPIC OUTLINE:
ALL TOPICS WILL FOLLOW SIMILAR PROGRESSIONS. Students will be introduced to the topic in broad generalities. Students will then be expected to perform background research in order to gain a better understanding of the topic. Students will be assigned supportive work, such as problems, vocabulary, more specific research, etc. in order to reinforce that understanding. Students will be given a rubric and/or a tutorial guideline to lead them through the task assigned to each topic The students will be assessed in a variety of manners to truly gauge their understanding of the subject material. These methods may include, but not be limited to Tests, Quizzes, Performance, Presentations & Reports