A P P h y s i c s B–C o u r s e S y l l a b u s
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 formall
y 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, 3rd ed., Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River New Jersey, 2007.
Secondary Textbook: Douglas C. Giancoli, Physics – Principles with Applications 5th 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
Hands-on
2 Galileo’s Experiment Study uniformly accelerated motion on an inclined
plane
Hands-on
3 One dimensional motion Use a motion detector to observe one dimensional
motion in terms of position, displacement, velocity and acceleration
Hands-on
4 Acceleration due to Gravity Determine the acceleration due to gravity by examining
position at set time intervals using a ticker tape
Hands-on
5 Composition and Resolution of
Forces
Use a force table to graphically and analytically add
and subtract force vectors
Hands-on
6 Two dimensional motion Use a bowling ball on a level surface with regularly
marked positions to visualize and measure two
dimensional motion / Plot two dimensional motion
using video analysis
Whole
classpulleys
hands-on /
virtual
7 Bull’s Eye Predict the landing location of a projectile based on measurement and calculation
Hands-on
8 Coefficient of Friction Determine the coefficient of static and kinetic friction
of various objects including a student’s sneaker
Hands-on
9 Atwood’s Machine and Friends Examining Newton’s second law in several dynamic
systems involving changing direction of tension forces
using pulleys.  Friction on the system will also be
investigated
Hands-on
10 Work-energy theorem and energy
conservation
Exploring conservation of energy and work on a
number of systems including cart on an inclined plane,
human motion and a “popper”
Hands-on
11 Collisions and Explosions Conservation of momentum in collisions and
explosions in one dimension on a motion track, and in
two dimensions using video analysis
Hands-on
/ virtual
12 Torques and Rotational Equilibrium
of a Rigid Body
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
Hands-on
/ virtual
13 Simple Harmonic Motion – Mass on a
Spring
Dynamics and conservation of energy for a mass on a
spring, including damping using a motion detector
Hands-on
14 Simple Harmonic Motion – Pendulum Conservation of energy, period, variation of mass and
length of a simple pendulum examined
Hands-on
15 Properties of Sound Examination of the wave properties of various sounds
using a microphone and wave visualization software, determination of the speed of sound using resonance
tubes
Hands-on
16 Buoyancy To explore Archimedes’ Principle and the principle of
Flotation and create the lightest boat that can carry the
most mass without sinking
Hands-on
17 Specific Heat of Metals Use of calorimetry to identify unknown metals based
on specific heat
Hands-on
18 Linear Thermal Expansion Determination of the linear coefficient of thermal
expansion for several metals by direct measurement of
their expansion when heated
Hands-on
19 The Ideal Gas Law Boyle’s law and Charles’s law investigated using a
homemade apparatus made from a plastic syringe
Hands-on
20 Coloumb’s Law Determination of charge on objects based on indirect measurement on electrostatic forces
Hands-on
21 Equipotentials and Electric Fields 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
Hands-on
22 Circuit Challenge Construction of series and parallel circuits based on
functional requirements
Hands-on
23 Ohm’s Law Exploring the relationship between voltage, current,
and resistance for ohmic and non-ohmic materials
Hands-on
24 RC Circuits Determination of the RC time constant using a
voltmeter as circuit resistance, finding an unknown capacitance, finding an unknown resistance
Hands-on
25 Magnetic Fields Mapping the magnetic field around a permanent
magnet
Hands-on
26 Magnetic Induction of a current
carrying wire
Determination of the induced emf in a coil as a
measure of the magnetic field from an alternating
current in a long straight wire
Hands-on
27 Interference – Light as a wave 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
Hands-on
28 Reflection  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
Hands-on
29 Snell’s Law 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
Hands-on
30 Bohr Theory of Hydrogen Comparison of the measured values of the wavelengths
of hydrogen spectrum with Bohr theory to determine
the Rydberg constant
Hands-on
31 Radioactive Decay and Half - life Simulation of radioactive decay using dice as an
analog, Geiger counter measurement of the half-life of
137Ba
Hands-on

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