Physics 20 – Mr. R. Christoffel
Course Introduction
Instructor: Mr. R. Christoffel
Room: 311
email: rob.christoffel@rbe.sk.ca
Mark Breakdown:
Following is a mark breakdown for this course. It is highly dependent on daily work and assignments and for that
reason, assignments have been given a heavy weighting. Marks will be posted at the back of the room on a regular
basis.
Mark Distribution for Physics 20
Category
Labs
Homework
Assignments
Quizzes, Unit Tests, Exams
Final Exam
Percentage
13.3%
13.3%
13.3%
40.1%
20.0%
Course Objectives:
 To examine some of the conceptual foundations of physics.
 To develop analytical thinking and problem solving skills
 To develop scientific curiosity and skepticism.
Expections and Policies:
Materials: You are responsible to bring the following materials each day and each period.
1. A scientific calculator. (with the sin, sin-1, cos, cos-1, tan, tan-1)
2. Writing utensils and paper.
3. Your issued booklets and texts.
Attendance:
Learning should take place every day. It is your responsibility to ensure material and activities missed are
addressed. Students who regularly miss classes will find it difficult to be successful. If you have a planned
absence, see me before to find out what work will be missed.
Exams and Unit Tests:
You are responsible to bring appropriate materials to exams. Formulas will be provided on unit tests and
the final exam. Students should keep an active list of all formulas used in the course on a page in their
notebook so that it can be compared to my formula sheet before the exams. For students missing an exam
or test, with an acceptable verified reason, a makeup exam will be given the next day the student is in
attendance, unless other previous arrangements have been made with me. Students missing an exam,
without an acceptable or verified reason, will be assigned a grade of zero.
Assigned tasks:
It is your responsibility to complete all assigned tasks. When a task is not completed you miss out on the
task and have less chance of mastering that content. I am available for help over noon hour and after
school. You know when you require assistance. It is your responsibility to make arrangements with me to
get extra help.
Late Tasks:
Late assignments will be accepted for partial marks, unless previous arrangements have been made with
me. Normally assignments will be penalized by 10% per day.
Help:
I am always willing to provide extra help provided: 1. You are well prepared. 2. You do not wait until
exam or test day. 3. You do not expect me to do the work for you.
Physics can be a challenging course. Do not let unresolved difficulties or questions linger and build up. I
am here to help you, but you must make me aware that you need help. Usually, a small amount of your
time is all that is required to solve the problem.
Behaviour:
The expectations I have for students is that they guide their behavior using the principles of honour,
respect, and responsibility. Damaging, defacing or stealing school property is not acceptable behavior.
Physical or verbal abuse of self, or others, will not be tolerated. Should you prove incapable of behaving as
Physics 20 – Mr. R. Christoffel
Course Introduction
an adult, you will cease being treated as one, and may face further sanctions (such as removal from labs and
other activities.)
Academic Malpractice:
This is defined in the Campbell Collegiate Ethical Practice and Academic Honesty Policy.
In summary, students who copy other students’ work or allow their work to be copied, will receive no
credit for that task. A student that brings unauthorized materials to, or uses unauthorized materials during
and exam, quiz or test will receive a mark of zero for that test, quiz or exam. A student who continues to
talk or disturb the class during a test, quiz or exam, after being warned once, will receive a mark of zero for
the test, quiz or exam. An assignment, lab, or other activity, handed in after it has been marked, handed
back to the class and/or taken up will be worth no marks. No make up alternative assgnments, labs,
activities, tests, quizzes, or exams will be given in the preceding situations.
How to be Successful in Physics:
The most important person in the learning process is the learner. You will not learn unless you are
legitimately involved in the learning process. Being involved consists not only of active participation in
class, but also completion of all assigned tasks.
Come to class prepared to work. Taking classes off will cause you to fall behind starting a cycle of
incomplete tasks, an inability to new mater, and little success. Do not expect me to help you catch up if you
choose to take classes off.
Ask questions. If you need math help, or can’t set up a problem, ask for help! For some assigned
problems, I expect you to have difficulties. Ask for help!
Students who diligently complete all required work easily pass this course. Those who do not complete
assigned tasks have a difficult time being successful. Copying, rather than learning, is a sure way to be
unsuccessful in this course. I encourage you to work in small groups to discuss ideas, approaches and
compare results, but do no copy each others work.
Physics 20 – Mr. R. Christoffel
Course Introduction
Chapter 10—The Properties and Behaviour of
Waves
10.1 ... What are waves? ........................................274
10.2 ... Vibrations ..................................................274
10.3 ... Wave Motion .............................................277
10.4 ... Transmission of Waves .............................280
10.5 ... Transmission and Reflection .....................283
10.6 ... Waves in 2-D .............................................285
10.7 ... Interference of Waves ...............................289
10.8 ... Standing Waves-A Special Case of
Interference in a 1-D Medium ...................291
10.9 ... Interference in Water Waves .....................293
Chapter 11—The Interference of Sound Waves.
11.1 ... What is Sound? ..........................................314
11.2 ... The Speed of Sound ..................................316
11.3 ... Mach Number ............................................317
11.4 ... The Transmission of Sound Waves ...........318
11.5 ... The Intensity of Sounds .............................319
11.6 ... The Human Ear .........................................321
11.7 ... The Reflection of Sound Waves ................324
11.8 ... Acoustics in Buildings...............................328
11.9 ... Diffraction and Refraction of Sound Waves
...................................................................329
Chapter 12—Interference of Sound Waves
12.1 ... Interference of Identical Sound Waves .....338
12.2 ... Beat Frequency ..........................................341
12.3 ... Vibrating Strings .......................................343
12.4 ... Modes of Vibration—Quality of Sound ....346
12.5 ... Mechanical Resonance ..............................348
12.6 ... Resonance in Air Columns ........................350
12.7 ... Music and Musical Instruments.................352
12.8 ... Sonic Booms .............................................355
12.9 ... The Doppler effect.....................................358
Chapter 13—Light Rays and Reflection
13.1 ... What is Light? ...........................................379
13.2 ... The Speed of Light ....................................370
13.3 ... The Transmission of Light ........................373
13.4 ... The Pinhole Camera ..................................374
13.5 ... Laws of Reflection ....................................376
13.6 ... Images in a Plane Mirror ...........................377
13.7 ... Applications of Plane Mirrors ...................389
Chapter 14—Curved Mirrors
14.1 ... Curved Reflectors ......................................394
14.2 ... Reflection in a Converging Mirror ............395
14.3 ... Images Formed by Converging Mirrors ....396
14.4 ... Images Formed by Diverging Mirrors .......398
14.5 ... Equations for Curved Mirrors ...................401
14.6 ... Spherical Aberration..................................404
14.7 ... Applications of Curved Mirrors ................405
Chapter 15—Refraction of Light
15.1 ... Refraction ..................................................420
15.2 ... Index of Refraction ....................................421
15.3 ... Law’s of Refraction ...................................423
15.4 ... Snell’s Law—A General Equation ............425
15.5 ... Total Internal Reflection and Critical Angle
...................................................................426
15.6 ... Lateral Displacement and Deviation of Light
Rays ...........................................................429
15.7 ... Some Applications of Refraction ..............430
Chapter 16—Lenses and Their Applications
16.1 ... Lenses ........................................................444
16.2 ... Refraction in Lenses ..................................445
16.3 ... Images formed by a converging lens .........446
16.4 ... Images formed by a Diverging Lens .........449
16.5 ... The Thin Lens Equation ............................451
16.6 ... The Camera ...............................................454
16.7 ... The Human Eye .........................................455
16.8 ... Defects in Vision and Their Correction .....456
16.9 ... Some Applications of Lenses ....................460
Chapter 17—Light and Colour
17.1 ... Dispersion and Recomposition ..................470
17.2 ... Colour by Subraction.................................471
17.3 ... Colour by Addition ....................................476
17.4 ... Infrared and Ultraviolet Light ...................476
17.5 ... Rainbows and Other Colour Effects ..........478
Chapter 17*—The Nature of Light (*Independent
Study)
17.1 ... Models in Science ...................................349*
17.2 ... The Wave Model of Light .......................350*
17.3 ... The Wave Model and Reflection .............353*
17.4 ... The Wave Model and Refraction ............354*
17.5 ... The Wave Model Predicts Diffraction .....355*
17.6 ... The Wave Model Examines Dispersion ..358*
17.7 ... Interference of Light ................................359*
17.8 ... Why is The Sky Blue (Daddy?)...............362*
17.9 ... The Wave Model Explains Polarization ..364*
17.10 . Status of the Wave Model for Light ........367*
17.11 . Electromagnetic Waves ...........................368*
Chapter 8—Thermal Energy
8.1 ..... Kinetic Theory of Matter ...........................196
8.2 ..... Temperature ..............................................198
8.3 ..... Thermal Expansion....................................199
8.4 ..... Heat Energy ...............................................203
8.5 ..... Heat Exchange in Mixtures .......................207
8.6 ..... Change of State and Latent Heat ...............210
8.7 ..... Thermodynamics, Heat, and Work ............214
8.8 ..... Conservation of Heat Energy in the Home 219
8.9 ..... Solar Homes ..............................................221