PROBLEM
SOLVING
WORKSHOP
PHYS1121/31/41 T1 2025
PSW T1 2025
Please sit 3-4 people per desk
near a whiteboard
Introduce yourselves
Laboratories: You MUST Pass 5/6!
• You need to attend your in person labs and pass 5 of 6 to pass the
course.
You need to arrive on time and wear enclosed shoes. (A pass is worth 1, a partial pass
0.5, and a fail 0)
• For each lab to count, you must do the PRE-LAB, on Each week’s
Moodle section.
Laboratories: Mandatory Safety Induction
THIS WEEK, complete the two quizzes under ‘Lab’ in week 1
If you do not complete them, your mark will be a zero!
Laboratories: Get your lab manual!
It is the GREEN book from the UNSW Bookstore.
You can also print and BIND your own.
What if you miss a lab? Online Lab!
1. Self-select for the online lab
On each week’s lab page:
2. Collect a ‘can’t complete lab’ form from
your lab DICH
Email it to physics.fyl@unsw.edu.au to access
the online lab.
This automatically puts you in the online
lab, but you can only do this once!
3. Email physics.fyl@unsw.edu.au with proof
of mishap/misadventure
The online lab is due the SAME WEEK as the real lab!
If you need an extension you need to contact UNSW Special Considerations
Online Labs
Instructions are on the same page
as the pre-lab and the online selfenrolment form.
You are expected to complete the
online lab once you’re enrolled! Noone will remind you to do it!
Invigilated Quizzes
• In Weeks 7 and 10 in the lab (check your exam time in Moodle)
• MUST PASS BOTH INVIGILATED QUIZZES TO PASS COURSE
• You will be given up to three opportunities to sit the test.
What are problem solving classes?
These form a bridge between lecture material, labs and the exam.
• Vital exam skills
• Effective study skills
No longer giving print out versions
Encourage students to use digital
White Board Tutorials (NEW)
We are trying this out for the first time!
Collaborative working on the whiteboards instead of on paper!
• Group work
• Coloured Markers (to return to me at end of lesson)
Planning your time
It can be challenging managing your time especially when lectures are not
timetabled. Being able to manage your time is a skill that will benefit you in all
aspects of your life. We have made recommendations for the amount of time
each week you should spend studying this course in the course outline.
Activity:
• Say hello to the people around you! You will be studying together for the
next few months
• Pull out your timetable. Designate at least 4 hours next week for working
through the lecture material. Mark it on your timetable.
• Share this with others on your table, this helps you commit to it! Ask your
peers next week if they followed through with this commitment.
• Optimal position for Faculty\School\Unit name
• Main
heading
- Arial font
So you
doing Physics
at UNSW…..
What is it going to be like?
For many of us…
• We are away from home for the first time, away from our families
and friends
• We are meeting new people and wondering if they will become our
new friends.
• We have much more freedom and have to learn how do we manage
our free time?
• There are new opportunities, clubs, and groups; we have to figure
out where we fit in.
• We are adjusting to a continually changing mix of online and faceto-face after COVID.
What are you worried about?
• Many students experience
difficulties and worries coming to
university, from living in a new place,
to trying to make new friends, to
finding their way in a new academic
environment.
• If you'd like, use the QR code to
anonymously let us know what
you're worried about w.r.t. this
course! This helps us tailor our
advice to you.
Estimation in Physics
Physics 1A PSW
Group Trivia
• In your table groups:
⚬ Get a piece of blank paper ready
⚬ You will be asked to estimate different quantities
⚬ Write your groups response next to each question number
⚬ Give answers in SI units and scientific notation!
Question 1
Radius of the earth
Question 2
Mass of the Sun
Question 3
Radius of the observable universe
Question 4
Diameter of a single carbon atom
Question 5
Mass of a Uranium atom
Question 6
Wavelength of visible light
Question 7
Bond length of Cl₂
Question 8
Number of stars in the universe
Question 9
Number of grains of sand on earth
Question 10
Number of permutations of a chess game
Solutions
Scoring
Correct to 1sf gets 3 points
Correct order of magnitude gets 2 points
Correct within 1 order of magnitude gets 1 point
Questions marked with a star (*) have the
more open marking criteria.
OOM = orders of magnitude
1. Radius of the earth = 6.371 x 10⁶ m
2.Mass of the sun = 1.988 x 10³⁰ kg
3 points: correct OOM
3.Radius of the observable universe = 4.40 x 10²⁶ m
2 points: within 4 OOM
4.Diameter of a single carbon atom = 3 x 10⁻¹⁰ m
5.Mass of a uranium atom = 3.95 x 10⁻²⁵ kg
1 point: within 8 OOM
6.Wavelength of visible light = 3.5 to 7 x 10⁻⁷ m
7.Bond length in Cl₂ = 1.99 x 10⁻¹⁰ m
8.Number of stars in the universe = 6 x 10²² *
9.Number of grains of sand on earth = 7 x 10²¹ *
10.Number of permutations of a chess game (conservative lower bound) = 10¹²⁰ *
Content Revision. Sig Figs, Vector Notation
Significant Figures: We start counting significant figures at the first non-zero digit.
For example: 0.0301 → 3 Sig. Figs
23.30 → 4 Sig. Figs
In carrying out calculations give your answer with the same number of significant figures as the piece
of data used in the calculation with the least number of significant figures.
Vectors
Unit Vector Notation:
𝑨
𝑨 = 𝑨𝒙 𝒊 + 𝑨 𝒚 𝒋 + 𝑨𝒛 𝒌
𝑩
Components
Magnitude:
𝑨𝒙 = 𝑨 𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝜽
𝑨= 𝑨 =
Addition:
𝑨𝟐𝒙 + 𝑨𝟐𝒚
𝑨𝒚 = 𝑨 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝜽
𝒐𝒓 𝑨𝟐𝒙 + 𝑨𝟐𝒚 + 𝑨𝟐𝒛
𝑦
𝑨
𝑨+𝑩
𝑨 ± 𝑩 = 𝑨𝒙 ± 𝑩 𝒙 𝒊 + 𝑨𝒚 ± 𝑩 𝒚 𝒋 + 𝑨𝒛 ± 𝑩 𝒛 𝒌
Multiplication of a vector by a scalar:
𝑨
𝜶𝑨
𝑨𝒚
𝑨
𝜶𝑨 = 𝜶𝑨𝒙 𝒊 + 𝜶𝑨𝒚 𝒋 + 𝜶𝑨𝒛 𝒌
𝜃
𝑨𝒙
𝑥
Content Revision. One - Dimensional Motion
Position:
𝒙 𝒕
𝟎
𝒙 𝒕
Displacement:
∆𝒙 = 𝒙2 − 𝒙1
Average Velocity:
∆𝒙
𝒗𝒂𝒗𝒈 = .
∆𝒕
Average Speed:
𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆
∆𝒕
𝑣2 − 𝑣1
Average Acceleration: 𝒂𝒂𝒗𝒈 =
∆𝒕
Motion with Constant Acceleration:
1
𝒙 𝒕 = 𝒙 𝒕0 + 𝒗 𝒕0 ∆𝒕 + 𝒂∆𝒕2
2
𝒗 𝒕 = 𝒗 𝒕0 + 𝒂∆𝒕
𝒗2 𝒕 = 𝒗20 𝒕0 + 2𝒂∆𝒙
𝒙
v(t)
t
Displacement ∆𝒙:
Area under the curve of v vs t.
x(t)
Instantaneous Velocity 𝒗(𝒕):
Slope of the x vs t graph
t
Instantaneous Acceleration:
Slope of the v vs t graph
v(t)
Change in Velocity ∆𝒗:
Area under the curve of a vs t
a(t)
t
t
0
