®
AP Physics B - Syllabus
Mr. Groezinger
Text: Physics, Walker, James S; 4th Ed. San Francisco: Addison Wesley
About the AP Physics B Course:
(Lecture-Discussion 4 hours/week; Lab 1 hour/week)
Advance Placement Physics B is an algebra-based course in general Physics. Its syllabus is designed by the
College Board. It is equivalent to an introductory algebra-based university level physics course. This course
will be a full year course. The emphasis is on understanding the concepts and skills and using the concepts and
formulae to solve problems. Laboratory work will be an integral part of this course.
Evaluation:
Tests
Homework
Lab
Mid-Term Exam
Final Exam
40%
20%
20%
10%
10%
Calendar:
Aug 22 – Sept 2
Introduction
Kinematics
(Walker chapters 1-4)
Units and Dimensions
Scalars and Vectors
Motion in one Dimension
Projectile Motion [C1]
Sept 6 – Sept 23
Newton’s Laws of Motion:
(Walker chapters 5-6)
Friction
Inclined Plane
Weight and Weightlessness [C1]
Sept 26 – Oct 7
Work, Energy, and Power
(Walker chapters 7-8)
Conservation of Energy
Conservation of Mechanical Energy [C1]
Oct 10 – Oct 14
Systems of Particles
Linear Momentum
(Walker chapter 9)
Impulse-Momentum Theorem
Law of Conservation of Linear Momentum [C1]
Oct 17 – 27
Circular Motion and Rotation
(Walker chapter 10-11)
Uniform Circular Motion
Torque and Rotational statics
Rotational Kinematics and Dynamics
Angular Momentum and its Conservation [C1]
Oct 31 – Nov 15
Oscillations and Gravitation
(Walker chapter 12 – 13)
Simple Harmonic Motion
Mass on a Spring
Pendulum and Other Oscillations
Newton’s Law of Gravitation
Circular Orbits [C1]
Nov 16 – 23
Fluid Mechanics
(Walker chapter 15)
Hydrostatics
Fluid Pressure
Pascal’s Principle
Archimedes Principle [C2]
Nov 28- Dec 2
Temperature and Heat
(Walker chapter 16)
Heat
Temperature
Thermal Expansion
Heat Transfer [C2]
Dec 5 - 16
Kinetic Theory and Thermodynamics
(Walker chapter 17-18)
Ideal Gas Laws and PV diagrams
Kinetic Theory and rms speed of gas molecules
Reversible Thermodynamic Processes
Heat Engines and the Carnot Cycle
First law of Thermodynamics
Second Law of Thermodynamics
Entropy [C2]
Jan 3 – 11
Electrostatics
(Walker chapter 19)
Coulomb’s Law
Electric Field
Motion of Charged Particle in Electric Field
Electric Potential Energy and Electric Potential [C3]
Jan 12 – 20
Conductors, Capacitors, Dielectrics
(Walker chapter 20)
Electrostatics with Conductors
Capacitors
Dielectrics [C3]
Jan 24 - Feb 2
Electric Circuits
(Walker chapter 21)
Current, Resistance, Power
Steady State DC Circuits
Capacitors in Circuits [C3]
Feb 6 - 13
Magnetic Fields
(Walker chapter 22)
Forces on Moving Charges in Magnetic Fields
Forces on Current Carrying Wire
Fields of Current Carrying Wires in Magnetic Fields
Biot-Savart Law and Ampere’s Law [C3]
Feb 14 – 24
Electromagnetism
(Walker chapter 23-24)
Electromagnetic Induction
Inductance
Maxwell’s Equations [C3]
Feb 27 – Mar 5
Wave Motion
(Walker chapter 14, 25)
Traveling Waves
Properties of Sound
Standing Wave and Beats
Doppler Effect [C4]
Maxwell’s
Equations
Mar 6 - 23
Geometric Optics
(Walker chapter 26)
Reflection and Refraction
Mirrors
Lenses [C4]
Mar 26 – Apr 3
Physical Optics
(Walker chapter 27-28)
Electromagnetic Spectrum
Snell’s Law
Total Internal Reflection
Image Formation by Plane and Spherical Mirrors
Image Formation by Lenses
Image Formation by a Two-Lens System
Interference and Diffraction [C4]
Apr 4 - 13
Atomic Physics and Quantum Effects
(Walker chapter 30-31)
Photoelectric Effect
Energy and Linear Momentum of Photon
Energy Levels in an Atom
DeBroglie Hypothesis: Davisson-Germer experiment
Compton Effect [C5]
Apr 16 - 20
Nuclear Physics
(Walker chapter 32)
Nuclear Reactions
Mass-Energy Equivalence [C5]
April 23 – 27 Review of the Fall Semester material
April 30 – May 4 Review of the Spring Semester material
AP Exams
C1 - Course Requirement 1: The course provides instruction in each of the five content areas outlined in the Course Description: Newtonian Mechanics.
C2 - Course Requirement 2: The course provides instruction in each of the five content areas outlined in the Course Description: Fluid mechanics and
Thermal Physics.
C3 - Course Requirement 3: The course provides instruction in each of the five content areas outlined in the Course Description: Electricity and
Magnetism.
C4 - Course Requirement 4: The course provides instruction in each of the five content areas outlined in the Course Description: Waves and Optics.
C5 - Course Requirement 5: The course provides instruction in each of the five content areas outlined in the Course Description: Atomic and Nuclear
Physics
**Laboratory: All lab experiments are “hands-on” activities. Students will be required to keep a lab
notebook containing all of their lab reports. [C6] [C7]
C6 - Course Requirement 6: The course utilizes guided inquiry and student-centered learning to foster the development of critical thinking skills
C7 - Course Requirement 7: The course includes a laboratory component comparable to college-level physics laboratories, with a
minimum of 12 student-conducted laboratory investigations representing a variety of topics covered in the course. A hands-on
laboratory component is required. Each student should complete a lab notebook or portfolio of lab reports. Note: Online course
providers utilizing virtual labs (simulations rather than hands-on) should submit their laboratory materials for the audit. If these lab
materials are determined to develop the skills and learning objectives of hands-on labs, then courses which use these labs may receive
authorization to use the "AP" designation. Online science courses authorized to use the "AP" designation will be posted on the AP
Central Web site.
Fall Laboratory Inquiries:
1. Measurement
2. Rebound height
3. Indirect measurement of inaccessible heights and distances
4. Areas, Volumes, and densities of given solids and liquids
5. Prediction and reproduction of kinematics graphs with motion detector
6. Determination of acceleration due to gravity
7. Projectile Motion – Relationship between θ and Range
8. Elastic Force in Rubber Bands – Nonlinear spring
9. Inclined Plane – Coefficient of friction
10. Uniform Circular Motion – Relationships between F and r
c
11. Conservation of Mechanical Energy Spring-mass system – Air Track
12. Conservation of Linear Momentum – Air Track
13. Spring-Mass System – Force sensor
14. Simple Pendulum - Photogate
15. Density Using Archimedes Principle
16. Dependence of Cooling Rate on Surface/Volume Ratio
Spring Laboratory Inquiries:
1. Electrostatics – Ordering the given materials in the order of their electronegativity
2. Mapping Electric Fields I: Plotting equipotential and field lines
3. Mapping Electric Field II: 3-D Landscape
4. Ohm’s Law and Internal Resistance
5. Resistors in Series and Parallel
6. Standing Waves on a String
7. Standing Waves for sound in a pipe
8. Verification of the Laws of Reflection and Refraction
9. Image formation by Spherical Mirrors and Lenses
10. Young’s Double-Slit Experiment
11. Single Slit Diffraction and Diameter of Hair
12. Photoelectric Effect
Laboratory Notebook Format
Problem/Question
Hypothesis
Experimental Procedure
Data/Observations (in the form of a data table, graph and/or equation)
Calculations
Conclusion and error analysis [C6]
AP PHYSICS
Mater Lakes Academy
2011-2012
Mr. G
Materials Needed (bring to class each day):
- A TI-84 Plus Graphing Calculator (regular or silver edition). This
will cost you a few dollars, but it is a very worthwhile investment in
your education.
- A class notebook dedicated to Physics.
- At least 100 sheets of loose leaf graph paper for notes and homework
assignments.
- A quad-ruled notebook (graph paper notebook) to be used as a
dedicated laboratory notebook.
- A ruler calibrated in both inches and centimeters.
- A protractor.
- Writing and graphing materials (pencils and colored pencils).
Class Expectations:
- Homework will be assigned almost daily and will be collected the
following class period. It will often be graded. DO NOT COPY A
CLASSMATE’S HOMEWORK and turn in as your own work. If you
choose not to do an assignment you must give me a piece of paper
which states, “I did not do my homework because…”
- If you are absent from class it is your responsibility to make up the
work you missed. You have 48 hours to make up missing
assignments once you return to school from your absence. This
applies only to excused absences. You will not be given an
opportunity to make up homework, quizzes, labs, or tests from
unexcused absences.
- Quizzes will be given periodically. Some will be announced
beforehand, some may not be.
- Tests will always be announced beforehand. If you have an excused
absence the day of a test or quiz you have 48 hours upon your return to
school to make up the test or quiz.
- You will be issued a textbook for this class. Return the textbook at
the end of the school year in good condition or you will be charged for
it.
- Come to class in an approved school uniform.
- Do not bring food or drink into the classroom. If I see food or drink
I take it.
- Do not let me see you cell phones, I-Pods, MP3 players, or
cameras. If I see them I take them and your parents may come pick
them up.
At appropriate points in the course, each of the above laboratory investigations will be
presented to the students in the form of a problem. Very often a demonstration of a physical
phenomenon will be presented to the class and an explanation of the event will be requested.
Students will be encouraged to discuss, confer, and debate about possible solutions to the
problem – to form hypotheses. In the course of this discussion, they are to identify the
variables that are at work in the phenomenon and then to decide how those variables may be
manipulated given the available equipment and time. They are then to develop ways of
isolating and manipulating these variables so as to test their hypotheses – to design an
experiment. Groups of students may be formed to test different variables. Observations and,
whenever possible, measured data will be taken from these tests. Results will be presented to
the class and judgments will be made as to what conclusions can be drawn from the data,
including possible experimental errors and how the experiment could be improved or
expanded. Lastly, the students will be presented with the modern, “accepted” explanation or
“expected” result. The students are then to discuss possible reasons for their variation from
the expected result (error analysis). Students will produce a formal report summarizing the
following: