AP Physics C Mechanics Syllabus
Maine East High School, Fall 2011, Dr. David Schultz
Overview
Students enrolled in AP Physics C have already completed a year-long, accelerated physics
course in their junior year. It is required that they also have completed, or are concurrently
enrolled in a first semester calculus course. AP Physics C courses will meet five days a week,
for a 70-minute period each day. Each semester is 85 days. Mechanics will be covered during
the first semester (completed before the winter break) and electricity and magnetism exam will
be covered during the second semester. Approximately two weeks will be allowed for review
immediately prior to the AP exams in May, and review sessions will also be held outside of class
time during the second semester. Students are required to take the AP Physics C exam in
mechanics, and are strongly encouraged to take the exam in electricity and magnetism in May.
Textbook
University Physics, 12th Edition, Young and Freedman (Pearson, 2008)
Materials Needed
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Textbook
Three-ring binder with tab dividers and notebook paper
Scientific calculator
Pens and pencils
WebAssign account and access to internet outside of the class
Course Description
This fast-paced semester-long course is designed to prepare students for the AP Physics C exam
in mechanics. Topics will be covered in the order presented in the Young and Freedman text,
beginning with kinematics. Calculus is introduced early and is used throughout this course, with
emphasis on both differential and integral methods. Concepts and problem-solving techniques
will be introduced through a series of lectures, interactive demonstrations, question and answer
sessions, problem-solving sessions, laboratory investigations, and homework assignments. The
course will adhere to a tight schedule and students will be expected to put in 30-60 minutes per
night in homework.
Major Units of Study
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Kinematics
Newton’s Laws of Motion
Work, Energy and Power
Systems of Particles and Linear Momentum
Circular Motion and Rotation
Oscillations and Gravitation
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Instructional Strategies
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Lectures: Formal presentation of concepts will typically proceed through lecture. Since
students have already completed a year-long, advanced course in physics, lectures will be
limited in number and duration to topics deemed to be sufficiently difficult or novel to
students. Wherever possible, the instructional strategy will be to present students with
phenomena first, and follow this with explication of concepts, working from concrete to
abstract.
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Interactive demonstrations: The instructor will incorporate a variety of demonstrations
within the course. The purpose of such demonstrations ranges from introduction of a new
concept (introductory) to detailed analysis of a phenomena using labware probes (advanced.)
Demonstrations will serve to support the conceptual understandings required for the
mechanics curriculum.
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Question and Answer Sessions: Interaction and feedback make question and answer sessions
essential in this course. Class-wide question and answer sessions will be incorporated on a
daily basis, in a largely informal manner. These may center on student queries about lecture
topics, demonstrations, labs or physics problems.
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Problem-Solving Sessions: Students will be allowed class time to work individually and
collaboratively on solving problems assigned in class or as homework. These sessions are
valuable insofar as they allow students to exchange strategies for mastering problem-solving
techniques, and also allow students to interact with the instructor on a one-on-one basis.
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Laboratory Investigations: As a laboratory-based course, students should expect to spend
about 20% of class time (1 day for every 5 days of instruction) doing laboratory work. Labs
are designed to reinforce concepts from the mechanics curriculum. Labs are designed to
maximize student inquiry, collaborative interactions, authentic applications and open-ended
creative solutions whenever possible. Students will often be required to generate their own
procedures, decide which information is relevant, and then decide how to organize and
analyze this information. Students will be required to consider and evaluate possible sources
of error in laboratory investigations. Clear communication of ideas and findings through
writing, tables, graphs and calculations will be demanded. Reports will typically document
purpose, method, data, analysis and conclusions. Students will work collaboratively in teams
of 2-3, but will also be held individually accountable for the final reports. Students are
expected to compile a portfolio of their lab work for each semester.
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Homework: AP Physics is a college-level course! Students will need to invest 45-60 minutes
of time each evening on preparation for class. This will include online and written problem
assignments, reading assignments, laboratory write-ups and general study time. Problemsolving assignments are of particular importance in the homework regimen. Problems found
at the end of the textbook chapter will be assigned on a nightly basis. Students will submit
answers through Webassign and will be expected to achieve a minimum percentage of
correct responses after a limited number of allowed attempts. From these problem sets,
students will also be asked to submit one fully-worked out problem in writing. These
problems should be submitted on loose leaf paper.
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Assessment Strategies
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Philosophy: Assessment of Student Understanding: Since this course is fast-paced, it is
essential that students prepare themselves in a daily manner for lessons. Toward this end, the
instructor will assess students on a daily basis in either formative or summative manners.
Students will be assessed formatively on a daily basis in a variety of ways, including
o Formative: Although homework assignments and quizzes will comprise 20% of the
classroom grade, the spirit of homework assessment is to provide formative feedback.
Students will be given multiple opportunities to achieve full credit on problem
assignments, encouraging them to revisit problems that they find especially difficult.
On a weekly basis, students will be expected to successfully complete a minimum
percentage of online problems. The instructor will also collect and provide feedback
on students’ written problems on a weekly basis. Homework quizzes will be
administered on a frequent basis to test student understanding and provide feedback
for improvement.
o Summative: Laboratory reports (see previous section), unit tests and the final exam
are modeled on the AP exams and are very difficult. Unit tests are given at the end of
each unit and are written to encourage students to see the ‘big picture.’ Unit tests will
be divided into multiple choice and free response sections. Free response problems on
unit tests will involve combining material from previous units.
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Weighting of Class Work Grade: The class work portion of the grade will be weighted as
follows: Homework and Quizzes (20%), Labs (20%), Unit Tests (60%)
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Final Exam: A final examination will be administered at the termination of each semester
and will be cumulative. The final exam will count for 20% of the semester grade.
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Grading: Final grades for the quarter and semester will be assigned according to the
following scale: A (90-100%), B (80-89.9%), C (70-79.9%), D (60-69.9%), F (<60%)
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Mechanics Labs
Students will do one lab for every 5 days of instruction, such that 20% of course time is spent on
laboratory work. The following laboratory investigations will support the mechanics curriculum:
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Investigation of one dimensional kinematics: Students will use motion sensors and
photogates to determine kinematical quantities of displacement, velocity and acceleration for
one dimensional systems with constant and varying acceleration.
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Projectile motion: Students will use marble-shooting projectile devices to test predictions of
range for launches from the edge of a ‘cliff.’
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Statics Lab-Struts: Students will calculate the tension and/or compression in a strut as a
function of the angle the wire makes with the vertical. They will also make and test
predictions about the maximum tilt angle that is possible for a ladder leaning against a wall.
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Collisions in two dimensions: Students will use video analysis software to evaluate
momentum and energy conservation in collisions of pool balls on a table.
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Interrupted pendulum: Students will test predictions for theoretical ‘stopping radius’ of an
interrupted pendulum based on concepts of energy conservation and centripetal force.
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Atwood machine and Newton’s Second Law: Students will test predictions for the
acceleration of a system of objects coupled in an Atwood machine. This lab will also be
modified to include the case in which one object is constrained to move along a nearly
frictionless inclined plane.
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Terminal velocity: Students will analyze video of the motion of falling coffee filters to
determine terminal velocity and the effects of air resistance.
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Ballistic pendulum: Students will fire steel marbles into a pendulum ‘catch’ to test
predictions of maximum height derived from conservation of energy and momentum.
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Stopping distance and the work-kinetic energy theorem: Students will determine the
coefficient of friction between an object and the surface upon which it slides to a stop.
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Conical pendulum and ‘reduced g’ pendulum: Students test predictions of predicted periods
for both a simple conical pendulum and a reduced g pendulum in which the plane of
oscillation is no longer vertical.
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Angular kinematics of box fan: Students will use a strobe light to determine the angular
displacement, instantaneous velocity and acceleration of a box fan.
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Rotational dynamics of bicycle wheel: Students will use a photogate sensor to measure a
variety of dynamics quantities for a weighted bicycle wheel driven by a falling mass.
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Balanced torques: Students will test the conditions for equilibrium necessary to balance a
meter stick by balancing multiple masses. Students will also measure balance conditions for
cases in which the center of mass of an extended object is not located at the pivot.
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Simple harmonic motion: Students will use force and motion sensors to measure oscillatory
quantities of a mass vibrating on a string. They will investigate conservation of energy by
dropping a mass connected to a relaxed vertical spring.
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Virtual Labs: Students will also investigate a variety of mechanics principles using PhET
online simulations: moving man, calculus grapher, projectile motion, collision lab, gravity
and orbits (my solar system), etc.
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2011-2012 Advanced Placement Physics Units
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Course Introduction (1 day)
Kinematics in One Dimension (13 days)
o Uniform linear motion and free fall
o Interpreting graphs of position, velocity and acceleration versus time
o Non-uniform linear motion
o Applying the calculus of kinematics
 Time derivatives: velocity and acceleration
 Time integrals: displacement and change in velocity
Kinematics in Two Dimensions (9 days)
o Vector mathematics basics
o Motion with constant velocity in two dimensions
o Motion with acceleration in one dimension (projectile motion)
Newton’s Laws of Motion (12 days)
o Review of Newton’s three laws
o Free body diagrams
o Systems of coupled objects
o Nature and effects of friction, esp terminal velocity
o Noninertial frames of reference and apparent weight
o Centripetal force
o Torque, center of mass and the second condition for equilibrium
Work, Energy and Power (10 days)
o Work as path integral for force and displacement – the dot product
o Work-Kinetic Energy Theorem
o Derivation of gravitational potential energy
o Conservative and nonconservative forces
o Energy diagrams
o Force as the derivative of potential energy with respect to displacement
o Power as the time-derivative of work
Systems of Particles and the Conservation of Linear Momentum (9 days)
o Impulse-momentum theorem
o Applications of calculus
 Force as the time-derivative of momentum
 Impulse as the time-integral of force
o Elastic and inelastic collisions
o Application of momentum conservation in one- and two-dimensional systems
Circular Motion and Rotation (14 days)
o Uniform versus non-uniform circular motion
o Kinematical quantities, displacement, velocity and acceleration
o Rotational inertia and parallel axis theorem
o Angular momentum and its conservation
o Law of Universal Gravitation including orbits and satellite motion
Oscillations and Gravitation (10 days)
o Kinematics of simple harmonic motion, esp trigonometric formulae
o Dynamics of simple harmonic motion: Hooke’s Law
o The Pendulum: simple and physical
o The Mass-spring system
o Damped and driven harmonic motion
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Contact and Availability Information for Dr. Schultz
E-mail:
Website:
Phone:
Location:
Availability:
dschultz@maine207.org
http://east.maine207.org/dschultz.aspx
847-825-4484, Voice Mailbox 1362
Office (007) and classroom (006)
Periods 3 and 7, after school and by appointment
Grade Posting
Students and parents can access grades through District 207’s online grade portal. I typically
post grades on a daily basis.
Schedule and Handouts
I post a unit calendar on my website, http://east.maine207.org/dschultz.aspx containing a
description of what we cover in class, nightly assignments and work collected. Most documents
and handouts are available on the student shared drive, shared/science/schultz/AP Physics
When You Are Absent
First, access schedule and handouts (above). Second, it is your responsibility to contact me and
schedule make-up work so that this is completed within three days of your return. Do not take
class time from others to do this; see me outside of class!
Late Work
Assigned work is due at the beginning of the period. Make-up work will not be accepted for
unauthorized absences. For an authorized absence, you have a grace period of a couple of days
to make up the work, and the assignment will be left blank in the grade portal. After this period,
I will change the assignment status to ‘/M’ (missing, zero credit) in the portal. I try to accept late
work for reduced credit as often as possible, because I want you to have an incentive to complete
all assignments (gradebook code ‘/L.’)
Safety
Safe behavior and practices in the classroom and laboratory are mandatory. These are detailed in
the safety contract. You must understand and follow these rules, or you will not be allowed to
participate in the activity and lose credit for the assignment.
Academic Honesty
Students are expected to complete all tests and assignments honestly and will not collaborate in
dishonest actions. Students will not give or accept answers or assignments unless directed to by
the teacher. Students caught cheating or plagiarizing will be subject to the disciplinary actions
stated in the Student Handbook, page 37.
Classroom Expectations – All students are expected to be:
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READY:
-All school tardy and absence policies are in effect
-Bring required materials
RESPECTFUL: -Show respect for people and their property
-Communicate at appropriate times
RESPONSIBLE:
-Work on the task assigned
-Practice proper laboratory safety procedures
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