Some cool applied physics

Hi gang,

While you are celebrating New Year's, you might want to follow along with what the folks at NASA are doing.  Check this out...

ScienceAlert: NASA Is About to Reach The Farthest Object Yet in The Solar System. Here's How to Watch. https://www.sciencealert.com/nasa-s-new-horizon-is-about-to-encounter-the-furthest-space-object-we-ve-ever-reached

Enjoy,
Mr. C

Gravity... Again!

The following is an interesting article from a British paper.  It is most likely over simplified for it's pedestrian readership, but it has some interesting points.

Enjoy,
Mr. C

Express.co.uk: Was Einstein WRONG? Scientists probe supermassive BLACK HOLE to disprove theory of gravity.
https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1043472/einstein-theory-gravity-wrong-black-hole-experiment-andrea-ghez

Interesting overview of particle physics in a business magazine

You might enjoy the article below.

Forbes: At Last, Physicists Understand Where Matter's Mass Comes From. https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2018/11/07/at-last-physicists-understand-where-matters-mass-comes-from/

Mystery particle discovered?

https://www.newsweek.com/lhc-scientists-spot-mystery-particle-so-weird-it-could-threaten-standard-1201377

Scientists at CERN may have discovered a new particle.  Problem is, this one might break the Standard Model.  Link to very accessible article above.

Enjoy,
Mr. C

Video Link

Whoops!  I forgot to post a link to the video I wanted to show!

Here is the link...
Powers of Ten

Enjoy!
--Mr. C

Helpful website

For more info about the stuff we have been discussing in class lately, visit the following website...

http://m.particleadventure.org

Peace,
Mr. C

New particles!

Well, things keep moving along in the world of particle physics.  It would seem that two new particles have been discovered.  You can see more info here

ScienceAlert: CERN Scientists Say The LHC Has Confirmed Two New Particles, And Possibly Discovered a Third.

https://www.sciencealert.com/cern-large-hadron-collider-beauty-experiment-two-new-bottom-baryon-particles-tetraquark-candidate

Onward,
Mr. C

End of September

Decent progress in chapter 29 today.  Next time I hope to do the bright line spectrum activity, and supply you with the important equations for chapter 29.

Hopefully we will be able to cover important parts of chapter 30 next week for anyone planning to take the SAT subject test in physics.

Onward,
Mr. C

Update, 25 Sept. 2018

So I think we have spent as much time as we can on chapter 28.  Eventually we will have a "counter" on the photoelectric effect, but now it is time to move on to chapter 29.  FYI notes on chapter 28 are now posted on the class website.  I would still like to wrap up modern physics by the end of next week at the latest.

Onward,
Mr. C

1st week...done!

Hey Gang,

Good work this week.  Well, we got through deriving the time dilation equation this week, which is the "heavy lifting" part of relativity.  I have a couple related topics I would like to discuss when we next meet, but other than that, we are wrapping things up as far as relativity goes, and we are getting ready to move on to atomic physics.

Be sure to respond to the survey I sent out regarding a "wish list" of final relativity discussion topics.  Keep moving forward, and I will see you in class next Tuesday.

Onward,
--Mr. C

Gravitational constant

Think science is just black and white?  Ever wonder how scientists discover the values of universal constants?  Apparently they do, too!  I thought this might be of interest.

Onward,
Mr. C

Phys.org: Two new ways to measure the gravitational constant. https://phys.org/news/2018-08-ways-gravitational-constant.html

Tech developments in particle physics

There's always work to be done in getting better info about the subatomic world!

Onward,
--Mr. C

io9: Physicists Achieve Incredible Electron-Accelerating Feat at Small Scale. https://gizmodo.com/physicists-achieve-incredible-electron-accelerating-fea-1828684431

More particle physics discoveries

This article covers material which is a bit beyond our planned topics of study, but I thought it might interest some of you.

Onward,
Mr. C

ScienceAlert: Physics Milestone as Scientists Finally Observe Predicted Higgs Boson Particle Decay. https://www.sciencealert.com/higgs-boson-particle-decay-bottom-quarks-observed-large-hadron-collider-standard-model

A use for physics

Just thought I'd provide you with some evidence that physics does have some practical uses.

😊

Enjoy,
--Mr. C

ScienceAlert: Physicists Have Invented an Essential Component Needed For Quantum Computers. https://www.sciencealert.com/physicists-invent-essential-component-quantum-computer-breakthrough-topological-insulator

about links, and WebAssign

Hi Physics Phans...

Sorry!  I just realized that the "links" that I thought I was posting are in fact only the addresses...not actual links.  I believe I have fixed that in all previous posts, and I will be mindful of that moving forward.

Also, I have been assured by the good people at WebAssign that everyone should now be able to access content without issue.  If you are still having issues where you are asked to pay for access, please let me know ASAP.

Thanks,
--Mr. C

Dark Matter?

Here is an article with some information regarding the current quest to find out more about dark matter.  I thought I would share it, in particular, because of the UMASS connection.

--Mr. C

Phys.org: Invisible dark matter. https://phys.org/news/2018-08-invisible-dark.html

Funny for the day...
Enjoy,
--Mr. C

Relativity in the news... Again!

Hi Physics Phans!

So, if you think our summer work in relativity is out of date...I mean, Einstein published this stuff over 100 years ago... well here's some evidence that it's still relevant.  The link is to an article which talks about recent research surrounding Einstein's interpretation of gravity.  Admittedly, this deals with General Relativity, not Special Relativity which we are investigating, but I thought it would be interesting to you anyway.

Enjoy,
Mr. C

Space.com: Star Zooms Past Monster Black Hole, Confirms Relativity. https://www.space.com/41291-relativity-revealed-milky-way-core.html

Air resistance

A short article relating one of our topics this year to a (current) sporting event.  They do a nice job of simplifying the math.

Enjoy,
Mr. C

WIRED: The Physics of Drafting in the Tour de France. https://www.wired.com/story/the-physics-of-drafting-in-the-tour-de-france

Amazing Woman!

Here's a great article about one of the many unsung heroes working in physics today.  This woman was a major player in three big discoveries, but this is the first I have heard of her.  She talks about her work in this interview, and it is interesting to hear about what her day to day work is like.

Enjoy,
Mr. C

WIRED: Meet the Woman Who Rocked Particle Physics—Three Times. https://www.wired.com/story/meet-the-woman-who-rocked-particle-physicsthree-times/

Einstein in the news again

Hey there AP Physics fans... Yet another example of a current news story dealing with material related to our summer work.
Just thought I'd share.

Onward,
Mr. C

Live Science: Right Again, Einstein: Special Relativity Works Even in Ghostly High-Energy Neutrinos. https://www.livescience.com/63076-einstein-relativity-neutrinos.html

Physics and astronomy breakthrough

Hi AP folks,

Here is another article tangentially related to some of the things we will be investigating in the fall.  Furthermore, the article talks a bit about how science is done in terms of corroborating data from different sources, and minimizing uncertainty.

Enjoy,
Mr. C

Gizmodo: Cosmic Ray Mystery Finally Cracked Thanks to Supermassive Black Hole Beaming Energy Straight at Earth. https://gizmodo.com/cosmic-ray-mystery-finally-cracked-thanks-to-supermassi-1827524625

Interesting Articles for Summer Reading

Hi Physics Phans!

A few physics related articles have made it into my newsfeed recently and I thought I would share them with you in hopes that your summer schedule provides you some reading time.  The first relates to your summer reading.  It has to do with our current understanding of Einstein's Theories of Relativity...
https://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/39177/20180709/einsteins-theory-of-relativity-still-works-even-under-extreme-conditions.htm

The second has to do with particle physics.  We won't get to this level of detail during class this fall, but this is interesting nonetheless, regarding the detection of Higgs bosons...
https://phys.org/news/2018-07-higgs-boson-quarks.html

Stay curious, and I will keep trying to fuel the fire from my end.

Onward!
--Mr. C

Home Stretch Info

Well we are rapidly approaching D-Day which is Monday, May 14th.  We are finishing our last topic needed for the exam which is Simple Harmonic Motion (SHM).  Not a moment too soon!

Beginning the week of May 7th, most of you will begin taking AP exams for other classes.  During that week I plan to have practice test experiences every day.  All students who are present in class on any day that week will take a timed Free Response or Multiple Choice exam.  Students are encouraged to take more than one of each type, as I will count only your best score from one of each type (1 FR and 1 MC) toward your grade for Q4.  Students who would like to take extra test sections before or after school will have opportunity to do that also.

We are on the home stretch.  You have worked VERY hard for two years now.  Let's finish strong and knock this test out of the park!

Onward.
--Mr. C

Break reminder

Just a quick reminder to look at WebAssign, and keep up with the assignments posted there.  Also, please look over the info on the class website pertaining to gravity and orbits.  You can find it in the "Presentations" page.

Enjoy time away from school.

Onward,
Mr. C

March 23rd

Good work this week, one and all.  We are wrapping up our discussion of torque with some sample problems.  From there we will look forward to covering angular momentum. 
As we look ahead to next week, expect the possibility of one or more quizzes (multiple choice and free response), and also look in WebAssign for extra rotational motion problem assignments taken from the engineering version of our textbook.

Onward!
Mr. C

March 20, 2018

Pretty good work in both A and C-blocks today.  We got most of the way through torque, and made good progress on the new treatment of cross-products.  We will finish cross-products, and soon move into angular momentum.  Good work in rotational motion, folks.  We should be able to start looking at AP free response problems in rot mot soon.

Onward,
Mr. C

March 16,2018

C-block did a "no counter" on energy and momentum.  Then they finished the moment of inertia sample problems and began a discussion of torque.  The plan is for A-block to do the same on Monday.

Please note that the second set of chapter 10 webassign problems has had the due date pushed back to the middle of next week.

As always, contact me with questions or concerns.

Onward!
--Mr. C

March 13 update

Hi AP Phans,

Just a reminder that we WILL have our free response quiz next time we are back in school.  Material covered will focus on conservation (work, energy, momentum).  Related calculus is fair game, so make sure you have gone over all that material in preparation.

C-block got through most of the moment of inertia sample problems yesterday, so we will make sure we finish with those, and then continue forward in rot mot.

Stay safe in today's storm and I'll see you soon (hopefully!)

Onward!
Mr. C

Fri. 9 March

A-block went over the recent multiple choice quiz and started rotational inertia sample problems today.  The plan is for C-block to do the same on Monday, and then we will have our free-response quiz on Tuesday.  Fair game topics for the quiz come from chapters 6-8 of our text (conservation: work, energy, momentum; and related topics).

As always, contact me with questions or concerns.

Onward,
Mr. C

Post snow day info

Well I hope everyone enjoyed our unplanned day off.  After snow removal around my home, my kids and I went skiing for a few hours and I tried to reach one of my daughter's friends how to ski.

But that isn't why you looked in on this blog. You want to know the upcoming quiz plans.  Here is what I have decided:
We will take the free response quiz on Tuesday, March 13th.  That is the next time A and C blocks meet on the same day.

In the meantime, we will move ahead with our studies of rotational motion.  As always, contact me with questions or concerns.

Onward,
Mr. C

Good work today by both A and C-blocks.  We got through the bulk of Chapter 7.

Next time we will look at the new interpretation of conservative vs. non-conservative forces, and also begin to look at some AP-level applications of these concepts.

Onward.

It's been a long time!

Whew!  Maybe it's because I'm getting older, but I feel like this 1st semester flew by!

In an effort to better organize myself, I am going to try once again, to make regular posts here.

Both classes (A and C blocks) have had a chance to go over the Midyear Exam, and now it is time to get back to business.  Tomorrow (Jan. 25th) we will begin Chapter 7, which in many respects is a continuation of Chapter 6.  We will discuss potential energy, and talk about the new mathematics that will be required of us to describe PE at the AP level.

Onward!