Welcome to the Physics Home page!
Check here for class assignments, for links to cool Physics websites, and other neat stuff! Have a great year!
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Physics Course Syllabus -click here (not available yet)
To download syllabus (a MS Word Doc file), right click on the link above and choose "Save Target As", and then save the file on your computer.
What is Physics?
In a very real way, Physics is the most fundamental of all sciences. According to Webster's dictionary, physics is "a science that deals with matter and energy and their interactions". Wow! That sounds great to me! But probably not to you. Hmmm. What this means is that physics is the study of the fundamental laws that make everything tick (or gurgle, or buzz, or spin, or explode, or whatever else they might do). If we understood everything there is to know about Physics, theoretically we would be able to explain why chemistry does everything it does, why the distant galaxies do everything they do, and so on and so on. It is kind of strange that Physics is usually taught last in High Schools rather than first, since Physics helps us to understand the other sciences better. Well, after studying this class, perhaps you will understand some of the things that you studied in the other science classes better.
We will study some very ordinary stuff, such as what happens to an apple when you let go of it. Did you know that it will travel down with an acceleration of 9.8 meters per second squared? Oh, you knew the "travel down" part? Great!
We will also study some very weird stuff, such as how to travel in time and visit your great great great grandkids. Nobody's ever managed to do this - yet - but time warping is very real, in fact, more and more automobiles have a device in them which must account for it! No kidding! (Any guess what it is?)
I look forward to an exciting year! I hope you are too.
Why study Physics?
An understanding of basic physics is either helpful or absolutely essential in careers such as construction, architecture, auto mechanics, welding, radiologist, flying aircraft, electrical wiring, and of course, engineering! Physics is also helpful in solving every day problems such as whether to wear your white or your black shirt on a hot day or how to step off of a canoe!
Studying Physics will also exercise your brain and help you learn to solve problems better. We all can use that! Of course, studying physics will increase your opportunities after high school, and, yes, that is important. Most of all, learning Physics will help you to better appreciate the marvelous universe we live in, and hopefully, to better appreciate our Creator, who thought it all up first!
Week 1
Monday, 8-11
In class: Constructed tables and bar graphs for time to run 20 meters.
Homework: Read textbook pp. 10-13.
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E=mc2
An interesting read about Einstein's famous equation!
Look at the following Adobe Flash sample.
Assume that the ladybug is traveling through empty space where there is no gas nor dust. What is wrong with its motion if we make this assumption? In actuality, it looks like the ladybug is traveling through a nebula, which is made of both gas and dust. How does this fact resolve the apparent problem with the ladybug's motion?
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