Polarization of Light

Today involved a lot of demonstrations, which I cannot show here. But below you will find bell work and some notes. Homework is Light I.

Honors: Kinematics Story Problems

After bellwork we worked on Kinematics Story Problems I and II. They are due tomorrow.

Conceptual: Nuclear Fusion

Homework tonight: Concept-Development 40-1

Honors: Intro to Kinematics Equations

We spent a fair amount of time on the bellwork, practicing finding the sign of acceleration conceptually:


We then started creating an equation sheet. You will be adding to this equation sheet for the rest of the year, so don't lose it!

Homework is the FRONT ONLY on Concept-Development 2-1.

Conceptual: Decay Series

Bellwork:





There aren't really any notes today.  We started the homework, Conceptual Development 39-2, together, and it is due Monday.

Honors: Velocity Practice and Acceleration Intro

Bellwork followed by some notes:

Homework tonight are Ranking Tasks Velocity II and Acceleration II.

Honors: Velocity and Relativity

Homework: Ranking Tasks People on Trains and Velocity I

Honors: Position and Speed

And so begins our kinematics unit. Most students from previous years have told me that this is the most difficult unit because we use quite a lot of math. First, some bellwork:

And notes:



Homework is Kinematics I, due tomorrow.

Spectra

The bellwork is actually the most important thing today:


Followed by some notes about spectra (singular: spectrum) to set us up for a lab tomorrow.


Homework: Quantum IV (conceptual) or Quantum IV (honors).

Orbits and Microgravity

Due to the unusually cold weather, Desert View started late this morning. Therefore periods are only 35 minutes each, so I am postponing our discussion of tides and black holes and instead we are discussing why astronauts seem to be "weightless" when in orbit.

Also, homework! For everyone: HW: Unit 8 Practice

Additional for Honors: HW: Banked Curves
And a totally awesome online tutorial to help you with that homework can be found here.

The Law of Universal Gravitation

Homework tonight: Law of Universal Gravitation

Friction Practice

We started with a very long bellwork, then added a bit to the friction notes from yesterday. Your homework tonight is:

HW: Friction

Honors, you have additional homework: Inclined Planes II

Force Practice

The test for this unit will be next Wednesday, so we're going to do some practice problems to make sure we're ready. You have today to work on this, and it is due on Monday.

HW: Force Practice
Honors HW: Force Practice

Newton's First Law

I had jury duty today, so your assignment was to read and take notes on sections 4.4 and 4.5 in the blue book OR sections 3.4 and 3.5 in the brown book. These have exactly the same information; they are just different editions.

These sections talk about Newton's First Law and the difference between mass and weight.

The Wikipedia article on Newton's First Law is actually pretty good, which you can find here. The Law basically says that without a net force acting on it, an object will just keep doing whatever it was doing. If it was at rest, it'll stay at rest. If it was already moving, it will keep moving in a straight line.

Here is a nice tidbit on the difference between mass and weight. On Earth, an object weighs 9.8 Newtons for every kilogram of mass it has. For example, I have a mass of about 60 kilograms, so on Earth I weigh about 588 Newtons (~133 pounds). On the moon, where the gravity as about one sixth as strong, I would still have a mass of 60 kilograms, but I would weigh only 98 Newtons (~22 pounds).

Homework tonight is "Force and Newton's First Law." We will go over some of the problems when I get back tomorrow, and it is due tomorrow.

Acceleration

Don't forget to turn in yesterday's homework: Ranking Tasks: Velocity I and Relativity.
Tonight's homework: Ranking Tasks: Velocity II and Acceleration II.

Velocity and Relativity

Don't forget to turn in last night's homework, Kinematics I.
Tonight's homework: Ranking Tasks: Velocity I and Relativity.

Position and Speed

Homework tonight: Kinematics I

Lens Ray Diagrams II

Today we finished up the notes for lens ray diagrams and started working on your homework, Concept-Development 30-2.

Lenses

Today we are working with some things that use refraction: lenses. First, the bellwork:



We then used our light sources and some lenses to find out what each kind of lens does to light. I'll get a picture of our final notes later, but for now, just know that convex lenses converge light and concave lenses diverge light.

The rest of the period we spent working on Concept-Development 29-3, which is due today. No new homework tonight for regular classes. Honors Homework: Snell's Law was assigned for honors students.

Total Internal Reflection

First we did some bellwork to help you on this weekend's homework:


Then we talked briefly about total internal reflection and demonstrated it with a tank of water and a laser. Here are some notes:

Total Internal Reflection

Homework tonight, due Monday: Concept Development 29-3
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Honors students: Here is a reading to look over this weekend. I'll have homework on this subject for you next week.