AP Physics 1

Welcome!  I look forward to working with you this year.

From the beginning, let me emphasize your role in your learning.  It is likely that you will have to work harder than you are accustomed for your understanding in this class.  The most successful students will not wait to have things explained to them, but will strive to stretch the things they know to analyze new situations.  Do not confuse "I do not get it" with "I cannot do this."  

That said, as you work through the summer assignment, please do not let confusion worry you too much – this is meant as a preview.  We will learn about each of these topics in class in more detail.  

PLEASE use the solutions provided and DO NOT feel guilty about looking at them. They're there to help you learn, and it's even fine if you don't fully understand every part of them. However, before and after looking at the solutions, you will benefit from putting effort into figuring things out. You can achieve great growth, even when you can't yet get to the right answer. And it's always a good idea to come to class with specific questions.  

Also, although I normally don't advise procrastinating, it wouldn't hurt to wait until late July to start on this so it's fresh in your mind when we start classes.

OK, so here's the assignment:

PART I

Use the PhysicsClassroom.com website to learn about some motion variables

• • Click here to go to www.physicsclassroom.com/Physics-Tutorial/1-D-Kinematics

  • Read and review Lesson 1; take notes if and when you feel it necessary

  • Every time you encounter a "Quick Quiz" or "Check Your Understanding" set of questions, RECORD YOUR ANSWERS on a piece of paper AND CHECK THEM.  When you get any questions wrong, review the reading. 

    • I will expect to see, at a minimum, your quick quiz and understanding check answers. On the whole for this section, I simply want something that indicates you actually read and processed the materials. As long as your work meets this basic criteria, please feel free to use any format that works for your learning.

PART II

Learn about how we are expected to organize our problems and show our work

• Download the About_Problem_Solving_Intro.pdf file (attached at the bottom of the page).  Read the introduction, then watch the video below to see an explanation of how to do the sample problem.  If it doesn't feel like you're showing too much work, you're probably not showing enough.  (You DO NOT need to draw the boxes – those are just for the sake of explaining each step.

• Review the videos below and complete the Motion_Equations_Practice.pdf worksheet (attached at the bottom of the page).  SHOW ALL YOUR WORK, including each step of the GUESS process.

  • THIS IS REVIEW: If the physicsclassroom.com reading made perfect sense to you, you might be able to skim forward in this video.  Take a look at the table at the 1:00 mark; if you are comfy with these variables, feel free to move on to the next video.  On the other hand, if you weren't as confident after the reading, please take a look at the examples here to get more familiar with these key variables.

• Learn the equations and see how we can use them.

• • Download the Motion_Equations_Practice.pdf file (attached below) and work out all of the problems on a separate sheet of paper.  SHOW ALL YOUR WORK, including all the steps of the GUESS process.

  • Download and use the solutions (attached below) to check your work and/or develop questions to ask

  • I strongly suggest doing the work a little at a time.  It will be due at the end of the second week of the school year, though it would be smart to have it mostly done by the time school starts.  (We will be having new homework assignments during that time.)