Section 15, 17 & 18: Electric Forces and Fields, Current and Resistance, DC Circuits

Topics 15, 17, 18 – Charge, Electric Forces, DC Circuits

Goal: For this Topic, students will study electric charge and forces, explore the properties of direct-current circuits, and investigate current, voltage, resistance and electric power.

Objectives:

·       Identify the types of electric charge and describe the process of charge transfer. Explain the idea of conservation of charge.

·       Describe properties of conductors and insulators, citing examples of each. Explain the process of charging an object via conduction or by induction. Define polarization.

·       Use Coulomb’s law to calculate the electrostatic force between charges. Apply the superposition principle to determine the force on a charge from multiple charges.

·       Discuss how to measure voltage and current with a voltmeter and ammeter. Outline the difference between a voltmeter and ammeter. Draw a circuit diagram with a voltage source, resistor, voltmeter, and ammeter.

·       Relate the applied voltage to the current through a given resistor via Ohm’s law. Define resistivity, and calculate the resistance of a long straight wire given the resistivity and dimensions of the wire.

·       Explain the relationship between voltage, current, resistance, and power in a simple electric circuit.

·       Analyze circuits involving combinations of resistors in series configurations.

·       Analyze circuits involving combinations of resistors in parallel configurations.

·       Use Kirchhoff’s laws to solve problems involving complex DC circuits.

Section Assignments:

1.     Read and Take Notes sections Read 15.1-15.2

2.     CH 15 Problems 1, 2, 5

3.     CH 15 Problems 10, 11, 15

4.     Read and Take Notes sections 17.1-17.3, CH 17 Problems 1, 10

5.     Read and Take Notes sections 17.4 and 17.6 (not 17.5), Ch 17 Problems 14, 16, 18

6.     Ch 17 Problems 40, 44, 45

7.     Read and Take Notes sections Read 18.1-18.3, Ch 18 Problem 6, 7,

8.     Read and Take Notes sections 18.4, CH 18 Problems 10 (Annotated), 13

9.     Ch 18 Problems 18, 24, 27

10.  Ch 18 Problems 28, 31

11.  Test Review

12.  Chapter 15, 17 & 18 Test