Course Description

AP Physics C: Mechanics

College Board

Course Description

This course is equivalent to a first-year college physics class and is designed to prepare students for the AP® Physics C: Mechanics Exam given in May. This course follows the syllabus for that examination, and students passing the exam may receive college credit. The course requires and employs a basic understanding of calculus (differentiation and integration), and also requires a prior course, Physics or AP Physics 1. The prerequisite calculus course may be taken concurrently. The emphasis is on understanding of the concepts and skills and using the concepts and formula to solve problems. Laboratory work is an integral part of this course and will comprise a minimum of 20 percent of the course.


Texts

Physics for Scientists and Engineers by Serway and Jewett

and

Barron’s AP® Physics C

or

The Princeton Review’s Cracking the AP Physics C Exam

Course Requirements:

Students are expected to be active participants in their learning. Classroom materials including a pencil/pen, notebook(s), paper, a calculator, a metric ruler, a protractor, and your conversion sheet.

Meeting Times:

This class meets during 1st period on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays in room 515U.

Classroom Policies:

  1. Be prepared to learn: This means bringing your required materials and being prepared and willing to be an active learner for the entire period. In addition, you should be respectful, cooperative and have a positive attitude.

  2. Electronic Equipment Policy: Electronic equipment (such as cell phones, tablets, laptops, and iPods) should only be used in class with my permission. Students who violate this policy will face consequences that may include confiscation of the device. If a student would like to take notes on an electronic device, that generally will be just fine, but the student should request permission from me first. Note: An iPad with Notability is an excellent way to take notes.

  3. Attendance: Be here and be on time. If you are absent, it is your responsibility to discuss with me any missing work. Homework typically will be posted on Canvas or UT Quest, so you can also check there for a summary—and should look there first. Come see me before or after school to get any absent work you need to pick up (do not ask me for it during class). Barring extenuating circumstances, you will have two days to complete the work for every one day you were absent (excused).

  4. Late assignments: The importance of staying up-to-date and meeting deadlines cannot be overestimated. In many cases the success in a class, such as physics, is highly correlated with keeping on schedule. As a result, you will be allowed to turn in ANY assignment up to two school days after the due date for a maximum of 70% of the grade earned.

  5. Safety: Procedures must be followed as directed. Failure to follow these rules may result in removal from class and a zero for the day. No food or drink is allowed to be consumed in the classroom.

  6. CHECK INFINITE CAMPUS AND CANVAS OFTEN!

  7. Respect others: It is of utmost importance that you treat your fellow students and your teacher with respect.

  8. INTEGRITY FIRST! Help each other, but copying from other people is not learning, and it’s not ethical. Acknowledge others that have helped you by including their name(s) under yours. All unoriginal work will result in a zero on the assignment, points off your work habits grade, and a call home. Allowing someone else to copy your work is unethical as well. Cheating is not tolerated—INTEGRITY FIRST!

  9. RESPECT!

Teaching Strategies

Students will have access to books, the Internet, lab equipment, computer simulations, etc. The teacher will act as a facilitator assisting and guiding students, at all times encouraging carefully articulated responses based on principles of physics. Practice problem sets, labs, and assessments will be assigned and evaluated by the instructor.

On a regular basis, students will also work in small groups on whiteboard problems. Each group will be given a problem and will be expected to work out and present their solution to the class. Throughout the course, examples of “real life” applications of interest to students will be used to challenge them to apply what they have learned; these examples will be used in the weekly questions, in the whiteboard problems, in demos, etc.

Mechanics Labs

Description

There is a two-hour lab every other week. The lab report will be graded on the student’s participation in the actual experiment and the written report. Students must save all the graded lab reports, as they may be required to present the lab reports as a proof of having done these labs when seeking credit for this course in college.

At least 12 of the following lab experiments will be performed.

  1. Areas, volumes, and densities of given solids and liquids – error analysis

  2. Prediction and reproduction of kinematics graphs with motion detector

  3. Determination of acceleration due to gravity

  4. Falling coffee filters

  5. Projectile Motion – Relationship between and Range

  6. Projectile challenge – Shoot the given target suspended from ceiling

  7. Hooke’s Law: Springs in series and parallel

  8. Elastic force in rubber bands – Nonlinear springs

  9. Atwood’s machine

  10. Relationships between Fc and r for uniform circular motion

  11. Rotational dynamics – Relationships among rotational variables

  12. Conservation of mechanical energy spring-mass system

  13. Conservation of linear momentum – The three kinds of collisions

  14. Center of mass of flat discs of various shapes

  15. Simple pendulum and spring-mass system

  16. Physical pendulum – Relationship between T and d

  17. Torsional Pendulum

Each lab will require:

  • The formation of a hypothesis or hypotheses, based on pre-lab discussion of the presented problem or focus of each experiment

  • Design of experiments, also based pre-lab discussion, to test the hypothesis or hypotheses

  • Collection of data and observations

  • Calculations using the collected data

  • Conclusions about how well the hypothesis or hypotheses held up based on the experiment

  • Class discussion of variance and error analysis

  • Written report

Outline of Course

Introduction and Kinematics

  • Units and Measurements

  • Scalars and Vectors

  • Kinematics

  • Motion in 1-D

  • Motion in 2-D

  • Projectiles

  • Uniform Circular Motion

  • Relative Motion

Newton’s Laws of Motion and Classical Mechanics

  • Force and Mass

  • Tension and Normal Reaction

  • Uniform Circular Motion

  • Friction

  • Drag Force

Linear Momentum

  • Impulse and Linear Momentum

  • Law of Conservation of Linear Momentum

  • Two-Body Collisions in 1-D and 2-D

  • Systems of Particles

Rotational Kinematics

  • Constant Angular Speed

  • Constant Angular Acceleration

  • Relationships between Linear and Angular Variables

Rotational Dynamics

  • Rigid Bodies

  • Moment of Inertia and Torque

  • Rotational Variables and Newton’s Second Law

  • Angular Momentum

  • Conservation of Angular Momentum

  • Rotational Equilibrium

  • Mechanical Equilibrium

  • Rolling Motion

Work, Energy, and Power

  • Work

  • Energy

  • Conservation of Energy

  • Work done by Conservative and Non-conservative Forces

  • Work Due by Variable Forces

  • Kinetic and Potential Energies

  • Conservation of Mechanical Energy

  • Translational Motion

  • Rotational Motion

  • Rolling Motion

  • Power

Gravitation

  • Newton’s Law of Gravitation

  • Gravitational Potential Energy

  • Motion of Planets and Satellites

  • Kepler’s Laws

  • Critical and Escape Velocities

Oscillations

  • Simple Harmonic Oscillations

    • Kinematics

    • Dynamics

  • Simple Pendulum

  • Spring Mass System

  • Physical Pendulum

AP Physics C: Mechanics Course Description – full version or short version

Summaries

AP College Credit Search