Regents Syllabus

Content Outline

Kinematics - What's the difference between speed and acceleration? Does a car that moves at very high speeds also have a great acceleration? How does the initial kick of a football affect how quickly it falls to the ground? In kinematics, you will learn all about the basics of linear motion, much of which you are familiar with from everyday life. The elements of position, time, speed and acceleration are developed and quantified through applications to many problems. In this way, you'll better understand the two types of motion we emphasize; constant speed and constant acceleration. A special case of constant acceleration is the motion of a falling (or rising) object near Earth's surface, called free-fall. Using a variety of equipment, you can easily measure this value a number of ways, and learn to apply the notions of constant acceleration to problem solving. That's what you have to get good at to succeed in physics!

Statics and Dynamics - If an airplane is so large and heavy (some 500,000 pounds on takeoff!), how in the world can it stay in the air for hours? Why do planes take off into a head wind ? If a boat is so heavy, and made of material that can be denser than water, why does stay afloat? What causes objects to start or stop moving? If a seatbelt restrains you when you stop short in the car, then why does everything BUT the seatbelt move forward? In Statics (stationary objects), you'll learn about what keeps objects at rest, and why some don't tend to remain at rest. The concept of a force, vector and a resultant (net or unbalanced) force is explored, with many applications. What causes objects to move? Why causes some objects to remain moving, but not accelerating? We will also venture into the world of Newton's Laws of motion, and discover just why it is really important to wear your seatbelt ! In addition to forces that move objects, we'll also examine forces that stop them, better known in most cases as friction. While most of us have an everyday idea of this force, it's not always obvious what is really happening between two surfaces in contact. Lastly, we will discuss Newton's Law of gravity (well, he didn't invent it, but he examined it pretty closely!), and how your weight changes as you go to other planets in our Solar System.

Motion in a Plane - If you throw a baseball nearly straight up into the air, will it stay in the air for more or less time than if you had thrown it at a low angle relative to the ground? If you drop a bullet from a gun the same moment one is fired from it horizontally, which hits the ground first? This is motion in two dimensions (x and y) ! Most of us have a good feeling for this as we have all been to an amusement park, and gone on those sickly spinning rides. This topic discusses circular motion, and just how objects behave when they move in a circle (and just what it is that keeps them there). You'll also learn about objects that are shot or projected (called Projectile Motion), such as kicked footballs, hit baseballs, or just about any ball in any sport that is thrown either horizontally (like a pitched baseball) or shot at an angle (a kickoff at the football game). How can you increase the distance the ball travels?

Impulse and Momentum - BOOOOM!! What happens when two cars collide? Well, besides an increase in your insurance bill, there's a ton of physics that happens! Did you know that police investigators use elementary physics to examine crashes and use this information in courts? Essentially, when objects collide, they exchange "motion," or a quantity called momentum. In this exchange, whether it's between two cars on a highway or a proton and antiproton in a particle accelerator, in the collision, the total system momentum is a constant, and this is a super important law of physics that helps particle physicists a lot, and also helps your police crash investigators a lot.

Work, Energy and Power - So, just what is energy anyway? When you wake up tired in the morning, you say you have no energy and that you just can't do anything; so, having energy must simply mean that you can do more things than if you didn't have it, more or less. Essentially, this means that energy is the ability to do work. In this topic, we discuss, believe it or not, ROLLER COASTERS ! ... which are perfect examples of the interchange of different types of energy as a coaster moves. Power is simply the rate at which work is done or used up. Interestingly, as we'll see in Electricity, the "power" company is not at all selling you "POWER" but they are selling you ENERGY! How much energy you use up depends on how long you keep things running (like the AC on a hot day), and that it's YOU who create the power, that is, the rate at which energy is used up. Lastly, we take a short look at astronomy, and the orbits of planets. How does the motion of a planet change if it is close to the Sun relative to one that is very much further away? Here, we'll explore Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion.

Wave Phenomena - How is it at all possible that WIND can make a bridge fall down? In the Waves unit, you will see, hear and FEEL all sorts of cool stuff, and realize that waves are EVERYWHERE ! Of course, we encounter waves in music all the time, and so will have to explore that too. You will even use slinkys to understand simple wave properties, and build a small swimming pool, aka 'wave tank', to see wave reflections. We will also have fun with a fog machine and lasers in order to study how light moves. Get ready for one of the only light shows you'll ever see in High School !

Electricity and Magnetism - Why does your hair stand up when you pull your sweater or a blanket off you quickly in the Winter time ? Why does Mary's and Kenny's hair stand up when they touch the Van de Graaf generator ? In Electrostatics, you will learn about how charges move, and why they move, and how not to get shocked (unless you want to!). You'll investigate electric fields, and why you should stay in your car if it is hit by lightning and what happens to an aircraft if they are struck by lightening during flight ? Why does your home blow fuses more frequently in the Summer than in the Winter ? Why, if a light bulb burns out in your room does the stereo or refrigerator not shut off ? In Circuits, you will build and learn the basics of simple series and parallel circuits, and how to measure electric current and electric voltage in them. You'll also handle and use lots of little neat components for circuits and see how they combine to make the computer that you're staring at right now! Did you know that you can actually go outdoors on a clear, dark night and sometimes see effects of Earth's magnetic field right up in the sky ? Did you know its an induced magnetic field that reads the correct metals in a coin in a vending machine (and that's why slugs NEVER work!) ? In this unit, you'll discover how cool magnets can be, especially Neodymium and Alnico magnets (you can hang your little brother from the ceiling! Well, not quite, and don't try it!), and how moving charges are affected by magnets.

Modern Physics - How is it possible for you to be in front of your computer now and also be in the car, simultaneously? In Quantum Physics, you will learn that there is a chance of this happening in the world of the very very small, and you will discover how light can cause a metal to give up electrons, and that such a simple effect is used all around you in your world. We'll also visit the spectrum of Hydrogen gas to see those great little emission lines with 3D viewers to learn about the results of electrons "jumping" in atomic orbital levels. Then, move past the atom and delve into the subatomic particles that make up protons, neutrons and MORE !

Miscellaneous Topics - Discerning vectors from scalars, vector math, graphical analysis, representation and interpretation of data, graphs of simple functions, history of physics, notable scientists and their impacts/key experiments in physics, laboratory and experimental analysis and situations.