Physical Science - did you try the specific heat challenge problem in the previous post? If so - Good for you! If not - give it a try. Keep in mind the relationship:
Qgain = Qlost and the relationship Q = mcΔt
and you should be able to beat the problem into submission quickly.
Physics and Honors Physics: we jump further into the pressure pool next week. Here's a video about Bernoulli's Principle:
Leaf blowers work well for Bernoulli demonstrations:
As teachers are forced to participate, I mean...have the opportunity to participate, in a professional development experience tomorrow, students have the day off. Life is not fair...
Today, Physics and Honors Physics were on the same page, content-wise. The discussion centered around the properties of fluids in motion. Laminar and turbulent flow was introduced and the continuity equation was give some investigation. We dabbled our toes in Bernoulli's Principle and will pick up the discussion in more depth next week. Honors Physics - remember to read your Boyle's Law experiment sheets before coming to class on Monday. Physical Science explored the concept of calorimetry and began work on problems dealing with specific heat. I'll post the answer key on the course website this weekend so you can check your work. We will discuss these problems and the section review on Monday. For those who like a challenge, tackle this problem:
In 1906, a 636.73-g diamond was found at the Premier Mine in South Africa—making it the world’s largest uncut diamond.After being cut, the diamond pieces were dropped into an insulated water bath containing 1.00 kg of water. The water temperature increased by 1.30°C, and the diamond’s temperature decreased by 15.54°C.What is the specific heat capacity of diamond? The specific heat capacity of water is 4186 J/kg•°C.
Yesterday was mostly a procedural day - going over midterm exams and, for the freshmen, going over practice MCAS multiple-choice and open-response questions. Students received the state-provided exemplars for their open-response questions to see how different rubric grades were separated. We'll continue this process throughout the semester as we introduce new material and to review material covered earlier in the year. Physics was the only course that dived head-first into new information - the concept of buoyancy.
Today, Physics reviewed buoyancy and began a discussion of fluid pressure. If we have school tomorrow, they will participate in a laboratory investigation centering around buoyant forces and density of fluids. Honors Physics also discussed fluid pressure and took time in class to work problems dealing with pressure generation, hydraulics and pressure variations with depth in a fluid column. Physical Science got to dig further into heat energy and discuss mechanisms of heat transfer and the concept of specific heat. Read over the lab I handed out in case we are not in class tomorrow, so you'll be prepared for Thursday. If we have class, we will delve deeper into the concept and mathematics of specific heat.
Honors Physics - don't think I forgot about your midterm exam key. Click here to go to the online version of your exam. Like the other 2 courses, you don't have to take the exam again to see the answers, just click "Check Your Work" at the end of the test and tell the popup box that you are finished with the test. We'll go over the exam next week and then jump right back into fluids.
All the physics-associated exams have been given. Whew! I would say that we'll be back to normal next week, but there's Peer Mentoring taking up two periods and then the Professional Development Day on Friday (sans students). Then, February vacation is right around the corner. Enjoy it while you can, because after that it is 8 weeks of solid school before April vacation.
Head's up for third quarter - there's a reason for the phrase "third quarter slump." It is not uncommon for grades to slip during the third quarter - keep on top of things to make sure it doesn't happen to you. We'll be picking up the pace again and covering a lot of material. It won't take too much slacking before you find yourself in over your head. This is also the quarter in which you'll be thinking about scheduling courses for next year. Think hard about your strengths, weaknesses, likes and disllikes before you start to put together your schedule. Also, pay heed to the teacher recommendations. Teachers don't make their course recommendations to make you suffer - they take into account your performance this year, how much work it took for you to get the grade you finally received, your level of satisfaction/discontent with the workload and a number of other factors in making their decisions.
Well, back to Van Helsing. An awful movie, but it makes appropriate eye candy when one is working on the computer. Enjoy the half-day tomorrow...
For me, at least. Physics and Physical Science have taken their midterm exams, Honors Physics is scheduled for C and G Blocks tomorrow. Remember that midterm exams do not count towards your 2nd quarter grade - they are reported separately on your report card. The midterm and final exams are worth a combined 20% of your year's grade, the 4 quarters comprise the remaining 80%.
Physical Science - the exam and solution key can be found by clicking here. You don't have to answer the questions to see the solutions. Go to the bottom of the test and click on the "Check Your Work" button. It will tell you that you haven't answered all the questions, but tell the popup box that you are finished with the test. The answer key will show up. I tossed out question #46, as it was rather ambiguous and accepted both C and D for Question #59.
Physics - your exam and solution key can be found by clicking here. You also don't have to answer the questions to see the solutions. Go to the bottom of the test and click on the "Check Your Work" button. It will tell you that you haven't answered all the questions, but tell the popup box that you are finished with the test. The answer key will show up.
Believe me, it is not any more fun for the teachers than it is for you. Here are a few tips for making the most of the week.
Don't Panic! Midterm exams are not supposed to be some trial-by-fire event. You will have covered all of the material and will have seen similar questions/problems on your previous exams. The more relaxed you are, the easier it is to remember things, make connections and reason things out.
Make multiple passes through the test. First, answer all the questions you definitely know. Then, go back and catch those you are pretty sure you know or will take extra time to work through. Leave the ones that you draw a blank on for last. By the time you get to them, your brain will be tired anyway, so if you can't muster the mental energy to address them appropriately you won't feel so bad - there's a good chance you wouldn't have gotten them right regardless. Also, there is the time factor - make sure that you answer all of the questions you are strong on during the allotted time. If you aren't finished with the exam by the end of the period, again, it is the items you are shaky on anyway. Nothing is more frustrating than being brain-drained or out of time and have questions remaining that you feel good about.
Don't change answers unless you realize you've misred the question. How many times have you had the right answer and changed it? More times than having the wrong answer and changing it, I bet. The ol' subconscious gives you a hand now and then...
Evaluate your answers to problems. Often the pattern for an answer can be predicted - velocity should go up or down, force should be larger or smaller, etc. - based on the general situation of the problem. Does your answer agree with what should happen? Also, use reason for numerical answers. Use order of magnitude estimates and common sense to check for decimal errors
Ask if you don't understand a question. The teacher can't help you answer the question, but they might be able to clarify exactly what they are looking for or correct a misperception on your part.
Bring work or reading material in case you finish your exam early. Don't disrupt the other people still working by asking to go to your locker - have the stuff with you. Same goes for the bathroom. Go before class or right at the start of class
The old advice of getting a good night's sleep and eating a good breakfast is not balderdash. Both are linked to mental acuity. The brain processes information while you sleep - give it a chance to work through your evening's studying in peace. Also, the brain runs on glucose - having your blood sugar crash during a test will not do your thinking ability any good.
Take your exams seriously. They count for a big chunk of your year's grade. Hopefully, you've been reviewing for awhile and have been keeping up with the work in class. Make your exams/projects the priority this week - not work or recreation. Put in the necessary time and effort to do your best.
Don't miss school! Only Friday afternoon is set aside for makeup exams. If you miss a day, you've missed two exams and have to squeeze them into that period. Also, the office has to approve you taking make-up tests.
So, tomorrow is A and E block exams, Wednesday is B and F Block, Thursday is C and G Blocks and Friday (the half day) is D Block. Good luck!
Today was a day of variety - the only constant was the cold. Physics reviewed rotational dynamics problems and had a general discussion about the midterm exam. Physical Science delved into temperature and the idea of temperature gradient driving heat transfer between objects. Remember, despite our utter hatred of it - there is no physical quantity called "cold." Heat flows and our nerves key in on the direction, rate and amount of heat flow to tell our brain something about what we are touching or feeling. Something can't give you "cold," you give away your heat and your brain interprets the signal accordingly. Honors Physics investigated buoyant force and density. Most groups calculated a density for tapwater that was greater than that for water as a pure compound. Not surprising, when you take into account the residue that evaporated water from our faucets leaves on glassware and the floaty things we see swirling in beakers of water when we fill them from the tap. Extra particulates mean increased density.
Honors Physics launched into a discussion of buoyant forces, often using water as the example fluid Buoyant forces explain the floating or sinking of an object in any fluid and the calculation of buoyant forces is a convenient method to determine not just floating/sinking, but apparent weight of an object, as well. Rely on good ol' ρVg to calculate buoyant force and remember that volume is the same for the object and the displaced fluid. Tomorrow's lab will allow you to use buoyant forces and how they change with depth to assess the density of water and compare that value to the theoretical 1000 kg/m3.
Physical Science investigated heat transfer between two bodies of water. A comparison of the heat gained by the cold water and the heat lost by the hot water showed good agreement with conservation of energy. The discrepancy could easily be explained by the fact that the calorimeters were open at the top to the atmosphere. The graphs demonstrated that the rate of heat transfer was the same for both water samples and clearly showed when the equilibrium temperature was reached (when there was no longer a temperature gradient to create a net direction of heat flow). Tomorrow, we will discuss more fully the concept of temperature and begin to investigate ways in which substances can transfer heat energy. BTW - good job on the Work and Energy exams!
Physics completed their examination of simple machines today with a discussion of yesterday's inclined plane lab and an overview of mechanical advantage, efficiency and a review of conservation of energy. Tomorrow, we will review the rotational dynamics worksheet problems and address any questions for Tuesday's midterm exam. From there, we move into fluids.
today was a productive day. Physics performed an activity designed to give insight into the function of simple machines. They definitely don't lessen your work! As you found, you had to do more work than did the machine, but you got to use far less force to move the object. So, the tradeoff is beneficial. We'll go into this in more depth tomorrow. One of your lab Extension questions asked you about the mechanical advantage of your inclined plane. We did not do this extension, but your reading tonight should give you some ideas on how we could have done this in class. Honors Physics and Physical Science were embroiled in exams and start new material tomorrow. Honors Physics heads into Fluid Mechanics and Physical Science into Heat and Temperature. This material will not be on the midterm exam. Physical Science will do a lab tomorrow centering on heat transfer between two bodies of water. Honors Physics will begin their discussion of buoyant forces and Archimedes principle. The lab on Friday will investigate buoyant forces in more detail.
at least for Physical Science and Honors Physics. Physical Science - have those Daily Objective answers for the work/energy unit pulled together and ready to hand in tomorrow. You will also pass in your practice tests. The less time you take pulling together papers tomorrow, the more time you'll have for the exam. Honors Physics - I'll collect today's review problems before the exam, so have those ready to go, also. Physics - tomorrow will be a lab activity investigating inclined planes. This will allow you to examine the concepts of mechanical advantage and efficiency and get an overall idea of how members of the inclined plane family function to make work easier (increase distance through which effort force is applied). We'll start talking about machines on Thursday. I'll also have some additional practice problems for you for today's discussion. Remember, no separate test on this chapter - it will be rolled into the midterm exam, which is on Tuesday.
The cold that was kicking my behind on Friday is still kicking away and added some extra force, so I'm home surrounded by cold medicine and tissues. But, I'll be back tomorrow, so make sure that all of your work is done.
Physical Science - use the practice tests to highlight areas for which you'll need to ask for extra help tomorrow. Make sure that you can work all of the problem types for this chapter - work, power, kinetic energy, gravitational potential energy, mechanical advantage, efficiency, conservation of energy - and that you have a good handle on all of the basic concepts. Christmas break made this long unit seem extra long, so go back and spend a little extra time refreshing yourself on the earlier material.
Honors Physics - Tomorrow is set aside for questions and practice work. Your chapter was also interrupted by the vacation, so don't forget about basic torque and rotational equilibrium.
Physics - The work that you are doing today will be discussed in lecture tomorrow. Even though it seems like a bunch of new formulas, remember that you've seen these before, only in linear form. It is still the basic idea of Newton's 2nd law of motion, momentum and its conservation and conservation of energy. Don't let the new symbols throw you off. One note: for the conservation of energy problems, make sure to convert the angular velocity to translational velocity so that you only have one velocity variable in the formula (angular velocity = translational velocity/radius). Look at the sample problem if you get stuck.
Yesterday was a busy day for all concerned. Physical Science completed the material for their Work and Energy unit with a discussion of efficiency. Have those worksheets completed by Monday. Remember, when calculating efficiency it might be necessary for first calculate the work inpur or output or the enegy provided to or delivered by the machine. Keep your wits about you and think through the problem before trying to plug numbers into a formula. Monday will be review day and I'll have a couple of practice tests available for you to work on. Physics delved into the area of moment of inertia. No, you don't have to memorize the moment of inertia formulas, but you should read a problem closely and make a decision about which common shape the object in question most resembles in order to choose the correct formula to use for your calculations. This will be especially important as we move into using moment of inertia to calculate angular momentum, angular acceleration and rotational kinetic energy. Honors Physics had an overview of simple machines, mechanical advantage and efficiency. Monday is also review day for you guys, so come prepared with questions. After Tuesday's exam, we move into how forces behave with fluids.
Physical Science continued examining the concept of energy. Today, the discussion centered around conservation of energy and energy transformation. Tomorrow's lab will allow students to follow the energy conversions associated with a ball tossed in the air and the total energy of the ball will be tracked. The patterns we discussed in class today should (hopefully!) be evident in the lab investigation. As you watch the ball tomorrow, consider the variables associated with GPE and KE that are changing with time: height and velocity. Consider how those changes affect each energy type by reflecting on their respective formula. Honors Physics reviewed the homework problems for Newton's 2nd law for rotation, angular momentum and its conservation and conservation of energy for a rotating object. For momentum and energy conservation, the expressions often seem labyrinthine at first, but, as we saw in class, they quickly simplify to much cleaner equations. Currently, the exam is still slated for Friday, but depending on whether tomorrow is a snow day and how long our discussion of simple machines lasts, the test could be pushed back until Monday. Don't count your chickens before they hatch though! Physics worked on a lab that explored the relationship between torque and balance. Force is not the only player in balance; torque is the value that counts. A beam can support different weights on each side and still balance, as long as the weights are positioned to give equal and opposite torques. Tomorrow, some groups need a little time to complete their data collection and other groups will have time to complete their calculations.
Here's a good video that walks you through the concept of angular momentum and the influence of angular impulse on angular momentum:
Here is a fun video that illustrates how changing rotational radius affects angular speed because of angular momentum conservation:
Today was certainly not a leisurely day - no rest for the wicked! Physics began examining rotational dynamics with a study of torque. When working problems, it no angle is given, assume the applied force acts at a 90 degree angle to the lever arm. Tomorrow's lab will allow you to examine how torque is related to balance and introduce the second condition of equilibrium. Honors Physics slogged their way through Newton's 2nd law for rotation, angular momentum and rotational kinetic energy. The assigned problems do take a bit of careful reading, so be prepared to spend a little time on them. Kudos to the brave souls who used the rotating platforms to experience conservation of angular momentum! Physical Science entered the world of energy with a discussion of gravitational potential and kinetic energies. The solutions for the homework problems are on the class website. Tomorrow, we will go over these and begin a discussion of energy conversions and conservation.
