Closing in on The Weekend

Honors Physics took time to review the worksheet from yesterday, that targeted topics about basic refraction, Snell’s Law and image formation by both converging and diverging lenses. Attention was then turned towards two refraction-dependent phenomena: total internal reflection and dispersion. The requisite conditions for light to demonstrate total internal reflection were described and applications of this phenomenon were discussed and demonstrated. Rainbow formation by prisms had previously been touched on, so additional time was spent discussing rainbow formation by water droplets in the atmosphere. The mechanisms behind rainbow formation were explained and variations of rainbows – the lunar rainbow or moonbow and double rainbows were illustrated. Tomorrow, bring all questions to class for the review to prepare for Monday’s exam.

Physical Science B and E began a discussion of circuits. Circuits allow us to direct charges to do the work that we need done by a device. We described the basic properties of an electrical circuit, contrasted open and closed circuits, described the function of a switch, explained the construction and importance of a schematic diagram and began to pull together ideas about series circuits. E Block will conduct a lab investigation tomorrow that will let students build a simple circuit in order to demonstrate the ability of different substances to obey Ohm’s Law. Later, students will have opportunities to build more complex circuits.

Physics F conducted their lab on converging and diverging lenses. The focal length for each lens was experimentally determined and the types and properties of images formed by each type of lens was investigated. Students used their experimental data to verify the thin-lens equation and the basic trends in image formation that we discussed in class. Tomorrow, we’ll discuss the lab in more detail and review for Monday’s exam.

Physics G discussed yesterday’s lab investigation on lenses and then began to study two refraction-dependent phenomena: total internal reflection and dispersion. Applications of total internal reflection such as diamond cutting and fiber optics were discussed and demonstrated and the formation of rainbows in the atmosphere was described. Tomorrow, bring along questions for review in preparation for Monday’s exam.

Homework:

Honors Physics A: None
Physical Science B: None
Physical Science E: Read lab protocol sheet
Physics F: Complete lab write up
Physics G: None