And, We're Done

Short week due to the impending holiday, and what's better for a short week than a nice fire drill. C Block lost some time due to that, but we made it work. B and C blocks spent time discussing the concepts of accuracy and precision and why precision (though we sometimes don't give it it's fair due) is a vital part of reporting measurements. Through the use of significant figures and scientific notation, the precision of values can be made clear to everyone reading them, which is critical for science, medicine, engineering... On Tuesday, we start in on one-dimensional motion!

E Block had their lab period and conducted an introductory investigation to familiarize themselves with the Vernier probeware system. Between the sensors/probes and the data analysis features, this system allows for highly quantitative labs to be performed, which is the name of the game in physics. Also, the various sensors make possible a good number of measurements that more classical apparatus do not easily permit. We'll go over the lab on Tuesday and then hightail it into our study of kinematics. Remember to have both yesterday's assignment and the lab write-up ready to go on Tuesday.

F Block reviewed yesterday's lab and began a discussion of the metric system, dimensional analysis and the scope of physics. We'll round out Chapter 1 on Tuesday and find ourselves in our study of motion on Wednesday. Just a head's up - looking over the lab sheets, I noticed a lot of people didn't follow the proper procedure for writing the lab synopsis. I don't care if you do it in paragraph form or in a list, but ALL components should be there. Since this is the first one, I gave the people who did it correctly an extra point and those who did not still got full credit. Next time, though, expect a reduction in grade.