Phriday Phun

Physics experimented with factors affecting the speed of sound today. As with Honors Physics, the findings agreed with theory - more massive gas particles move with a lower velocity, so sound travels at a slower speed than for a lighter gas at the same temperature. Temperature of a single gas has a direct relationship with speed of sound and all groups found that the heated air sample was a faster medium for sound than the room-temperature air. We'll review the lab as we discuss basic sound properties on Monday.

Honors Physics stepped into the world of sound today with an overview of the physical features of sound waves and how sound is perceived by living organisms. The uses of ultrasound were discussed, as was the variation in sound production/reception by living creatures. Here are a couple of videos showing how much detail can be picked up by underwater sonar:







Physical Science began their discussion of light and concentrated on disentangling the wave and particle theories of light. The concept of the photon was introduced and the relationship between energy and frequency was explored. Although we will work mostly with the wave model of light in class, knowledge of the particle model of light is required to fully understand the complex nature of light and light phenomena. Here are a few resources to give you more information about the models of light:

Particle Model of Light


The Nature of Light - be sure to continue through the slide show and use the slider to scroll down to read all the text for each slide


How Light Works