Welcome to Dowd's Physics Class
AP Physics C: Mechanics

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This page contains all of the online content for my AP Physics C:Mechanics course. Dowd keeps all of his content on Flickr, the photo sharing site. Each course has its own album each year. If you click the link to the album, you'll be taken to it. The tables contain the major units in the course. Clicking on this link will bring you to a header photo in the album. To see the course content, scroll forward.

The current year class will be updated as the year progresses. To look ahead, please visit the previous year. Note that we may do things differently each year, based on student need, interests, advice from former students, or if I think of anything better.
2018-2019

To access the course syllabus, click here.
Period 5 Google Classroom (must be logged into mpspride.org)
Period 6 Google Classroom (must be logged into mpspride.org)

Link to Flickr Album (all class notes)
Students: Do not watch the videos at the link below. Check Google Classroom and EdPuzzle instead to recieve credit!

Unit (Link to Unit Notes in Flickr)	Videos/Tutorials	Description
One Dimensional Motion/Graphing	Introduction One Dimensional Motion Variables Constant Velocity Motion Lab Data Constant Velocity Lab Data Analysis Constant Velocity Lab Conclusion Slope and speed on an x(t) graph x(t) graphs and v(t) graphs Constant Velocity Motion and Photogates Constant Acceleration Motion and Photogates Acceleration Constant Acceleration Lab Constant Acceleration Conclusion Acting out accelerations on x(t) graphs Acting out accelerations on v(t) graphs Motion Equations Summer Angry Birds Data Summer AB Conclusion One Dimensional Motion Practice Problem № 1 One Dimensional Motion Practice Problem № 2 Other One D Motion Examples First In Class One D Motion Lab How to write a lab conclusion Introduction to Force's Role in Acceleration Introduction to Video Analysis (Angry Bird) How to use Tracker Tracker Step by Step Photos Tangent Lines Introduction to the Derivative Video Analysis (Angry Birds) conclusion Falling Objects and Air Resistance Using the Integral in Physics	We explore the meaning of the slopes of (t,d) graphs and introducing the concept of "area under the curve." We also define some important ideas: position, velocity, and acceleration. We introduce automatic data collection (motion detectors and video analysis) and learn how to use a spreadsheet to analye large amounts of data
One Dimensional Kinematics/Dynamics	Mass v. Weight Mass on a Spring Lab Simple Newton's 2nd Law Lab (AP C Version) Net Force and Free Body Diagram Practice One Dimensional ΣF=ma problems Solving MultiForce Problems (The Elevator Problem.) (1/2) Solving MultiForce Problems (The Elevator Problem.) (2/2) Spring Forces and Hooke's Law Calculus Drag Forces Deriving a v(t) equation for calculus drag forces	A dimension is something that can be quantified using a number line. We'd usually call it "horizontal" or "vertical" or maybe "the x-axis" or "the y-axis." In this unit we study one dimension at a time.  The motion from the previous unit is the "kinematics" part. The "dynamics" part is where we introduce the concept of force (a push or pull) and go through Newton's first two laws for understanding how these pushes and pulls interact.
A bit more about forces in One Dimension	Newton's 3rd Law Pullies and Multi-block systems Well thought out Newton's 2nd Law Experiment	Here we go through Newton's 3rd law, and look more carefully at the first two. We also introduce a list of forces: Gravity, Normal, Tension, Push, Electrostatic, Magnetic, and Spring. Formal equations are introduced for Gravity and Spring, and the others are quantified using a free body diagram (force picture.) We discuss multi-part systems of objects and internal forces.
Impulse & Momentum	Using a Definite Integral to Solve an Impulse Problem Conservation of Momentum Sample Conservation of Momentum Problems Sample Impulse Problems The Difference Between Momentum and Impulse Momentum Review	This concept is useful for helping to understand situations where complex forces are acting, forces that increase and decrease during the interaction. We'll see it is especially helpful for collisions and explosions. There are two main topics: first, where momentum is changed by an outside force, and second, where there are no outside forces and momentum remains constant.
Vectors		This unit introduces the concept of the vector and gives useful trigonometric and algebraic tools for dealing with them.
Two Dimensional Kinematics and Dynamics	Two Dimensional Force Lab Step by Step Solving of 2D ΣF=ma Statics Problem (Spiderman) 2D Force Problem Solving Steps Example 2D Force Problem Friction Lab The Difference between Static and Kinetic Friction Friction and Objects on Ramps 2D Forces with Friction Review Questions	This unit is really the heart of the course. It is about pushes and pulls in two dimensions. If we can keep track of these, learn to break down forces that act in both dimensions and treat their parts seperately (and according to the Vegas rule) we'll breeze through the rest of the course. The Vegas rule (what happens in x stays in x, what happens in y stays in y) may be the most challenging but most important mathematical part of high school physics. We also introduce a new force, the frictional force. The unit begins with putting forces in 2 dimensions using the force board.
Projectile Motion	Horizontal Launch Projectile Motion Problem (the Doll Problem) Angled Launch Projectile Example Problem Satellite Motion and Projectiles	This takes the concepts of vectors and the independence of horizontal and vertical motion that we learned in our 2D Kinematics/Dynamics unit and applies it to motion. Remember the Vegas Rule "What happens in x stays in x and what happens in y stays in y"
Circular Motion	Introduction to Circular Motion Circular Motion Lab Fictitous Forces Video № 1 Fictitous Forces Video № 2 The Fictitious Centrifugal Force Conservation of Momentum in 2 Dimensions	This is really an extension of the 2D forces unit. Two new concepts are introduced: the centripetal (inward) acceleration that things moving in a circle have to have, and the concept of fictitious forces, which among other things sometimes make us feel like there's a centrifugal (outward) force on us. I also tack on two somewhat unrelated topics at the end, because they're vectors and we're about to move away from 2D vectors for a little while.
Energy	Energy Intro Work and Potential Energy (with Calculus) What is Kinetic Energy? The Work-Energy Theorem (with Calculus) Conservation of Energy Example Problem Energy and ΣF=ma in a Circular Motion Problem Energy and Circular Motion on a Roller Coaster Introduction to Power Introduction to the Ballistic Pendulum Experimental Considerations of Ballistic Pendulums	This is the most important unit in the course for helping us be better citizens. It goes through what "doing work" means in physics and discusses what objects or phenomena have the ability to do work. The ability to do work is called energy, and it's the reason energy is so important in our society: if we we want to change our environment, we need energy to do it. It will also be a valuable tool in solving problems that were too difficult to do using the concept of forces.Finally, Power (the "velocity" of energy) is discussed.
Gravitation and Satellite Motion	Introduction to Newton's Law of Gravity The Inverse Square Law (AP Version) Finding the Gravitational Constant (G) Deriving Kepler's 3rd Law for Circular Orbits	This section introduces Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation. It uses this new force combined with the ideas of circular motion to help us understand ideas of planetary motion. A complete treatment of planetary motion doesn't come until later in the year, when we study the concepts of energy and momentum.
Rotational Kinematics and Dynamics	Introduction to Rotational Motion Moment of Inertia (the rotational version of mass) Step by Step Derivation of Moment of Inertia for a Rod Step by Step Derivation of Moment of Inertia for a Disk Introduction to Torque and Sum of Torque Rotational Statics Example Problems (3 problems, step by step) Atwood Machines and Rotational Dynamics Rotational Conservation of Energy Step by Step Problem Rolling Down an Ramp Step by Step Problem Angular Momentum Balance and Impulse Conservation of Angular Momentum Step by Step Problem	Everything we've been studying up to now moves in a linear fashion: up/down, left/right, in/out and every combination thereof. But what about spinning objects? Fortunately, a parallel and very similar set of rules applies to these. This unit is basically a repeat of the entire course, zeroed in on the specific topic of rotation.
Simple Harmonic Motion	Introduction to Simple Harmonic Motion Deriving the Equations in SHM (Mass on a Spring) The Period of a Simple Pendulum The Period of a Physical Pendulum The Period of a Torsion Pendulum
Current Progress	as of	2019-05-05

--
2017-2018

To access the course syllabus, click here.
To access the list of assignments, click here.

One Dimensional Motion/Graphing	We explore the meaning of the slopes of (t,d) graphs and introducing the concept of "area under the curve." We also define some important ideas: position, velocity, and acceleration. We introduce automatic data collection (motion detectors and video analysis) and learn how to use a spreadsheet to analye large amounts of data
One Dimensional Kinematics/Dynamics	A dimension is something that can be quantified using a number line. We'd usually call it "horizontal" or "vertical" or maybe "the x-axis" or "the y-axis." In this unit we study one dimension at a time.  The motion from the previous unit is the "kinematics" part. The "dynamics" part is where we introduce the concept of force (a push or pull) and go through Newton's first two laws for understanding how these pushes and pulls interact.
Calculus Drag Forces	In this unit, we go through a non-constant force: the force of air resistance, and use calculus to figure out how the velocity might change on a lightweight falling object as time passes. The concept of the indefinite integral is introduced. This is very early in the course for this type of advanced problem we start this early so that it's familiar as the year goes on.
More about One-Dimensional Forces	Here we go through Newton's 3rd law, and look more carefully at the first two. We also introduce a list of forces: Gravity, Normal, Tension, Push, Electrostatic, Magnetic, and Spring. Formal equations are introduced for Gravity and Spring, and the others are quantified using a free body diagram (force picture.) We discuss multi-part systems of objects and internal forces.
Impulse & Momentum	This concept is useful for helping to understand situations where complex forces are acting, forces that increase and decrease during the interaction. We'll see it is especially helpful for collisions and explosions. There are two main topics: first, where momentum is changed by an outside force, and second, where there are no outside forces and momentum remains constant.
Vectors	This unit introduces the concept of the vector and gives useful trigonometric and algebraic tools for dealing with them.
Two Dimensional Kinematics/Dynamics	This unit is really the heart of the course. It is about pushes and pulls in two dimensions. If we can keep track of these, learn to break down forces that act in both dimensions and treat their parts seperately (and according to the Vegas rule) we'll breeze through the rest of the course. The Vegas rule (what happens in x stays in x, what happens in y stays in y) may be the most challenging but most important mathematical part of high school physics. We also introduce a new force, the frictional force. The unit begins with putting forces in 2 dimensions using the force board.
Projectile Motion	This takes the concepts of vectors and the independence of horizontal and vertical motion that we learned in our 2D Kinematics/Dynamics unit and applies it to motion. Remember the Vegas Rule "What happens in x stays in x and what happens in y stays in y"
Circular Motion	This is really an extension of the 2D forces unit. Two new concepts are introduced: the centripetal (inward) acceleration that things moving in a circle have to have, and the concept of fictitious forces, which among other things sometimes make us feel like there's a centrifugal (outward) force on us.
Energy	This is the most important unit in the course for helping us be better citizens. It goes through what "doing work" means in physics and discusses what objects or phenomena have the ability to do work. The ability to do work is called energy, and it's the reason energy is so important in our society: if we we want to change our environment, we need energy to do it. It will also be a valuable tool in solving problems that were too difficult to do using the concept of forces.Finally, Power (the "velocity" of energy) is discussed.
Energy & Momentum	In this section we combine the ideas of conservation of momentum and conservation of energy to solve problems. We introduce multi-step problem solving and the idea of "snapshots," little moments in time that help us divide a problem into pieces. The ballistic pendulum is the center of the unit and elastic/inelastic collisions are introduced
Power	In this unit we examine power, the speed of energy
Gravitation & Satellite Motion	This section introduces Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation. It uses this new force combined with the ideas of circular motion to help us understand ideas of planetary motion. A complete treatment of planetary motion doesn't come until later in the year, when we study the concepts of energy and momentum.
Rotational Kinematics & Dynamics	Everything we've been studying up to now moves in a linear fashion: up/down, left/right, in/out and every combination thereof. But what about spinning objects? Fortunately, a parallel and very similar set of rules applies to these. This unit is basically a repeat of the entire course, zeroed in on the specific topic of rotation.
Simple Harmonic Motion	This unit is an introduction to repetitive motion. Objects that regularly move back and forth, either linearly or rotationally, are interesting for many reasons, not least of which is that they can be used as clocks. Simple Harmonic Motion is what you get when how hard the object is pulled back is directly proportional to how far away from the midpoint it is.

--
2016-2017

To view the course syllabus, click here.
To access the entire album for this course to date, click here.

One Dimensional Motion/Graphing	We explore the meaning of the slopes of (t,d) graphs and introducing the concept of "area under the curve." We also define some important ideas: position, velocity, and acceleration. We introduce automatic data collection (motion detectors and video analysis) and learn how to use a spreadsheet to analye large amounts of data
One Dimensional Kinematics/Dynamics	A dimension is something that can be quantified using a number line. We'd usually call it "horizontal" or "vertical" or maybe "the x-axis" or "the y-axis." In this unit we study one dimension at a time. We look at the two most common types of motion, constant acceleration and constant velocity motion, and also talk about how to use calculus to deal with less common types of motion. That's all the "kinematics" part. The "dynamics" part is where we introduce the concept of force (a push or pull) and go through Newton's 3 laws for dealing with forces. We also introduce a list of forces: Gravity, Normal, Tension, Push, Electrostatic, Magnetic, and Spring. Formal equations are introduced for Gravity and Spring, and the others are quantified using a free body diagram (force picture.)
Calculus Drag Forces	In this unit, we go through a non-constant force: the force of air resistance, and use calculus to figure out how the velocity might change on a lightweight falling object as time passes. The concept of the indefinite integral is introduced. This is very early in the course for this type of advanced problem we start this early so that it's familiar as the year goes on.
Momentum	This concept is useful for helping to understand situations where complex forces are acting, forces that increase and decrease during the interaction. We'll see it is especially helpful for collisions and explosions. There are two main topics: first, where momentum is changed by an outside force, and second, where there are no outside forces and momentum remains constant.
Vectors	This unit introduces the concept of the vector and gives useful trigonometric and algebraic tools for dealing with them.
Two Dimensional Kinematics/Dynamics	This unit is really the heart of the course. It is about pushes and pulls in two dimensions. If we can keep track of these, learn to break down forces that act in both dimensions and treat their parts seperately (and according to the Vegas rule) we'll breeze through the rest of the course. The Vegas rule (what happens in x stays in x, what happens in y stays in y) may be the most challenging but most important mathematical part of high school physics. We also introduce a new force, the frictional force. The unit begins with putting forces in 2 dimensions using the force board.
Circular Motion	This is really an extension of the previous unit. Two new concepts are introduced: the centripetal (inward) acceleration that things moving in a circle have to have, and the concept of fictitious forces, which among other things sometimes make us feel like there's a centrifugal (outward) force on us.
Gravitation & Satellite Motion	This section introduces Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation. It uses this new force combined with the ideas of circular motion to help us understand ideas of planetary motion. A complete treatment of planetary motion doesn't come until later in the year, when we study the concepts of energy and momentum. At the end of this unit there's a review of 2D forces
Projectile Motion	This takes the concepts of vectors and the independence of horizontal and vertical motion that we learned in our 2D Kinematics/Dynamics unit and applies it to motion. Remember the Vegas Rule "What happens in x stays in x and what happens in y stays in y"
Energy	This is the most important unit in the course for helping us be better citizens. It goes through what "doing work" means in physics and discusses what objects or phenomena have the ability to do work. The ability to do work is called energy, and it's the reason energy is so important in our society: if we we want to change our environment, we need energy to do it. It will also be a valuable tool in solving problems that were too difficult to do using the concept of forces.Finally, Power (the "velocity" of energy) is discussed.
Rotational Kinematics & Dynamics	Everything we've been studying up to now moves in a linear fashion: up/down, left/right, in/out and every combination thereof. But what about spinning objects? Fortunately, a parallel and very similar set of rules applies to these. This unit is basically a repeat of the entire course, zeroed in on the specific topic of rotation.
Simple Harmonic Motion & Waves	This unit is an introduction to repetitive motion. Objects that regularly move back and forth, either linearly or rotationally, are interesting for many reasons, not least of which is that they can be used as clocks. Simple Harmonic Motion is what you get when how hard the object is pulled back is directly proportional to how far away from the midpoint it is.

--
2015-2016

To access the entire course album, click here.

One Dimensional Motion/Graphing	We explore the meaning of the slopes of (t,d) graphs and introducing the concept of "area under the curve." We also define some important ideas: position, velocity, and acceleration.
One Dimensional Kinematics & Dynamics	A dimension is something that can be quantified using a number line. We'd usually call it "horizontal" or "vertical" or maybe "the x-axis" or "the y-axis." In this unit we study one dimension at a time. We look at the two most common types of motion, constant acceleration and constant velocity motion, and also talk about how to use calculus to deal with less common types of motion. That's all the "kinematics" part. The "dynamics" part is where we introduce the concept of force (a push or pull) and go through Newton's 3 laws for dealing with forces.
Calculus Drag Forces	In this unit, we go through a non-constant force: the force of air resistance, and use calculus to figure out how the velocity might change on a lightweight falling object as time passes. The concept of the indefinite integral is introduced. This is very early in the course for this type of advanced problem we start this early so that it's familiar as the year goes on.
Projectile Motion	In this unit, we work with motion in two dimensions. It's a relatively minor part of the course, but we'll spend a large amount of time on it, because it's the first topic that requires us to organize our thinking. We'll also introduce what I call the Vegas rule: "what happens in horizontal stays in horizontal, and what happens in vertical stays in vertical."
Two Dimensional Kinematics and Dynamics	This unit is really the heart of the course. It is about pushes and pulls in two dimensions. If we can keep track of these, learn to break down forces that act in both dimensions and treat their parts seperately (and according to the Vegas rule) we'll breeze through the rest of the course.
Circular Motion	This is really an extension of the previous unit. Two new concepts are introduced: the centripetal (inward) acceleration that things moving in a circle have to have, and the concept of fictitious forces, which among other things sometimes make us feel like there's a centrifugal (outward) force on us.
Gravitation and Satellite Motion	This section introduces Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation. It uses this new force combined with the ideas of circular motion to help us understand ideas of planetary motion. A complete treatment of planetary motion doesn't come until later in the year, when we study the concepts of energy and momentum.
Energy	This is the most important unit in the course for helping us be better citizens. It goes through what "doing work" means in physics and discusses what objects or phenomena have the ability to do work. The ability to do work is called energy, and it's the reason energy is so important in our society: if we we want to change our environment, we need energy to do it. It will also be a valuable tool in solving problems that were too difficult to do using the concept of forces.Finally, Power (the "velocity" of energy) is discussed.
Momentum	This concept is useful for helping to understand situations where complex forces are acting, forces that increase and decrease during the interaction. We'll see it is especially helpful for collisions and explosions. There are two main topics: first, where momentum is changed by an outside force, and second, where there are no outside forces and momentum remains constant.
Rotational Kinematics and Dynamics	Everything we've been studying up to now moves in a linear fashion: up/down, left/right, in/out and every combination thereof. But what about spinning objects? Fortunately, a parallel and very similar set of rules applies to these. This unit is basically a repeat of the entire course, zeroed in on the specific topic of rotation.
Simple Harmonic Motion	This unit is an introduction to repetitive motion. Objects that regularly move back and forth, either linearly or rotationally, are interesting for many reasons, not least of which is that they can be used as clocks. Simple Harmonic Motion is what you get when how hard the object is pulled back is directly proportional to how far away from the midpoint it is.
Final Review	These are topics that students wanted to discuss, and labs and review we did leading up to the AP Test.
After the AP Exam	These are interesting topics we covered after the test. For 2016, that included waves, sound, and light.

(c) 2008-2019 Timothy M Dowd. Last Modified @ 18:01 EDT on 2022-08-28
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