Introduction and Rationale
The course is the final year of physics for secondary students in Ontario. It is analougous to the university bound Grade 12 or even Advanced Placement physics in B.C. and provides an opportunity for students to get an excellent preparation (even a preview) of univerisity physics. It also serves as a final opportunity in high school to learn some basic concepts in physics (largely Newtonian mechanics with some modern physics) and develop quantitative reasoning. Finally, students are required to develop greater independence and responsibility toward the goal of becoming lifelong and self-directed learners in a world where information grows and changes so rapidly. Moreover, these critical thinking skills are fundamental to avoiding intellectual and social/political dead-ends and pitfalls.
Outline of PHYSICS 4U Course
- Measurement, Kinematics, Dynamics and Mechanics
- Momentum and Energy (with some application to Astrophysics)
- Particles and Waves (involving light and electrons!)
- Modern Physics (wave mechanics, quantum ideas, relativity)
Welcome to the senrio level section of the web site. Peruse other physics nooks such as the Gr. 11 Page at this site for more useful stuff!
Check out student's Relativity tutorial!
I will post a new challenging physics/math problem in the month of March since one of our classmates has solved this month's bonus within such as short time period.
First puzzler for March (Please see the solution in the physics room). Over 2200 years ago a clever Greek fellow noticed once a year the noon sun allowed him to see his reflection from the bottom of a deep well at Assouan--he noted that this meant the sun was directly overhead (and its rays would be pointed directly at the centre of the earth if it were indeed spherical). However, in Alexandria 800 km to the North the sun at its zenith still cast a shadow (the sun was not directly overhead at this more northerly latitude. By measuring the length of the shortest shadow at local noon (13.5 cm) cast from a 1 m vertical stick oriented perpendicular to the ground the shape and size of the earth was determined over 1700 years before Columbus! Show me how this Greek mathematician became the first to accurately measure the size of our planet.
Another puzzler. A group of self-styled kamikaze flies have taken action on the fly-swatting species. They have decided to stop all human transportation. These insect physicists reason that:
- Objects in direct contact have the same velocity.
- A fly crashing into an oncoming east bound train must have its velocity change from some westward velocity to an eastward velocity.
- Consequently, at some point the flies velocity must be 0. Hence, the train's velocity must be 0. Therefore, the train is momentarily stopped.
- A large contingent of suicidal flies could subsequently stop the train for any arbitrary length of time. Mutatis mutandi, large groups of flies could stop any human transportation.
Find the flaw in this argument. Use graphing. Or calculus. Or logic. Or kinematic principles/definitions.
Solar Puzzler. How much brighter is the sun at
noon than the brightest moonlit night? Use any distance information from
Ch. 7 to aid your solution. Hints available at at our virtual classroom
at Nicenet.
Check out some links to physics contests:SIN contest at U of Waterloo, Leonardo da Vinci contest at U of T (with answers/solutions), Physics Olympiad for the C.A.P. at U of T (with problems sets/demos)