AP Physics B – Course Syllabus

A. COURSE OVERVIEW
Advance Placement Physics B, the third course in the accelerated science program, is designed for the student
who has advanced skills in math and science and intends to pursue a post-secondary education in the fields of
Science, Pre-Medical, Engineering or Mathematics. This is a first-year course in physics. Topics covered include
mechanics, electricity and magnetism, sound and light. The student should be concurrently enrolled in Honors
Precalculus and have the approval of the Science department. Evaluation is based upon homework, tests, quizzes,
laboratory work, midyear and final exams.

B. METHOD OF INSTRUCTION
Class meetings will generally take three common forms, lab/activity, interactive lecture discussions, or problem
solving/review. The design as such will allow students to experience and engage the subject conceptually, actively,
and analytically. Individual classes may contain multiple elements of these models to suit the topic. Classes meet
each weekday for 47 minutes. Every fourth day will be a double length period allowing for longer labs/activities.
Lab activities will be of two varieties: investigation or application. Investigation labs and activities will allow
students to do just that – investigate a physical phenomenon, and draw conclusions from their measurements and
observations. Investigation labs or activities may take place before any reading, or formal in-class discussion on the
topic has begun in order to allow students to explore the subject and discover the principles via their own inquiry
and collaborative group effort. Much of the course content will be initially discovered using this “workshop
physics” approach.
Application labs and activities will provide students the opportunity to conduct experiments that involve the
concepts they are studying as well as apply understanding of physics to solve practical problems. These labs will
frequently be open-ended or contain an open-ended component challenging students to solve a problem by utilizing
both their understanding of the topic as well as their critical thinking skills. Individual labs may contain both
application and investigation elements. Nearly all units will involve some hands-on lab component. Some activites
will consist of a self-contained packet, while others will require the student take their own notes and write their own
procedure, observations, data, conclusions etc. There will be at least one formal lab report per quarter. All lab
materials are to be kept in a notebook for reference.
Interactive lecture discussions will contain elements of a traditional lecture, where concepts are formally
presented to students and problem solving is modeled. However, these sessions should also lead to a conversation
between students and instructor where the observations from investigations are considered and generalized as well
as considering students experience of the concepts from their lives and their interests. Classes will often begin with
a starter exercise, which may be a problem or a demonstration of a discrepant event may be presented, and students
will be asked to come up with a written explanation. Problem solving and review sessions may involve problems
solving strategy and concepts to be reviewed by the class as a whole, or smaller group workshop sessions enabling
peer interactive learning, facilitated by the instructor.

C. COURSE OBJECTIVES
1. To utilize real-world experience to understand physical phenomena
2. To utilize controlled laboratory experience to understand physical phenomena
3. To gain an understanding of the workings of our physical world and be able to express that understanding in
terms of:
a) written/spoken language
b) graphical diagrams
c) mathematical analysis
4. To develop observational problem solving and critical thinking skills that will benefit you for any vocation

D. TEXTBOOKS AND SOFTWARE

Primary Textbook: James S. Walker, Physics, AP* Edition, 3rd ed., Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River New
Jersey, 2007.
Secondary Textbook: Douglas C. Giancoli, Physics – Principles with Applications 5th ed., Prentice Hall, Upper
Saddle River New Jersey, 1998.
 Data Collection/Analysis Software: Logger Pro, Vernier Software

E. COURSE CONTENT AREAS

0. The Study of Physics — Chapter 1
A. Scientific Method and Philosophy
B. Measurement and Mathematics
I. Newtonian mechanics
A. Kinematics
1. Motion in one dimension — Chapter 2
2. Uses of Vectors — Chapter 3
3. Motion in two dimensions — Chapter 4
B. Newton’s laws of motion — Chapters 5 & 6
1. Static equilibrium (1st law)
2. Dynamics of a single particle (2nd law)
3. Systems of two or more bodies (3rd law)
4. Uniform Circular Motion
C. Work, energy and power — Chapters 7 & 8
1. Work and the work-energy theorem
2. Power
3. Conservative forces and potential energy
4. Conservation of energy
D. Systems of particles, linear momentum — Chapter 9
1. Impulse and momentum
2. Conservation of linear momentum, collisions
3. Center of Mass
F. Circular Motion and Rotation — Chapters 10 & 11
1. Angular position, velocity, and acceleration
2. Torque and rotational statics
3. Rotational kinematics and dynamics
4. Angular momentum
E. Gravitation — Chapter 12
1. Newton’s law of gravity
2. Orbits of planets and satellites
a. Circular
b. General
II. Oscillations, Waves and Sound
A. Oscillations about equilibrium — Chapter 13
3. Simple harmonic motion (dynamics and energy relationships)
4. Mass on a spring
5. Pendulum and other oscillations
B. Wave motion — Chapter 14
1. Traveling Waves
2. Wave Propagation
3. Standing Waves
4. Superposition
III. Fluid Mechanics and Thermal Physics
A. Fluid Mechanics — Chapter 15
1. Hydrostatic pressure
2. Buoyancy
3. Fluid flow continuity
4. Bernoulli’s equation
B. Temperature and heat — Chapter 16
1. Mechanical equivalent of heat
2. Heat transfer and thermal expansion
C. Kinetic Theory and Thermodynamics
 1. Ideal gases — Chapter 17
a. Kinetic model
b. Ideal gas law
2. Laws of thermodynamics — Chapter 18
a. First law (PV diagrams)
b. Second Law (heat engines)
c. Third Law (entropy)
IV. Electricity and Magnetism
A. Electrostatics — Chapter 19
1. Charge and Coloumb’s Law
2. Electric field and electric potential (including point charges)
3. Gauss’s Law
4. Fields and potentials for charge distributions
B. Conductors and capacitors — Chapter 20
1. Electrostatics with conductors
2. Capacitors
a. Capacitance
b. Parallel plate
c. Spherical and cylindrical
3. Dielectrics
C. Electric circuits — Chapter 21
1. Current, resistance, power
2. Steady-state direct current circuits with batteries and resistors only
3. Capacitors in circuits
a. Steady State
b. Transients in RC circuits
D. Magnetic Fields — Chapter 22
1. Forces on moving charges in magnetic fields
2. Forces on current carrying wires in magnetic fields
3. Fields of long current carrying wires
4. Biot-Savart law and Ampere’s Law
E. Electromagnetism — Chapter 23
1. Electromagnetic induction (including Faraday’s law and Lenz’s law)
2. Inductance (including LR and LC circuits)
3. Maxwell’s equations
V. Electromagnetic Waves and Optics
A. Physical Optics — Chapters 25 & 28
1. Interference and Diffraction
2. Dispersion of Light and the electromagnetic spectrum
B. Geometric optics — Chapters 26 & 27
1. Reflection and refraction
2. Mirrors
3. Lenses
VI. Atomic and Nuclear Physics
A. Atomic physics and quantum effects — Chapter 30
1. Photons and the photoelectric effect
2. Atomic energy levels
3. Wave particle duality
B. Nuclear physics — Chapters 31, 32, and 29
1. Nuclear reactions (including conservation of mass number and charge)
2. Mass-energy equivalence
F. PROPOSED LAB EXPERIMENTS
The following is a list of proposed lab experiments. There may be other investigative activities, demonstrations,
and virtual labs in addition to those listed below.

# Lab Title Notes Type

Introduce good lab practice, the concepts of accuracy Hands-on
1 Experimental Accuracy and Precision
and precision in measurement and calculation
Study uniformly accelerated motion on an inclined Hands-on
2 Galileo’s Experiment
plane
Use a motion detector to observe one dimensional Hands-on
3 One dimensional motion motion in terms of position, displacement, velocity and
acceleration
Determine the acceleration due to gravity by examining Hands-on
4 Acceleration due to Gravity
position at set time intervals using a ticker tape
Composition and Resolution of Use a force table to graphically and analytically add Hands-on
5
Forces and subtract force vectors
Use a bowling ball on a level surface with regularly Whole
marked positions to visualize and measure two class
6 Two dimensional motion
dimensional motion / Plot two dimensional motion hands-on /
using video analysis virtual
Predict the landing location of a projectile based on Hands-on
7 Bull’s Eye
measurement and calculation
Determine the coefficient of static and kinetic friction Hands-on
8 Coefficient of Friction
of various objects including a student’s sneaker
Examining Newton’s second law in several dynamic Hands-on
systems involving changing direction of tension forces
9 Atwood’s Machine and Friends
using pulleys. Friction on the system will also be
investigated
Exploring conservation of energy and work on a Hands-on
Work-energy theorem and energy
10 number of systems including cart on an inclined plane,
conservation
human motion and a “popper”
Conservation of momentum in collisions and Hands-on
11 Collisions and Explosions explosions in one dimension on a motion track, and in / virtual
two dimensions using video analysis
Using a meter stick with lever knives to determine Hands-on
Torques and Rotational Equilibrium center of gravity, and determine unknown mass / video / virtual
12
of a Rigid Body analysis of an irregular object in two dimensional
motion about center of gravity
Simple Harmonic Motion – Mass on a Dynamics and conservation of energy for a mass on a Hands-on
13
Spring spring, including damping using a motion detector
Conservation of energy, period, variation of mass and Hands-on
14 Simple Harmonic Motion – Pendulum
length of a simple pendulum examined
Examination of the wave properties of various sounds Hands-on
using a microphone and wave visualization software,
15 Properties of Sound
determination of the speed of sound using resonance
tubes
To explore Archimedes’ Principle and the principle of Hands-on
16 Buoyancy Flotation and create the lightest boat that can carry the
most mass without sinking
Use of calorimetry to identify unknown metals based Hands-on
17 Specific Heat of Metals
on specific heat
Determination of the linear coefficient of thermal Hands-on
18 Linear Thermal Expansion expansion for several metals by direct measurement of
their expansion when heated
 Boyle’s law and Charles’s law investigated using a Hands-on
19 The Ideal Gas Law
homemade apparatus made from a plastic syringe
Determination of charge on objects based on indirect Hands-on
20 Coloumb’s Law
measurement on electrostatic forces
Mapping of equipotentials around charged conducting Hands-on
electrodes, construction of electric field lines,
21 Equipotentials and Electric Fields
quantitative evaluation of the dependence of the
electric field on distance for a line of charge
Construction of series and parallel circuits based on Hands-on
22 Circuit Challenge
functional requirements
Exploring the relationship between voltage, current, Hands-on
23 Ohm’s Law
and resistance for ohmic and non-ohmic materials
Determination of the RC time constant using a Hands-on
24 RC Circuits voltmeter as circuit resistance, finding an unknown
capacitance, finding an unknown resistance
Mapping the magnetic field around a permanent Hands-on
25 Magnetic Fields
magnet
Determination of the induced emf in a coil as a Hands-on
Magnetic Induction of a current
26 measure of the magnetic field from an alternating
carrying wire
current in a long straight wire
Determination of the wavelength of a source of light by Hands-on
27 Interference – Light as a wave using a double slit, determination of grating spacing
based on a known wavelength of light
Establish the law of reflection, determine the focal Hands-on
length and radius of curvature of cylindrical mirrors
28 Reflection using the ray box. Determination of focal length and
radius of curvature of spherical mirrors using image
height and object distance
Determination of the index of refraction of a Lucite Hands-on
29 Snell’s Law block and gelatin. Discovery of phenomenon of total
internal reflection as an extension of Snell’s Law
Comparison of the measured values of the wavelengths Hands-on
30 Bohr Theory of Hydrogen of hydrogen spectrum with Bohr theory to determine
the Rydberg constant
Simulation of radioactive decay using dice as an Hands-on
31 Radioactive Decay and Half - life analog, Geiger counter measurement of the half-life of
137
Ba