Course Description

Physics is designed to provide students with an overview of traditional physics and the latest research in the field. Beginning with Newtonian mechanics, students learn that every object is acted upon by multiple predictable forces. The course moves on to investigate the laws of thermodynamics, covering fluid mechanics and the relationship between matter and energy. The course also explores the various models used to explain and apply the universal forces of electricity and magnetism. Students learn the characteristics of waves and the basics of optics before the final set of lessons on atomic physics. Here, students review the characteristics of the atom and its elemental particles and apply their knowledge to modern physics. Topics in this course will be reinforced through interactive, online lab assignments.

Course Breakdown

• Static electricity
• Electrical, strong, and gravitational forces
• Coulomb’s law
• Circuit design project
• Current electricity
• Current, voltage, and resistance
• Ohm’s law
• Magnetic fields and forces
• Magnetism and current electricity
• Faraday’s law Musical instrument project Nature of waves
• Doppler effect and standing waves
• Interference patterns
• Diffraction
• Refraction and reflection
• Snell’s law
• General and special relativity
• Wave-particle duality
• Quantum mechanics

Course Goals

1. Describe the properties of electrical charges and their motions as influenced by electric fields and forces.
2. Extend knowledge of electrostatic and electromotive systems to consumption of energy in applicable scenarios.
3. Design an energy-efficient circuit schematic for a house.
4. Identify and determine the properties of magnetic systems. Describe the properties of different waves and the relationships between them.
5. Analyze interactions of waves with each other and with matter in the development of a musical instrument.
6. Describe the principles of reflection and refraction as applied to mirrors and lenses.
7. Analyze the principles of relativity as applied to motion close to the speed of light.
8. Describe the methods used to determine the properties of subatomic particles.