sci16 unit guide

SCI 16

General Physics

Unit Information and Learning Guide

2012

Unit coordinator Dr David Parlevliet

Engineering & Energy Room 2.003K

Tel: 08 9360 2157 Messages: 08 9360 2433

[email protected]

General Physics SCI 16

Unit Information

This information should be read in conjunction with

the online learning materials which can be found on

your MyUnits page.

ii SCI16 Unit Information

© Published by Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia, 2012

Written by David Parlevliet, 2012

This publication is copyright. Except as permitted by the Copyright Act no part of it may in

any form or by any electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or any other means be

reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or be broadcast or transmitted without the prior

written permission of the publisher.

Cover Image by Nick Kim (http://www.nearingzero.net) for education use in accordance with

his use of cartoons policy. “The cartoons that appear on this site are all freely available for

any non-profit or educational use that you may have in mind”.

CONTENTS

UNIT INFORMATION ONE Introduction i TWO Resources for the unit vii THREE Assessment ix

LEARNING GUIDE Introduction 1

ONE What is Science? 9

TWO Motion in a Straight Line 13

THREE Newton’s Laws and Vectors 17

FOUR Momentum and Energy 21

FIVE Gravity and Projectile Motion 25

SIX Heat and Thermodynamics 29

SEVEN Electricity and Magnetism 35

EIGHT Wave Motion and Sound 39

NINE Light and Optics 43

QUICK REFERENCE Study Schedule v Assignment Deadlines ix Assignment Submission Information xii Exam Information xiii

TUTOR INFORMATION

Name Room Phone Email

iv SCI16 Unit Information

SCI16 Unit Information i

ONE

Introduction

Unit Overview Welcome to SCI16 General Physics!

This is an introductory unit designed to provide a foundation for further studies in the

physical sciences for students;

• who have not studied physics before, or

• whose previous study in physics was some time ago, or

• whose previous study in physics does not give them a sufficient grounding for

further studies in the sciences.

Prerequisites There are no prerequisites for this unit.

It is suggested that you should either have successfully completed, or be concurrently

enrolled in, UNL32 or equivalent before undertaking this unit.

If you do not have this mathematical background, you will need to devote extra time

(beyond the nominal hours) in order to succeed in this unit.

Aims and Objectives Unit Aims The broad aims of this unit are to:

• introduce students to the discipline of physics;

• enable students to develop skills which will help them solve problems in the

physical sciences;

• enable students to develop skills which will help them investigate and

communicate the behaviour of matter.

Learning Objectives On successful completion of the unit you should be able to:

• Describe the behaviour of matter using the laws and models of physics

• Communicate scientific concepts in ‘plain English’

• Solve problems in physics that do not require knowledge of calculus.

ii SCI16 Unit Information

Graduate Attributes This unit will focus on the development of the following Graduate Attributes: See

http://www.murdoch.edu.au/teach/studyat/attributes.html

1. Critical and Creative Thinking: Students will present assignments which require

them to problem solve, to think critically and creatively within the context of

physics.

2. Communication: students will present assignments, Laboratory reports and an

examination which require them to communicate scientifically, using literacy,

numeracy and information technology skills.

This unit will also contribute to the development of the following Graduate Attributes:

1. Independent and lifelong learning

2. Interdisciplinarity and / or

3. In-depth knowledge of a field of study

Unit Coordinator Your coordinator for General Physics is David Parlevliet.

David is a Lecturer in Physics & Nanotechnology and has been teaching at Murdoch for

several years in a range of units in physics. As well as teaching, he is a researcher in

the area of Physics and Nanoscience. His research interests include solar photovoltaics,

semiconductors, nano-materials and thin film deposition techniques. Away from

Murdoch, he is a photographer dabbling in landscape, astrophotography and macro-

photography. He is also a long-term fencer and vice-president of En Garde Fencing

Club at Murdoch.

Contact Details Contact details can be found on the front cover of this study guide. Always put SCI16

in the subject line to make sure your email is noticed quickly.

Administrative Contact If you have any queries about your enrolment in this unit they should be directed to

the OUA Liaison Team at Murdoch (please refer to your cover letter for contact

details).

Tutor

You will be notified of your tutor at the beginning of the unit.

Please write your tutor’s name and contact on the table of contents.

Technical Help For technical difficulties with the LMS or Lectopia contact the IT Service Desk:

[email protected]

or phone (08) 9360 2000

SCI16 Unit Information iii

For difficulties due to broken links or missing files, or the content of the LMS contact

the Unit Coordinator.

How to Study this Unit This unit covers the following topics:

� What is Science?

� Motion

� Gravity & Projectile Motion

� Newtons Laws and Vectors

� Momentum and Energy

� Heat and Thermodynamics

� Electricity and Magnetism

� Wave Motion and Sound

� Light and Optics

Learning Activities This unit has a variety of learning activities to assist you in your study of SCI16 General

Physics. Lectures and Essential Readings are designed to provide a focus to the unit

and to introduce you to the concepts that underpin each of the topics. Laboratories

and Tutorials are designed to enable you to apply what you have learnt and to develop

skills which are important in the sciences, such as practical skills and working in teams.

The unit also has an extensive website within the LMS (MyUnits) environment, which

includes additional learning activities, assignments and audio files of lectures.

Time Commitment and Attendance

As this is a 3 credit point unit, we expect you to spend on average 10 hours / week for

the 15 weeks of this teaching period (or 150 hours overall) working on this unit.

This unit does not have any attendance requirements for OUA students.

External Students and Laboratory Exercises

There is no compulsory on-campus attendance for external students. However, you

are welcome to attend as many of the on-campus help classes as you wish. Please

contact your tutor or the unit coordinator for details about the timetable and venues.

External students should use the “Learning Activities” section in each of the topics as

the basis for your self study plan for each week.

Unit changes in response to student feedback This unit has changed substantially over the past few years. In 2006, a focus on

conceptual (rather than mathematical) physics was adopted. This change included a

change in textbook and a reduction in the number of assessed learning tasks.

In recognition of the changes facing students in balancing life, study and work

commitments, this unit has adopted a flexible learning approach with a large number

iv SCI16 Unit Information

of learning materials available online through the university’s online learning system

(also known as the LMS).

In 2008, a cheaper textbook - Conceptual Physics Fundamentals 1st Edition (CPF) was

selected as the required text for the unit.

From 2008 onwards, external students will no longer be required to request an

external experiments kit and should download the laboratory activities from the unit

website.

In 2010 an activity was introduced which encourages students to observe and write a

report on physics out in the real world. Also in 2010 an audience response system has

been trialled during the lectures. This was met with some success and will be used

again in 2012.

Your feedback regarding this unit is appreciated!

Important Deadlines If you decide to withdraw from SCI16, your withdrawal request must be submitted to

OUA in writing using the Online Enquiry Form on the OUA website. OUA will advise

your academic provider of your withdrawal.

For Murdoch University the final date for withdrawal without academic penalty is

Sunday of Week 6.

You are not required to advise your academic provider of your intention to

withdraw from a unit.

You may incur a financial penalty for withdrawal, depending on the date that OUA

receives your withdrawal request. All important dates are on the OUA Academic

Calendar on the OUA website.

Should you withdraw –

• Before the close of enrolment date: no penalties apply.

• Between the close of enrolment and the census date: financial penalties apply

and you are eligible for a refund of your unit fees or remission (cancellation) of

your FEE-HELP debt.

• After the Census Date: No refund of unit fees applicable unless you can

demonstrate special circumstances. Academic penalties may apply.

• Special Circumstances: Information concerning special circumstances can be

found on the OUA website.

Students should make themselves familiar with OUA’s withdrawal policy as soon as

possible. Full information is available on the OUA website. From the OUA Homepage

(www.open.edu.au) click on the link “Changing your Study”.

SCI16 Unit Information v

Study schedule This timetable will help you to plan your study over the semester.

Teaching Week

Topics Conceptual Physics

Fundamentals Schedule

1 1. What is Science?

Chapter 1

p 1 – 12

Appendix A

p373-376

Diagnostic

Exercise

2 2. Linear Motion Chapter 3

p30-51

Tutorial 1

3 3. Newton’s Laws &

Vectors

Chapter 4

P52-77

Appendix B & C

P377-386

Laboratory 1: Velocity

4 Tutorial 2

5 4. Momentum and

Energy

Chapter 5

p78-104

Laboratory 2: Vectors

and Newton’s Laws

* Assignment 1

6 5. Gravity and

Projectile Motion

Chapter 6

p105-132 Tutorial 3

7 6. Heat and Thermo-

dynamics

Chapter 8

p160-176

Tutorial 4

* Assignment 2

8 Chapter 9

p177-196

Laboratory 3: Heat of

Fusion

9 7. Electricity and

Magnetism

Chapter 10

p198-224

Tutorial 5

* Assignment 3

10 Chapter 11

p225-244

Laboratory 4: Exploring

Magnetism

11 8. Waves and Sound Chapter 12

p246-270 Tutorial 6

12 9. Light and Optics Chapters 13 & 14

p271-318

Laboratory 5: Sound and

Light

13 Review Week

vi SCI16 Unit Information

SCI16 Unit Information vii

TWO

Resources for the unit

Unit materials To undertake study in this unit, you will need regular access to:

Essential

textbook

1. Conceptual Physics Fundamentals 1st

edition by Paul Hewitt Published by

Pearson Addison Wesley, 2008.

ISBN 0-321-50136-5

AND

2. QuickSmart Introductory Physics, by Turville and Vaille. Published by

Pascal Press [this text will be extremely useful for SCI19 too]

These are both ESSENTIAL texts. This means that you should have your own

copy of both as they will be used for each topic after week 1.

Other

references

2012 Unit Information and Learning Guide for SCI16 General Physics (online

or printed version).

This specifies the minimum material you will need to do in order to

successfully the unit.

2012 Laboratory Manual & Tutorial Guide for SCI16 General Physics

You may wish to read further or complete more questions and problems.

Online

resources

This is an online unit. You should visit the unit website AT LEAST once per

week during this semester. It will be the primary method of contact.

Assignments also must be submitted via this unit website.

The online unit and Lectopia recordings can all be accessed from the MyUnits

page.

If you are unable to access the Lectopia recordings please contact the Unit

Coordinator to request a copy of the recordings.

viii SCI16 Unit Information

Library resources

The library has a range of excellent physics books. If you are looking for

materials to support this unit, look for books which are algebra or

Conceptual Physics, rather than calculus books.

Past exam papers can also be sourced via the library website.

http://wwwlib.murdoch.edu.au/exams/

Computing resources In order to complete this unit you will require regular internet access.

Internal and metropolitan external students may use the computing facilities in GCL1,

adjacent to the Nexus Theatre off Bush Court.

You will need your Murdoch student number and password to login on these

machines. If you require technical assistance, including adding credit to your internet

quota contact IT Service Desk on 08 9360 2000.

SCI16 Unit Information ix

THREE

Assessment You will be assessed on the basis of:

Assignments, laboratory experiments, tests, tutorial work and a final examination,

carrying the following weights:

Component of Final Mark Notes

Assignments

18% Three assignments, worth 6% each.

Laboratory Reports 15% Five lab reports, worth 3% each

Tests 10% Five tests, worth 2% each

Tutorial Work 7% Worksheets and problems for each

tutorial worth a total of 7%

Final Examination

50% 50%

Total 100% 100%

Assessment details

There are 3 assignments, 5 tests, some tutorial work, 5 labs and a final exam.

Teaching Week

Topic Internal

Lab/Tute Schedule

Assessment Due

1 1 Diagnostic Exercise

2 2 Tutorial 1 Tutorial 1

3 3

Laboratory 1 Laboratory Report 1

4 Tutorial 2 Tutorial 2

5 4 Laboratory 2 Laboratory Report 2 &

Assignment 1


7 6

Tutorial 4 Assignment 2

Tutorial 4

8 Laboratory 3 Laboratory Report 3

9 7

Tutorial 5 Tutorial 5

Assignment 3

10 Laboratory 4 Laboratory Report 4


12 9 Laboratory 5 Laboratory Report 5

13 Review Week

x SCI16 Unit Information

Diagnostic Exercise A diagnostic exercise that is common to both SCI16 and SCI19 and it is not formally

assessed (does not contribute to your grade). It provides a dry run at the assignment

submission process and is used by the unit coordinators to determine:

− Potential exemption from SCI16 for students who can demonstrate appropriate

competency in physics;

− Your past experiences in maths and physics; and what additional support

activities (such as extra tutorials) may be needed to assist you with your studies

this semester.

Assignments The assignments will be posted on the unit website at the start of semester so you

know what you are working towards. The first and third assignments involve a series of

short answer and problem solving questions. The second assignment will be a research

activity and report. Some of the questions and problems may require knowledge from

two or more of the topics. The questions and problems will be similar in style to the

practice exercises from the textbook.

You should read the assignment questions whilst reading the text book, but avoid the

temptation to work "backwards" from the questions to the required reading because

this may cause you to skip important parts of the reading. Where ever possible use a

diagram in answering the assignment questions as good diagrams will receive marks.

Tests / Tutorial Work As part of five of the tutorials, there will be a short test consisting of multiple choice

questions and short answer questions. These questions will be on the content of the

topic covered before the tutorial. You will also be expected to complete some set work

during the tutorial and a mark will be given on the basis of a ‘reasonable attempt’ at

the work. You may not have enough time to get through all the work in the tutorial,

but, if you have made a good attempt at the work you will get the full marks for it. This

is to encourage you to keep revising throughout the unit (don’t wait until the day

before the exam!). The weightings of each set of tutorial work are the same. The

tutorial work is included in the tutorial guide and lab manual. For external students

this test and electronic copies of the tutorial materials will be available on the unit

website and should be submitted during the tutorial week.

Laboratory Reports There are five laboratory sessions in this unit. For each of these you will write up a

brief laboratory report. You are only required to complete the pages from each of the

laboratory exercises which are included in the SCI16 Laboratory Manual.

SCI16 Unit Information xi

Assignment Cover Sheets

Assignment cover sheets must accompany all assignments submitted in SCI16 and you

should always keep a copy of the work. They can be downloaded from the unit

website in MyUnits.

NO assignment will be marked without a signed declaration on the cover page.

Declaration When submitting the Assignments, the cover sheet with the declaration completed

must be attached.

If a cover sheet is not attached and/or declaration is not signed,

your assignment will not be marked until it is attached / signed.

The assignments must be completed independently. The University has strict penalties on PLAGIARISM (see below for

additional information).

All suspected cases of dishonesty in assessment

(unauthorised working together, direct copying, ghost writing etc) are reported for investigation. Penalties may

include failure of the assignment, failure in the unit and exclusion from the University.

xii SCI16 Unit Information

Assignment / Laboratory Report Submission

Assignments should be submitted as a single PDF document and must include a coversheet. PDFs can be created from

scanned documents or from word processor and graphing software packages. An assignment cover page must be the

first page of this document.

External students - The preferred method of submitting assignments, tests, tutorial

work and lab reports is via the LMS. This provides proof of delivery and quicker turn

around time. If they are unable to be uploaded they can also be emailed or

postmarked no later than 4pm Friday of the week in which they are due. The tests and

tutorial work will be available on-line and each must be completed in one sitting.

The schedule for submission of work is organised to give you a weekly routine of

assessment and feedback. The feedback will include tips on how to improve your

assignments and lab reports leading to better marks in future submissions.

Assignment 2 (the research activity assignment) should be put through TurnItIn, the

reference checking software, and the TurnItIn report should be attached to your

assignment submission. You will find instructions on how to do this if you follow the

TurnItIn link from the homepage of the unit website.

Deferred Submission and Late Assignments If you have exceptional personal circumstances or have been unwell you should

contact the unit coordinator and seek an extension for your assignment.

Please note that extensions will only be granted for valid reasons. Inability to

complete an assignment due to regular work commitments are not grounds for

extension. Applications for an extension have to be made prior to the due date

through the unit co-ordinator. Tutors do not have the discretion to grant extensions.

Applications must be made in writing (email is ok) and you should attach a medical

certificate if you have been unwell.

If you cannot complete all the questions in an assignment or laboratory report, you

should hand in what you have completed. In this case, indicate where you are

experiencing difficulty so that your tutor can provide feedback on these problems.

Sometimes “life happens” and it is not possible to hand your work in on time. In this

case contact your unit coordinator as soon as you can.

Any assignments or laboratory reports that are handed in late, without prior

warning, will not be marked.

SCI16 Unit Information xiii

Your assignment will be marked and returned to you personally or by mail. Allow at

least two weeks for marking. Assignments are not normally returned until after two

weeks have elapsed to allow for approved late submissions (see above). The final

assessment is due by the end of week 13. Assignment submissions cannot be

accepted after the examination has commenced unless a written application for

deferred assessment has been lodged with, and approved by, the head of Student

Administration in accordance with the deferred assessment procedures given in

Degree Regulation 46.

Previous experience indicates that regular submission leads to regular feedback which

is important for optimum performance in the final exam.

Resubmission of Failed Assignments A student who fails an assessment task will not be able to resubmit the failed

assignment or laboratory report. Students who fail the exam, but score a unit mark of

greater than 45% will be offered a supplementary examination.

Examination(s) A 2-hour examination for this unit will be held during the OUA exam period. You will

receive information in regards to venue selection and exam timetable direct from OUA

Exam Services during the study period. This will be sent to you by email to your

personal email account.

The examination may cover material from all topics as well as the laboratory activities.

The examination will be closed book and you will be permitted one A4 page of

handwritten or typed notes (double sided).

All students sitting for final examinations must produce photographic ID.

Students may inspect their marked examination scripts and discuss the marking with

the Unit Coordinator within 14 days of the posting of results (Degree Regulation 43).

For further information about examinations, refer to

http://our.murdoch.edu.au/Student-life/Get-organised/About-exams/

Attendance/participation requirements OUA Students OUA students are not required to attend any on campus activities, but are welcome to

attend help classes when they are running.

xiv SCI16 Unit Information

Determination of the final grade Your final grade will be determined by the addition of each of the component marks;

Component % value of final grade

Assignments 18%

Tutorial Tests 10%

Tutorial Work 7%

Laboratory Reports 15%

Examination 50%

Moderation of assignment and laboratory marks may be used to ensure consistency of

marking across tutors in this unit.

Students must pass (score >50%) the examination in order to pass the unit. A student

who scores greater than 50% overall for the unit, but fails the examination will be

awarded a supplementary assessment.

See Section 11 of the current Assessment Policy regarding grades

http://www.murdoch.edu.au/goto/assessmentpolicies

Notation Grade Percentage Range

HD High Distinction 80 – 100

D Distinction 70 – 79

C Credit 60 – 69

P Pass 50 – 59

N Fail Below 50

DNS Fail The student failed to

participate in assessment

components that had a

combined weighting of 50% or

more of the final mark.

SA Supplementary Assignment 45 – 49*

SX Supplementary Exam 45 – 49*

*The award of the grade SA or SX shall be at the discretion of the Unit

Coordinator except where clause 11.8 applies.

SCI16 Unit Information xv

University policy on assessment

Assessment for this unit is conducted in accordance with the Assessment Policy.

The version of the Assessment Policy applicable for this unit can be found at

http://www.murdoch.edu.au/index/policies/index?Filter=assessment

Assessment roles and responsibilities

Please refer to section 8 in the current Assessment Policy

http://www.murdoch.edu.au/goto/assessmentpolicies

Academic Integrity Murdoch University encourages its students and staff to pursue the highest standards

of integrity in all academic activity. Academic integrity involves behaving ethically and

honestly in scholarship and relies on respect for others’ ideas through proper

acknowledgement and referencing of publications.

Lack of academic integrity, including the examples listed below, can lead to serious

penalties.

Plagiarism Inappropriate or inadequate acknowledgement of original

work including:

• Material copied word for word without any

acknowledgement of its source

• Material paraphrased without appropriate

acknowledgement of its source

• Images, designs, experimental results, computer code etc

used or adapted without acknowledgement of the source.

Ghost writing An assignment written by a third party and represented by a

student as her or his own work.

Collusion Material copied from another student’s assignment with her

or his knowledge.

Purloining Material copied from another student’s assignment or work

without that person’s knowledge.

Adapted from Section 9.3 of the Assessment Policy, Plagiarism and Collusion.

Find out more about how to reference properly and avoid plagiarism at:

http://our.murdoch.edu.au/Student-life/Study-successfully/Referencing-and-citing/

Plagiarism-checking software

The University uses software called Turnitin which checks for plagiarism. The

Coordinator may have added a link to Turnitin in your online unit. Please note that

when you or your Unit Coordinator submit assignments electronically to Turnitin, a

copy of your work is retained on the database to check collusion and future plagiarism.

xvi SCI16 Unit Information

The University has a legal agreement with Turnitin that it will not share or reproduce

student work in any form.

Advice on using Turnitin can be found at

http://our.murdoch.edu.au/Educational-technologies/Turnitin/

Non-discriminatory language Please refer to:

http://our.murdoch.edu.au/Student-life/Rights-and-responsibilities/Your-

responsibilities/Non-discriminatory-language-guidelines/

Student appeals

Murdoch University encourages students to resolve issues initially through their Unit

Coordinator and/or appropriate Faculty staff member. In cases where this is not

possible, the University has in place a Student Appeals process.

This process is a mechanism open to all Murdoch University students and there is no

fee.

The fundamental principles of this process include:

1. natural justice and procedural fairness;

2. transparency and accountability;

3. the provision of regular procedural review; and

4. the enhancement of the appeals process and outcomes.

An appeal is not a merits based review, in other words, the committee will not

reconsider a student’s performance to determine whether a different grade should be

awarded. Rather, it is a procedural review and will investigate whether proper process

has been followed. In cases where the appeal of a student is upheld by the Student

Appeals Committee, the committee will consider what remedy, if any, is appropriate.

Students seeking a review of a grade or mark are instead encouraged to follow the

procedures set out in the University’s complaint process at

http://www.murdoch.edu.au/vco/secretariat/complaints/

Information on the Student Appeals process can be found at

http://www.murdoch.edu.au/vco/secretariat/appeals/appeals.html

SCI16 Unit Information xvii

Student complaints

Please refer to

http://www.murdoch.edu.au/vco/secretariat/complaints/

Conscientious objection in teaching and assessment (This relates to an objection based on an individual’s deep moral conviction of what is

right and wrong)

For guidelines on conscientious objection, see

https://policy.murdoch.edu.au/documents/index.php?docid=724&mode=view

Students should ensure that they regularly read and understand these policies and

regulations. You are required to acknowledge on the cover sheets on your assignments

that you have done this.

Ensure that you have read each of these policies before commencing the work

required for the unit.

xviii SCI16 Unit Information

MICK WAS

SCARED HE’D

BECOME A

PLAGIARIST1

His mate, Dave, told him it took more than one time at

cheating to do that. Mick wasn’t entirely convinced, but he

didn’t want to fail. So they shared an assignment. And, as it

turned out, the real harm wasn’t done by him failing. It was

what Dave added to it that made it easy to spot the plagiarism

- a mistake. You see, Dave was bad at maths, but like many

other people didn’t know it. So how would Mick? That’s why

you should never share assignments. Failing an assignment is

depressing enough – Plagiarism can make you fail a whole

unit…or worse!

1 1 Any similarity to posters found in campus bathrooms from the Australian National Council on AIDS is purely intentional!

General Physics SCI16

Learning Guide

SCI16 Learning Guide 1

Introduction

How to use this Learning Guide This unit has been designed to enable you to develop skills and knowledge using a

variety of learning activities.

To guide you through your learning activities, this printed Learning Guide and the

online version contains topic by topic information including:

• Objectives and introductory notes to each topic

• List of required readings

• Study questions and practice exercises

• Key concepts

• Learning Activities

This information is designed to help you move through the unit in a way which will

lead to thorough, critical and reflective learning. Although the study questions/practice

exercises are optional, they will help you consolidate your learning and assist you in

becoming an independent learner.

To use this guide, I suggest that you first check through the objectives and alongside

each you should write what you already know - definitions, etc. You should then read

the recommended sections from the textbook and complete the notes alongside the

objectives. You can now test your understanding of the material by attempting the

practice questions and problems.

You will find that these are graded in the textbook from single-concept to more

involved multi-concept tasks. It is important that you are able to master these more

difficult tasks. Unlike most texts, Hewitt doesn’t have answers in the back of the book.

These will be discussed in workshops. For external students, you will be able to access

these from the unit website. Intro Physics has answers in the back of the book.

The examination questions consist of a mixture of written answers (similar to the

questions) and numerical problems (similar to the Challenge problems), just like part

of the assignments.

2 SCI16 Learning Guide

Getting the most from the topic pages

Introductory text about

the topic or how it fits

into the grand scheme

of things

This is the time you should spend on this

topic, including any assignment questions

What you need

to learn!

The MINIMUM

Reading you need to

do to pass the unit

These questions will be

discussed in the workshop

/ tutorial & you should do

these BEFORE the class

(you may be asked to

present your answer!)

Key equations which

you need to know


Learning Activities:

What you need to do, or

prepare for the workshop

class, or plan your study

around for External Students

The key things you

should know at the

end of the topic

Assignment & General reminders


Getting the most marks for numerical problems I know that this seems overly pedantic and not at all relevant for the ‘real world’.

In the lecture notes, particularly week 2, lecture 2 you will see that this approach and

format for problem solving is presented. I teach this overly prescriptive approach to

problem solving so that you can develop a set of problem solving skills which you can

apply to almost any situation, but certainly across other areas of the sciences and

engineering.

To encourage this logical approach, the assignment and examination problems are all

marked using this approach. Last semester a student failed the exam even though he

got every answer ‘correct’, because the process of problem solving is just as, if not

more, important as the correctness of the answer.

You don’t need to rule lines on the page, but sectioning your page is useful as it

encourages you to leave ‘white space’ so that I can follow what you have done. It also

means that you are not overly penalised because you made an error when you wrote

the numbers down from the calculator, or similar.

I hope that this additional information helps you to understand why I am so pedantic

about the approach!!!!

12

What a well formatted answer looks like

• List of known's

What do you know?

• Assumptions and explanationsWhat is the physics involved and what

assumptions have you made to answer this question

• DiagramDraw a diagram of how you understand the situation

described in the question

• Working outYou need to show your working out…I’m

interested in your ability to solve problems, not necessarily the

answer that you get

• Relationship What equation or

relationship will you use


Marking of Assignment Problems Learning how to solve problems is as important as getting the right answer. Being able

to communicate how you solved the problem is also an important skill for a scientist to

acquire. So in order to reflect this in the marking of the assignments there will be

minimal marks for getting the right answer. You will get marks for:

• A good diagram 20% of the marks

o Correct, clear and a reasonable size

o Putting on the diagram all known factors

• A list of all known variables and an explanation of the physics stating any

assumptions relating to the question, if there are any (30%)

• Giving the equations that will be used in their general terms 10% of the marks

• Calculations and working out leading to a correct answer 20% of the marks

• The correct answer 20% of the marks

o The correct SI units

o An appropriate number of significant figures

Suggestions on how to do assignment problems First you have to get the physics right before you can attempt a numerical solution. Do

not start writing down equations without any comments, or what is even worse,

starting with the calculations without first stating the equations in general terms.

Problem Example A roustabout is sitting on a branch of a tree and wishes to drop vertically onto a horse

galloping under the tree. The horse is travelling at 10.0m/s and the drop to the saddle

is 3.00m. (a) What must be the horizontal distance between the saddle and branch

when the roustabout leaves the branch? (b) How long is the roustabout in the air?


An Example of a Good Answer: Sometimes it makes more sense to do the second part of the question first. So

plan how you are going to do it.

1. Begin with a good diagram and

put on the diagram all known.

2. List the known variables. Explain the physics involved. Has the situation been

idealised? If so state the assumptions.

g = 9.8m/s2

vx = 10 m/s

vyi = 0 m/s

yf = 3 m

It takes the same amount of time for the roustabout to drop from the tree into

the saddle as it takes for the horse to move into place.

The roustabout moves a given displacement (distance between the tree branch

and the saddle) at constant acceleration (g), where the initial velocity (velocity of

the roustabout) is zero.

The horse moves an unknown displacement (position at the start of the drop to

underneath the roustabout at the end of the drop) at a constant velocity and has

to be directly under the roustabout at the end of the drop.

The time between the start of the drop and contact between roustabout and

saddle can be found.

3. Give the equations that will be used in their general terms and do the

calculations leading to a correct answer with the correct SI units and an

appropriate number of significant figures.

Always solve the problem in terms of a general equation before you enter

numerical values. Then decide which direction is positive.

The time of flight can be found from the equation

yf = vyit + ½ayt2

so t = √(2( yf - vyit) / ay)

t = √(2(3.00m) / 9.8ms-1

)


t = 0.78246s

t = 0.782s (correct to 3 significant figures)

The distance of the horse from the tree can be found using the formula

x = vxt

so x = 10 x 0.782

x = 7.82 m

An Example of a Bad Answer: yf = vyit + ½ayt

2

t = √(2(3.00m) / 9.8ms-1

)

t = 0.782s

x = vxt

x = 7.82 m

An Example of a Really Bad Answer: x = 7.82m

About units Every physical quantity has two components

� a numerical value, such as 3.5, 7.456, 5.6 x104

� a physical unit, such as m, s, ms-2

The physical units are not always in SI units, they occur often in derived units, such as

cm, mm, ms, y, m/s, km/h.

Always include the units in your equation. Do not assume that all the terms are

expressed in SI units.

Once you have derived the equation which is a partial solution to your problem, you

should proceed as follows:

a) Enter the physical quantities as they appear in the equation, i.e. the quantities

should be entered with their numerical values and the units. A good way to

tackle this is to have a two-column layout. Work out the values in one column

and the units in another

b) Reduce all units to basic SI units and check the final units of this procedure. If

the units are not correct, e.g. if you obtain m/s2 instead of the expected m/s,

there is an error in the equation. This way you can partially check your result

before you do any numerical calculations.


Remember your units have to be right.

c) Work out the result of all basic numbers.

d) Work out the result of all powers of ten.

e) Combine the results of (b) (c) and (d) for the final answer.

f) Check this result is reasonable. Compare with known numerical results.

Check for order-of-magnitude only. If your answer is off by one or more

powers of ten from what you expect or from what seems reasonable,

then it is most likely wrong.

g) Check you have the right number of significant figures i.e. you can not

have more significant figures than the values given in the problem. For

example in the problem given above if the horse is travelling at 10 m/s

rather than 10.0 m/s then the answer can have no more than 2 significant

figures so the distance from the horse to the tree is 7.8 m not 7.82 m.

You should develop the ability to estimate your answer to within one order of

magnitude.

Important Note: You should always use this approach in all your answers, except for

simple or very straightforward questions, as it will assist you to understand the physics

of the problem and enable your tutor to understand what you are doing. As the

assignment questions have the answers at the back of the book it is important to show

your working and explain your answer to get full marks.


TOPIC ONE

What is Science?

Introduction In this first topic, you will explore some of the fundamental aspects that underpin

science as a field of study.

The word science comes from the Latin meaning to know and representative of

common definitions of science, such as the search for truth. We could spend many

years trying to define science and explain its role in society. Alas, we do not have that

long! If you are interested, see the list of suggested readings on the unit website.

Nominal time to complete topic – 7 hours

Learning objectives When you have completed this topic you should be able to:

Define and distinguish between

• Hypothesis

• Theory

• Scientific Fact

• Scientific Law

• Système international (SI) System of Units

• Non SI Units

Explain

• The role of ethical behaviour in the sciences

• Types of and penalties for dishonesty in assessment at Murdoch University

Use

• The scientific method in simple experiments

• SI units in conceptual and numerical problems

• SI prefixes and scientific notation in place of orders of ten


Essential reading 1. Conceptual Physics Fundamentals 1

st ed. (CPF)

a. Chapter 1, pages 1 –12.

b. Appendix A, pages 373–376.

2. Introductory Physics, p1 - 4

3. SCI16 Tutorial Guide and Laboratory Manual

Study questions and practice exercises For each topic 3 different sets of activities may be set. They are designed to

increase with difficulty. Students should master the Challenge problems

before moving on to the next topic.

1. Conceptual Physics Fundamentals 1st edition, Chapter:

Review Questions 1, 3, 13

Exercises 1, 7

2. QuickSmart Introductory Physics

There are no problems for this topic.

3. Challenge Problems

There are no problems for this topic.

Learning Activities There are no laboratory or workshop activities this week, but you have

preparation for next week.

Key Concepts 1. Science is a social activity, which can be described as an evolving

body of knowledge about the physical and natural world as well as

the process of adding to the body of knowledge.

2. The observation, experimentation and measurement of the physical

and natural world is a key feature of scientific activity.

3. Scientists use a range of tools to convey scientific information,

including mathematical formulae, scientific notation and units of

measurement.

4. The Scientific Method is a term used to describe the principles and

procedures used in the process of adding to the body of knowledge

on the natural and physical world.


5. There is a system of moral and ethical behaviour in the sciences

which is very similar to the concepts of dishonesty in assessment,

such as plagiarism at university.

Reviewing what you have learnt Look back over the learning objectives.

What do you know already, what do you have some idea about, and what do you

need to pay particular attention to in your reading?

Try defining some of the terms and explaining some of the concepts before you turn

to the readings.

After you have done the readings for this topic, look back over the notes you made

on the learning objectives.

Can you add to them?

Do you need to go over any section of the reading to improve your understanding?

If you are happy with your progress, go on to the next topic.

Assessment

The DIAGNOSTIC EXERCISE is due this week.

General Reminder Internal students

You need to make sure that you have signed up for a workshop class.


TOPIC TWO

Motion in a Straight Line

Introduction Almost any activity involves movement. The movement may be 'fast' or 'slow', in one

direction as in a sprint race or in a complicated pattern as in dancing. In this topic we

are concerned with the simplest motion: in one direction - a straight line. We can also

describe this as motion in one dimension in space. With this simplification we can

begin to understand the meaning of terms such as velocity and acceleration.



Define

• Acceleration

• Force

• Free fall

• Gravity

• Particle

Distinguish Between

• Displacement and distance

• Speed and velocity

• Instantaneous and average speed

• Instantaneous and average velocity

Explain

• How to calculate velocity and acceleration from graphs and measurements of

displacement and time

• What units are used to describe motion

Use

• The equations of motion to solve problems in non accelerating and uniformly

accelerating situations:

o t

dv =

o 2

of vvv

+=

o t

vva

of

∆

−=

o atvv of +=

Some texts use different symbols in

these formulae

d is interchangeable with s

vf is interchangeable with v, when u

is used in place of vo or vi


o 2

21 attvd o +=

o advv of 222

+=

• Graphs to illustrate linear motion

• The laws of linear motion to explain the motion of particles

Essential reading 1. Conceptual Physics Fundamentals, Chapter 3, pp 30 – 51

2. Introductory Physics, Sections 2.1, 2.2 and 2.3 (don’t worry about the

material on differentiation)

Study questions/Practice exercises 1. Conceptual Physics Fundamentals Chapter 3

Exercises 25, 26, 30

Problems 7, 9

2. Quicksmart Introductory Physics – Chapter 2

1, 5, 8, 10, 12, 13, 14, 16


a. An electron placed in an electric field accelerates uniformly

from rest to a speed v while travelling a distance x.

i. What is the acceleration of the electron?

ii. Calculate the acceleration in ms-2

for an electron that

starts from rest and reaches a speed of 1.8x107ms

-1

over a distance of 0.10m

iii. Calculate the time required for the electron to attain

this speed.

b. The speed of a toy rocket shooting straight upwards increases

from v to V at a uniform rate in a time t.

i. How far does the rocket travel during this time?

ii. Calculate the distance (in m) covered if the initial

rocket speed is 110ms-1

and increases uniformly to

250ms-1

in a period of 3.5s

c. Chris tosses a ball straight upwards at a speed v. Ignoring air

drag;

i. How long does the ball take to reach its highest point?

ii. Calculate the time in seconds that it takes for the ball

to reach its highest point when thrown upwards at

32ms-1

.

iii. Calculate the maximum height of the ball.


d. Using a problem solving approach and the following; the

present world population is approximately 6 billion, this is 5%

of the total number of people who have ever lived on Earth

and there is approximately 0.1 moles of air molecules in each

breath. 1 mole is 6.023 x 1023

molecules. How does the

number of people who ever lived compare to the number of

air molecules in a single breath?

Learning Activities This week’s tutorial includes:

− An icebreaker

− The M&M Science activity.

− Tutorial 1

Key Concepts 1. The velocity, acceleration, time interval or position of an object can be

determined by knowing information about the other quantities.

2. Scalar quantities have only a magnitude component, whereas vector

quantities have both magnitude and direction.

Review You should now start reviewing the previous topics in preparation for the

assignment. If you found you were struggling with any of the problems, ask

your tutor for help.

Assessment

The Tutorial 1 (Test & Tutorial Work) is to be submitted by 4pm Friday.


TOPIC THREE

Newton’s Laws and Vectors

Introduction In topic two we considered motion in one direction but of course life isn't always that

simple so we need a way of handling other directions.

It is convenient to distinguish among physical quantities according to whether they are

directional or non-directional in space. Those variables that have a direction in space

are called vector quantities or vectors; those described fully by their magnitude alone

are called scalar quantities or scalars.

Examples are:

Scalars: distance, speed, time, mass, frequency, energy, work.

Vectors: displacement, velocity, acceleration, force, momentum.

Thus distance and speed are defined as scalar quantities and denote magnitudes alone;

displacement and velocity are defined as vectors and must have their directions

specified. In printed text, vector quantities are often denoted by bold type; scalars by

italic type. Rather than throwing ourselves into a full consideration of vector motion in

many dimensions we are taking an interlude to consider vectors in static situations. In

this case we shall be using vectors to represent forces. We won't be neglecting motion

altogether though, since force and motion are connected via Newton's Laws of

Motion, which form the core of this topic.


(this topic will be studied over two weeks)


Define and Distinguish Between

• Scalar and Vector quantities

• Force

• Inertia

• Friction

• Mass and Weight

• Resultant

• Equilibrium

Explain

• The nature of action and reaction

• The causes of motion


State

• Newton's Laws of Motion (Newton’s 1st

, 2nd

and 3rd

Laws)

Use

• Newton’s 2nd

Law maF = to calculate the acceleration of an object subject

to an unbalanced force

Essential reading 1. Conceptual Physics Fundamentals

a. Chapter 4, pp 52 – 77

b. Appendix B & C pp377 -286

2. Introductory Physics

a. Chapter 1 (1.1 – 1.7) – Vectors

b. Chapter 3 (3.1 - 3.6) – Newton’s Laws

Study questions/Practice exercises 1. Conceptual Physics Fundamentals:

Chapter 3 Chapter 4

Exercises 11, 12 1, 4, 11, 15, 27, 42

Problems 1, 7, 8, 11, 14

2. Introductory Physics – Chapter 1

Even questions up to and including question 12.

3. Introductory Physics – Chapter 3

Even questions up to and including question 12.


a. Mark exerts a force F on two crates, one in front of the other.

Crate A has mass m, while crate B has a smaller mass, 0.5m. The

crates are mounted on tiny rollers and move with negligible

friction.

i. Draw a vector diagram for the system consisting of Crate A

and Crate B.

ii. What is the acceleration of the two crate system?

iii. Draw a vector diagram for Crate B. How big a force acts on

Crate B while Mark continues pushing?

iv. Draw a vector diagram for Crate A. How big a force acts on

Crate A while Mark continues pushing?

v. What would be different in this problem if Crates A and B

were interchanged?

vi. A friend says that Crate A accelerations because Mark’s

hand push it, but Crate B has no force on it so just rides

along with Crate A. What physics is your friend missing?


b. Gymnast Alana of mass m is suspended by a pair of vertical ropes

attached to the ceiling.

i. What is the tension in each rope if she is hanging straight

down?

ii. What are the rope tensions if they comprise a V-shape,

each at an angle θ, with the ceiling?

iii. Suppose that Alana has mass 55kg. Calculate answers for

the tension in the pair of vertical ropes, and for when they

are 53° to the ceiling

c. A street lamp is suspended by 2 cables, one at angle θ1 and the

other at θ2, as shown.

i. Find the tension in each

cable for a lamp of mass m.

ii. Calculate the two tensions

when the mass of the lamp

is 15kg, θ1 is 40° and θ2 is

60°

Learning Activities Week 3 In this week’s workshop you will…

− Complete the Velocity activity from the Laboratory Manual.

Week 4 This week’s tutorial includes:

− Tutorial 2

− What makes a good lab report?

− Marking criteria for Assignment 2

− Tutorial questions

Key Concepts 1. We can interpret and predict the behaviour of particles in motion using

Newton’s Laws.

2. When the sum of all of the forces acting on an object is zero, the object is

at equilibrium.


Assessment Laboratory report 1 – Velocity is due 4pm Friday of week 3. Tutorial 2 (Test

& Work) is to be submitted by 4pm of the Friday of week 4.


TOPIC FOUR

Momentum and Energy

Introduction This topic is probably better described by bangs and crashes as momentum and energy

are of central importance in collisions. It is also intimately related Newton’s Laws.




• Momentum and impulse

• Elastic and inelastic collision

• System and isolated system

• Kinetic energy

• Potential energy

• Potential energy in springs

• Mechanical energy

• Work

• Power

Explain

• How Newton's Third Law is equivalent to the law of conservation of

momentum

• The work – energy relationship

• How energy changes between different forms during motion

• The situations to which the law of conservation of energy may be applied

• How kinetic energy and momentum are different to each other

State

• the law of conservation of momentum

• The law of conservation of energy

• Newton's Second Law in terms of momentum change

• The law of equivalence of mass and energy

Use

• The law of conservation of momentum to describe the effects of interactions

between objects or particles

• The following equations

o mvFt ∆=

o fo mvmv ∑=∑


o mghPE =

o 2

21 mvKE =

o FdW =

o FxW =

o 2

21 kxF =

o KEW ∆=

o t

WP

∆=


Chapter 5, pp 78 – 104

2. Introductory Physics Chapter 4




Exercises 2, 8, 27, 40, 50

Problems 4, 7, 9, 11, 12


1, 3, 5, 7, 10, 12


2, 4, 6, 8


1, 3, 5, 6, 10, 11, 13


a. Andrew finds that a force F is required to push a crate of mass m

up a plank of length L into a truck whose platforms is a vertical

distance h above the road.

i. How much work does Andrew do in pushing the crate up

the plank?

ii. Calculate Andrew’s work input if the crate has a mass of

100kg, the length of the plank is 5.0m, the applied force is

490N, and the platform is 1.2m above the road.

iii. What is the increase of potential energy of the crate once

on the platform?

iv. How much work did Andrew do in overcoming friction?


v. What is the efficiency of the plank?

b. Toyota Prius of mass m and velocity v travelling north on the

Murdoch Drive collides, at the intersection of Murdoch Dr and

South St, with a Honda Civic Hybrid with mass M and velocity V,

but travelling west on South St.

i. What is the magnitude and direction of the resulting

momentum of the vehicles if it is an inelastic collision?

ii. Calculate the resulting momentum if the mass of the

Prius is 1325kg, mass of the Civic is 1190kg and their

initial speeds were both 18ms-1

c. Two minutes into launch, the space shuttle Discovery jettisons, or

releases, the Solid Rocket Boosters are after the fuel has run out.

At this point, the shuttle is doing 4828km/h.

i. What is the average acceleration experienced by the crew

on board the Discovery during these two minutes?

ii. How does this compare to the acceleration due to gravity

experienced by the Astronauts on the ground?

iii. If the commander of the Discovery, Eileen Collins has a

mass of 60kg, what is her average weight during this first

two minutes of space flight?

iv. How much kinetic energy does Eileen Collins have the

moment the boosters are jettisoned?

Learning Activities In this week’s workshop you will…

− Complete Laboratory 2 – Vectors and Newton’s Laws.

Assessment Laboratory report 2 – Vectors and Newton’s Laws is due 4pm Friday of week

5. Assignment 1 is due by 4pm Friday of week 5.


TOPIC FIVE

Gravity and Projectile Motion

Introduction We are going to finish our look at mechanics, or motion by looking at the behaviour of

projectiles. A projectile is any object which is moving through the air (or space) under

the influence of gravity. If you think about the path that a ball, say a cricket or tennis

ball behaves after it has been hit, it follows a curved path and because of this we need

to describe its motion in terms of two directions, x-direction (forwards or backwards)

and the y-direction (up and down).




• Gravity and gravitational fields

• Projectile motion

Use

• The equations of motion to calculate the vector components of an object

following the path of a projectile

• 2

21

d

mmGF =

• Inverse square laws

Essential reading 1. Conceptual Physics Fundamentals, Chapter 6 pp 105 – 132

2. Introductory Physics, Section 2.4



Exercises 1,5, 9

Problems 2, 4, 5, 6

Introduction to Physics

All questions related to section 2.4


a. In a new twist on the birthday party game, a piñata hangs from

the branch of a very tall tree. Nathan aims and fires a small rock

from the ground at an angle θ above the horizontal. He fires it at

velocity vo. The rock strikes the piñata just as it reaches the top of

it trajectory.

i. Ignoring air resistance, what is the speed with which

the rock hits the piñata?

ii. Calculate the speed of the rock when it hits the piñata

assuming an initial speed of 9.0ms-1

and an angle of

65º with respect to the ground.

iii. How high is the piñata?

iv. How long will it take the lollies inside the piñata to hit

the ground once the piñata breaks?

b. Matt, an extreme sport enthusiast, drops from a helicopter

that is flying at velocity v slightly downward at and angle θ

with respect to the horizontal.

i. What is Matt’s initial velocity when he drops from the

helicopter?

ii. What is Matt’s velocity t seconds later?

iii. How long will it take Matt to land in the safety net a

vertical distance y below?

iv. Find Matt’s velocity when he lands on the net and his

time in the air if the helicopter’s velocity is 12ms-1

at

an angle of 15° below the horizontal and is 26m above

the safety net when he begins his drop.

c. A ball is tossed upwards with initial velocity components of

88.2ms-1

vertical and 8.0 ms-1

horizontal. The location of the

ball is shown at 3s Ignore air resistance and use g = 9.8 ms-2

.

Write the values in the boxes for ascending velocity

components and your calculated resultant velocities on the

downward path. Show your working, or reasoning for each

box


d. Consider two identical 1.0kg blobs of water on opposite sides

of the Earth, one on the side facing the Moon and the other

on the side farthest away from the Moon.

i. Calculate the gravitational force on the Moon on the

blob on the side of the Earth closes to the Moon. Hint:

you will find the information you need on the inside

front or back cover of the textbook. Earth Moon

distance is calculated centre to centre)

ii. Calculate the gravitational force of the Moon on the

blob on the side of the Earth farthest away from the

Moon

iii. Calculate the percentage difference between these

two forces

100xF

FF

near

farnear −%

iv. How does this difference relate to the existence of

tides on the Earth?



− Tutorial 3

− Diagrams

− Self review of your draft of assignment 2

− Tutorial Questions

Key Concepts 1. When an object moves in more that one dimension, vectors are used to

describe the motion.

2. When an object moves in a circle, angular methods are used to describe

the motion.

Review Look back over the notes you made on the learning objectives. Can you add

to them? Do you need to go over any section of the reading to improve your

understanding? If you are happy with your progress, go on to the next topic.

Assessment Tutorial 3 (Test & Work) is to be submitted by 4pm of the Friday of week 6.


TOPIC SIX

Heat and Thermodynamics

Introduction This topic is the start of a new module on the properties of materials. In the first part

you will look at the difference between heat and temperature and the effect these

have on and between materials.

In the second part we will look at what happens to substances when they change

between the phases of matter – solid, liquid and gas (we won’t worry about plasma in

this unit….). We also introduce thermodynamics, which literally means heat and work,

so this topic is all about applying what we have already learnt about energy and work

from mechanical systems to matter. This may come in handy for both Energy Studies

students and those doing thermodynamics.

Note: we are going to assume that you have already looked at the phases of matter –

solid, liquid and gas and how they behave within the context of sciences that you have

studied before. If you haven’t, or it has been a while, you should review the relevant

material.

Nominal time to complete topic – 20 hours (studied over 2 weeks)



• Temperature and temperature scales

• Absolute zero

• Heat

• Internal energy

• Specific heat capacity

• Thermal expansion

• Conduction

• Convection

• Radiation

• Insulation

• Evaporation, condensation and sublimation

• Boiling

• Thermodynamics

• Latent heat of fusion

• Latent heat of vaporisation

• Phase change

• Entropy

• Efficiency of heat engines


Explain

• How heat transfer occurs in materials and how it can be prevented

• Newton’s Law of Cooling

• How the sun is able to provide energy for life on Earth

• The unusual behaviour of water, particularly around 4°C

• The processes of boiling and freezing

• How a heat pump works

• How a heat engine works

• What happens to substances when they undergo a phase change, in terms of

energy

• The laws of thermodynamics

Use

• The following equations:

o TLL ∆=∆ α

o mLQ =

o TmcQ ∆=

o PtQ =

o WQU +=∆

o inQ

W=ε

o hot

coldhot

T

TT −=ε

Essential reading 1. Conceptual Physics Fundamentals, Chapter 8, pp 160 – 176

2. Conceptual Physics Fundamentals, Chapter 9, pp 177 – 196

Study questions/Practice exercises 1. Conceptual Physics Fundamentals, Chapter 8

Exercises 2, 7, 11, 21

Problems 1, 2, 4, 5, 8

2. Conceptual Physics Fundamentals, Chapter 9

Exercises 3, 6, 32, 43

Problems 1, 4


a. Energy is needed to change the phase of water to steam

i. What quantity of heat must be added to m grams of

liquid water at To to turn it into steam at 100°C?

ii. Calculate the quantity of heat that must be added to

133g of water at 32°C to turn it into steam at 100°C?


b. Some houses in Australia have instantaneous, or on demand

water heaters which heat water for washing and bathing.

Rather than storing the hot water in large tanks, these heaters

start heating the water when you turn the hot tap on, and

heat the water only whilst the hot tap is on. When you

shower, suppose that you use x litres of hot water each

minute. Hint: 1L of water has a mass of 1kg).

i. How much energy is required to raise the temperature

of x L of hot water from Tcold to Thot?

ii. How much power is required to heat x L of water from

Tcold to Thot in one minute?

iii. Calculate the power rating for a perfectly efficient

heater designed to heat 3.0L of water from 15°C to

50°C each minute.

c. A small geothermal power plant in Europe uses hot water

from the ground as a high temperature reservoir and the

outside air as the low temperature reservoir. Hot ground

water enters the plant at a temperature To and leaves the

plant at a slightly lower temperature Tf. Waste heat is ejected

to the environment at a temperature Tc. Hot ground water of

mass m kg is pumped through the power plant each second.

i. How much heat is supplied to the power plant each

second? (hot groundwater is cooled from To to Tf).

ii. What is the theoretical maximum efficiency of the

geothermal plant, if the temperature of the hot

reservoir is taken to be the average of To and Tf)?

iii. What is the maximum power output of the geothermal

plant?

iv. At this geothermal plant, 5.8kg per second of hot

groundwater enters the plant at To =79.6°C and leaves

the plant at 79.4°C. In winter the temperature of the

outside air is Tc = -0.4°C. Calculate the theoretical

power output of the geothermal plant.

d. A six pack of Dole cola contains m grams of liquid. Suppose

that you wanted to place ice into a perfectly insulating esky to

cool the cans down from Ts to a final temperature Tf. The ice is

initially at a temperature Ti.

i. How much ice would you need as a minimum? Hint:

the final state of the ice will be water and assume that

the properties of the aluminium can are exactly the

same as the cola – i.e. ignore the presence of the can.

ii. Calculate the mass of ice, initially at -5°C, needed to

cool 2.1kg of canned Dole cola from 23°C to perfect


drinking temperature of 4°C.

e. Your half-finished cup of coffee has cooled down to a

temperature Tc. You like your coffee to be at the perfect

temperature Tp. You put your cup, containing x mL of coffee,

into the microwave. Assume 1mL of coffee has a mass of 1g.

(5 marks for the total of all 3 parts)

i. How much energy will it take to restore your coffee to

its “perfect” temperature? Assume that coffee has the

same thermal properties as water and that the cup

itself gains negligible heat from the microwave.

ii. The microwave delivers energy to the coffee at a rate

of P watts. How much time should you set the

microwave to heat your coffee to the perfect

temperature?

iii. If the microwave delivers 750W to the coffee, how

long will it take to reheat the 140mL of the coffee from

22ºC to 83 ºC?

Learning Activities Week 7 The week’s tutorial includes:

− Tutorial Questions.

Week 8 In this week’s workshop you will…

− Complete Laboratory 3 – Heat of Fusion.


Key Concepts 1. Heat is a form of energy.

2. Heat is transferred either by conduction, convection or radiation.

3. Temperature is a measure of the average kinetic energy of a substance.

1. The temperature of a substance doesn’t increase during a phase change.

2. Heat pumps do work to transfer heat.

3. Heat engines use heat to produce work.

4. The laws of thermodynamics are some of the key ‘laws of physics’.

Assessment Tutorial 4 (Work) is due by 4pm Friday of week 7. Assignment 2 is due by

4pm Friday of week 7. Laboratory report 3 – Newton’s Laws &

Vectors is due 4pm Friday of week 8.

General Reminder The exam is fast approaching…

If you haven’t started preparing for the exams, you should start now!


TOPIC SEVEN

Electricity and Magnetism

Introduction Although we can’t see them, electricity and magnetism are all around us in the natural

world and they are intricately related to each other. How many times have you felt the

bite of a static electric shock – perhaps walking on synthetic carpet or when you

accidentally touch someone who is pushing a trolley through the supermarket? We

can also see, but hopefully not experience, electricity in the form of lightening.


(This topic will be studied over two weeks)



• Electricity

• Electrostatics

• Electric fields

• Electric potential energy

• Electric potential

• Magnetism

• Magnetic fields

• Magnetic force

• Electromagnets

• Electromagnetic induction

• Generator

• Transformer

Explain

• the type of interaction observed between electric charges

• the different methods of electrostatically charging objects

• the electric field patterns of isolated point charges, two point charges and

flat plates

Use

• 2

21

d

qkqF =

• qEF =

• d

VE =

• qvBF =



Chapter 10 pp198 – 224

Chapter 11, pp 225 - 244


Section 15.1 – 15.3

Section 17.1 – 17.3

Study questions/Practice exercises 1. Conceptual Physics Fundamentals

Chapter 10 Chapter 11

Exercises 1, 4, 7 11, 15, 31, 36, 38, 50

Problems 2, 4,

2. Introductory Physics, chapter 15

1 – 7 inclusive

3. Introductory Physics, chapter 17

1 , 2


a. A young girl with long (50cm) hair touches the Van de Graaff

generator at a science museum and her hair stands on end. If she

stands with outstretched arms so that her head is 50cm from the

dome and the charge on the generator is 3C…

i. what force does an electron at the end of her hair

experience?

ii. What is the force on an electron at her scalp?

b. Two identical particles which charge q are separated by a distance

d and repel each other with force F.

i. By how much does the force change if each charge is

doubled, which the distance remains unchanged?

ii. By how much does the force change if each charge is

doubled and the distance between them also doubles?

iii. By how much does the force change if the charge on only

one particle doubles and the distance doubles?

c. Calculate and compare the gravitational and electrical forces

between an electron and a proton separated by 10-10

m. Should

Atomic Physicists ignore the effect of gravity within an atom based


on what you have calculated?

d. A certain parallel plate capacitor has a plate separation d and a

potential difference between the plates of V. If the electric field

between the plates is uniform.

i. What is the strength of the electric field F ?

ii. Calculate the strength of the electric field if the distance

apart is 0.05m and a multimeter shows a 100V potential

difference between the plates. (NB 1 Vm-1

is equivalent to

1 NC-1

)

iii. If the acceleration of a charged particle between the

plates is a when it is halfway between the plates, why will

the particle experience the same acceleration if it is only

one quarter the distance between the plates? Defend your

answer.

e. Ink jet printers spray charged drops of ink onto paper. An electric

field in the printer head produces a force on the ink drops

i. Find the electric field strength that produces a force of

2.8x10-4

N on a drop having a charge of 1.6x10-10

C

ii. If the electric field were increased in strength by 10%, by

what factor would the force on the charged drops

increase?

Learning Activities Week 9 This week’s tutorial includes:

− Tutorial 5.

− Error analysis.

− Tutorial questions.

Week 10 In this week’s workshop you will…

− Complete laboratory 4 – Exploring Magnetism.

Key Concepts 1. We can explain the behaviour of charged particles in fields using

Coulomb’s law of electrostatics

2. Electricity and magnetism are intricately related


Assessment Assignment 3 is due by 4pm Friday of week 9. Tutorial 5 (Test & Work) is to

be submitted by 4pm of the Friday of week 9. Laboratory report 4 –

Exploring Magnetism is due by 4pm Friday of week 10.


TOPIC EIGHT

Wave Motion and Sound

Introduction The Boxing Day Tsunami demonstrated that waves could carry enormous amounts of

energy. In this topic, we start by looking at the causes and forms of waves and finish by

looking at sound waves, which are a form of longitudinal wave. In the next topic, we

will look at light, which is a form of transverse wave.



Define

• Frequency

• Wave speed

• Wavelength

• Plane wave

• Standing (stationary) waves

• Beats

• Resonance

• Fundamental frequency

• Harmonic

Distinguish Between

• Transverse and longitudinal waves

• Compression and rarefaction

• Constructive and destructive interference

• Nodes and antinodes of standing waves

Explain

• The origin of beats in the addition of waves

• The interaction of two waves travelling in the same direction

State • How sound is produced

• How sound is transmitted

Use

• λfv =

• Displacement-time and displacement-distance graphs to explain wave

motion


Essential reading 1. Conceptual Physics Fundamentals, Chapter 12, pp 246 -270

2. Introductory Physics, Chapter 13

Study questions/Practice exercises 1. Conceptual Physics Fundamentals, Chapter 12

Exercises 22, 24, 25

Problems 4, 6, 10


Even questions from 6 – 16 inclusive


a. A rule of thumb for estimating the distance between you and a

thunderstorm is to divide the number of seconds between seeing

the lightening flash and hearing the thunder by three. Does this

rule of thumb have a scientific basis? Hint: The speed of light is

3.00x108

ms-1

. The speed of sound is 343 ms-1

at 20°C and

standard atmospheric pressure.

b. Light travels at 3.00x108 ms

-1 through a vacuum and for most

practical purposes through air at this speed as well.

i. Find the wavelength of light of frequency 5.09 x 1014

Hz

emitted by a sodium lamp.

ii. What is the frequency of light whose wavelength is 5.5 x

10-7

m?

c. At RTRFM’s In the Pines concert, you leave the venue to meet your

friends out on the main road and listen to the same concert

broadcast on RTRFM 92.1MHz.

i. Which do you hear first, the sounds from the radio or the

sound from the concert stage?

ii. If there is a delay of 0.5s between the radio signal and the

sound from the stage, how far from the stage are you?

(assume that the radio signal is instantaneous compared

with the speed of sound, because radio waves travel at

the speed of light, not the speed of sound)

iii. Pretend that some way, the radio signal travelled all the

way around the world before reaching you. How far away

from the stage would you have to sit so that the sound

from the stage and the sound from the radio arrive at the

same time?



- Tutorial 6.

- Exam preparation.

- Tutorial questions

- Challenge question.

Key Concepts 1. Waves are a special form of motion which can transmit energy.

2. There are two different forms of waves; transverse and longitudinal

waves.

3. Sound waves are longitudinal waves which can be produced from open

and closed pipes as well as stretched strings.

Assessment Tutorial 6 (Test & Work) is to be submitted by 4pm of the Friday of week 11.


TOPIC NINE

Light and Optics

Introduction Because the eye is uniquely adapted to 'see' a narrow band of radiation we call it

visible light. Many great scientists have undertaken the study of such light and it

continues to be the source of fascination for modern researchers. Thus we have many

theories and explanations and many technical devices constructed to make use of the

properties of visible light.



Define

• Electromagnetic wave

• Electromagnetic spectrum

• Refractive index

• Diffraction

• Polarization

Distinguish Between

• Reflection, refraction and diffraction

State and Use

• The law of reflection

• The law of refraction (Snell’s Law)

• Huygens’s Principle

Discuss

• The origin of the single and double slit interference patterns

• Interference in thin films


Chapter 13 pp 271 – 293

Chapter 14 pp 294 - 318


Sections 14.1, 14.4 and 14.5


Study questions/Practice exercises 1. Conceptual Physics Fundamentals

Chapter 13 Chapter 14

Exercises 1, 8, 11, 26 3, 11, 23, 34, 49

Problems 6, 8 5, 3


1, 2, 3, 13, 14, 17


a. Rainbows are formed when white light from the Sun meets

raindrops in the atmosphere. Water has an index of refraction of

n = 1.3311 for red light and n = 1.3330 for yellow light. (2.5

marks)

i. If the sunbeam shines on a raindrop at an angle of 41°

with respect to the normal at a particular point of the

drop, what is the angle of refraction in the drop for red

light refracted at that point?

ii. What is the angle for yellow light?

iii. Light for both colours travels at very nearly the same

speed in air. Which one is slowed down more when it

enters the drop?

Defend your answer.

b. A pool table has dimensions W

x L. A pool ball strikes the

cushion at an angle θ to the

normal as shown in the

diagram.

i. Assuming the ball obeys the law of reflection, at what

angle does it bounce from the cushion?

ii. How far does it travel before it strikes the opposite

cushion?

iii. Under what conditions will the ball not obey the law of

reflection (hint: the phrase to put English on the ball is

used to describe one situation)

c. Light travels at different speeds in glass and in diamond

i. Find the ratio of the speed of light in glass (n=1.50) to the

speed of light in diamond (n = 2.42)

ii. Once light is inside a diamond it may reflect from an

inner surface. How does the angle of reflection inside the

diamond compare with the angle of incidence in the

diamond?

d. A beam of light is incident upon a plane mirror at angle, θ. The


mirror is then rotated a bit by angle α as

indicated in the sketch.

i. By how much is the angle of

reflection changed?

ii. A beam is incident at an angle of 30°

with the normal and reflects onto a

vertical screen 10m away. If you rotate the mirror by 2°

how far will the spot of the light on the screen move?

Learning Activities In this week’s workshop you will…

− Complete laboratory 5 – Sound & Light.

Key Concepts 1. Light travels as an electromagnetic wave

2. Light can be reflected, refracted, diffracted or polarized

3. When light waves interact with each other, this is known as interference

That’s all folks! Last Chance to Get Help! You should now start reviewing the previous topics in preparation for exam.

If you found you were struggling with any of the problems, ask your tutor for

help or send in partially complete answers if necessary.

Assessment Laboratory report 5 – Sound & Light is due by 4pm of the Friday of week 12.

General Reminder All Students

NO work will be graded after Friday of the Review Week (13).

If you are unable to submit work by this deadline, you MUST apply for

deferred assessment.

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