Course Syllabus: AP Physics C Electricity and Magnetism Course Description: AP Physics C is offered as a second year physics course to students who are planning to major in the physical sciences or in engineering in college. It is designed to be the equivalent of a calculus based second semester university level physics course. AP Physics C Electricity and Magnetism is a one semester class that is taught during the second semester of the AP Physics C course. (Mechanics is covered in the first semester.) The course emphasizes both conceptual understanding and analysis (using algebra, trigonometry and calculus) of the topics. Methods of calculus are used whenever appropriate in formulating physical principles and in applying them to physical problems. The class meets for 45 minutes Monday through Friday for two 9-week sessions each semester. Typically, these classes will involve lectures, demonstrations, and problem solving sessions. In addition, a two hour lab (after school) is required each week. Laboratory investigations utilize computer applications when possible. Prerequisites: Textbooks: Lab Work: Physics I (Honors / GT) AP Calculus BC (may be taken concurrently) Tipler, Physics for Scientists and Engineers, Freeman 4 th edition Kinetic Books Virtual Physics Labs Internet resources A 2 hour lab session is required each week. Lab times are available after school and on some Saturday mornings to accommodate the students schedules. Lab time is for experimental work. Students are expected to prepare for the lab before the lab session and to complete their lab reports outside of class or lab times. We have a fairly complete set of Pasco lab equipment. The students are expected to understand and to use this equipment (as well as other equipment and methods) to design their labs and to collect and to analyze their data. Whenever possible, students are given open-ended problems to solve where they are expected to determine what data they will need to solve the given problem and to design their own experimental procedures to collect that data and to determine the appropriate data analysis. Students are also expected to do a project each nine weeks. This is done outside of class.
Homework: We use the University of Texas homework service. Typically, the students will solve 20 25 problems for each unit. These homework sets include a variety of problems from conceptual questions to analytical problems. Tests and Quizzes: Students are given a test for each unit of study. Most tests include both multiple choice conceptual questions and problems to solve. Quizzes are given often to help the students informally gauge their understanding of the material. AP Physics C Electricity and Magnetism Course Syllabus Second Semester Approximate unit time allotted topic 1 8 days electrostatics conductors, insulators, semi-conductors, superconductors properties of charge; methods of charging Coulomb's law Coulomb's law for a system of charges electric field; electric field lines electric dipoles 2 8 days continuous charge distributions statics and dynamics of point charges in E calculate E from Coulomb's law using integration, determine E for uniformly charged rod (finite, infinite) circular hoop disk thin flat plate 3 8 days applying Gauss s law to continuous charge distributions
electric flux Gauss's law using Gauss's law, determine E for a uniformly charged rod (finite, infinite) circular hoop disk thin flat plate using Gauss's law, determine E for non-conducting sphere conducting sphere 4 10 days potential potential and potential difference equipotential surfaces relation between E, potential energy, work, and V determine the potential for point charges (including dipoles) a uniformly charged ring a uniformly charged disk an infinite plane of charge a charged conducting sphere a charged nonconducting sphere 5 8 days capacitors electrostatic potential energy and capacitance parallel plate, cylindrical capacitors applications of Gauss s law energy stored in capacitors dielectrics 6 8 days dc circuits resistivity and resistance temperature dependence batteries internal resistance current resistors in series and in parallel Ohm s Law Ohmic and nonohmic devices capacitors in series and in parallel energy and power in dc circuits Kirchhoff s rules RC circuits Charging a capacitor Discharging a capacitor
6 8 days magnetic fields magnetic fields and forces motion of a point charge in a magnetic field torques on current loops in magnetic fields Hall effect electric motors sources of magnetic fields magnetic fields due to moving point charges Biot-Savart law magnetic fields due to currents in long straight wires magnetic fields due to circular loop magnetic fields due to solenoids magnetic fields due to parallel wires Gauss's law for magnetism Ampere's Law magnetization and magnetic susceptibility magnetic moments paramagnetism; diamagnetism and ferromagnetism 7 8 days magnetic induction magnetic flux and induced emf Faraday s law Lenz s law applications of Lenz s law induced emf and E fields self induction mutual induction RL circuits Electromagnetic oscillations RLC circuits Impedance matching Power in ac circuits generators and transformers 8 8 days Maxwell s equations electromagnetic waves displacement current Gauss s law for magnetism Maxwell's equations Maxwell s equations applied to electromagnetic waves AP Physics C Electricity and Magnetism
Labs Pre-lab work: Students are given a handout describing the problem they are to analyze before the lab. They are expected to be familiar with the problem and relevant concepts, to plan measurements and data tables, and to plan data analysis before the actual lab. Prior to the lab, they submit a proposal about what they will be doing. Lab Time: Lab reports: Students are generally given 2 hours to set up their experiment and to collect their data. More lab time is available if needed. Data is to be collected in a lab notebook. Excel spreadsheets are strongly encouraged for both data presentation and for data analysis and graphing. Students are expected to submit formal lab reports for each lab. The report includes statement of the problem (objective of lab) hypothesis detailed description of the procedure followed raw data presented in a logical and neat format (tables) derivations and sample calculations conclusions relating to objectives error analysis Lab reports are done outside of class and lab times. Students are expected to keep a portfolio of their labs for the year, either in a notebook or on DVD/CD. AP Physics C Electricity and Magnetism Labs
1. Coulomb's Law determine the charge on pith balls 2. Electric fields e lab - Kinetics Books Virtual Physics Labs 3. Ohm's law Evaluate the applicability of Ohm s Law for a resistor and a light bublb 4. Kirchhoff s rules Design multi-loop circuits and verify Kirchhoff s rules 5. RC circuits Determine the time dependence of voltage across a charging capacitor 6. LR circuits Examine the behavior of an inductor in a DC circuit 7. LRC Circuits e lab - Kinetics Books Virtual Physics Lab 8. LRC Circuits Find the resonant frequency of a LRC circuit 9. Transformers Design and build a step-up transformer 10. Magnetic field inside a solenoid Determine the permeability of free space 11. Biot-Savart law Design and perform an experiment to verify the Biot-Savart law 12. project 1 demonstration 13. project 2 demonstration