OCG - AP Physics C: Mechanics

Jump to Today

New SDOC-Logo-.png

School District of Oconee County

                                    AP Physics C: Mechanics                                       

Course Number: 327500AW

Advanced Placement Physics C: Mechanics is a college-level course designed to prepare students to for the AP Physics exam given in May.  The course is equivalent to an introductory college-level calculus based physics course on mechanics.  Throughout the course students will study units on Newtonian Mechanics including Kinematics, Newton’s Laws of Motion, Work and Energy, Systems of Particles, Linear Momentum, Circular Motion, Rotation, Oscillations and Gravitation.  The class meets every other day for 90 minutes.  The workload for AP Physics C is comparable to the equivalent college level course.  There are written and/or online homework assignments regularly as well as frequent reading assignments.

 

 

Calculus (413500CW) or Calculus Honors (423500HW) and Physics (324100CW) or Physics Honors (324100HW)

There are no fees associated with this course. 

South Carolina Standards:  (List the standards students are expected to master in this course)

  • Standard H.P.2: The student will demonstrate an understanding of how the interactions among objects and their subsequent motion can be explained and predicted using the concept of forces.
    • P.2A. Conceptual Understanding: The linear motion of an object can be described by its displacement, velocity, and acceleration.
    • P.2B. Conceptual Understanding: The interactions among objects and their subsequent motion can be explained and predicted by analyzing the forces acting on the objects and applying Newton’s laws of motion.
    • P.2C. Conceptual Understanding: The contact interactions among objects and their subsequent motion can be explained and predicted by analyzing the normal, tension, applied, and frictional forces acting on the objects and by applying Newton’s Laws of Motion.
    • P.2D. Conceptual Understanding: The non-contact (at a distance) interactions among objects and their subsequent motion can be explained and predicted by analyzing the gravitational, electric, and magnetic forces acting on the objects and applying Newton’s laws of motion.
  • Standard H.P.3: The student will demonstrate an understanding of how the interactions among objects can be explained and predicted using the concept of the conservation of energy.
    • P.3A. Conceptual Understanding: Work is defined as the product of displacement and the force causing that displacement; this results in the transfer of mechanical energy. Therefore, in the case of mechanical energy, energy is seen as the ability to do work. This is called the work-energy principle. The rate at which work is done (or energy is transformed) is called power. For machines that do useful work for humans, the ratio of useful power output is the efficiency of the machine. For all energies and in all instances, energy in a closed system remains constant.
    • P.3B. Conceptual Understanding: Mechanical energy refers to a combination of motion (kinetic energy) and stored energy (potential energy). When only conservative forces act on an object and when no mass is converted to energy, mechanical energy is conserved. Gravitational and electrical potential energy can be modeled as energy stored in the fields created by massive objects or charged particles.

Other Standards:  (List national or local standards students are expected to master in this course)

  • AP Physics C: Mechanics objectives as described by the College Board (see above)

 

1.0

  1. Required Instructional Materials and Resources: (List required materials including SDOC provided textbooks, including any fees that apply, etc.)

    1. Serway and Jewitt (2004).  Physics for Scientists and Engineers (6th Ed.).  Brooks Cole.  
    2. Halliday, Resnick and Walker (2004).  Fundamentals of Physics.  Danvers, MA: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.

    Optional Materials and Resources:

    1. Iowa Physics Task Force (1985).  PRISMS Lab Manual.  Cedar Falls, IA: Iowa Academy of Science.
    2. Sokoloff and Thornton (2004).  Interactive Lecture Demonstrations.  Danvers, MA: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.
    3. PASCO Scientific (1999).  Physics Labs with Computers.  Roseville, CA: PASCO Scientific.*(All Activities labeled “Activity PXX” come from this book)
     4. Wilson, J. (1981).  Physics Laboratory Experiments.  Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath and Company.Science

Course Summary:

Date Details Due