Homework - 8/31/10

The diagram shown above represents two airtrack carts that are about to collide. Cart A is moving and cart B is at rest. After the collision, Cart B's position was marked every 0.1 seconds and is also shown above.


a. Based on the data given for Cart B's position create an accurate position-time graph.

b. Create a general velocity-time graph that represents Cart B's motion. You may reference the x-t graph to help create the velocity graph. (No scale needed)

c. Shade the area under the curve for the v-t graph, state what it represents, and explain what value it should have.

(READ: You need to click on the image to see a larger version)

Is AP Physics Difficult?

Not when you've got a fantastic teacher! Ha, I kid. No, seriously though, I've been asked that a lot. The answer to that question is yes - plain and simple. Now, that's an obvious answer because the AP program provides a college-level experience in high school; earlier than you'd otherwise experience these courses. College Board agrees, “Since the complete exams are intended to provide the maximum information about differences in student achievement in physics, students may find them more difficult than many classroom exams.” [p. 16, College Board’s AP Physics Course Description.] That's a fancy way of admitting their exam is tough! In fact, just to give a quick statistic, in last year's AP Physics C Mechanics exam, 75 % of students had a raw score lower than 50%. DO NOT let that scare you! I have good news! College Board boasts another statistic, most students who take the exam will score high enough to test out of Physics I in college, 70% of students last year! Admittedly, those are some weird numbers, but trust me, the most important one is that most people pass the test!

That brings me back to the title of the post. All of you are honors students and you either have been or are enrolled in other AP courses, so you know what to expect, but I'm just reminding you of why we work so hard (Spoiler alert: it's because AP Physics is difficult). So in the same breath that I tell you this class is difficult, I will also tell you that it's manageable. The only thing you have to provide is effort. Everything else is provided for you!

-W

Welcome To Willkomm Physics!!!

Ah... The first post of many! The Swedish Chef and I welcome you to the 21st century classroom! Online lessons & assignments are already a mainstay for many university courses, so my goal is to make you all comfortable with this mode of learning. My hope is that this blog will become a classroom outside of the classroom; a place where we can discuss problems from class, homework, or any other physics topics. I look forward to another year of AP and many more posts!