Physics

Lectures and texts for this course cover topics usually treated in an advanced high-school or introductory college-level physics course, including basic concepts and applications for theories of motion, energy, work, momentum, fluids, waves, thermodynamics, electromagnetic fields and waves, electrical circuits, optics, nuclear physics, quantum mechanics, and special relativity. Time permitting, we will also discuss some of the implications of physics to engineering, chemistry, and astronomy.

The course meets twice a week, once in the morning, once in the evening, for a review of the material and open discussion. Students are expected to attend both sessions each week. Assignments from the text will be supplemented by laboratory exercises. Students post homework problems to the course conference center to gain practice in explaining solutions. Chapter quizzes provide additional practice in concept recognition and application to common situations. Students taking the normal course schedule are generally well-prepared for the SAT II Subject Examination in Physics. Additional coaching and preparation for the Physics AP examination is available with the AP Option.

Douglas C. Giancoli
Physics: Principles with Applications 6/E
Prentice-Hall

An additional text with computer simulations is under review and may also be required.

This course is offered through Scholars Online, a non-profit organization supporting classical Christian education through Internet-based courses. Permission to copy course content (lessons and labs) for personal study is granted to students currently enrolled in this course for the Academic Year 2008/2009 or Summer 2008. Reproduction for any other purpose, without the express written consent of the author, is prohibited.