# Gas station without pumps

## 2012 February 23

### Physics homework for chapter 7

Filed under: home school — gasstationwithoutpumps @ 13:57
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We’re falling a bit behind if we are to finish through Chapter 11 before the AP exam on Monday May 14 (I’m assuming that Chapters 12 and 13, on entropy and thermodynamics, can wait until after the exam).  Registration for the exam has to be done by March 15 (according to the College Board Calendar for AP).

For Chapter 7 of Matter and Interactions, “Internal Energy”, we should do the following problems:

7.P.29, 7.P.31, 7.P.33, 7.P.45, 7.P.50, 7.P.51

Lab (for 2012 March 2): 7.P.60, or 7.P.63, or 7.P.64.  We’ll decide on Feb 24 which of these looks most rewarding.

Computational problems: 7.P.68 and 7.P.71. (We may add 7.P.70 if we do 7.P.60.)

I’d like to discuss at least half the problems on March 2, and finish Chapter 7 by March 9.

Here is a tentative calendar for the rest of the semester:

Chapter start finish
7 Feb 24 Mar 9
8 Mar 9 Mar 23
9 Mar 23 Apr 6
10 Apr 6 Apr 20
11 Apr 20 May 11
12 May 18 May 25
13 May 25 June 8

We won’t meet on May 4, because of the trip to the Ashland Shakespeare Festival.

## 2012 January 28

### Physics homework for chapter 6

Filed under: home school — gasstationwithoutpumps @ 10:56
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For Chapter 6 of Matter and Interactions, we should do the following problems:

6.P.54, 6.P.61, 6.P.66, 6.P.71, 6.P.81, 6.P.87, 6.P.95, 6.P.98, 6.P.100, 6.P.105, 6.P.107, 6.P.108

## 2012 January 27

### Another plea for physics lab ideas

Filed under: home school — gasstationwithoutpumps @ 16:40
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I’m having trouble coming up with any sort of meaningful lab for Chapter 6 of Matter and Interactions.  This is the first chapter on energy, introducing it as $E= \gamma m c^2$ and discussing potential and kinetic energy.  There is a fair amount of math we can do (like deriving the formula for energy from  $dE/dx = F= dp_x/dt$), and plenty of calculations, but I don’t see any easy labs.  Labs become fairly easy again in Chapter 7, but I’d welcome any suggestions for things we could do with equipment I could build in the next few days.  (I have to keep the pace at a chapter every two weeks if we’re going to finish the mechanics part of the book before the AP exams.)