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25 April 2024

AP Physics 2 - fundamentals review #2

My AP Physics 2 class is an ungraded honors course.  There's not even a contract.  There is a careful selection process - students are selected not based on their previous grades, but holistically based on their demonstrated authentic interest in the subject.  Basically, if a student passed P1, wasn't a jerk, and put forth reasonably consistent effort, we take them into the P2 class.  

Even without published grades, the ground state of our class is to begin with a 4-5 minute fundamentals quiz.  We grade the quiz; students tell me their scores.  The quiz grades have no extrinsic meaning, won't be seen by parents or counselors or universities.  So what!  Motivated students still care about getting things right.  But, with no published grades, the students are insulated from the shame or world-ending dread of receiving a published grade that is not an A.  If someone gets 3/10 - which happens somewhat regularly! - they don't have to fear that someone is waiting with a (hopefully figurative) cane for their poor performance.  They just should try to do better next time.


P2 Fundamentals Quiz #2

11. Light is incident on a thin film.  Under what conditions does the light change phase?

12. An ammeter measures ____.  It is connected in _____ with a resistor.

13. Write the equation for induced emf.  

14. And electric field points →.  A positron moves ← in the electric field.  Sketch the path of the positron, and describe briefly how it moves.

15. An electric field points from position A to position B.  Which position is at higher electric potential?

16. A gas expands adiabatically.  What is the sign of the work done on the gas during this process?

17. Write the units of electric field.

18. Kirchoff’s loop rule is a statement of conservation of _____.

19. A concave mirror has radius 50 cm.  What is the focal length of this mirror?

20. For a convex (diverging) mirror, how does a ray parallel to the principal axis reflect?


(Solutions will be in the comments in a few days!)

2 comments:

  1. 11. when light reflects off of a higher-index material
    12. current, series
    13. emf = change in magnetic flux / time interval. (If you multiplied by the number of wire loops N, that's fine.)
    14. The motion is moving left and slowing down. The path is straight to the left. (Electric force on a + charge is in the direction of the electric field. Then a net force opposite the direction of motion means slowing down.)
    15. A
    16. negative (work is done by the gas when expanding, and by the gas is defined as negative work.)
    17. N/C or V/m
    18. energy
    19. 25 cm
    20. away from the focal point.

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