PHYS 104 Discoveries in Physics • 6 Cr.

Description

Introduces physical reasoning and basic concepts in physics. Hand-on activities demonstrate fundamental concepts in geometric optics, electricity, and motion. Designed for students with little or no previous physics. Appropriate for general students including those preparing for PHYS 114 and K-12 teachers. Not sufficient preparation for PHYS 121. Prerequisite: MATH 099.

Outcomes

After completing this class, students should be able to:

The student will demonstrate acquired analytical problem-solving skills and apply them to problems from different topic areas. The student will demonstrate this objective when they:

• Gather and process data
• Classify and organize the information according to inherent regularities
• Identify properties or characteristics as being important or unimportant (relevant or irrelevant)
• Define the problem
• Represent the problem graphically, verbally or mathematically
• Translate from one type of representation to another
• Decompose the problem into constituent parts
• Conduct the actions identified above and assemble the solution
• Present the solution (construct a written or verbal synthesis)

The student will propose and refine physical models based on observation, discussion with other observers, and physical reasoning The student will demonstrate the ability to apply general science principles from the three topic areas

• Ability to generalize rules learned in one area to unfamiliar but similar settings
• Ability to apply principles to problems found in the everyday workplace and home settings.

The student will demonstrate acquired analytical problem-solving skills and apply them to problems from different topic areas. The student will demonstrate this objective when they:

• Gather and process data
• Classify and organize the information according to inherent regularities
• Identify properties or characteristics as being important or unimportant (relevant or irrelevant)
• Define the problem
• Represent the problem graphically, verbally or mathematically
• Translate from one type of representation to another
• Decompose the problem into constituent parts
• Conduct the actions identified above and assemble the solution
• Present the solution (construct a written or verbal synthesis)

The student will propose and refine physical models based on observation, discussion with other observers, and physical reasoning The student will demonstrate the ability to apply general science principles from these topic areas:

• Ability to generalize rules learned in one area to unfamiliar but similar settings
• Ability to apply principles to problems found in the everyday workplace and home settings.

The student will demonstrate the ability to apply proportional reasoning to numerical problems. The student will demonstrate an understanding of the concept of the light ray as a physical model and draw ray diagrams as tools for the description of observations of optical phenomena and for the analysis of optical systems The student will demonstrate an understanding of fundamental elements of current electricity. In particular, the student will demonstrate the ability to:

• Recognize the role of the completed circuit and interconnecting wires
• Be able to distinguish between the flow of "stuff" in a circuit and the potential drop that is associated with this flow
• Associate Ohms law as the proportion between these concepts
• Apply the above elements to predict the outcome of changes made to elementary circuits
• Apply the above elements to troubleshoot faults in home and office electrical connections

The student will understand the concepts of potion, velocity, acceleration. The student will interpret graphs of position, velocity, acceleration, and relate these to the motion of everyday objects. The student will understand the role of vectors to describe position, velocity, and acceleration. The student will be able to make elementary vector computations

Offered

• Winter 2020 (current quarter)
• Fall 2019
• Summer 2019
• Spring 2019