AP Physics C Electricity and Magnetism Syllabus

Textbook: Principles of Physics, A Calculus-Based Text Fourth Edition by Raymond Serway and John Jewett. A copy of this textbook will be checked out to every student taking the class.

About the Course: AP Physics C Electricity and Magnetism is the equivalent of one semester of calculus-based college-level physics. It is expected that students will enter this class having already completed the Physics or Pre-AP Physics course taught at our high school or an equivalent. Students are also expected to have completed or be enrolled concurrently in Calculus. The intent of this class is for every student to take the National AP Physics C Electricity and Magnetism exam that is offered the second week of May and pass with a 3 or higher. If students meet this goal, it should hopefully allow them to either eliminate this course from their college curriculum or “ace” the course in college while their classmates are struggling mightily! The course objectives are those prescribed by College Board for AP Physics C Electricity and Magnetism and these objectives can be found at along with a comparison of topics that are covered in the AP Physics B curriculum. The physics concepts of this course are important for students to know and they are sometimes difficult. At least as important as the physics concepts, is the ability to think critically and solve problems. Preparation cannot be made for every problem found on the exam. There is always a surprise! Students will need to work hard on homework, labs, quizzes, and studying for tests with the guidance of their teacher. Students will also work on critical thinking and problem solving abilities with the guidance of their teacher. This class is taught in one semester along with AP Physics C Mechanics on a 4X4 block schedule with the class meeting 5 days per week for 87 minutes per class period for an approximately 90-day semester. Approximately 50% of the semester is spent on AP Physics C Electricity and Magnetism and 50% is spent on AP Physics C Mechanics. Approximately 1 entire class day out of every 5 is devoted to hands-on laboratory work with pre-lab discussions done prior to the lab and post-lab discussions done after the lab has been graded and returned.

Grading and Evaluation: Grades are based on homework, labs, and quizzes and tests. Each of these is a specific percentage of each nine weeks’ grade as follows:

Homework: 15%

Labs20%

Quizzes and Tests65%

The final semester grade is calculated as follows:

First Nine Weeks’ Grade: 40%

Second Nine Weeks’ Grade: 40%

Final Exam (Full AP Exam):20%

Course Units Outline

1)Electricity Basics

a)Electrostatics including charges, field, potential, force from Coulomb’s Law, field and potential of point charges, and field and potential of a planar system of charges

b)Electrostatics of conductors and parallel plate capacitors including dielectrics

c)Electric circuits including current, resistance, and power, steady state direct current circuits with battery and resistors only and steady state capacitors in circuits

2)Magnetism Basics

a)Magnetostatics including forces on charged particles moving in magnetic fields, forces on current-carrying wires in magnetic fields, and magnetic fields due to long current-carrying wires

b)Electromagnetism including electromagnetic induction, Faraday’s Law, and Lenz’s Law

3)Electricity in Depth

a)Gauss’s Law

b)Electric field and potential due to charge distributions of spherical/cylindrical symmetry

c)Spherical and cylindrical capacitors

d)Capacitors in circuits specifically transients in RC circuits

4)Magnetism in Depth

a)Biot-Savart and Ampere’s Law

b)Inductance including LR and LC circuits

c)Maxwell’s equations

5)Review of all concepts

Labs: Labs are open-ended and come from a variety of sources including, but not limited to The AP Physics Lab Manual, other physics teachers who are kind enough to post their lab ideas on the internet and this instructor’s brain! The labs do not have the “pat” answers found in the theoretical problems that are done in class. A specific procedure is not given for a lab. Instead a list of possible equipment is provided, a problem statement is given and students design their own laboratory procedure. Students are required to keep a permanently bound laboratory notebook in ink. Students must complete Prelab, Data Taking, Data Analysis and Conclusion in this lab notebook as detailed below. Neatness is important, but so is experimental integrity. If a mistake is made in any part of the lab, draw a single line through it or a letter X and continue on. A problem statement including the problem(s) to be solved will be given before the lab. After students complete their lab procedure, student-centered teacher-guided classroom discussion will take place about the different ways to measure the same information. Again, after the lab is completed student-centered teacher-guided classroom discussion takes place to determine the validity of experimental results. Below is an example of a lab problem statement.

Example Lab Problem Statement

Equipment Provided: digital multimeter, batteries and battery holders, connecting wires, light bulbs and bulb holders, any other equipment that I have available that you would like to use

Problem Statement: (1) Measure using the digital multimeter the actual resistance of 3 specific light bulbs and the actual voltage of a battery. (2) Sketch a circuit that contains the 3 bulbs and battery in a series/parallel combination and then mathematically calculate the voltage over and the current through each bulb in the circuit (3) Then actually connect the circuit as you have drawn it and measure the voltage over and the current through each bulb.

Prelab, which must be done before you can complete the lab, includes following written in INK in your lab notebook.

  1. Draw and label a setup of the equipment needed for the lab to solve the problem(s) given.
  2. List ALL measurements you will make assigning each a common variable letter.
  3. Describe the basic procedure for taking measurements.
  4. Derive a final equation or equations that will solve the problem(s) given. Show all work.

Day of Lab Data must all be written in ink in your lab notebook. Please note any significant changes you might make to your lab setup as you proceed with the lab.

Data Analysis & Conclusions: This is to be written after the lab is completed and must be written in ink in your lab notebook. These must be answered separately for each separate question asked.

  1. The answer to the question(s) asked including all mathematical calculations completed.
  2. A discussion of the validity of the answer(s) including sources of error
  3. A discussion of the most efficient and most educational way to perform this lab
  4. Additional information above and beyond the call of duty

List of Labs: Labs are continually evaluated, improved and altered as needed to provide the best educational experience for the students based on both instructor observation and student input. The basic physics concepts of the labs remain the same.

  1. Electric Charge, Force, and Field - The purpose of the lab is to measure data and make calculations for charged metallic objects hanging from thread and determine electric charge, force and field for these objects.
  2. Mixed Series Parallel Circuit - The purpose of the lab is to measure data and make calculations for 3 bulbs in a circuit that is not all series or all parallel and determine current through, voltage over and relative brightness of each bulb.
  3. Capacitor - The purposes of the lab is to measure data and make calculations for a capacitor and determine charge, voltage, and energy of a capacitor.
  4. Magnetic Field - The purpose of the lab is to measure data, make calculations and to determine magnetic field lines and to gain a better understanding of magnetic field for at least two different magnets.
  5. Cathode Ray Tube – The purpose of the lab is to measure data, make calculations and determine which pole of a horseshoe magnet is the north pole when it is exposed to a visible cathode ray.
  6. Electric Motor - The purpose of the lab is to create a working motor prototype, measure data and make calculations for the prototype and to gain a better understanding of magnetic force, magnetic field, and electromagnetic induction.
  7. RC Circuit – The purposes of the lab is to measure data and make calculations for a capacitor-resistor circuit and determine time constant, ways to vary the time constant, and find the capacitance of an unknown capacitor.
  8. LR Circuit – The purposes of the lab is to measure data and make calculations for an inductor-resistor circuit and determine time constant, charging time, ways to vary the time constant, and find the inductance of an unknown inductor.
  9. Concept Review Lab chosen based on student input - The purpose of the lab is student review of a concept that was difficult during the semester. Students have significant input and generally design the entire lab themselves.

Final Thoughts:

This course will be challenging and rewarding! The expected end result of the class is that you will take and pass the National AP Physics exam in May with a 3 or better. You may have the goal of a higher grade on the exam and I will do all I can to prepare you to get a 5. This class is hard work, but it is a lot of fun also.

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AP Physics C Electricity and Magnetism Syllabus