Wednesday, October 24

Homework for tonight: Answer, in your notebook, Physics to Go questions 1-4, 6, 8 & 9 on page 629 and 630.

Thursday: In class you will start by working quietly on a review worksheet, which will be collected by the proctor. When you are done, you should read the 'Reflecting on the Section and the Challenge' paragraph on page 628.

Based on the reading, and what you know about voltage, current, resistance and power, you will start to design your HFE home. Remember that you already have an appliance list in your notebook from earlier this year. Using the following website, http://www.energystar.gov/, look up the specifications (wattage, kw/hrs, etc.) required for the 5 appliances you want in your home. Keep this information in your notebook (title should be 'Chapter 6 Challenge'). Then, draw some rough drafts in your logbook of what you think the schematic of your house needs to look like in order to not go over the maximum allowed wattage.
**Revisit the chapter challenge explanation to figure out all the values are required for your home!

Friday and the weekend: Keep working on your schematic drawings for you HFE house.

Also, outline the 'Physics Talk' in section 6.5 (starts on page 633). Its REALLY LONG! Make sure you start working on it sooner, rather than later. Waiting until Sunday will mean a real headache (or a terrible outline!)

Monday, October 22

Complete all of the following tasks:

1) Complete the 'Resistance' column on the two charts you made over the weekend AND the chart you made today in class (use the equation we discussed at the end of the class today, R = V/I).

2) Graph the data you gathered in class today

3) Find the slopes of all three graphs (do the math in your notebook - show your work!)

Thursday, October 18

Using the Circuit Construction Kit (found under Helpful Links), build a one battery + one light bulb series circuit. Use the Voltmeter and Non-Contact Ammeter to measure the voltage drop across the bulb, and the current in the circuit. You will continue to add batteries and take readings until you can complete the following chart:

**NOTE: DO NOT FILL OUT THE RESISTANCE COLUMN**

Table 1. Comparing Voltage, Current and Resistance with Various Numbers of Batteries and Low Resistance Wires

Number of Batteries	Voltage Drop Across Bulb	Current	Resistance (Ω)
1	9.00 V	0.90 A
2
3
4
5
6

Then, start over (one bulb, one battery). Using the voltmeter, adjust the wire resistivity (found in the 'Advanced' panel) until your voltmeter reads 5.50 V (or as close as you can get it). Then repeat the process from above and fill out this chart:

Table 2. Comparing Voltage, Current and Resistance with Various Numbers of Batteries and High Resistance Wires

Number of Batteries	Voltage Drop Across Bulb	Current	Resistance (Ω)
1	5.50 V	0.50 A
2
3
4
5
6

Finally, you will make two graphs. Your first graph should be an xy scatter plot of Voltage vs. Current for the low resistance chart. Your second graph should be an xy scatter plot of Voltage vs. Current for the high resistance chart. Your axises should be labeled and should include units. Voltage should be on your x-axis and Current should be on your y-axis. Here are some videos of how to make xy scatter plots in excel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SeCPLC30_g&feature=fvwrel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnM-7Q6gmUA

Tuesday, October 16

Answer the 'What Do You Think?' questions on page 623. Also, complete a THOROUGH outline of the 'Physics Talk' on pages 625-625 in your textbook (do this in your notebook).


Here was yesterday's assignment for those of you who would like to complete it for partial credit:
Students should read "Reflecting on the Section and the Challenge" on page 620 of their books. They should then answer 'Physics to Go' questions 3-10, which can be found on pages 621 and 622. If a question has a circuit diagram, students should recopy the diagram into their notebooks before answering the question. All questions should be answered completely and thoughtfully.

Thursday, October 11

Complete the yellow (6.3) worksheet you got today in class. Also, study your electricity vocab and, series and parallel circuits in terms of voltage, voltage drop, current and power.

Tuesday, October 9

Read the 'Physics Talk' on page 617-618 of your textbook, and answer the 'Checking Up' questions (#1-4) on page 618 in your notebook. Add the new physics words to your electricity vocab list.

Friday, October 5

Use the circuit simulator we've been using in class (http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/circuit-construction-kit-dc) to make several types of series and parallel circuits. Use the voltmeter and non-contact ammeter tools to find some patters between voltage, current and brightness of bulbs in each type of circuit. Then copy the Venn diagram below into your notebook AND fill it out.

Here's a sample parallel circuit, as well, in case you are confused:

Thursday, October 4

1) After today's discussion, if you need to, fix your bulb comparison chart that you copied into your notebook from page 609 of the textbook (from Tuesday's homework).

2) Answer all of the 'Essential Questions' on page 612. Do this on loose leaf - it will be collected.

Wednesday, October 3

Copy the following tables (with the titles) into your logbook AND complete them. You will notice that I have filled out one row in each table for you. Each of these tables is for series circuits only.

Table 1. Voltage Drops Across Light Bulbs in Series Circuits with Varying Battery Voltage

Battery Voltage (V = J/C)	Voltage Drop Across 1 Light Bulb	Voltage Drop Across 2 Light Bulbs	Voltage Drop Across 3 Light Bulbs
1V	1 V	0.5 V each	0.33 V each
3V
6V
9V
12V

Table 2. Power (in Watts) Across Light Bulbs in Series Circuits with Varying Battery Voltages and Currents

Battery Voltage (V = J/C)	Current (in Amps; A = C/s)	Power (Watts = J/s) Across 1 Light Bulb	Power (Watts = J/s) Across 2 Light Bulbs	Power (Watts = J/s) Across 3 Light Bulbs
1V	1A
1V	2A	2W	1W each	0.667W each
1V	3A
9V	1A
9V	2A
9V	3A

Tuesday, October 2

**Note: You can now find the online textbook information to the right.

In your logbook, answer questions 3 (all parts) and 4 on pages 608 and 609 of your textbook. Question number 4 requires that you draw the same chart as the one seen in the textbook. Make sure that it is neat. You should be filling in the 'Comparison' section and deciding which combination would give you a brighter bulb(s). Feel free to build the circuit on the phet simulator if you're not sure of the answer!