Albany Senior High School/Coursebook/3PHY

What is this course about?
The word Physics comes from the greek word fusis meaning natural things. Physics studies natural phenomenon in the areas of mechanics, electricity, waves and nuclear physics.

Physicists are inquisitive, so you will investigate the answers to questions about events that occur in the world around you. These topics will range from parts of the atom to observations of distant galaxies, yet all the topics can be related to phenomenon that you can observe every day.

Matter and Energy
The universe is made of matter and energy At the smallest level, matter is made of elementary particles which have mass and charge. On a large scale, matter ranges from everyday objects to vast galaxy super-clusters. Energy has many different forms.

Waves carry energy Energy propagates through materials and space by means of various types of waves, for example, sound waves in air, seismic waves through the earth, electromagnetic waves, including light that may travel through materials or empty space.

Forces
There are four fundamental forces All interactions originate in four fundamental forces of nature. The force of gravity acts between all bodies and depends on their masses. The electromagnetic force acts between charged particles or between magnetic poles and is responsible for electric and magnetic fields and electric currents. The strong and weak nuclear forces operate between protons and neutrons in the nuclei of atoms, holding them together and sometimes resulting in radioactive decay.

Interactions and relationships
The universe evolves by means of interactions All interactions involve matter and energy and take place through forces, fields, and energy transformations.

Some quantities are conserved Underlying these interactions and transformations are laws of conservation – energy and charge cannot be created or destroyed. This means that overall they remain unchanged by an interaction or transformation.

Relationships

Ideas can be connected through relationships. Physicists collect data through experiment and observation and process it to understand the relationships bewteen quantities (qualitative and quantitative). Physicists use these relationships to make predictions, which is essential to physics applications such as engineering, medicine etc.

What will I learn?
Skills you will learn as a Physicist are:


 * how to think scientificaly and understand the nature of science
 * use basic laws to explain situations you observe, both qualitatively (explaining in words) and quantitatively (using formula and numerical values)
 * how to carry out an investigation and analyse trends and relationships in data that you collect
 * explain technical or biological applications of Physics in the world around you and their impact on society

What sorts of things will I do?
As a Physicist you will be

Connected

Understand how physics links to the world around you and your everyday lives. Use physics theory to explain or help understand what you see. Recognise that physics is used in areas such as sports, engineering, communication, medicine and many more...

Curious

Be a lifelong learner who has a sense of curiosity, ask questions about what you see and why things work.

These standards are required as part of the course
Scholarship students can opt to enter AS90522 Demonstrate understanding of atoms, photons and nuclei as the content of this standard is studies for the scholarship examination.

What do I need to be able to study L3 Physics?

 * It is highly recommended that students have passed, with achieved or above, level 2 physics course
 * A good understanding of the following areas of maths - measurement, calculation of area, pythagoras, trigonometry and algebra
 * If you do not have the above you need to see the head of science in the year prior to commencing study.

Can I study Scholarship Physics?
Scholarship is an external examination for top secondary students. Scholarship examines course material related to level 3 standards derived from up to level 8 of the New Zealand Curriculum, but related content knowledge from NCEA levels 1 and 2, will be assumed. Therefore scholarship students must study material required for all 5 achievement standards listed above. The skills and understanding required to meet Scholarship criteria are considerably more advanced than NCEA level 3. Scholarship requires students to demonstrate high-level critical thinking.

Are there any recommended texts?
It is recommended that students have access to the following texts at home:


 * NCEA Level 3 Physics Study Guide, ESA Publishers, Pauline Bendall and Paul Howison (ISBN: 978-1-877366-80-2

To study for external examinations the following texts are recommended:


 * StudyPass level 3 Physics fold out notes and revision guide (these can be ordered throught the school later in the year at a discounted price, you will be informed in class)

And for students doing Physics scholarship


 * Scholarship Physics AME Workbook, ESA Publishers, David Housden (ISBN: 978-877401-94-7)