Physics of the Universe timeline

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2020
May 18

5/19 PitU: Layers of the Atmosphere

A diagram showing the temperature profile of the atmosphere

Assignment: Take notes as you go through this section, then submit a copy of your notes. Overview The atmosphere is layered, corresponding with how the atmosphere’s temperature changes with altitude. By understanding the way temperature changes with altitude, we can learn a lot about how the atmosphere works. While weather…Read More

May 18

5/18 PitU: Graphing atmospheric temperatures

Image of upper and lower atmospheric temperature trends

Scientists have measured the temperature at different levels in the atmosphere, using airplanes, weather balloons, and other devices. The average temperature at different heights is given below. The layers of the atmosphere are named due to the trend of temperatures in each layer. Graph this data on paper or using…Read More

May 15

5/15 PitU: This week: Climate and physics

Image showing water temperatures in the northern Pacific ocean on Aug 27, 2013

Acid and the ocean The average pH of the ocean is 8.1, which means it is on the base side of the pH scale (remember, less than 7 is acidic, greater than 7 is basic). When scientists talk about ocean acidification, they are actually talking about ocean ‘de-basicifiction’—but that doesn’t…Read More

April 27

4/29-31 PitU: Acid and base solutions

image showing that acids, when dissolved in water, produce H+ ions, and that bases produce OH- ions

More coming soon! Definition of acids and bases In the simplest definition, acids are substances that when dissolved in water release hydrogen ions (H+), and bases are substances that release hydroxide ions (OH-). In chemistry class, you will dig deeper into acids and bases, and develop a more complete definition…Read More

April 24

4/22-29 Solutions Part 3: Solution Concentrations

Meme of President Lincoln with "That's so four score and seven years ago..." text

This page explains how to calculate concentrations of solutions.

April 19

4/20-24: Part 2: Electrical conductivity and solutions

Photo of light bulbs over mixtures of water and sugar, salt, and silicon dioxide

Review of Part 1 Substances are made of up small particles (atoms, molecules, ions) that can mix together and may or may not take up the same space after mixing. These particles have kinetic/thermal energy, and thus are always moving and/or vibrating. Solutions contain two parts. A solvent is the…Read More

April 19

4/20-24: Part 1: Solutions (multi-substance, not answers)

Image posing the question "Combining identical volumes of different substances. Does 2 plus 2 always equal 4?

This week and next we will be studying solutions, as well as acids and bases. The science department considers this essential knowledge for your success in Biology next year, so please do your best to learn it. Remember, we are minimizing the content we are covering to help you through…Read More

April 8

4/8 PitU: EM Spectrum and Light; plus Doppler effect review

image showing wavelength decrease as car approaches and decreases as car move away

This week I will collect all your work from the first three weeks, and we will review Doppler effect. After spring break (which is next week), we will start into Acids and Bases, Chapter 4 in the textbook (I’ll post scans of the pages here shortly, in case you can…Read More

April 5

4/5 PitU: Survey to help with planning for the next two months

image showing a computer screen with a generic survey on it

Please take a moment to complete the following survey. It is worth 10 points, just to encourage everyone to complete it 🙂 You will need to be logged in to your school Google account in your web browser to complete this survey. Hoping you and your families are safe and…Read More

April 1

4/1 PitU: Wrapping up the Electromagnetic spectrum

image of the EM spectrum, showing objects that are about the same size as the wavelength

Next week we’ll be moving into “Phase 2” of our Learning at Home period. Vanden and the District have been hard at work ensuring that all students have devices and internet connections so your teachers can provide you with more opportunities to learn from home. The Physics Team has been…Read More