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SPH4U Physics
University Prep.
Ministry of Education Course Title: Physics, Grade 12, Academic
Course Code: SPH4U
Grade Level: 12
Prerequisite: Physics, SPH3U
Department: Science
Course Description:
This course enables students to deepen their understanding of physics concepts and theories. Students will continue their exploration of energy transformations and the forces that affect motion, and will investigate electrical, gravitational, and magnetic fields and electromagnetic radiation. Students will also explore the wave nature of light, quantum mechanics, and special relativity. They will further develop their scientific investigation skills, learning, for example, how to analyse, qualitatively and quantitatively, data related to a variety of physics concepts and principles. Students will also consider the impact of technological applications of physics on society and the environment.
Total Time: 110 hours
Course Content
Unit 1 Scientific Investigation Skills and Career Exploration
Lab safety skills, scientific investigation procedure, and techniques, lab investigations, and reports. Case studies of Canadian and international scientists, research careers in physics related fields.
Unit 2 Dynamics
Motion and motion graphs, equations of motion, displacement in two dimensions, velocity and acceleration in two dimensions, projectile motion, relative motion, forces and free body diagrams, Newton’s laws of motion, applying Newton’s laws of motion, forces of friction, inertial and non-inertial frames of reference, centripetal acceleration, centripetal force, rotating frames of reference.
Unit 3 Energy and Momentum
Work done by a constant force, kinetic energy and the work-energy theorem, gravitational potential energy, law of conservation of energy, elastic potential energy and simple harmonic motion, springs and conservation of energy, momentum and impulse, conservation of momentum in one dimension, collisions, head-on elastic collisions, collisions in two dimensions : glancing collisions.
Unit 4 Gravitational, Electric, and Magnetic Fields
Newtonian gravitation, orbits, properties of electric charge, Coulomb’s Law, electric fields, electric potential, electrical potential energy due to point charge, Millikan oil drop experiment, magnets and electromagnets, magnetic forces on moving charges, magnetic force on current carrying conductor, motion of charged particles in magnetic fields, applications of electric and magnetic fields.
Unit 5 The Wave Nature of Light
Properties of waves and light, refraction and total internal reflection, diffraction and interference of water waves, light: wave or particle?, interference of light waves, interference in thin films, single slit diffraction, the diffraction grating, electromagnetic radiation, polarization of light.
Unit 6 Quantum Mechanics and Special Relativity
The special theory of relativity, length contraction, simultaneity, and relativistic momentum, mass-energy equivalence, quantum theory, photons and quantum theory of light, wave properties of classical particles.
