Fizzics

significant figures September 12, 2008

Posted by mrmackenzie in : AH Physics, Higher , 1 comment so far

In our discussions yesterday, one of the things that cropped up was that we need to revise the material covered before the summer holidays. I thought I would make a start on this by looking at significant figures.

You might have heard me referring to “calculator vomit” in class. This is an expression I use whenever people simply write down the answer provided by their calculator, without thinking about whether or not the number of decimal places reported is appropriate. In Physics, we can avoid “calculator vomit” by using significant figures. I’ve provided some links below to direct you to sites that explain what significant figures are and how to use them.

http://www.ausetute.com.au/sigfig.html

http://www.chem.sc.edu/faculty/morgan/resources/sigfigs/index.html

http://www.staff.vu.edu.au/mcaonline/units/numbers/numsig.html

http://www-users.york.ac.uk/~mb55/msc/maths/sigf ig.htm

If you’ve read through some of those pages and feel that you are ready for a test, you can try your luck at

http://lectureonline.cl.msu.edu/~mmp/applist/sigfig/sig.htm

Note: these links might also be useful for AH pupils analysing their investigation data.

Large Hadron Collider - lock up your protons! September 7, 2008

Posted by mrmackenzie in : AH Physics, Higher , add a comment

Some of you have been asking why people are talking about the world ending on Wednesday. Funny how this question has arisen whenever I hand out homework! I’ve spoken about the Large Hadron Collider and some of you may have seen the BBC coverage on Big Bang Night last week. They also have some special programmes scheduled to commemorate the day the LHC is switched on, including a particle physics radio programme with Alan Alda, Ben Miller, Eddie Izzard, Dara O’Briain and John Barrowman but then I could have told you that Physics is the new rock’n'roll

I’ve also found a rap video about the LHC. The clip seems to stream slowly so you might want to start it and hit pause to let it load fully before playing. Enjoy!

Good luck! May 22, 2008

Posted by mrmackenzie in : AH Physics, Intermediate 2, Standard Grade , add a comment

I was telling my mate Albert that the SQA Physics exams are on tomorrow and he asked me to pass on a message to you all…….

Happy New Year! January 3, 2008

Posted by mrmackenzie in : AH Physics, Intermediate 2, Standard Grade , 4comments

Happy New Year, Folks! I hope that 2008 turns out to be a most excellent year for you all. Now that the parties are over, it’s time to get down to some serious revision for your prelims. I have added the prelim dates for S4/5/6 to the calendar at the side of the page.

Those of you in S4 are in the fortunate position of having covered all of the units for the exam before the holiday. Use the S4 revision page to guide you through units 1-5 of the Standard Grade course. Let me know if you think something should be added to that page and I’ll do my best to make sure it is there before the May exam.

If you are doing Int2 or AH this year, you’ll need to come back ready to work on Monday as we have a couple more weeks of work to get through before the exam.

AH - diagrams for your LO3 reports October 6, 2007

Posted by mrmackenzie in : AH Physics , 3comments

Remember I am looking for you to submit your LO3 report by the end of the first week back after the October holidays. I have scanned in the diagrams of the turntable and accessories so you don’t have to redraw them. Click on the thumbnails below to get the full size version, then right click to save to your own computer.