Fast-Paced High School Physics
| Science Course | |
|---|---|
| Course Code | PHYW |
| Year Opened | 1983* |
| Sites Offered | LAN, LOS |
| Previously Offered | CAR, JHU, LOU, RED, UNI, SAR |
Course Description
This course covers material typically included in a year-long, algebra-based introductory course in high school physics, a usual prerequisite for advanced physics courses like AP® Physics 1, or IB Physics. The course is divided into two parts: mechanics; and electricity and magnetism. You and your classmates will explore elements of mechanics including kinematics; Newton’s laws of motion; work, energy, and power; systems of particles and linear momentum; circular motion and rotation; and oscillations and gravitation. Then you’ll move on to electricity and magnetism topics including electrostatics; conductors, capacitors, and dielectrics; electric circuits; magnetic fields; and electromagnetism. In labs, you’ll measure and analyze error; determine gravitational acceleration; and experiment with simple circuit analysis and the magnetic deflection of electrons. Lab time constitutes at least 20 hours.
Class History
Los Angeles
PHYW.LOS.09.2 is definitely the best CTY has ever seen. It consisted of God, Harry Potter, Matt #1, Matt #2, Hyper Hannah [Newwhen] who loves CTY, Tall Tracy who likes to run, Stupendous Sierra who likes to play the flute, Ecstatic Emma who like purple carrots, Bubbly Barbara who likes to play tennis, 20 tones of monotone Varun, "It's not my birfday!" Thomas, JERK Vincent, David is bad he makes you slow, and Wesley. They are all intertwined in a nonsensical family tree (along with God's father Jon Stutte [*headbutt*]) that involves a lot of Oedipus-like things that I won't go into now. But you can look at all of their Facebook accounts and realize that they just like to get sad-happy-VERY happy sometimes and that rolling dice/playing air guitar just isn't enough! Anyways, the physics class was taught by none other than SUPERHUMAN ALMA! and her assistant... CHIP! [hi chip.] Yes, Alma was great, except she was a liar. She taught them all about Mechanics and Electromagnetism using Jamba Juice and magic, then tells them that it was all a lie. Everything is uncertain and they could walk through walls! BOWLING?!?! Yeah, what a derivative of acceleration. But they still loved her because she could hold up a fork and spoon on a toothpick and make beakers disappear. Oh yeah, she also brainwashed them with physics. Literally. They were seeing momentum during Trench, constructive interference in bowls of soup, destructive interference at dances, and Newton's laws in dating! Weeeeird. But they loved her anyways. PHYYYYYYYYYYYYSICCCCCCCCCSSSSSSS! ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLMAAAAAAAAA!
PHYW.LOS.10.1 had possibly the most amazing physics class ever, and not just for CTY. They were taught by Dr. B and TAed by George. Dr. B's real name is Tengiz Bibilashvili and he had an AWESOME accent because he's from Georgia (the country), while George's real name is Gexu Zhang. Dr. B was possibly the most amazing teacher. Not only did he keep class interesting with his accent, he had the funniest jokes. He taught his adoring students how to wave dance into the sunset and shoot lasers at the clock tower--yes, that was us! Gee, jeebers, babies, and genius were common responses to us. Our teachers are definitely better than yours. This class had a ridiculous boy to girl ratio of fourteen to four, but needless to say, physics was extremely close. The four girls were in Amber's hall along with Pop Culture and Computer Science, with the boys in Steven's hall. Since physics is an intense class, many of the students were nomores or nevermores with a lot of spirit. All four girls participated in the talent show, and many of the boys did as well. For Drag Day, they were definitely the best dressed class--especially with Edward "Fluffy" wearing spaghetti straps and short shorts, Gilbert "Squishy" wearing a pink miniskirt, Steven wearing a revealing black dress, Armaan wearing a jeweled top and flowered skirt, Jonathan wearing a low cut and revealing dress, Rhett wearing the frilliest skirt ever seen in mankind, Kevin wearing extremely tight skinny jeans. Though the girls were fantastically dressed themselves, Rachel and Emily's attempt to pick up the lovely "ladies" with their physics pick up lines (and normal pickup lines) did not work. But indeed, the class was filled with fun and inside jokes, along with Edward's outbursts of "It's so fluffy!" or "Nascar, woooooh!" The class mascot was Simba, the LMU lion stuffed animal, while the chant was one goose--TENGIZ! F=ma, and I will TRUCK you!
PHYW.LOS.15.2 was pretty legendary at CTY. Especially the six girls who constantly went around harmonizing to physics equations. The TA was merely indifferent.
PHYW.LOS.17.2 made a huge meme out of their instructor and TA, leading to Seth C. giving hall meetings about taking pictures of people during class. Nevertheless, Denis Kane and Bryan White live on as memes in our hearts forever.
Saratoga
PHYW.SAR.09.2 will never forget that "Physics is the place where... FUN DIES" (Pfl), and where "Dancing Queen" by ABBA is the boys' favorite song and could often be heard playing in their hall (except for one or two dissenters who claimed that "I'm On a Boat" is better). The instructor was William Kallfelz and the class was TA'd by Irene Ning, both of whom were loved very much by the class.
While Will was known for losing his Expo markers, which were assumed to disappear into a parallel universe, Irene was known for stealing gummy erasers from various students and banning xkcd, while laughing at the jokes herself (and posting an xkcd comic on the door to the room). At the end of the session, the class gave Will, Irene, and Alex Lee (the boys' RA) gifts. Will got new Expo markers, Irene was rewarded a gummy eraser, and Alex got a very tight shirt that read "Skidmore Mom", before his hall all signed it. He wore it to the last dance.
During one particular class, students were instructed to watch "Pirates of the Caribbean" and point out physical impossibilities in the plotline (such as the part where the heroes walk on the seabed inside of an overturned boat but there is no oxygen).
"Let's kill some fun, Excel is sick. I wanna store my data on your memory stick." An attempt was made to "sing" this at the closing ceremony, but it failed. To understand this better, See: recursion.
Carlisle
PHYW.CAR.19.2 Ethan "Hudson" as the instructor and Alison as the TA. Literally the tightest class, mostly nevermores/nomores and it was just really lit.
