Modern Physics Online Resources

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• General Resources
• Special Relativity
• General Relativity

General Resources

The following online resources may be helpful as you struggle with the material presented in class (particularly if you’ve never taken my Physics course). Different points of view and learning modes are important when trying to master such a challenging subject. Some of these online tutorials include quizzes to test your understanding. Note that not all of the material below is covered in my class (especially the math). On the other hand, I cover concepts in class that aren't addressed in any of the following:

Physics Lesson Plans

Students who’ve taken my Physics course often need a little review, and those who haven’t need all the help they can get. Here are my daily lecture notes from the course, broken down into four main parts, each containing several units.

Metric System

A handout I developed explaining all of the prefixes (e.g., "milli-", "centi-", "mega-") and the base units (e.g., "meter", "joule", "netwon") in the Systèm International (metric system).

Dimensional Analysis

A handout I developed with exercises for practicing dimensional analysis (unit conversions).

Rounding Numbers

A page describing how to properly round a number to a target precision.

Adding Vectors

A page describing how to properly add vectors, both graphically and analytically.

Physics Simulations (Java Applets)

Walter Fendt has published a truly amazing collection of excellent Java applets demonstrating many key physics concepts. Most allow the user to control the key variables to conduct simulated experiments.

Physlets (Physics Java Applets)

Another set of Java applets developed by Wolfgang Christian at Davidson University and Dr. Scott Schneider at the Lawrence Technological University. Many of these include a lot of rigorous mathematical treatment that's beyond the scope of a high school physics course.

HyperPhysics

This site does an excellent job of explaining many of the concepts we cover in our class (and more). The mathematical treatment has a bit more depth, but it should still be understandable (if sometimes challenging) to any student who is prepared for physics.

The Book of Phyz

Dean Baird is the physics teacher at Rio Americano High School. He's published nearly all of his handouts and lectures online (PDFs, QuickTime presentations, etc.) A different perspective is always useful when struggling with a difficult concept.

Dr. Kromm's Patented Math and Physics Tutorial

This doesn't really have much about heat, but it does contain some good basic science math, such as scientific notation, significant figures, etc. Please ignore his directions for rounding numbers as he uses a different method (and doesn't describe it correctly anyway).

Large Hadron Collider Photos

These probably won't help you pass physics, but they're still really fun to look at. As I always say, physics has the best toys! While you're at it, check out the LHC Rap.

(more to come...)

Resources Used in Class

I've posted my Modern Physics lesson plans below, which include most of the text I put up on the board. However, these are very terse notes. As I try to get students to do at the board, I talk around my text rather than just reading it. These lesson plans may be of some use to supplement your own notes, but there's really no way to make up for a missed class day (i.e., ABSENCE = DEATH). Every little bit helps, though.

I'm going to try to show at least one web resource in most of the class periods this year. I'll post these URLs here as well, which should be particularly useful for those foolish souls who are absent from class:

Special Relativity (Homework Sheet, Test Topics)

General Relativity (Homework Sheet, Test Topics)