Homeschool · Diploma track · Grade 11

Physics of the Universe: free lessons and course outline

A full year of physics for grade 11, built to be the student's whole course in the subject rather than a supplement to one. California teaches the third year of science as Physics of the Universe, and the name is the syllabus: the laws that describe a ball thrown across a room are the same ones used to weigh the Sun, date a rock and read a star's composition off its light, so the course keeps following them outward until it gets there. Eleven units run from motion and forces through energy, heat, electricity, magnetism and waves to nuclear processes and the origin of the elements. Every equation is derived rather than handed over, every quantity carries its unit, and every number in every worked example and practice answer has been checked.

DIPLOMA TRACK CA NGSS PHYSICS GRADE 11 MODEL ANSWERS 75 LESSONS 860 PRACTICE QUESTIONS 17 WRITING TASKS AND HOME LABS Algebra 1 and Geometry. Algebra 2 helps but is not assumed. This is a complete course in physics and does not assume other instruction in the subject.

Physics is the science that asks what the smallest number of rules is that would account for everything, and the answer turns out to be surprisingly few. This course is built around that: nothing is asserted that can be derived, and the derivations are shown, because a student who has seen where an equation comes from can rebuild it and a student who has memorized it cannot. The eleven units follow the California Physics of the Universe course, beginning with motion and force, which are the tools everything later is built from, and ending with nuclear processes and the universe, which is where those same tools reach when they are pushed as far as they go. Two habits are drilled throughout, because they are what separate a physics answer from a guess: carry the units through every line, and check whether the size of the answer is physically sensible before writing it down.

U1Unit 1: Motion, Measurement and Evidence7 lessons
U2Unit 2: Forces and Newton's Laws7 lessons
U3Unit 3: Momentum and Collisions7 lessons
U4Unit 4: Gravitation and Orbits7 lessons
U5Unit 5: Energy, Work and Conservation7 lessons
U6Unit 6: Thermal Energy and the Second Law6 lessons
U7Unit 7: Electric Charge, Fields and Circuits7 lessons
U8Unit 8: Magnetism and Electromagnetic Induction6 lessons
U9Unit 9: Waves, Sound and Light7 lessons
U10Unit 10: Electromagnetic Radiation and Information7 lessons
U11Unit 11: Nuclear Processes, Stars and the Universe7 lessons

Every lesson, unit by unit

U1 is free to read below. The other units open with a free month or a paid plan.

U1 Unit 1: Motion, Measurement and EvidenceFREE

U2 Unit 2: Forces and Newton's Laws

2.1 Force and the free-body diagram
2.2 The first law and inertia
2.3 The second law
2.4 The third law
2.5 Weight, normal force and apparent weight
2.6 Friction
2.7 Connected systems and tension

U3 Unit 3: Momentum and Collisions

3.1 Momentum defined
3.2 Impulse and the impulse-momentum theorem
3.3 Conservation of momentum
3.4 Elastic and inelastic collisions
3.5 Collisions in two dimensions
3.6 Center of mass
3.7 Designing for a collision

U4 Unit 4: Gravitation and Orbits

4.1 The universal law of gravitation
4.2 Where 9.8 comes from
4.3 Circular motion
4.4 Orbits as free fall
4.5 Kepler's laws and Newton's explanation
4.6 Satellites and escape speed
4.7 Tides and the Moon's recession

U5 Unit 5: Energy, Work and Conservation

5.1 Work as a transfer of energy
5.2 Kinetic energy and the work-energy theorem
5.3 Potential energy
5.4 Conservation of mechanical energy
5.5 Power
5.6 Energy accounting with friction
5.7 Designing an energy conversion device

U6 Unit 6: Thermal Energy and the Second Law

6.1 Temperature, thermal energy and heat
6.2 Specific heat and calorimetry
6.3 Phase change and latent heat
6.4 Conduction, convection and radiation
6.5 The first law of thermodynamics
6.6 The second law, entropy and engines

U7 Unit 7: Electric Charge, Fields and Circuits

7.1 Electric charge and Coulomb's law
7.2 Electric fields
7.3 Potential difference and electrical energy
7.4 Current, resistance and Ohm's law
7.5 Series and parallel circuits
7.6 Electrical power and energy
7.7 Capacitors and stored charge

U8 Unit 8: Magnetism and Electromagnetic Induction

8.1 Magnetic fields and their sources
8.2 Magnetic force on moving charges
8.3 Forces on currents and the electric motor
8.4 Electromagnetic induction
8.5 Lenz's law and the generator
8.6 Transformers and the power grid

U9 Unit 9: Waves, Sound and Light

9.1 Wave properties and the wave equation
9.2 Sound as a longitudinal wave
9.3 Superposition and interference
9.4 Standing waves and resonance
9.5 The Doppler effect
9.6 Reflection and refraction
9.7 Diffraction and the wave nature of light

U10 Unit 10: Electromagnetic Radiation and Information

10.1 Maxwell and the nature of light
10.2 The electromagnetic spectrum
10.3 The photoelectric effect
10.4 What photon energy does to matter
10.5 Spectra as a chemical fingerprint
10.6 Wave-particle duality
10.7 Digital information and communication

U11 Unit 11: Nuclear Processes, Stars and the Universe

11.1 The nucleus and the strong force
11.2 Alpha, beta and gamma decay
11.3 Half-life and radiometric dating
11.4 Mass-energy equivalence and binding energy
11.5 Fission and fusion
11.6 How we know the Sun burns hydrogen
11.7 Where the elements and the expansion came from

Keep going in the full Physics of the Universe course

All of U1 (Unit 1: Motion, Measurement and Evidence) is free to everyone, with no account. The course has 75 lessons, each with worked examples and practice problems that come with full solutions. A free account can also start a free month of the whole course, with no card.

Open this lesson in the course See the whole course