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Motion and Force: the difference between acceleration, velocity, and
speed. Newton's three laws of motion. Inertia, momentum, and angular
momentum.
Gravitation: Galileo's determination of the proportionality of gravity
and mass. Newton's law of gravity. Gravity and satellite orbits,
escape velocity, orbital velocity, hyperbolic velocity, apogee and
perigee.
Energy and Work: the four fundamental forces in nature. Kinetic energy
and potential energy. The physical definition and calculation of work.
Temperature and Power: hear energy and friction. The temperature scales
of Celsium, Kelvin, and Fahrenheit. The physical definition of power
and the calculation of horsepower.
The Atomic Nucleus: atomic number and atomic weight. Reading the
periodic table of the elements. Nuclear fission and nuclear fusion.
Atomic bombs, hydrogen bombs, and nuclear power plants.
Atomic Electron Structure: the Bohr and the quantum mechanical models
of the atom. Ionic and co-valent chemical bonding. The process of
excitation and ionization.
Optics: the components of the relfecting, refraction, and Schmidt-
Cassegrain telescope. How to calculate telescope magnification, light
gathering power, and resolution. The optical components and proper
function of bionoculars.
Chemistry of Life: the combining capacity of the carbon atom. The
molecular structure of fats, proteins, and carbohydrates. The structural
differences between methane, propane, butane actane, and gasoline.
Calories and Nutrition: the difference between the physical and
dietary calorie unit. The caloric content of fats, proteins, and
carbohydrates. How to calculate the percent fat content of any given
food from its labeled list of ingredients.
Geology: the interior structure of the earth and heat flow from the
earth's interior. Faults, earthquakes, and the Richter scale. Plate
tectonics and volcanism.
Dinosaurs: the geologic time scale and the process of fossiliation.
The unique physical characteristic of the dinosaur. Major species of
dinosaurs and theories of their extinction.
Meteorology: identification of the 10 major cloud types. Warm fronts
and cold fronts. Predicting weather changes by observing clouds. The
six major weather elements and the instruments that measure them.
Motions of the Moon: the lunar phases and lunar tides. The three types
of lunar eclipses and the three types of solar eclipses. The moon's
synodic and sidereal periods of revolution.
Kepler's Laws: the properties of the ellipse, semi-major axis, semi-
minor axis, focus distance, and eccentricity. The ellipse law, the law
of equal areas, and the harmonic law.
The Solar System: the properties of the Terrestrial and Jovian planets
with respect to planetary atmospheres, planetary surfaces, and planetary
interiors. Triton, Titan, and the 4 Galiliean satellites of Jupiter.
Stars and Nebulae: the difference between a star and a planet. Main
sequence (sun-like), giant, white dwarf, neutron, and black hole stars.
Galaxies and Cosmology: the milky way galaxy and its size and shape
compared to other galaxies. The expanding universe, the Hubble law, and
the big bang and steady state theories.
LABORATORY EXERCISES
Measuring the speed of sound
Determining the specific heat of water
Measuring the height of a building by timing the fall of a weight
dropped from its roof top
Finding the relationship between image size and the focal length
of a lens
The construction of an electrolite battery
Calculating the horsepower generated by running up a stairway
Identifying cloud types and location of precipitation from
infra-red satellite photographs
Measuring the heights of lunar mountains by the Galilean
trigonometric method
Construction of an ellipse and determining the shape of Mercury's
orbit by observations made in the planetarium
Determining the mass of Jupiter by Kepler's third law
Calculating the calories "burned" in one mile of running
Construction of an "H-R" diagram from a list of the 20 brightest
and 20 nearest stars
Properly identifying and color coding the weather fronts, high and
low pressure systems, and forms of precipitation on a NOAA
surface weather map
