Mechanics

Teacher:  Jamie York  (Read more about his biography here)

Dates for 4-Week Course:

This course will be offered again in the 2026-2027 school year. 

Course Description

Our high school physics main lessons allow for a deeper penetration of one field of the world of physics. This is in contrast to middle school physics, when each main lesson touched upon several different subjects (heat, electricity, mechanics, optics, etc.). In tenth grade, our studies focus on mechanics. Students first encountered mechanics in seventh grade using the principle of mechanical advantage through “simple machines.”  History plays a significant part of this tenth grade main lesson. We come to appreciate the contributions of both Galileo and Newton in the development of the modern scientific method.  Our studies neatly integrate science and mathematics. We seek to discover the laws motion expressed in the form of equations, which allow us to predict the outcomes of uniform motion. We expect students to observe demonstrations, perform their own hands-on experiments, and through a careful thought process, discover the laws behind their observations.

Topics Covered (subject to change):

• Galileo’s life and work
• The Scientific Method
• Aspects of movement: (velocity, acceleration, gravity, etc.)
• The measurement of the acceleration due to gravity
• Free fall and terminal velocity
• Projectile motion
• Mass versus weight
• Kinetic and potential energy
• Newton’s Three Laws of Motion
• Conservation of Momentum
• Conservation of Energy