Physics at MAMS is very rigorous since we cover topics at a fast pace. We learn the material by taking notes for homework and then solving practice problems the next day in class, allowing students to digest the knowledge and ask better clarification questions. Mr. Ellis challenges us by giving problems that make us use what we have learned in an uncommon scenario. This way he prepares us well for his end of the term and AP tests.
For each term, we have to solve an Uber problem that is conceptually harder than any practice problem we do, as it requires us to connect topics from multiple units. We have to approach the problem by splitting it into subparts. For the forces unit, the calculus uber problem was about "Jerky" Jerry and his jumper that was attached to a pulley system on a platform. The calculus portion of this problem was the fact that the pulley used metal chains instead of a string, so I had to account for the mass of the chain decreasing in the x-direction and the increase in the y-direction. The jumper and Jerry were launched off of the platform and then landed onto a surface with an unknown coefficient of friction. When Jerry and his jumper landed, they lost 25% of their net velocity. Using this information, I found the coefficient of friction of the surface Jerry landed on.
After the end of each term, we are given extra-credit assignments to boost our grades. After B-term, Mr. Ellis wanted to experiment with a project where we build physics simulations, so a few students and I decided to test this assignment's feasibility over winter break for extra credit points. I decided to make my simulation browser-compatible, so I used HTML5 and JavaScript. The simulation below simulates a ball being shot off of a platform with initial height, initial angle, and initial velocity. All those factors can be inputted using slider bars, and then other variables are updated below once the simulation runs. Essentially, this simulation works by calculating the x and y positions using the 2D-kinematics equations and updating the ball’s position in each frame to those x and y positions. This assignment and project was a success since all of the students enjoyed doing it and created great simulations!