Physics Ladder · High school · Grade 12

Physics 2: Fluids, Heat, Electricity, Light and Atoms

Algebra-based physics after Physics 1, matching AP Physics 2: fluids, thermodynamics, electric fields and circuits, magnetism, waves and optics, and the quantum and the nucleus.

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78 topics in 8 units. Builds on Physics 1: Motion, Forces and Energy, plus Algebra 2 from the Math Ladder. Leads to Electricity and Magnetism. Not sure this is the right course? Find your rung.

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Unit 1 Fluids

5 topics

Pressure in still fluids, buoyancy, and the flow of moving fluids.

  1. Pressure and Depth
  2. Pascal's Principle and Hydraulics
  3. Buoyant Force and Archimedes' Principle
  4. Flow Rate and Continuity
  5. Bernoulli's Equation

Unit 2 Thermodynamics

13 topics

Gases, heat flow, the first and second laws, and engines.

  1. The Ideal Gas Law
  2. Temperature and Molecular Energy
  3. Latent Heat
  4. Rate of Heat Conduction
  5. Thermal Radiation and Blackbodies
  6. Work Done on a Gas
  7. The First Law of Thermodynamics
  8. Isobaric, Isochoric, Isothermal and Adiabatic Processes
  9. Cycles on a P–V Diagram
  10. Heat Engines and Efficiency
  11. The Carnot Limit
  12. Refrigerators and Heat Pumps
  13. Entropy and the Second Law

Unit 3 Electric Force, Field and Potential

11 topics

Charges, Coulomb's law, fields, potential and capacitors.

  1. Charge, Conductors and Charging
  2. Coulomb's Law
  3. Adding Electric Forces
  4. The Electric Field
  5. Fields of Several Charges and Field Lines
  6. Charges in a Uniform Field
  7. Electric Potential Energy
  8. Electric Potential and Voltage
  9. Equipotentials and Field Strength
  10. Capacitors
  11. Energy Stored in a Capacitor

Unit 4 Electric Circuits

11 topics

Current, resistance, power, series and parallel networks, Kirchhoff's rules and RC circuits.

  1. Electric Current
  2. Resistance and Resistivity
  3. Power in Resistors
  4. Resistors in Series
  5. Resistors in Parallel
  6. Series-Parallel Combinations
  7. Kirchhoff's Junction Rule
  8. Kirchhoff's Loop Rule
  9. EMF and Internal Resistance
  10. Capacitors in Series and Parallel
  11. RC Circuits

Unit 5 Magnetism and Electromagnetism

9 topics

Magnetic forces on moving charges and currents, fields of currents, and induction.

  1. Magnetic Fields and Their Sources
  2. Magnetic Force on a Moving Charge
  3. Charges Circling in a Magnetic Field
  4. Magnetic Force on a Current
  5. Fields of Wires and Solenoids
  6. Magnetic Flux
  7. Faraday's Law
  8. Lenz's Law
  9. Motional EMF

Unit 6 Geometric Optics

8 topics

Mirrors and lenses: reflection, refraction and the images they form.

  1. Reflection and Plane Mirrors
  2. Index of Refraction
  3. Snell's Law
  4. Total Internal Reflection
  5. Curved Mirrors and Ray Diagrams
  6. The Mirror Equation
  7. Lenses and Ray Diagrams
  8. The Thin Lens Equation

Unit 7 Waves, Sound and Physical Optics

14 topics

How waves move, reflect and add, standing waves and sound, and the wave behavior of light.

  1. What Sets a Wave's Speed
  2. Snapshot and History Graphs
  3. Reflection at Boundaries
  4. Electromagnetic Waves
  5. Polarization
  6. Superposition and Interference
  7. Standing Waves on Strings
  8. Standing Sound Waves in Pipes
  9. Sound Intensity and Decibels
  10. The Doppler Effect
  11. Diffraction
  12. Double-Slit Interference
  13. Diffraction Gratings
  14. Thin-Film Interference

Unit 8 Quantum Physics and the Nucleus

7 topics

Photons, energy levels and spectra, matter waves, and the energy stored in nuclei.

  1. Photons
  2. The Photoelectric Effect
  3. The Bohr Model and Energy Levels
  4. Emission and Absorption Spectra
  5. Matter Waves
  6. Compton Scattering
  7. Mass-Energy and Binding Energy
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