I. MCAT Physics: Kinematics
II. MCAT Physics: Force, Gravity, and Newton’s Laws
III. MCAT Physics: Equilibrium and Momentum
IV. MCAT Physics: Fluids and Solids
V. MCAT Physics: Electrostatics
VI. MCAT Physics: Electricity and Circuits
VII. MCAT Physics: Magnetism
VIII. MCAT Physics: Periodic Motion and Oscillations
IX. MCAT Physics: Waves and Sound
X. MCAT Physics: Optics
I. MCAT Physics: Kinematics
A. Units and dimensions
B. Vectors and components
* vector components
C. Vector addition and subtraction
* vector addition interactive
* vector addition video
D. Distance vs. Displacement
* differentiating between distance and displacement
E. Speed
* average vs. instantaneous speed
F. Velocity
1. average velocity
2. instantaneous velocity
* velocity variable in a graph
G. Acceleration
* constant acceleration
* acceleration vs. constant velocity
H. Freely falling bodies
* projectile interactive
* projectile motion
* projectile range
I. Kinematics graphs
* interactive motion graph
* One-dimensional kinematics
* 1-D kinematics example
* 2-D kinematics representation
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II. MCAT Physics: Force, Gravity, and Newton’s Laws
A. Force
* forces acting on an object
B. Gravity
* two objects falling toward the Earth - a gravity interactive
* influence of gravity on a projectile
C. Center of mass
D. Newton’s first law, inertia
E. Newton’s second law
* an experiment to explain Newton's second law
F. Newton’s third law
G. Concept of a field
H. Law of gravitation
* gravitation explained
I. Uniform circular motion
J. Centripetal acceleration
* centripetal acceleration
* tension as the centripetal force
K. Weight
L. Friction
1. static friction
2. kinetic friction
M. Inclined plane
* interactive inclined plane
* simple inclined plane
* varying the angle with an inclined plane
N. Pulley systems
* interactive Atwood machine
III. MCAT Physics: Equilibrium and Momentum
A. Equilibrium
1. Translational equilibrium
2. Rotational equilibrium
3. Free body diagrams - analyzing forces acting on an object
* drawing free body diagrams
4. Torques, lever arms
5. Weightlessness
B. Momentum
1. Definition of momentum
2. Impulse
3. Conservation of linear momentum
* example of how momentum is conserved
4. Elastic collisions
5. Inelastic collisions
* inelastic vs. elastic collision
C. Work
1. Derived units, sign conventions
* force and work interactive
2. Amount of work done in gravitational field is path-independent
3. Mechanical advantage
4. Work-kinetic energy theorem
5. Power
D. Energy
1. Kinetic energy (KE)
2. Potential energy (PE)
* converting PE to KE
3. Conservation of energy
4. Conservative forces
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IV. MCAT Physics: Fluids and Solids
A. Fluids
1. Density
2. Specific gravity
3. Buoyancy and Archimedes’ principle
* the buoyant force
4. Hydrostatic pressure
* interactive hydrostatic pressure
a. Pascal’s law
b. P = ρgh (pressure vs. depth)
5. Viscosity and Poiseuille flow
6. Continuity equation
7. The notion of turbulence at high velocities
8. Surface tension
9. Bernoulli’s equation
B. Solids
1. Density
2. Elastic properties
* solids and elasticity
3. Elastic limit
4. Thermal expansion coefficient
5. Compression
6. Shear
7. Young’s Modulus
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V. MCAT Physics: Electrostatics
A. Defining charge
* charge interactive
B. Conservation of charge
C. Conductors vs. insulators
D. Coulomb’s law
E. Electric field
1. field lines
2. field due to charge distribution
3. charge moving within an electric field
* charge deflected in an electric field
F. Potential difference
- absolute potential at point in space
G. Equipotential lines
H. Electric dipole
1. definition of dipole
2. behavior in electric field
3. potential due to dipole
I. Electrostatic induction
J. Gauss’ law
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VI. MCAT Physics: Electricity and Circuits
A. Circuit components
1. Definition of current
2. Battery, electromotive force, voltage
3. Terminal potential, internal resistance of battery
4. Resistance
a. Ohm’s law
* defining Ohm's law
b. resistors in series
c. resistors in parallel
* combining resistors
d. resistivity formula
5. Capacitance
* conceptualizing capacitance
a. concept of parallel plate capacitor
b. capacitors in series
c. capacitors in parallel
d. energy of charged capacitor
e. the effects of a dielectric
6. Charging and discharging a capacitor
* charge and discharge a capacitor
* capacitor being charged
B. Calculating power in circuits
C. Alternating current
* simple AC circuit
1. RMS (Root-Mean-Square) current
2. RMS voltage
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VII. MCAT Physics: Magnetism
A. Magnetic field
1. Definition of magnetic field
2. Charges within a magnetic field
- existence and direction of force on charge moving in magnetic field
* right hand rule
B. Magnetism
1. Orbits of charged particles moving in magnetic field
2. General concepts of sources of the magnetic field
3. Nature of solenoid, toroid
4. Ampere’s law
- for magnetic field induced by current in straight wire and other simple configurations
* magnetic field of a straight wire carrying current
5. Comparing electric and magnetic fields
a. force of B on a current
b. energy
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VIII. MCAT Physics: Periodic Motion and Oscillations
A. Periodic motion
* mass on a spring
1. Amplitude, period, frequency
2. Phase
3. Hooke’s law
4. Simple Harmonic Motion (SHM)
- displacement as a sinusoidal function of time
5. Motion of a simple pendulum
* interactive simple pendulum
6. Basic periodic motion
- velocity, amplitude
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IX. MCAT Physics: Waves and Sound
A. Characteristics of Waves
1. Transverse vs. longitudinal waves
2. Wavelength – frequency
3. speed of wave formula
4. Amplitude - intensity
5. Interference and superposition of waves
- constructive interference vs. destructive interference
6. Resonance
* forced oscillations
7. Standing waves - nodes and antinodes
* interactive standing waves
8. Beat frequencies
* defining beats
9. Diffraction
B. Sound
* science of sound
1. How sound is generated
2. Relative speed of sound in different media
- sound in solids, liquids, and gases
3. Intensity of sound, decibel units, logarithmic scale
4. Attenuation
5. Doppler effect
- moving sound source or observer, reflection of sound from a moving object
* illustrating the Doppler effect
6. Pitch
7. Resonance in pipes and strings
8. Harmonics
9. Ultrasound
C. Electromagnetic (EM) Waves – Light and EM Radiation
* an EM wave
1. Fundamental properties of electromagnetic radiation
* defining electromagnetic radiation
a. speed of light
b. describing electromagnetic radiation
- consists of perpendicularly oscillating electric and magnetic fields; direction of propagation is perpendicular to both
2. Classification of electromagnetic spectrum
- know order of frequency and wavelength
* interactive electromagnetic spectrum
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X. MCAT Physics: Optics
A. Physical Optics
1. Young’s double slit experiment
* grasp the meaning of Young's double slit experiment
2. Thin films, diffraction grating, single slit diffraction
* diffraction interactive
3. Other diffraction phenomena, x-ray diffraction
4. Polarization of light
* how light is polarized
5. Visual spectrum, color
* Newton's prism experiments
a. energy
b. lasers
B. Geometrical optics
1. Reflection from plane surface: angle of incidence equals angle of reflection
* angles of reflection
2. Refraction and the refractive index
* varying the angle of incidence - understanding refraction
3. Snell’s law
* interactive Snell's law
4. Dispersion, change of index of refraction with wavelength
5. Conditions for total internal reflection
6. Spherical mirrors
a. center of curvature
b. focal length
c. real vs. virtual images
7. Thin lenses
a. converging vs. diverging lenses
* interactive convex lens
b. use of lens formula 1/p + 1/q = 1/f, with sign conventions
c. measuring lens strength - diopters
8. Combining lenses
* two lens system with a virtual object
9. Lens aberration
10. Ray tracing
11. Optical instruments
* human eye creating an image
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