Pamela T.

Galang
IV-Del Mundo
Reflection
(First Quarter)
Today is Saturday, August 2, 2014.The time was so fast, it was like we were going to school for
our first day but time flew fast our exams are oncoming. Before our school year I expect a lot of things;
new, harder and challenging subjects, quizzes, assignments, exams, seat works and many more. This
school year our major subjects are so heavy, and one of these subjects is the Advanced Physics. Last
year we had the Physics I led by our dear adviser Sir. Nicolas M. Bayan, Physics I for me was hard, we
encountered a lot of problem solving, theories, laws, terms etc., so I expected that our Advanced Physics
is way harder than our Physics I. In our Advanced Physics class the assigned teacher was Sir. Sonny P. De
Leon he is a master teacher and a PhD, so we know that we will learn from him and he can teach and
guide us to broaden our knowledge more in the field of Physics. In the first week of our class in
Advanced Physics we had our reviews for our past lessons, conversations about our experiences to our
Physics I, and our teacher gave us exercises with regards to our past lessons in Physics I. In our first
mechanics review I got a score of twelve out of twenty. I realized that I should have reviewed our past
lessons then on. Our teacher uses power point presentations when he discuss the topics to us which is
really helpful in the process of learning, it helps us in better understanding the lessons, we can visualize
clearly the notes or the topics that he discussed and it catches our attention more because of the
pictures or the examples depending on the topic. So for me power point presentations of our dear
teachers are quite good and excellent. When it comes to activities we had our group and individual
activities, our activities in Advanced Physics were fun and we learned from it, it helps us in building a
better personality, strategies in life, and better intuitive thinking. Our teacher told us that our lessons
for the first quarter in Advanced Physics are somewhat related to waves. He teaches us techniques in
solving problems. We reviewed the different branches and sub branches of Physics and scientists that
have a wide contribution in the field of Physics. Some of these scientists are Sir Isaac Newton who
developed theories of gravitation and mechanics, Michael Faraday who discovered electromagnetic
induction and the first one who devised electrical transformer, Galileo Galilei, who discovered the Law
of Falling Objects, Lord Kelvin who proposed absolute temperature scale, Andre Marie Ampere discovers
that two current carrying wire affect each other, Volta who invented the first electric battery, Joseph
Henry who first devised a practical electric motor, James Watt who invented the modern condensing
steam engine, and many more. Physics has two branches. One is pure physics which is the gathering of
Physics related information that adds to the body of human knowledge. It is not directly concerned with
the practical use and application of the information. Pure physics has 15 sub branches. Some of them
are optics, sounds, mechanics and etc. Another branch of Physics is the applied physics. It is also known
as technology. It is the practical use of physics related information. The said branch has two sub
branches. These are optometry and engineering. After we have discussed the introduction we were
down to our assigned topic, our teacher told us that we will start discussing waves. We had discussed
some examples of waves, applications of different electromagnetic waves, and nature and properties of
waves. We defined waves as is the repeating rhythmic disturbance or movement that transfers energy
through matter or space. A wave will travel only as long as it has energy to carry. Our teacher told us
that waves are only formed or produce by something that vibrates. The wave travels in a medium it can
be solid, a liquid or a gas. The parts of waves are the crest, trough, wavelength, amplitude and the
equilibrium. Waves are classified or divided into two. These are the longitudinal and the transverse.
Longitudinal or compressional waves, the matter in the medium moves parallel to the direction that the
wave travels. Sound waves are a perfect example of it. While transverse Waves, matter moves in the
medium perpendicularly to the direction that the wave is travelling while water and light waves are
some examples of transverse waves. If you combine transverse and longitudinal it will form a seismic
wave. It carries energy along and through Earth and is often produced when there is an earthquake. The
electromagnetic wave is capable of transmitting energy in a vacuum. These waves are produced by the
vibrations of electric charges in atoms. The mechanical energy is not capable of transmitting energy
through vacuum. We had an activity which we were ask to listen for a composition, a song which is
about waves. The song was catchy and it helps us to remember easily the seven different
electromagnetic waves. The radio waves, microwaves, infra-red radiation, visible light, ultra-violet rays,
x-rays, and gamma rays. We classify these waves, define them and give applications related to these
seven different electromagnetic waves. As we go through our lessons we started to discuss problem
solving which was really hard for me, because I am not the type of person that is patient in terms of
problem solving or when it comes to math or numbers. As I recall our topics some formulas I
remembered are the formula for frequency who has a unit of Hertz (Hz) which is f = 1/T, where T stands
for the period. For periods (T), the formula to be used is T = 1/f. These two are inversely related, which
means, if the frequency is high, the period is low and when the frequency is low the period is high. Also
we tackled Wave speed, the speed of a wave depends on the properties of the medium it is travelling
through. It depends on the elasticity, density and temperature of the medium. Formulas related to this
topic are; v=f where v is the velocity (m/s), or lambda is the wavelength (m), and f is the frequency
(Hz). The formula for speed of a transverse wave in a vibrating string is V= T/, where the myu,
=mass/length. T stands for tension and is the linear density. The formula for speed of longitudinal
wave in liquid is V=B/ where B is the bulk modulus and the density () is equal to mass/volume. In
terms of solid the formula is V=Y/ where Y is the Youngs Modulus, V is still the velocity and is the
density. Another formula that we have learned is the formula for speed of longitudinal wave in a gas.
The formula is V=yRT/M where V is the velocity, T is the absolute temperature, M is the molar mass, y
is a unit less quantity called the specific heat ratio and R is the gas constant which has a value of 8.315
J/mol.K. Our teacher told us that waves reflects, refracts, and diffracts which are the natural behaviours
of waves. We tackled deeper topics regarding waves as time went by. Laws, behaviour, what a wave
produces and many more. We also tackled the harmonics and modes. After we had discussed our
lessons, our teacher is giving us seat works, activities and long quizzes regarding to our topics for us to
test if we really understand the lessons. We finished waves and after that we move forward to the next
chapter, the lights. Our main topic in lights focuses the Optics. Optics is a branch of physics which deals
with the behaviour of light and other electromagnetic waves. This is divided into two parts, the
geometric optics which is the branch of optics representing waves in terms of rays, and the physical
optics which is a branch of optics dealing specifically with wave behaviour. Light waves travel in a
straight line. The speed of a light wave is the product of its wavelength and frequency (c= f). In order to
get the energy present in light, we have to use the Einstein equation. The formula used here is E=hf or
E=hc/ where h is Plancks constant with the value of

J. Transparent, translucent and

opaquesome terms related to the topic. And we did go back to the reflection, the diffuse one when
the surface is rough and specular when the surface is smooth. The equation eq. n = c/v is used in index
of refraction. Like in reflection, refraction has a law. Its called Snells law where the ratio of the sines of
the angle of refraction and angle of incidence is equal to the inverse of the ratio of the indices of
refraction in the respective medium. The last topic we had in optics is the critical angle. It is when the
angle of refraction is equal to 90 and it is used to determine whether light will reflect or refract. The
formula for this is crit=

(n2/n1). We proceed to our last chapter, the plane mirrors. This chapter is
also hard for me; we encountered a lot of problem solvings involving angles. As we finished our topics
for first quarter, I learned a lot, even though I am not that good in Physics, I realized that in every
subject we must put effort in every way. Because in life, success can never be achieved easily, it takes
time, patience, courage, determination and positive attitude, I learned that being patient is really
important like in our Advanced Physics, I realized that I should not give up easily, especially when it
comes to problem solvings, I must try until I get the correct answers, just like in real life, patience must
be characterized by everyone of us. I also realized that Advanced Physics is fun and enjoyable and not as
hard as I imagine, because I believe that it depends on us on how we apply the learnings and
understand. As we start our second grading period I want to be more active and participate in our class
especially in discussions. As we move forward to second quarter I am looking forward to our subject
Advanced Physics.