Gilroy's Honors Physics Blog

Welcome to AY 2011

gilroy0 — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 00:38:15 +0000

This will be the class blog for Mr. Gilroy’s Honors Physics course for Academic Year 2011.

Mechanical Universe video on Relativity

gilroy0 — Fri, 07 May 2010 18:09:03 +0000

Watchable here: http://www.learner.org/resources/series42.html

You want episode #42 The Lorentz Transformation

Tacoma Narrows Bridge Collapse video

gilroy0 — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 18:09:51 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-zczJXSxnw&feature=player_embedded

Making Graphs Pretty

gilroy0 — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 03:04:41 +0000

This handout (L003-001A) goes over how to use LoggerPro to make graphs look more professional.

Possible Feynman Topics

gilroy0 — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 19:38:15 +0000

In addition to the ones in the handout, students have suggested the following, which would also be acceptable.

Feynman seemed compelled to demonstrate his genius to those around him. Where might this stem from? What impacts did it have on his life?
Compare Feynman’s definition of genius to that of Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Why was the subtitle of the book “Adventures of a Curious Character”? What does that tell us about how Feynman views science?
Feynman seemed driven to go beyond the limits others might see. What in his life reinforced this drive? How did this drive shape his life?

B02: Student Information Survey

gilroy0 — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 17:01:19 +0000

You must complete the Student Information Survey before 11:59 PM on Friday 2009 Sep 18. Your information will be used by Mr. Gilroy (only) to tailor the course more closely to the needs of the students.

This is a 5-point assignment (B02).

Start-of-Year Handouts

gilroy0 — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 20:42:14 +0000

You are expected to read the following and understand their contents. If anything is unclear, be sure to ask in class. You are responsible for these even if we do not specifically discuss them in class.

Welcome to AY 2010

gilroy0 — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 02:05:12 +0000

This will be the class blog for Mr. Gilroy’s Honors Physics course.

The Elegant Universe

gilroy0 — Tue, 12 May 2009 12:11:29 +0000

You can watch The Elegant Universe online (all three parts). We will watch them in class on

Tue May 12
Tue May 19
Tue May 26

You will be expected to be able to discourse on the content of this video on the final.

You may earn up to +6 bonus points (on the quarter total) by commenting on this film below. You earn +2 for the first comment you post, plus +1 for each response to someone else’s comment that you post. (All comments will be evaluated for relevance and intelligence before the points are assigned.)

Gas-tube illustration of standing waves in a pipe

gilroy0 — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 11:58:19 +0000

video: Rubens Tube

explanation (and nice photo): Arizona State University