Grade 11 · Physics (SPH3U)
  1. 1 Kinematics
  2. 2Forces
  3. 3Energy
  4. 4Waves & Sound
  5. 5Electricity & Magnetism

Unit 1 of 5 · SPH3U

Kinematics

How do we describe motion?

Say exactly where something is, how fast it moves, which way, and how that changes, in words, pictures, graphs and numbers.

6 topics · 3 to play

What this unit covers

Motion, described precisely: position, velocity, acceleration — and the graphs that tell the whole story.

Topics

Next for youA start linewalk me through
  1. How can you walk twelve metres and end up nowhere?12 ideas13 practice
    1. A start line
    2. Where she is
    3. Every metre counts
    4. Start to finish
    5. Which way
    6. Two kinds of number
    7. How fast, on the path
    8. How fast, and which way
    9. The whole trip, or one moment
    10. The walk as a line
    11. Not a hill
    12. Steep means fast
    practice (13) walk me through test yourself (5)

    Ontario B2.1, B3.1, B3.2

  2. How do you find a number the problem never gave you?11 ideas13 practice
    1. Which way is plus
    2. A minus sign is a direction
    3. How fast the speed changes
    4. Steady change, straight line
    5. The average sits halfway
    6. The area under the line
    7. Area below the line
    8. One picture, three equations
    9. Which equation
    10. The same speed, two units
    11. Two pictures, one join
    practice (13) walk me through test yourself (5)

    Ontario B2.5, B2.7

  3. How can one line tell you where something was, how fast it went, and how far?6 ideas11 practice
    1. Two readings of any graph
    2. Curved means changing
    3. Same motion, two graphs
    4. Area of any shape
    5. Two pings
    6. Higher, or steeper
    practice (11) walk me through test yourself (5)

    Ontario B1.1, B1.2, B2.2, B2.3, B2.4, B2.6

  4. Which lands first: the ball you drop, or the one you throw sideways?5 ideas11 practice
    1. Two motions at once
    2. Across is steady
    3. Down is free fall
    4. One clock
    5. Speed sets the range
    practice (11) walk me through test yourself (5)

    Ontario B2.8, B2.9, B3.3

  5. A swimmer aims straight across a river. Where does she land?6 ideas10 practice
    1. Two arrows, one path
    2. North part, east part
    3. Naming a direction
    4. Measured, not calculated
    5. Whose velocity is it
    6. Across the current
    practice (10) walk me through test yourself (5)

    Ontario B2.5, B2.7

  6. How do you find something out so that it stays found out?6 ideas7 practice
    1. A question that can lose
    2. The one you change
    3. Match the instrument
    4. Hold the rest still
    5. Close, or consistent
    6. A verdict no bigger than the evidence
    practice (7) walk me through test yourself (5)

    Ontario A1.1, A1.2, A1.4, A1.5, A1.6, A1.8, A1.10, A1.12, A1.13

The mental models this world builds

Each one is a card in the library, taught by one of the topics above.

What you will be able to explain

Position comes first, because every other quantity is a change in it. Velocity is how position changes; acceleration is how velocity changes; the graphs draw both changes as one line. A projectile is two of these motions at once. The method topic is how any of it gets measured honestly.

Guided Review

Question sets shared for this unit, worked one question at a time: the ideas it leans on, how it is answered, then a twin to try alone.

Labs and games

Pure play. Nothing here is recorded, ever.