Grade 12 Physics Program

Our Grade 12 Physics Program follows Ontario's Academic Curriculum (SPH4U) with the goal of fostering knowledge for university and beyond. Your child will develop a deeper understanding of physics concepts and theories. Special attention will be placed on exploration of energy transformations and the forces that affect motion, electrical, gravitational, and magnetic fields and electromagnetic radiation. Furthermore, your child will explore the wave nature of light, quantum mechanics, and special relativity.

Dynamics

Kinematics

• Motion and Equations of Motion.
• Displacement in Two Dimensions.
• Velocity and Acceleration in Two Dimensions.
• Projectile Motion.
• Relative Motion.

Dynamics

• Forces and Free-Body Diagrams.
• Applying Newton's Laws of Motion and Forces of Friction.

Uniform Circular Motion

• Inertial and Non-inertial Frames of Reference.
• Centripetal Acceleration and Centripetal Force.
• Rotating Frames of Reference.

Energy and Momentum

Work and Energy

• Work Done by a Constant Force.
• Kinetic Energy and the Work-Energy Theorem.
• Gravitational Potential Energy.
• The Law of Conservation of Energy.
• Springs and Conservation of Energy.

Momentum and Collisions

• Momentum and Impulse.
• Conservation of Momentum in One Dimension.
• Collisons, Head-on Elastic Collisions and Collisions in Two Dimensions.

Gravitational, Electric, and Magnetic Fields

Newtonian Gravitation

• Newtonian Gravitation and Orbits.
• Introduction to General Relativity.

Electric Fields

• Properties of Electric Charge and Coulomb's Law.
• Electric Fields.
• Potential Difference and Electric Potential.
• Electric Potential and Electric Potential Energy Due to Point Charges.

Magnetic Fields

• Magnets and Electromagnets.
• Magnetic Force on Moving Charges.
• Magnetic Force on a Current-Carrying Conductor.
• Motion of Charges Particles in Magnetic Fields.
• Applications of Electric and Magnetic Fields.

The Wave Nature

Waves and Light

• Properties of Waves and Light.
• Refraction, Total Internal Reflection, Diffraction and Interference of Water Waves, .
• Interference of Light Waves: Young's Double-Slit Experiment.
• Light Wave/Particle Duality.

Applications of the Waves Nature of Light

• Interference in Thin Films.
• Single-Slit Diffraction.
• The Diffraction Grating.
• Electromagnetic Radiation.
• Polarization of Lightwaves.

Quantum Mechanics and Special Relativity

Relativity

• The Special Theory of Relativity.
• Time Dilation.
• Length Contraction, Simultaneity, and Relativistic Momentum.
• Mass-Energy Equivalence.

Quantum Mechanics

• Quantum Theory, Photons and the Quantuam Theory of Light.
• Wave Properties of Classical Particles.
• The Standard Model of Elementary Particles.