Waves and Oscillators
Critical Thinking
A large part of this semester's physics lesson was waves and oscillators. An oscillator is essentially something that has a force that constantly pulls it towards an equilibrium position (x=0) called a spring force (represented by the letter k). This force causes the mass to oscillate around the equilibrium position. Oscillators also serve as a medium for waves because waves are essentially the displacement of many connected oscillators. All waves have an amplitude (A), frequency (f), a wavelength (λ), a period (T), and a speed (v). Most of the work was learning how to use equations with these variables within them to find a variable that's missing.
The algebra that's involved in problems about waves and oscillators takes a lot of critical thinking. In fact, the waves and oscillators unit of my physics class took the most critical thinking out of any of the other units that were covered in physics this semester, simply because I had to visualise and draw diagrams of problems almost all of the time. Because this particular unit took so much more critical thinking than previous ones I'm personally glad that I was not only able to complete the work, but that I actually understood it too. Now, a lot of the concepts were honestly pretty difficult to wrap my head around, but I was persistent enough to eventually understand the material. |
Like I said before, I was pretty much thrown in the deep end when it comes to critical thinking and because of that I really improved my critical thinking skills. Before doing this physics unit I believe that my critical thinking skills were at the very least alright, but after working through this unit my critical thinking skills improved a ton!
It might sound like critical thinking was the most difficult area of this project because I had to sharpen my skills so much to complete my assignment, but the hardest part of this project was actually managing my time. I found myself either spending too much time on this unit and I wouldn't have enough time for other classes or I would spend too much time on other classes and not have enough time for physics.
If I could start this unit over and change a couple of things about how I went about completing this unit I would definitely make a plan for how I can manage my time better so I could get more work done in all of my classes and I would probably work on my critical thinking skills even more than I already have.
As far as relating the lesions in this unit to previous school activities I'd say that this most relates to my previous algebra classes. I know this is in fact a physics class, but most of these questions are all about using algebra to rework equations to find a missing variable, like the speed of a wave in a medium or the wavelength.
Because this was such an algebra orientated unit I can easily apply this knowledge to my future algebra classes as well as the college level calculus class that I'm planning on taking next year. In addition to that, my physics class also used information in the lessons on standing waves, light waves, musical instruments.
It might sound like critical thinking was the most difficult area of this project because I had to sharpen my skills so much to complete my assignment, but the hardest part of this project was actually managing my time. I found myself either spending too much time on this unit and I wouldn't have enough time for other classes or I would spend too much time on other classes and not have enough time for physics.
If I could start this unit over and change a couple of things about how I went about completing this unit I would definitely make a plan for how I can manage my time better so I could get more work done in all of my classes and I would probably work on my critical thinking skills even more than I already have.
As far as relating the lesions in this unit to previous school activities I'd say that this most relates to my previous algebra classes. I know this is in fact a physics class, but most of these questions are all about using algebra to rework equations to find a missing variable, like the speed of a wave in a medium or the wavelength.
Because this was such an algebra orientated unit I can easily apply this knowledge to my future algebra classes as well as the college level calculus class that I'm planning on taking next year. In addition to that, my physics class also used information in the lessons on standing waves, light waves, musical instruments.