Online reading assignment question: confusing Midterm 1 physics topics

Physics 205B Reading Assignment 14, spring semester 2012
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

120317-confusingwordle
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Originally uploaded by Waifer X

Wordle.net tag cloud for confusing topics covered in Midterm 1, generated by responses from Physics 205B students at Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA (http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/5022184/Untitled).

Students have a weekly online reading assignment (hosted by SurveyMonkey.com), where they answer questions based on reading their textbook, material covered in previous lectures, opinion questions, and/or asking (anonymous) questions or making (anonymous) comments. Full credit is given for completing the online reading assignment before next week's lecture, regardless if whether their answers are correct/incorrect. Selected results/questions/comments are addressed by the instructor at the start of the following lecture.

List at least three words describing confusing subjects covered in class (up through this midterm). (Graded for completion.)

[Responses have been edited to consolidate related common subjects.]

Student responses
Section 30882

telescopes microscopes
image plugandchug magnifiers
none
waves refraction refraction
lenses thinfilms, interference diffraction, raytracings, TIR,
electricfields, potential, capacitors
doubleslits interference, diffraction, electricpotentialenergy
capacitors, electricfields, refraction
lenses, radio, doubleslits
pathdifference radio interefernce
electricfields, electricforces, doubleslits interference
transmitter, raytracings
maxima minima
potential, electricfields, ahhhhh
capacitors voltage systems
none
interference, inphase outofphase, potential
lenses
lenses, voltage, Zerg
lenses, pathdifference, electricfields
everything
electricfields, charges

Describe your most confusing subject, and briefly explain why this subject confused you. (Graded for completion.)

The following are all of the student responses to this question, verbatim and unedited.

"the difference between the lenses in telescopes and microscopes because i still do not really understand which come up with real images and virtual images"

"I had difficulty with finding focal length."

"Electrical potential energy and its relationship to voltage. It is just more difficult then the rest to wrap your mind around a static force with flow and dynamics."

"em wave phase shift"

"thin lens/thin films because we didn't really cover it in class"

"Electric Field as they are too theoretical and not possible to visualize."

"Interference and diffraction"

"electric fields, direction of pull is misleading sometimes"

"slits. how the wave traverses after the slit."

"Constructive Destructive out of phase in phase"

"Fields are the most confusing for me. Probably just because i haven't been able to cover the homework and reading yet."

"for some reason i still have trouble with ray diagrams"

"m=maxima or minima depending on whether the problem is for single or double slit."

"everything."

"Electric fields, because they're strange"

"idlk"

"Electric Potential is by far the most confusing subject we covered but I think it's confusing because we haven't spent as much time covering this subject as the other subjects."

"None"

"Lenses, simply because the math doesn't just work itself out. You have to put in the extra effort to analyze the problems first."

"telescopes and microscopes"

"electric charges"

"Im not sure i understand completely how to calculate the magnitudes of charges"