Foundation of Physics

Foundation of Physics is a full day experiential program linked to the SACE Stage 1 Physics curriculum. This program includes hands-on data collection and data analysis and utilises specialist equipment at UniSA’s Mawson Lakes campus. The program consists of two workshops – DST Group Radar Technology and Nuclear Physics. The DST Group Radar Technology workshop links with the ‘Waves’ section of the SACE Stage 1 Physics curriculum. Students use an audio radar as a learning tool in an experimental session looking at the radar concepts of reflection and Doppler shift. Two procedures are undertaken – the first uses reflection to determine the distance of an object and the speed of sound in air, while the second uses Doppler shift to determine the speed of a moving object. The Nuclear Physics program links with the ‘Nuclear Models and Radioactivity’ section of the SACE Stage 1 Physics curriculum. Students conduct three procedures that explore concepts of radiation and radioactive decay – calculating the half-life of an indium isotope, exploring the attenuation of gamma rays, and determining the penetrative range of beta particles through aluminium.