Grade 11 · University
SPH3U Grade 11 Physics, worked through with a live AI tutor
SPH3U is the course where the free-body diagram is introduced and then assessed for the rest of the year. Kinematics comes first and is mostly careful algebra with signs; forces come second and are where the marks go missing. The tutor can draw the diagram with you, check the sign convention, and work a two-body or an incline problem on the whiteboard step by step.
Prerequisite: SNC2D (Grade 10 Science, academic)
What SPH3U covers
The strands of SPH3U Physics, in our words rather than the Ministry’s. Your teacher’s course outline decides the order and the weight.
Kinematics
Position, velocity and acceleration in one and two dimensions, motion graphs and what their slopes and areas mean, the constant-acceleration equations, and projectile motion.
Forces
Newton's three laws, free-body diagrams, friction, gravity and normal forces, and applying them to inclines, pulleys and connected objects.
Energy and society
Work, kinetic and potential energy, conservation of energy, power and efficiency, thermal energy and heat, and the trade-offs among energy sources.
Waves and sound
Wave properties and behaviour, the universal wave equation, sound, resonance and standing waves, and interference.
Electricity and magnetism
Circuits with Ohm's law and Kirchhoff's rules, electrical power and energy, magnetism and electromagnetism, and generators and motors.
Curriculum reference: Ontario Ministry course page, checked .
Where students get stuck
Free-body diagrams: one object, only the forces on it
Draw the object as a dot. Draw only forces acting on that object, never forces it exerts on something else. Gravity always points down; the normal force is perpendicular to the surface, not vertical, which matters on an incline. Then choose axes along and perpendicular to the motion and resolve gravity into those axes, not the normal force.
Projectiles: horizontal and vertical are separate problems
The horizontal velocity never changes, so horizontal distance is speed times time. The vertical motion is free fall with the initial vertical speed. Time is the only quantity the two share, so find time from whichever direction gives it, then use it in the other. Mixing the components into one equation is where the algebra goes wrong.
Reading a velocity-time graph
The slope is acceleration and the area under the curve is displacement, including negative area when the velocity is below the axis. A position-time graph works differently: its slope is velocity and its area means nothing. Most graph errors come from applying one graph's rules to the other.
Standing waves and the harmonics of a string or pipe
A string fixed at both ends and a pipe open at both ends have nodes or antinodes at both ends, so every harmonic appears. A pipe closed at one end has a node at one end and an antinode at the other, so only the odd harmonics fit. Sketch the first pattern that fits the ends and count how many half-wavelengths or quarter-wavelengths it holds; the formula follows from the sketch.
How a session on SPH3U works
- 1
Bring the actual problem
Share your screen, upload the page, or hold it up to the camera. The tutor reads the SPH3U question itself instead of your retyped version of it.
- 2
Talk it through on the whiteboard
You explain where you got to, out loud. The tutor writes the next step on a shared board while it talks, and asks you to take the one after that.
- 3
Try the next one yourself
Generate a practice set on the same topic, with full worked solutions that show the method rather than only the answer.
It starts in Learn mode: concepts first, the answer as a last resort. The tutor is not a Ministry resource and does not replace your teacher’s course outline.
SPH3U questions
Does the tutor follow the Ontario SPH3U curriculum?
It works from your textbook, your notes and your assignment, and from the five SPH3U strands: kinematics, forces, energy and society, waves and sound, and electricity and magnetism. It is not an official Ministry resource.
How much math does SPH3U need?
Algebra, right-triangle trigonometry and vector components from MPM2D, and comfort rearranging an equation before substituting numbers. MCR3U is often taken alongside and is not required.
Stuck on SPH3U tonight
Bring the question from your own textbook or assignment. Talk it through out loud and watch it worked out step by step on a whiteboard.
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