Electricity & Magnetism
Mr. Doug Knipple
E&M (or Electricity and Magnetism), is a senior exclusive class taught by Mr. Knipple. Focused on the principles of Electricity and Magnetism, E&M is an essential to any Physics centered education. Students go through various problem sets and labs during the course of the year, giving them a hands-on learning experience that builds on the skills they learned in Physics the year prior.
Of each of the activities E&M students complete, none is more anticipated than the annual Spaghetti Bridge Challenge, a collaborative lab where students construct their own bridges made of spaghetti over the span of several weeks.
“Each group gets two pounds of spaghetti and twenty five hot glue sticks to construct a bridge,” said Mr. Knipple, the E&M teacher. “The bridge can be no longer than 18 inches and has to span a 14 inch gap. We test the bridges by laying a wooden test block on the deck of the bridge with two hooks hanging through the deck. A bucket is suspended from the hooks and mass is applied incrementally until the bridge fails.”
As a remnant of Knipple’s previous course, “Physics II,” by design, the Spaghetti Bridge Challenge requires many of the essential skills students learned in their junior year Physics class, as well as the building blocks of Electricity and Magnetism. This allows for a seamless blend of the two topics, much like in a college setting where Electricity and Magnetism is often interlinked with Physics.
“E&M started as Physics II, which was a semester of more in-depth mechanics like Academic Physics then at the semester change we would do Electricity and Magnetism,” said Knipple. “So I decided to do an activity between the two topics around Christmas. It was a ‘bridge’ between the two semesters. When the class became purely E&M, I kept the bridge project because it’s too much fun.”
The enjoyment of the Spaghetti Bridge Challenge is widespread throughout the class, with many students excited to see how their bridges will hold up under the weight of the bucket.
“I’m thrilled for Spaghetti Bridge,” said E&M student, Sofia Garzón. “As a yearbook student, I’ve come into E&M for years to take pictures of the experiment, so I’m excited to finally participate.”
Though the Spaghetti Bridge Challenge is one of the most exciting activities of the year, it is not the only thing students look forward to. Much of the enjoyment of the class comes from the comfortable atmosphere Mr. Knipple brings to E&M.
“E&M has reminded me that science can be fun, because Mr. Knipple creates such a relaxed learning environment,” said Garzón.
As scheduling season is just around the corner, E&M is absolutely a class to keep in mind for any students considering a future in science, as well as anyone with an interest in physics.
“Anyone who has an interest in physics or science beyond their junior course could take the course,” said Knipple. “A full year college physics course would be a semester of mechanics and a semester of E&M, so anyone who thinks they may have to take physics in college would benefit.”
