Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1876-03-03
Our Public Schools.

ED. BULLETIN:-Sinc the adding of
Natural Philosophy to the studies,-on
which teachers are required to pass exam
ination,-is now before the Legislature,
the appended lists of questions, which in
dictate what can be accomplished in one
terms study of Natural Philosophy, may
be interesting to some of your readers. =
They are the questions given to the High
School class in Natural Philosophy, at the
final examination in December, and cover
the ground gone over during the term. 1t
will be seen that the knowledge acquired
is not merely qualitative, but is as far as
practicable, cumulative, thorough &C
quaintance with the laws of the several
phenomena and their application in solv-
ing problems being insisted upon. The
marking was on the scale of 100, there
being twenty questions, each question
counting as five. Five members of the
class had standing of 100, having an
swered all the questions correctly. But
two members of the class had standing
of less than 90, and of these, one had been
in attendance very lrregularly. Such re-
suits may well encourage our legislators
to see that the successful teaching of nat
ural science in our schools is no longer IL
matter of experiment; and, since the ma
jority of those expecting to teach can at
little expense spend one or two terms in
some neighboring High School, in view of
the practical worth of the knowledge, this
slight additional preparation may justly
be required of them.
1.-Mention some physical properties of
matter, and give the distinction between
physical and chemical properties.
2.--Define cohesion, adhesion, and capil-
larry force.
3.-What are the laws of capillary force?
If in u tube 1-40 of an inch in diameter
water rises 3 inches, how high will it
rise in a tube $50 of an inch in diane
ter? How high between parallel plates
$50 of an inch apart?
A. Give the laws of gravitation, in Ian
guage, and in mathematical formula.
5.--Define specific gravity, and give for
mulp.
A stone weighs IA ozs. in air, and ozs
in water, what is its specific gravity?
6.-Give laws of falling bodies in mathe-
NAUTICAL formula.
A stone falls from the top of Il tower in
seconds; what is the height of the
tower? What velocity had the stone
when it struck the earth? What space
did it pass through in the last second?
7.-What IS tie angle of incidence? The
angle of reflection?
S.-What is the composition of forces?
The Resolution?
9.-Defne an impu,sivc force. A constant
force
1O.-What is the basis of the metric sys-
tenn Give the Greek and Latin mum
erals used in that system.
11.-Give the general law of power and
resistance for all machines.
12.-Give the formula for this general law,
when applied to the lever. To the
In q lever, the arm of the power is 10
inches, that of the resistance is s inches,
the resistance is Is lbs; what power is
required to counterpoise.
The diameter of the wheel is 4 feet; of
the axle 4 inches; what power is requir-
ed to balance a weight of so pounds?
13.-Give formulate for pulleys.
With movable pulleys and single rope,
the resistance is, % lbs: what is the
power?
14.-What is the pressure of water on the
face of flood-gate one foot square,
and having its lower edge IS feet below
the surface of the water?
15.-What kind of water-wheels is most,
and what kind is least, economical of
water-powcr?
16.-Give Boyle Narcotics law for the re-
lation between volume and pressure of
gases.
17.-Give formula for relations between
elasticity and pressure in gases.
1S.-Give formula for relations between
weights and specific GRANTEES of differ
ent liquids, in bent tube
19.-Describc the barometer.
20.-Givc formula for finding heights of
mountains by means of the barometer
at the foot of a mountain, the mercury
in the barometer stands 1T IS Genuine
tiers; AT the top, 70 centimeters; find
height of mountain.
T. w. GRAyDoN, Sup't.