Syllabus for PHY112 Spring, 1999
All Physics labs begin Tuesday, January 19
Instructor: Dr. Robert B. Sheldon
Office: Optics Building Rm 348
Office hours: W 9:00-11:00 TTh 10:00-10:50 (or by appointment)
Phone: 890-6276 *348
Class hours: TTh 11:00-12:20 Rm C100
Grader: John Patti
Office: Optics Building, Rm 249
Office hours: Tu 1-3, Th 10-12 (MWF 1-2:20)
Phone: 837-8919
Text: Fundamentals of Physics, Extended, 5th edition, by Halliday, Resnick and Walker
This class covers basic problems in the fields of thermodynamics, electricity
and magnetism. Of the three survey classes on general physics with calculus,
this class seems to give students the most trouble, partly because the
concepts are very abstract. The first exam will cover all of thermodynamics
which includes the fundamentals of temperature, the first and second laws, and
engines. The second exam covers static electricity which includes electric
forces, fields, potentials, and Gauss' law. The third exam covers the
fundamentals of flowing current and the beginnings of the magnetic field,
including basic circuits with resistors and/or capacitors and the interaction
between current and magnetism. The final exam is comprehensive only over
electricity and magnetism, but with emphasis on the last chapters which cover
Ampere's law, Faraday's law, inductors, LC circuits and alternating circuits.
You will find that the first and third exams are a little less stressful than
the second exam and the final; it is therefore wise to perform very well on
the first and third exams!
GRADING POLICY: Course grade will be computed as follows:
Homework 10%
Quizzes 10% (Lowest quiz grade dropped)
Test #1 20%
Test #2 20%
Test #3 20%
Final Test 20%
Letter grades will be assigned as follows:
90.0 --- 100.0 A
80.0 --- 89.99 B
70.0 --- 79.99 C
60.0 --- 69.99 D
0.00 --- 59.99 F
COURSE PHILOSOPHY: This course will be taught from a physicist's
standpoint: the process of problem solving is of equal importance as
the answer. This is because physicists are often exploring new
phenomena for which there is no known answer. Thus they have to rely
on "dead reckoning", on problem solving skills, to arrive at
an answer that they hope is correct. You will be expected to not only
learn these skills, but to demonstrate them in your homework and
tests. Therefore a correct answer, without any demonstration of the
process, will receive no credit. To repeat myself, this course is not
about the destination, but the journey. Bon voyage!
HOMEWORK: Due on the dates listed below at the beginning of class,
stapled and folded in half with your full name written legibly on the
OUTSIDE! No late homework accepted without a written excuse from an
appropriate authority. Late submissions must be made to me, graders
are instructed not to accept them. All assignments are taken from
^ÓExercises & Problems^Ô section found at the end of each
chapter. You should read each chapter before the lectures, and begin
work on the assignments as soon as possible afterwards. Homework IS
ESSENTIAL.
HOMEWORK GRADING: Each problem is worth 5 points. You must turn in
your own work even though you are encouraged to study together. You
are expected to compare your graded homework with the posted solutions
to check where you went wrong and to learn the process of solving the
problem. Grading will follow these suggested guidelines.
Correct answer, correct units, process (work) 5 pts
Correct answer, no units, process 4 pts
Incorrect answer, correct units, process 3 pts
Attempted (some process), no units 2 pts
No process (even if correct with units) 0 pts
QUIZZES: A quiz will be given on alternate days from when homework
assignments are due. It will be nearly identical to one of the
homework problems turned in earlier. The lowest quiz grade will be
dropped, and the remaining averaged to 10% of the grade.
EXAMS: I will supply equation sheets for the exams. Exams reflect
homework, derivations and problems worked in class, and Sample
problems from the text. I may scale the exams (multiply by a fixed
factor) to achieve a class average of 75%. No early
exams. Notification of absence for an exam must be made within 24
hours of exam time. There is an answering machine on my office phone
for this purpose. Makeup exams (which may be oral or more difficult)
will only be given for absences with a written excuse from the dean.
RETURNS: Homework assignments will be returned in class within two
class periods, unless indicated differently on your schedule. If you
are absent when assignments are returned, your homework will be placed
in a box marked PH112 outside my office. Exams will also be returned
in class within two class periods or can be picked up from me during
office hours after the second class period. I do not leave exams in
the box outside my office.
SOLUTION SETS: After the homework due date, solutions to homework
assignments will be available on the WWW at
"http://cspar181.uah.edu/PHY112/". If you do not have access to a
computer, the library has several terminals from which you can print
out the solutions.
ATTENDANCE: I DO require attendance by collecting homework &
quizzes. It is your responsibility to keep up with class lectures and
announcements. Since exam problems may be based on work done in class,
it is important that you find someone in the class to take notes for
you if you are to be absent. Changes to the syllabus, though unlikely,
do occur. It is your responsibility to keep your syllabus
up-to-date. Furthermore, lectures will be easier to follow, and
homework/quizzes easier to work if you read each chapter before the
lecture begins!
Day Chapter Due Date Problem Assignment
====================================================================
Jan 12 19 Jan 21 (1,5,13,38) 4,17,29,35,37,54
Jan 14 19 Jan 26 75,76,77,82,87
Jan 19 20 Jan 28 (1,6,26,34,41,50,60,68,71),20,40,66,82
Jan 21 20
Jan 26 21 Feb 4 (1,31,51,64), 22,36,42,48,60,67
Jan 28 21
Feb 2 22 Feb 9 1, 7, 16, 23, 29, 38
Feb 4 23 Feb 16 1,6,23,27,39,58, 21P, 31P, 48E, 53P
Feb 9 23
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Feb 11 Test #1 (Chapter 19 - 21)
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Feb 16 24 Feb 23 1,2,5,17,22,32,42,4P,21P,28P,38P,52P
Feb 18 24+25 Feb 25 1,4,15,33,35,43,52,74, 30P, 49P, 68P
Feb 23 25
Feb 25 26 Mar 9 1,4,14,33,52,66, 46P, 58P,70P
Mar 2 26+27 Mar 16 1,5,8,10,16,34,38,43,56,61
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Mar 4 Test #2 (Chapter 22 - 25)
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Mar 9 27+28
Mar 11 28 Mar 18 1,12,16,27,30,34,48,53,65,72
Mar 16 29 Mar 25 1,8,14,19,40,45,54,63,7P,30P,51P
Mar 18 29
Mar 23 30 Apr 6 1,18,27,37,38,46,53,62,64,69
Mar 25 30+31 Apr 15
Mar 30 H O L I D A Y
Apr 1 H O L I D A Y
Apr 6 31 Apr 15 1,31,40,45,51,58,69,74,83,93
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Apr 8 Test #3 (Chapter 26 - 29)
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Apr 13 32 Apr 20 1,3,5,9,11,18,20,28,36,40
Apr 15 33 Apr 22* 1,7,9,31,38,49,69 (ungraded)
Apr 20 33
Apr 22 Review
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May 3 11:30 - 2:00 Final Exam (emphasis 30-33)
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