Physics 2424: Principles of Physics

Spring 2010

Professor: Dr. Daniel K. Marble

Offices: HYEG 214, SCIEN213D

Research Lab: Science 236

Telephone: 968-9409, 968-9880

Office Hours:W, F 10:00-10:50

T, R 9:00-10:50

Others by appointment

Class Hours:M,W,F 9:00-10:00;

W 2:00-5:00

TR 10:50-12:05

Textbooks: Fundamentals of Physics 8th by Haliday, Resnick, & Walker (Primary

Textbook Mandatory)

Schaum's Outline Series: Physics for Scientists and Engineers by Michael

Brown (Optional)

WebAssign Student Access Code (Mandatory)

Feyman Lecture Series (Vol II) : (Recommended only for Physics Majors)

Course: Physics 2424 primarily covers electricity and magnetism including applications to electronics and optics. Additional topics covered include sound waves and an introduction to Modern Physics. Physics 2424 is a calculus-based course intended for Physical Science, Engineering and Mathematics majors. The course is intended to provide the student with a strong foundation for future course work in these fields as well as improving the student’s general problem solving skills. The course requires extensive use of Calculus including integration, trigonometry, and vectors as well as other math skills.

Grading: The final grade for Physics 2424 is determined by the student's score upon written examinations, homework, quizzes, computer projects, and lab work. At least two and as many as three exams will be given during the semester as well as a comprehensive final. Homework will be assigned and collected using the "WEBASSIGN" homework system. Students are required to purchase a "STUDENT ACCESS CODE" either from the bookstore or online from "WEBASSIGN.COM". Frequent unannounced quizzes will be given during labs and class in order to discourage cramming and to ensure that students develop the necessary study habits needed for success in PHYS2424. The remaining portion of the student's grade will be determined by group activities including lab work and projects.

Homework: Students are required to visit the PHYS2424 web site prior to each class and to perform the pre-class assignment including the printing of class notes and readings. Following the class, the student is required to visit the PHYS2424 web site and perform the post-class exercises. Since a student can only learn physics by doing physics, homework problem sets will be included in most class web pages. Homework problems are assigned and collected using the "WEBASSIGN" automated grading system.

The student can attempt the problems as many times as they desire until the assignment "DUE DATE". Your best grade on the assignment is recorded. You should also keep your written solutions for all homework problems in your class notebook. Selected problems will be collected for grading during the lab after the assignment due date. These problems will be graded based upon your problem setup procedure (drawing, identifying physics, stating knows and unknowns, neatness, etc) to ensure that you are developing good problem solving skills.

If a student finds that they are unable to understand a problem after working for one hour on a problem, they should ask the instructor for help either in person or by e-mail. Students should consider these assigned problem sets to be the minimum number of problems that must be solved to successfully complete Physics 2424. Additional problem sets with solutions are contained in the many physics links on the PHYS2424 web site, the textbook, class notes, and the Schaum's Outline Series. If a student is having difficulty is a particular area, the instructor will be glad to suggest additional problems and to provide solutions. Students are encouraged to take advantage of the physics chat room and bulletin boards as a way of sharing ideas and working problems with their classmates.

Attendance: Although there is no mandatory attendance policy for Physics 2424 Lecture, it is highly recommended that students make every attempt to make all classes. If a student must miss a quiz, exam, or lab due to an emergency or illness, they should contact the instructor as soon as possible. If the instructor decides that the absence was excused, the student may be given a make up quiz, exam or lab or the student may alter the weighting of the students other grades. If the absence is unexcused then the student will receive a zero for the missed graded event.

Lab: This is a laboratory based course. A student must complete at least 80% of all lab assignments in order to pass the course. Furthermore, the computers inside the lab are reserved for data acquisition and for VPython programming projects. They are not to be used for surfing the web, video game playing, or doing homework problems instead of lab work during lab time. Students found abusing this policy will be asked to leave the lab and a grade of zero will be recorded.

Class: Because Physics 2424 requires students to use math and science skills learned in other classes as well as learning and study skills beyond simple memory and recall, it is a challenging course for most students. However, most students even those with poor backgrounds can succeed in Physics 2424 if they develop the necessary study skills and consistently spend the required time. A student should expect to spend between 3 and 5 hours outside of class for every 1 hour of lecture depending on the student’s background and the material. In order to be successful, it is important that the student develops a consistent study schedule instead of cramming for quizzes and exams. In particular, students should read the textbook prior to attending class so that they can obtain maximum benefit from their class time. A student’s study program should include working through each equation in the textbook, reviewing previously covered material, working problems, and noting questions for the instructor. The process of learning physics is similar to that of learning to play football or the flute in that it is not a spectator activity. Each student is expected to come to class with questions and prepared to engage in an interactive discussion with the class and instructor on the assigned material. Students should make frequent use of the instructor’s office hours whenever they are having difficulties. In addition to posted office hours, students should feel free to come for assistance anytime the instructor is in his office.

Disabilities: In compliance with the American Disabilities Act (ADA), reasonable accommodations will be made for any student with documented physical or learning disabilities. Any student requiring these considerations should contact the Director of Disability Services at 968-9400 or by email at . Additional information on how to register with disability services is at: