University of Minnesota, Duluth



University of Minnesota, Duluth

Physics 2011- General Physics 1

Syllabus, Fall Semester 2008

Instructor: Jay Austin

Class hours: 2:00-2:50pm, MWThF

Lab Contact Hours: 2 hours/ week.

Office Hours: 3:00-4:00pm, MTh, 1:00-2:00 WF;

Students are STRONGLY ENCOURAGED to take advantage of office hours!

Office: MWAH 352 (also RLB 209)

Office Phone: x8247 (also x8773)

email:jaustin@d.umn.edu (this is the best way to contact me)

Text: Halliday and Resnick, Fundamentals of Physics, Volume 1.

Prerequisite: MATH 1290 (Calc. for the Natural Sciences) or MATH 1296 (Calc. I) or MATH 1596 (Honors Calc. I).

Catalog description: Calculus-based introduction to Newtonian mechanics, fluid

mechanics, and heat.

Course Goals and Objectives: The goal of this course is to introduce participants to the concept of energy as a unifying concept in mechanics and thermodynamics, and to become familiar with the concepts of velocity, acceleration, force, momentum, energy, and power, their rotational analogues, and heat. We will use Newton’s Laws and the Laws of Thermodynamics as a framework for this. We will focus both on the qualitative development of these concepts and on their quantification in order to use the laws of mechanics and thermodynamics in a predictive sense.

Course Topics: The course will be split into four sections:

I. Kinematics: the description of motion, 1 and 2-D motion, constant acceleration

II. Dynamics: Newton’s Laws, energy, work, momentum, conservation laws

III. Rotation, fluids: Rotational motion and statics; fluid dynamics

IV. Thermodynamics: Temperature, heat transfer, laws of thermodynamics

Grading:

Assignments: 20%

Exams (3 @ 15% ea): 45%

Final: 20%

Lab: 15%

Letter grades will be assigned on a straight 90-80-70-60 basis.

(A:93-100; A-: 90-92; B+:87-89; B: 83-86; B-: 80-82 etc)

Your lowest homework grade will be dropped.

Labs: The labs are administered separately from the lecture. However, if you have any questions or concerns regarding the labs, please feel free to check with me. Labs do not meet the first week of the semester.

Lab Manual: General Physics I-II. Please also purchase an 8”x10” quadrille-ruled lab notebook.

Incomplete lab work will result in an F for the course. You must pass the lab portion of the course to get a passing grade in the class!

Assignments: A typical homework assignment will consist of 5-6 problems, from the book and problems I make up. I will try to suggest several other problems that you should solve as well. The only way to learn to solve problems is to solve problems! Exam problems will be similar to those in the practice problems so it is in your best interest to attempt to solve them on your own.

Please be thorough in your statement of the problem, statement of assumptions, setup of the problem, and execution of the problem. If a numerical answer is involved, please box your answer. Unless otherwise specified, assume that all numbers have three significant digits (we’ll talk about what this means). Neatness counts! Really! Remember that a real live person has to read and grade it.

Homework will be collected at the beginning of each Wednesday class period (starting with 10 September) by placing it on the desk at the front of the classroom. Due to the size of the class, late assignments will NOT be accepted, without exception. If you can’t make it to class, have a colleague get the homework to my office before the class period in which it is due. Remember, your lowest homework grade will be dropped.

Homework will be returned at the beginning of class on the desk in front of the classroom, as soon as the grader makes it available. If you are concerned with the privacy implications of this method, special arrangements can be made.

Please include your student ID on all homework!

Exams: We will have four exams. The fourth exam will be held during finals week, and will be weighted slightly heavier than the other exams. The final will be heavily weighted towards the fourth section of the course, but will also cover previously covered material.

Please bring a regular calculator to exams. Cell phones, Blackberries, iPods, laptops, etc will not be permitted during exams (and are strongly discouraged during regular lectures…).

The exams will last 50 minutes. I will try to forestall the class after us but I will leave the room at 2:55 on exam days.

Makeup exams are permitted only for health and family emergencies. If you have a previously scheduled and unavoidable conflict with one of the exam dates, please let me know ASAP (i.e. if your brother’s wedding is the day of one of the exams, let me know NOW, not the week of the exam).

Exam dates: 26 September, 24 October, 21 November, and 15 December (Final).

The final exam is from 2-3:55 in MWAH 195.

Clickers: I am learning how to utilize student response systems in the classroom. I am not going to make them mandatory in this class but we will be using them. This will not affect your grade.

Mid-Term review: the mid-term progress reports will be based on the first exam and the first 2-3 homework grades.

Other resources: Tutoring center: ; the physics department also has its own tutoring center. More info on this as I find out.

ABET accreditation: the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) is conducting an accreditation of UMD’s engineering program this year. As part of this, I am required to provide examples of “poor, satisfactory, and good” exams, homework, and quizzes, as well as all other course materials. All material will be anonymized.

Lib Ed statement: Liberal Education Objectives - Successful completion of this course will develop and exercise abilities in critical and creative thinking and in analytical and experimental methods applied to problem solving and to interpretation of events in the the natural world. It will also provide a conceptual understanding of physical phenomena that is important for substantive participation in public policy debates in an increasingly technological world.

Disability statement: Individuals who have any disability, either permanent or temporary, which might affect their ability to perform in this class are encouraged to inform the instructor at the start of the term. Adaptation of the methods, materials, or testing will be made, where possible, to provide for equitable participation. To learn about the services that UMD provides to students with disabilities, contact the Access Center in 236 KSC, extension 8217.

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