General Physics II With Lab (PHY 213 Sec: 01, 02)



GENERAL PHYSICS I WITH LAB (PHY 211 Sec: 001)

Spring 2005

Instructor: Dr. Chari Ramkumar

Office: SC 141 Phone: 572-5405

E-Mail: ramkumarc@nku.edu My Web page:

Course Web page:

Blackboard :

Office Hours: MW 11:00 am – 12:00 noon; TR 01:30 pm – 02:30 pm or by appointment

Class Schedule:

|Days |Time |Class Room |

|TR |09:25 am – 12:05 pm |SC127 |

Credit Hours: 5.0

Required Text: Physics, Sixth Edition by Cutnell & Johnson. (required for everyone)

A 1” three ring binder for in-class activities (see below for details).

Supplements: Student Study Guide by Cutnell, Johnson and David Marx.

(Optional)

Calculator: A scientific calculator (capable of computing trigonometric functions and their inverses, logarithmic functions and their inverses, and scientific notation) is required for everyone.

Prerequisite: MAT 119 Pre-Calculus Mathematics or equivalent placement.

Additional Resources:

Book Web Site:

This web site has several resources including, Solutions to selected end-of-chapter problems, Interactive Solutions, Interactive LearningWare examples, Concept Simulations, Self-Assessment Tests, Review Quizzes for the MCAT exam and other links. Other useful links are given on course webpage.

     Blackboard: Homework assignments, homework solutions, and other documents and announcements will be posted on the Blackboard. In order to access the materials, you need to log on to Blackboard. To log in, you must know your username and password. Your Blackboard username is your NKU email account name (without the @nku.edu).Your password is the first four letters of your last name and the last four digits of your social security number (no spaces and all lowercase). E.g. if your name is "Mickey Mouse" and your SSN ends in 1234, your password would be: mous1234.

     Email: You can email me with questions or any concerns that you are having

with regard to the class. Please include PHY211 as part of the subject.

Course Description: This is a non-calculus based introductory course in physics.

Knowledge of trigonometry, geometry and algebra will be expected (for a review of mathematics please refer to Appendices A, B, C, D & E in your text book). The topics that will be covered during this semester include kinematics, forces and Newton’s laws of motion, circular motion, work and energy, momentum, rotational motion, static equilibrium, and fluids.

Course Objective: To achieve thorough understanding of the basic concepts and

principles of physics, and to strengthen the understanding of these concepts by applying them to a broad range of interesting applications. Students will acquire skills in scientific methods, critical reasoning and problem solving. Below I have given a tentative schedule. You are expected to read the appropriate chapters before coming to class: Why? Quizzes!!!

Tentative Lecture Schedule:

|No. |Week of |Chapter |

|1 |Jan. 10 |1 |

|2 |Jan. 17 |2 |

|3 |Jan. 24 |3 |

|4 |Jan. 31 | 3, 4 |

|5 |Feb. 07 | 4 |

|6 |Feb. 14 | 4 |

|7 |Feb. 21 | 5 |

|8 |Feb. 28 |6 |

|9 |Mar. 07 |Spring Break |

|10 |Mar. 14 |6 |

|11 |Mar. 21 |6 |

|12 |Mar. 28 |7 |

|13 |Apr. 04 |7 |

|14 |Apr. 11 |8 |

|15 |Apr. 18 |9 |

|16 |Apr. 25 |11 |

|17 |May 03 | Comprehensive Final |

Comments:

The information provided in this syllabus is a guideline for the General Physics II (PHY 211) course. I reserve the right to change any of the above and below due to unforeseen reasons. Any modification to this syllabus during the course of this semester will be announced in class in advance of the effective date(s)

Attendance: Students are required to attend lectures (lectures include lab also), classroom discussions and are responsible for all material, assignments, and deadlines presented in class. Excessive absences will reduce your grade by a letter. Please let me know of planned absences, preferably in advance.

In-Class Activities/ Labs

      

The course will be taught in a studio format that emphasizes activity based learning rather than passive learning approach of the past. In a given class meeting, there can be any combination of lecture, discussion, problem solving, demonstration, computer based activities, or laboratory work. The in-class activities (besides lecture/demonstrations by the instructor) fall into two categories:

o Team Activities: Groups of 2-3 students will be given activities that will involve problem solving, mini-labs, and computer based simulations/problems. Instructor will make sure that all members in a team are actively involved in all group assignments, and may rotate group members to ensure this.

o Individual Activities: Students will be assigned activities to be performed individually. These could include quizzes, homework, simulations etc.

The instructor will often (but not always) grade these activity performances either on the spot or collect the activities and grade them before the next class. Due to the active learning nature of this course, class attendance will be a part of your course grade. Missing a class will result in a zero for the activities completed during that class. There will be no makeup activities. The three (3) lowest activity grades (one lowest lab, one lowest quiz and one lowest homework) will be dropped.  

Individual student activity binder: 

You are required to maintain a binder in which your daily work and observations are kept.  The instructor will periodically review this lab notebook as part of your daily and activity grades. Using these notebooks will help organize the various activities we do, and avoid having so many materials handed in.  More information about these is available at or Blackboard: Course Documents

Lab Reports: You will be asked to write a formal lab report for several of the mini-labs

performed as in-class activities. Each group will submit ONE lab report and the reports will be graded on a scale of 10. The lab report format is given at: or Blackboard: Course Documents

Homework:

Homework problems will be assigned from every chapter covered in class, and will contribute towards your final grade. You are expected to complete all assigned homework problems by the due date. No late homework will be accepted. The homework problems and the due dates will be announced in class and posted on the Blackboard: Announcements. A representative sample of your work will be graded. It is very important to workout these problems in order to gain a good understanding of the material covered. The work should be done in a clear, organized manner. The solutions to homework problems will be available on the Blackboard: Assignments after the deadline. I will randomly pick three problems from the representative samples of your homework and grade them.

Exams:

There will be three unit exams and one final exam. All examinations are closed book. However, I will give you equation sheet. Exam problems will be similar to the suggested homework problems, examples from the text, and problems discussed in class.

|TEst |date |chapters covered |

|Exam I |February 10 |1, 2, 3 |

|Exam II |March 22 |4, 5 |

|Exam III |April 28 |6, 7, 8, 9 |

|Final Exam |May 03 @ 10:10 am - 12:10 pm |Comprehensive (Includes above chapters and 11) |

Note: The date and syllabus for any of the three unit exams may be changed if deemed necessary by the instructor. Such a change will be announced in the class and on the black board as soon as possible prior to the originally scheduled date.

Makeup Exams: There will be no makeup exams unless you have a valid reason for

missing an exam that is acceptable to me.

Grading:

Your final grade will be based on your performance on Homework, in-class activities (including the lab reports, problem solving, quizzes) and 4 exams. Contributions from each of these components towards your final grade will be determined by the path that gives the higher total:

|Components |Path #1 |Path #2 |

|Three unit Exams |30% |40% |

|Comprehensive Final Exam |30% |20% |

|Homework |15% |15% |

|In-class activities |20% |20% |

|Concept Test (near end of semester) |5% |5% |

|Total |100% |100% |

Final Grade Assignment:

|Total Points |Letter Grade |

|90% or more |A |

|80% - 89.9% |B |

|70% - 79.9% |C |

|60% - 69.9% |D |

|Less than 60% |F |

Comment: Grades may be “curved” at the instructor’s discretion.

Note: First year students will receive mid-term assessments of their performance.

• Mid-term grades will be issued only to students who have completed fewer than 30 semester hours.

• Students will be able to access mid-term grades thorough Norse Express as soon as faculty submits the grades - between February 28th and March 28th. Deadline for submitting mid-term grades: March 21st Noon.

• Mid-term grades are not a part of students’ permanent record; they will be replaced by final class grade; they reflect a current level of performance that can be altered by quality of subsequent work.

• I will also calculate a worse-case midterm grade for everyone in the class.

Withdrawal: January 29th - Last day to drop without a grade appearing on your transcript.

March 28th - Last day to withdraw with a “W” appearing on your transcript.

Student Honor Code: Please adhere to the student honor code, which lays out unacceptable

actions and behavior in the classroom.  I reserve the right to fail anyone breaking any of the tenets of the honor code. For details see

Cell Phone Policy: Turn it off before you enter the class room.

General Education program areas of emphasis:

1) Requires sufficient readings, (in terms of volume and content) to provide fundamental knowledge: The student will read the text and the lab manual. In addition, students are required to access online resources to do few assignments.

2) Emphasizes critical thinking and problem solving skills (scientific, mathematical, social and /or personal): Students will solve physics problems. This requires critical thinking and problem solving skills.

3) Writing or other forms of composition in multiple formats are integral parts of this course: Students will do homework assignments, which needs written responses. In addition, students will write lab reports weekly on lab assignments.

4) Fosters independent, creative, and interactive learning (i.e. group work, research projects, library work requiring use of printed and electronic sources): Students will do lab activities which require group work. Class activities foster interactive engagement of students. Project work requiring a written article needs the use of electronic and printed resources.

5) Provide students with opportunities to discuss course topics and material: Class discussions are a part of the course, which gives the students an opportunity to discuss the material.

6) Course includes opportunities for students to work effectively and responsibly in collaboration with others: Class activities such as, group problem solving, labs are done in a group of three. Such activities require the student to work efficiently, be responsible and collaborative.

7) Course is designed to employ computer skills that are relevant to student success in college and beyond: Computer skills are needed to use computer software in physics, in labs and write reports.

8) Students will learn to access information and use the information effectively and ethically. Accessing information from internet and other sources are required for some assignments.

Natural Sciences Students will statement

1) Describe, identify, explain and apply established scientific theories or principles to phenomena of the world in a practical manner: Students will learn to describe, identify, explain and apply established laws and principles of physics from the areas of Waves, Optics, Electricity and Magnetism.

2) Evaluate the credibility of certain arguments or results within discipline standards: Students will engage in lab experiments to evaluate the credibility of physics principles.

3) Discuss one or more specific examples of how science affects our everyday life, such as advancement of technology and health, shaping social policy and/or influencing history:

Students will learn to apply physical principles to everyday life throughout the course. Example: the application of x-ray, ultrasonic, and magnetic resonance methods in medical profession.

4) Execute appropriate scientific methods and use appropriate technologies in activities or experiments to test of theories: The students will learn to apply scientific methods in lab experiments

5) Advance their scientific literacy and writing abilities by focusing on preparing documents that analyze and present scientific results produced in laboratory experiments or activities: Student will perform weekly lab experiments and write a report to present their results.

6) Describe how uncertainty and error can influence experimental outcomes: Students will apply elementary error analysis to address the uncertainty of the measurements made.

Study Hints:

• If there is anything in this syllabus that you do not understand please talk to me during the first week of classes.

• Read the entire chapter quickly before you come to class to obtain the main ideas and concepts.

• Attend the lectures: ask questions in class and/or after class.

• Re read each section covered in class slowly to thoroughly understand each idea that was presented in class. Try to memorize the equations in the summary.

• Write your own review notes with all the facts and equations you need to solve the problems.

• If you have any questions regarding the course material please get them clarified at the very first opportunity you get. Not fully understanding a concept in a given section will not only make it very hard to solve problems in that section, but will make it really tough for you to understand the following sections and chapters.

• Work through all the example problems in the text and examples that are done in class.

• Work through all the assigned homework problems, including the conceptual questions assigned from the end of each chapter.

• Form a study group and discuss problems as a group. However, DO NOT copy homework from each other.

• Ask a lot of questions. You can ask questions in class, come and see me during my office hours, or just drop by my office whenever you have any questions.

• Work through lots of problems (numerical as well as conceptual) – this is the best way to ensure you understand the subject.

If you do not understand any part of the syllabus or the information contained in it, do not hesitate to ask. If you follow my suggestions in study hints, the chances of getting a good grade are high. Most importantly, if you have a question, ASK. Do not wait until the end of the semester. My biggest advice is: Do lots of problems.

Hints for taking exams

Before the exam

• Review the summary in the text, your class notes and your review notes.

• Review all examples discussed in the class.

• Review all the sample problems in the text. (Try solving the problems with the solution covered.)

• Review all the assigned problems.

• Try taking a sample exam. Pick several sample problems or assigned problems and try to solve each problem without any assistance, in a time of 20 minutes or less.

• Attend any exam review session.

During the exam

• Read carefully each problem.

• Begin with the problem which you find the easiest.

• Write neatly. Draw a diagram if needed. Show all work.

• If unable to solve one part of a problem, go to the next part.

• Check the units of your answer. Check that your answer makes sense. Make sure all the items requested are answered.

• Allocate enough time for each problem. If stuck on one problem, go to the next problem and return to where you got stuck later.

• If time is available, recheck each problem before submitting the exam.

Disclaimer:

I reserve the right to change any part of this syllabus due to any unforeseen reasons. If a change is needed, I will announce the changes in the class as well as post them on the black board.

Good Luck and I hope you enjoy this course (

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Exam III (Apr. 28)

Exam II (Mar. 22)

Exam I (Feb. 10)

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