Syllabus

Physics 106b  2008

Fundamental Physics II

Instructor: Peter Love

KINSC Link 105

795-6505 (office)

plove@haverford.edu

Textbook and supplies
Wolfson & Pasachoff,  Physics for Scientists and Engineers, 3rd Ed. (Addison Wesley)
A pocket calculator will be needed for problem sets and tests and in the laboratory.
You will need to purchase a laboratory manual for this course from the bookstore. All other supplies needed in the laboratory will be provided.
A selection of other texts and useful references is on reserve in the Science library.

Course Requirements:

Three one-hour class meetings per week. Class periods will be devoted to lecture, discussion and some exercises. Reading is required in addition to the material covered in class. Evaluation will be based on two exams, a final, and weekly problem sets. 

Location and times:

Lecture: MWF 11:30 – 12:30 in KINSC H108. Attendance and participation are expected. Lecture will begin promptly at 11:35; please be on time.

Office hours: See Course Website

Laboratory: Tuesday or Wednesday 1:15 - 4:00 pm in Harris 105, begins the second week of classes.  You will be assigned to one day or the other on the basis of a form to be distributed.  The laboratory does not meet every week; a schedule is contained in the lab manual.  It is expected that you will attend every lab on your schedule; any departures from the schedule must be discussed in advance with the instructor.  All labs and write-ups must be completed in order to pass the course. You are required to come to each lab fully prepared, having read the manual and having answered all pre-lab questions beforehand. You will only be able to complete the lab in the alloted time if you have read the instructions thoroughly and made a good effort to understand them in advance. Labs should be handed in to the laboratory instructors NOT in the 106 lectures.

Exam schedule:

Exam #1 given out Wednesday Feb 20th in class, collected back Feb 27th in class.

Exam #2 given out Wednesday April 2nd in class, collected back April 9th in class.

Final exam (self scheduled) covers all the material with some extra emphasis on the material covered after exam #2.

No extensions on exams or variances on exam dates are permitted without a Deans excuse

Course Description:

Physics 105 and 106 together constitute an introduction to physics that is suitable for students who are likely to major in the natural sciences, especially physics, astronomy, chemistry, math, or computer science.  Calculus at the level of Mathematics 114 is a prerequisite for this course.

The spring semester of the sequence covers electricity and magnetism, electric circuits, optics, and special relativity.  The physics of electromagetism is the fundamental force which governs chemistry, and underlies the operation of much modern technology.  We will consider the ideas of Maxwell, Faraday, and Gauss among others.  Our treatment of optics will treat geometric optics, which describes how optical instruments work, and interference and diffraction, which tell us fundamental limitations on the performance of such instruments.  Finally, we will study special relativity, discovered by Einstein 101 years ago, which is critical to understanding high speed motion and leads to the famous formula E=mc².  We will apply the ideas of physics to the everyday world around us, where possible.

You should expect this course to be very interesting and exciting, and also very challenging.  The material we will cover is inherently more mathematical than that in Physics 105, and most people have less well-developed intuition about it.   There will be reading assignments which you will need to complete or you will be unable to get the full value from our class meetings. The laboratory portion of the course provides first-hand experience with physical systems. 

There will be many resources available to assist you when you have difficulty.  These include a weekly "clinic" or help session.

Assignments and Tests:

Written work will be due each Wednesday in class. There will also be assigned readings to prepare you for class discussion. It is essential for your understanding that you stay ahead of class in your readings. Some assignments will include so-called individual problems. It is expected that you work on these problems without collaborating with other students. You may ask questions of the instructor concerning these problems.

There will be two time-limited, take-home exams and a self-scheduled, cumulative final at the dates given above. Exams will cover both concepts and problem solving. Time pressure in exam settings, while not the goal of the instructor, is not entirely avoidable. You should prepare to be able to work efficiently on the material covered and avoid poor time management choices during the exams. 

Grading procedures:

Course grade -- will be computed using the following weighting:

Written exercises 30%

First Exam                               13% 

Second Exam                          17%    

Final exam 20%

Laboratory                               20%   Note:  ALL labs & reports must be completed to pass the course

Exams: Credit will be given for displaying understanding and for correct execution of problem solutions. Partial completion of a problem will receive partial credit. Clear explanations of your work are required. Exams must be turned in not later than the stated times, except by prior agreement. 

Late policy -- You may have two ``free extensions'' of one week during the course of the semester. If you are taking a free extension please simply hand in a sheet of paper with your name and a note that you are taking a free extension. Please save them for when most needed, and remember that you do not have to take your extensions.

No other extensions will be granted, except for significant illness, serious family matters, etc.; in such cases, a Deans excuse is required.

Advice

You need to allocate about 7 hours for study and homework per week (plus class time and lab responsibilities).

You may need to improve your study habits in order to do well in this course.  The following suggestions are based on the experience of previous students:

Make use of ALL the resources available to you: Physics clinic, office hours, textbook, instructor solutions to past problem sets, lectures.

Review  your class notes between lectures, and come prepared to ask questions.  Annotate your class notes as you read them.

Stay up to date on the reading; preferably read the assigned material twice; for example, once before the relevant lecture, and once after.

Read with pen in hand to work out things described only briefly in the text or lecture.  Ask yourself "what is the main point of each section", and answer the question.

When you take notes in class, don't just write down equations!  Qualitative information is often essential. Draw pictures and diagrams to illustrate new concepts.

Don't spend more than 1 hour on a single homework problem.  Show clearly where you're stumped and just move on.  Don't feel badly if this happens occasionally, or worry about the effect on your grade.  Consistency in doing the homework is more important.

Do stop in to see one of us if you have questions or suggestions.

When you’re studying for an exam, review the solutions  to problems and previous exams.

Remember that if the material is a new or unfamiliar for you, learning will take time.  Try not to become discouraged if the going is rough at times, and don't prejudge your ability to master the material.  Generations of students have done it before you.  There is no magic method of presenting the material that we can use to make it easy.

Honor Code Issues:

The important guiding principle of academic honesty is that you must never represent the work of another as your own. The following guidelines should govern your behavior in the course; please request clarification if you find yourself in any doubtful situations.

You may seek assistance for the Instructor or work together with other students (except on individual problems) in doing the weekly assigned exercises and in preparing for class discussions. If working with other students in the course avoid situations in which you are either contributing too much or too little to the collaborative effort. (Neither results in optimal learning, but are not violations of the honor code.) While working together is permitted and even expected and therefore does not need to be acknowledged, merely copying the work of another student without indicating that you have done so is clearly a representation of his or her work as your own and so is a violation of the code.

The exams must be entirely your own work. You must also follow all procedures and respect time limits without deviation.

Accommodations:

Students who think they may need accommodations in this course because of the impact of a disability are encouraged to meet with me privately early in the semester. Students should also contact Rick Webb, Coordinator, Office of Disabilities Services (rwebb@haverford.edu, 610-896-1290) to verify their eligibility for reasonable accommodations as soon as possible. Early contact will help to avoid unnecessary inconvenience and delays.