SYLLABUS
PHYS 141
Principles of Physics – Spring 2007
INSTRUCTOR: Professor Eun-Suk Seo
Rm 3203, CSS building
x5-4855
Office Hours: W 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM or by appointment
TA: Mr. John Biddle
Rm 1322,
x5-6185
Office Hours: M 12:00 noon - 2:00 PM or by appointment
TEXTBOOK: Serway and Jewett: "Physics for Scientists and Engineers", 6th Edition, Vol. 1 (Thomson: Brooks/Cole, 2004) with PRS (Clickers) & WebAssign
LAB MANUAL: "Physics 141 Laboratory Manual," Fall 2004 edition
LECTURE: MWF 3:00 PM -3:50 PM, Rm 0405, Physics Bldg.
LAB: SEC 0102 Th 2:00 PM - 3:50 PM, Rm 3314, Physics Bldg.
SEC
0104 Th 11:00 AM -12:50 PM, Rm 4220, Physics
Bldg.
DISCUSSION: SEC
0102 Th
1:00 PM - 1:50 PM, Rm 4220, Physics Bldg.
SEC 0104
F 2:00 PM - 2:50 PM, Rm 1219, Physics Bldg.
COURSE DESCRIPTION: Physics 141 is a 4 credit introductory course in physics with a lab. It is the first semester of a two-semester series. This first semester covers the fields of mechanics, oscillations and waves. The objective of this course is to understand the principles of physics that govern natural phenomena. Simple algebra, trigonometry, and calculus will be used. This course is recommended for chemistry and zoology majors. It also satisfies the requirements of medical and dental schools. Corequisite: MATH141 or MATH221.
COURSE PREPARATION: Reading the textbook before each class is required. You are responsible for all of the material in every covered chapter, regardless of whether or not the material was specifically mentioned in class. During the lecture we will focus on the material causing difficulties. Check WebAssign for the reading assignment schedule, lecture notes, homework solutions and course related announcements. You can also use the WebAssign communication board for course related discussions. For WebAssign, your existing account should work if you already have an account. If you forgot your password, click “forgot password” button. If you never had a WebAssign account before, your directory ID is your user name, “umd” is your institution, and your directory ID is your initial password, which you should change once you log in. New users should read the “student guide.” Further help is available at support@webassign.net.
TUTORING: The Physics Department has a free tutoring service, the Slawsky Clinic, run by a group of retired senior physicists. It is located in Room 1214 in the Physics building. The time reserved for PHYS 141 is Monday through Friday, 10:00 – 11:00 AM and noon – 1:00 PM. However, you can usually get help at any time they are open, from 10 AM until 3 PM. See http://www.physics.umd.edu/academics/ugrad/slawsky.html
DISCUSSION: Discussion sessions will give you an opportunity to obtain clarification of the material presented in class, in the textbook, or in the lab. Homework Problems, Quiz Questions, and Lab Experiments will be discussed. This is an opportunity to get help from the Teaching Assistant (TA) and from fellow students.
HOMEWORK: Homework assignments will be made using WebAssign every week. The due dates are specified on WebAssign. You should start working on the homework problems as soon as they are available. You may want to print out your problems first and work on hard copies before you submit answers electronically. You will get immediate feedback from WebAssign on whether your answer is correct or not. You are allowed to make a number of attempts to get the right answer. Answer keys will be available on WebAssign after the grading is completed. Solutions for the homework assignments will be discussed at the Discussion sessions and posted on WebAssign shortly after the due date. If you have any problem with the electronic submission, submit a paper copy to the instructor by the due. There will also be “Practice” assignments which are given to help you get familiar with WebAssign and to make more example problems available to you. Assignments with “Practice” tagging are not for grade but for your practice. Late homework is accepted only in exceptional circumstances, and only with consent of the instructor. Your lowest homework grade can be dropped. Makeup Homework is not allowed. If you miss a homework assignment due to illness, that will be the homework that is dropped.
QUIZZES: There will be in-class or on-line quizzes occasionally on the material covered the previous week and/or on the material to be covered that week. Your lowest quiz grade can also be dropped. Makeup quizzes are not allowed. If you miss a quiz due to illness, that will be the quiz that is dropped.
EXAMS: There will be two 50-minute in-class exams and one two-hour final exam. The exam will include problems and conceptual questions. There will be no make-up exam unless prior arrangement is made with the instructor.
Tentative Exam Schedule:
|
Exam 1 |
Monday March 5 |
|
Exam 2 |
Monday April 16 |
|
Tuesday May 15, 1:30 – 3:30 PM |
LAB: The experiments in the laboratory are an integral part of this course. You are required to do all of the assigned experiments and complete a lab report for each.
Lab Report: See the Laboratory Manual for a discussion on the format of the reports. Lab reports are due the week after completion of the experiments. Late lab reports will automatically lose 10% of the maximum possible points for each day the report is late. Contact me about extensions in case of sickness, etc. that might warrant an excuse. All late reports are to be turned in to my office. Be sure to read the lab manual before coming to class. You may be asked to present your experiment proposal based on your understanding of the manual. After the lab, you may also be asked to present the results.
LAB SCHEDULE:
|
PHYS 141 Laboratory Schedule Spring 2007 |
||
|
Dates |
Experiment |
Title |
|
January 25 |
- |
Introduction to Error Analysis |
|
February 1 |
I |
Errors and Significance of Data |
|
February 8 |
II |
The Freely Falling Body |
|
February 15 |
III |
Equilibrium of Forces |
|
February 22 |
V |
Ballistic pendulum |
|
March 1 |
VI |
Centripetal Force and Acceleration |
|
March 8 |
- |
Make Up Labs |
|
March 15 |
IV |
Two-Dimensional Collisions |
|
March 22 |
- |
Spring Break |
|
March 29 |
VII |
Angular Momentum and its Conservation |
|
April 5 |
VIII |
Simple Harmonic Motion and Hooke's Law |
|
April 12 |
IX |
The Pendulum |
|
April 19 |
X |
Standing Waves on a String |
|
April 26 |
XII |
The Mechanical Equivalent of Heat |
|
May 3 |
- |
Make Up Labs |
Lab managers: Mr. Bill Norwood
Rm 3304,
x5-6006
Mr.
Giza, Thomas E.
Rm
3308,
x5-6005
GRADE:
|
Homework & Quizzes |
25% |
|
First Exam |
15% |
|
Second Exam |
15% |
|
Lab |
20% |
|
Final Exam |
25% |
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
The
University of Maryland, College Park has a nationally recognized Code of
Academic Integrity, administered by the Student Honor Council. This Code sets
standards for academic integrity at Maryland for all undergraduate and graduate
students. As a student you are
responsible for upholding these standards for this course. It is very important for you to be aware of
the consequences of cheating, fabrication, facilitation, and plagiarism. For more information on the Code of Academic
Integrity or the Student Honor Council, please visit http://www.studenthonorcouncil.umd.edu/whatis.html.
Tips for the Lab
Report
Science research involves writing a proposal, carrying out experiments, and publishing research papers. In a research proposal you propose an experiment to meet the science goal you want to achieve. You need to justify how the experiment will help understanding of the science you set for your research objective. While conducting experiments, scientists keep records of what they do, analogous to what you will practice with your lab notebook. Specifically, the lab notebook is to keep a record of what you did in the lab and to remind yourself of your findings. To communicate research findings, the results are published in science journals. No matter how great your discoveries, if they are not published no one else would know of your discoveries and the world will not be able to utilize them. Writing a lab report is similar to writing a journal paper for a publication. You should write down your findings in an effective and convincing manner to your peers. Tabulating the data and plotting graphs are the most effective way of presenting data. In addition to writing down your experimental settings, you must perform error analysis to convince people of the reproducibility and validity of the data.
Instructions: Read the instructions carefully before you start, again when you are doing the experiment and before you finish to avoid leaving out significant sections.
Handwriting: Write legibly, otherwise the TA won’t be able to grade the report. Typing with a word processor using a computer is desired.
Measurements: Make sure to use the right scale.
Tables: Re-tabulate the data properly in ascending or descending order. Do not hand in a copy of your lab notebook unless it is very neat. When you use computer software, such as Excel printouts, make sure the cells are formatted to reflect the precision of the instrument. For example, 3.000 must not show up as 3.
Experimental settings: Write down the experimental settings next to your readings.
Graphs: Make sure to put in axis titles and error bars.
Error Analysis and Numerical Calculations:
Quantities: Define quantities (such as A, B etc.) before you use them.
Systematic presentations: First manipulate the expressions algebraically. Then, write down the corresponding numerical values of the quantities in the equation. Do not substitute numbers into the equations directly. Finally calculate the answer, write it down and underline it.
Discussion: Think about the experiment, look at the orders of magnitude, and ask yourself how you might improve the results. Put all thoughts/understanding on the paper.
Tips for Exam
To get full credit, you must show all your work. You will not receive credit if you do not show your work, even if you write down the "right" answer. When answering the "questions", use complete sentences. If the question is a true/false, a multiple choice, yes/no, or other similar question, explain why the answer you chose is the correct one. Your TA will deduct points if your handwriting is illegible, or if your answer is hard to understand because of poor grammar.
Disclaimer: The instructor reserves right to make minor changes to this syllabus to meet the specific needs of the class during the semester.