Physics 2210 - Physics for Scientists and Engineers I

Course Objectives

Many of you are in programs in engineering and scientific disciplines other than physics. You may question whether physics will ever be helpful to you. The answer to this question is “yes!” The course will help you to understand and solve problems in a broad range of disciplines. The primary subject of this course is Mechanics which is the primarily the study of objects in motion (kinematics) and the effects of forces (dynamics and statics). Mechanics includes motions in multiple dimensions, forces and the laws of motion, energy, momentum, rotational motion, gravitation, constraints, oscillations, and waves. Elements of this subject material are found throughout nature; accordingly, mastering physics will give you great insight into the world around you and much satisfaction from your heightened understanding.

The three most important goals of this course are to: (1) learn the fundamental principles of physics (force laws, conservation laws, etc); (2) learn how to describe real world phenomena quantitatively (kinematics, etc) (3) learn problem-solving skills that can be applied to other areas of science, engineering and life. The achievement of these goals will require a conceptual understanding of the physical principles, an ability to use equations to describe a particular phenomena, and a methodical approach to problem solving. Being able to formulate and answer questions about nature will be far more worthwhile (and enjoyable) than memorizing huge numbers of equations.

This understanding is achieved by a combination of reading the text, listening to lectures, working through examples, discussing questions with your TAs and other students, and doing problems. The assigned homework problems are absolutely necessary to develop this understanding. They are your practice "sessions." They will test your knowledge and will induce you to seek more understanding through reading, working of examples.

On-line Access

Most of the course materials are accessed on-line. Your homework assignments will be accessed, turned in and graded electronically. They can be found on the Web. You should familiarize yourself with this course web-site and (WebAssign), and learn how to turn in your homework on-line and find your homework assignments. Solutions, old exams, important notices, and other information will also be posted on the 2210 course web page. It is essential that you check the course web-site and the WebAssign site regularly, because important course information will be posted and updated there from time to time.

Course Content

The course can be roughly divided into three parts. The first part to be discussed will be how to describe motion (a subject called kinematics) and will be followed by a study of what causes different kinds of motion (dynamics). This part will include Newton’s Laws of Motion. The second part of the course will deal with those underlying quantities and concepts that seem to be unchanging even as motions, and hence change, is occurring. This leads to the conservation laws of energy, momentum, and angular momentum, It may seem paradoxical at first that understanding what does not change helps us to understand change better. In the final part of the course, we will take the powerful and general principles learned during the first two parts and apply them to gravitation, oscillators, and possibly waves.

We will study most of Chapters 1-11, 13, and 15 of the textbook. If there is time, we will also do Chapters 16-18. Any excluded sections will be announced ahead of time. Unless specifically announced, you are responsible for all material in these chapters, whether it is covered in lecture or not, as well as any supplemental material actually covered in the lectures. This is the standard curriculum for an introductory semester-long course in Mechanics. We will be covering roughly one chapter each week. Please see the Course Schedule for details.

What is Expected of Students

Be sure to schedule enough study time. Typically, one should expect to spend no less than 2-3 hours on homework and review for every hour spent in lecture. There are three activities which will help you to succeed in this course: 1. DO YOUR READING OF SCHEDULED CHAPTERS BEFORE THE CORRESPONDING LECTURE! (Again, the Course Schedule will help you here.) You cannot learn physics just from the lectures! Lectures will help you understand and synthesize material, fill in gaps, and make additional connections. But focused reading of the textbook is a prerequisite to effective use of the lecture. Make use of the many Quick Quiz questions that are spread throughout each chapter. There are answers to these in the back of the chapter, and they are very useful in helping to determine whether you are grasping the concepts being presented. 2. Practice, practice, practice! The only way to understand physics concepts well enough to use them is to practice on problems. Just as with music or in sports, you must practice to be able to perform. A physics student who knows the textbook but cannot do problems will not succeed. Do the assigned homework problems, review problems (before exams), and other related problems in the textbook. Practice problems by mimicking the exam situation: start with a blank sheet of paper and work the problem through as far as possible without looking for help from the text, notes, or solutions until absolutely necessary. 3. Take notes during the lectures. The process of putting down (in your own words) the ideas of the lecture will help you enormously in your understanding.

Memorization

There is often a great temptation in introductory courses to memorize the material. While this can be a useful strategy in some engineering, biology and chemistry courses, memorization does not work well in physics, because there is very little that is meaningful to memorize. The important issues in physics are the basic principles and how to apply them to real situations. In this course there are only a handful of principles, and it is important not only to remember them but also to understand them.

Another common temptation is to memorize the meaning of symbols. This is particularly dangerous, because the same letter can be used in physics to represent very different quantities and concepts in different problems. The assignment of symbols is purely arbitrary, subject only to popular conventions. In solving physics problems, it is recommended that you be sure that you know what each given symbol actually means in its present context, rather than assuming some other definition. You should also explicitly define your variables, adhering, where appropriate, to the usual conventions (for example, we usually choose F to mean the magnitude of an applied force).

Mathematics

The natural language of physics is mathematics. Physics assigns very precise and definite meanings to English words, such as "force" and "work." It is important that you can accurately state your ideas in physics both mathematically and linguistically, and be able to translate between the two. For example, for a one-dimenstional (1-D) problem, one might say: "the electron starts from rest at the origin". This translates to: "x(t=0)=x(0)=0 and v(t=0)=v(0)=0", assuming x(t), v(t)=dx/dt to represent the displacement and velocity of the object as functions of time, t.

Discussion Sections

To be in this course, you must register for a particular discussion section, and this automatically registers you for one of the two lecture sections: the 12:55 pm lecture (Section 001) or the 2:00 pm lecture (Section 010). Be sure to choose a discussion section that gets you into the lecture section of your choice. The lectures meet on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. You may attend either lecture, but must take exams according to the schedule for the lecture section for which you are registered (see below). We will attempt to accommodate any student who has a valid academic reason that does not allow him/her to take exams at the scheduled time but needs to take the exam with the “other section” on the same day. You must contact Prof. Ailion ahead of time to obtain the exception (by email).

PLEASE NOTE: Permission codes will not be given out for this course. If you want to get into a particular discussion section but find that it is closed, register for some other open section that gets you into the lecture that you want. Then go to the TA for the discussion section that you would like to be in, and ask the TA for permission to attend that section. It is the TA’s sole discretion as to whether or not you are allowed into a particular section. We will do our best to accommodate as many students as we can, but there are room-space and workload considerations to be taken into account.

Discussion sections meet twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. There will also be a help lab with posted hours. The purpose of the discussion sections is to help you with the current homework assignment, discuss results and solutions of exams, and give you a chance to ask questions about the course material.

Lectures

The class meets three times a week for lectures (M,W,F). On each of those days, the lecture will be given twice (during the two lecture sessions), one right after the other. Approximately every four weeks (on Fridays) there is a 90-minute midterm exam given at a previously identified location, at the times of the Friday lecture sessions. All exam dates and times are set in advance, before the semester starts. The purpose of the lectures is to explain the underlying physics, an understanding of which is essential to doing the homeworks and doing well in the class. The lectures also include some demonstrations that illustrate the points of the lectures.

Homework

Most large classes in Physics use the web-based homework assignments and grading system provided by WebAssign. You will complete all homework assignments over the web and get immediate feedback (grading). For most problems, you will be given up to four opportunities to enter the correct answer. This means that you will only be entering answers to the homework. On multiple choice questions (where you choose some multiple of (a), (b), (c), etc., ) you will receive full credit if you get the correct answer on your first 2 tries; if you get the answer on your 3rd try, you will receive only 75% of the credit that you would have received had you presented the answer on your first 2 tries; if you present the correct answer on your 4th try, you will receive only 50% of the corresponding credit. On non-multiple choice questions (where you must supply the answer), you will receive full credit if you get the correct answer on your first 2 tries; if you get the answer on your 3rd or 4th tries, you will receive 90% of the credit that you would have received had you presented the answer on your first 2 tries. In contrast, on examinations, you will be required to present full solutions (showing all work) and will only have 1 try. Hence, it is strongly recommended that you work out all homework problems on a clean sheet of paper (even though you will not turn these in) and compare these to the solutions provided by the TAs, which will be available after the problem set due date through WebAssign. I highly recommend that you use the suggested General Problem-Solving Strategy on page 42 of the text. It may seem that it will take more time, but experience shows that using a systematic method will save hours of hunting for a careless error.

Please note that WebAssign also provides online forums for homework that you may use to discuss problems with fellow students. These forums are similar to computer chat rooms and will also be regularly monitored by the TAs at times to be determined. You are encouraged to participate actively in the forums, to seek help and to offer advice to your classmates on how to approach problems. However, the forums are not to be used for the purpose of posting explicit solutions to the assigned problems in any form. Such postings will be removed by myself or the TAs as soon as we see them. Continuing to post such solutions may lead to a student being excluded from participation in the forums.

Please note that in order to be marked correct for the problems that require numerical answers, you must pay close attention to the rules for handling significant figures, enter the correct number of significant figures (three is the typical value), and be within 2% of the answer (the actual numerical values used in each problem are randomized). You must also pay close attention to the units (provided in the question) in which the numerical answer must be given. (If your correct answer is in meters, but the question calls for the answer to be given in centimeters, it will be off by a factor of 100 and will be marked wrong!) WebAssign provides hints for formatting any answers that must be expressed using variables (symbolic formatting) and for cases where you have the right answer but an insufficient number of significant figures. (Here is a tutorial on the use of significant figures.) Please be advised: You are likely to believe at various times that WebAssign has mistakenly marked your problem in error with "the big red X." Look again! Check your analysis, check units, check significant figures! WebAssign is by no means perfect, but experience has shown that it (and not you) will be right in 99% of these cases.

All homework should be done by Tuesday and Thursday nights. However., the precise due time is prior to 10:00 a.m. on the following Wednesday or Friday morning, after which the homework can not be accepted and no credit will be given. (So, if you are running out of time and cannot finish the entire assignment by the deadline, you should be sure to post on WebAssign the problems that you have completed so that you can get credit for them.) Each problem in the assignment is worth 2 points, whether the problem has 1 part or 7 parts. (You will notice, for example, that WebAssign will make a five-part problem worth 0.4 points per part.) Typically, there will be 6 problems assigned each day, so that the maximum score on the homework would then be 12 points. Occasionally we may assign 5 or 7 problems instead. At the end of the term, your five (5) lowest homework scores will be dropped. (So, it is in your interest that the homeworks missed are those with 5 problems rather than those with 7 problems.) No re-grades of the homeworks will be allowed, and NO LATE HOMEWORK WILL BE ACCEPTED. Please don't even ask. Homework is due so often and for so many students that there is no time to handle it; solutions have to be posted right away. Consider that you have up to (TBA) chances to miss homework without penalty regardless of the reason). Due dates and times, point values for each problem, and maximum number of submissions are clearly indicated on WebAssign for each assignment. Barring some long-term server catastrophe at WebAssign, you are responsible for understanding and meeting these terms.

Getting Started with WebAssign

At the WebAssign Login Page, enter your UNID number (starting with "u" and followed by the rest of your ID number with the first digit removed) and password (the same login and password you use for the Campus Information System). Your first assignment is entitled "Intro to WebAssign 2008." It will help you become familiar with WebAssign and the procedure for completing online homework assignments. However, it is not an exhaustive exercise which tests you on all you need to know about WebAssign. Questions about WebAssign are best addressed to Mr. Doug Baird (email: douglas.baird@jordan.k12.ut.us). Doug is the TA who has the most expertise with WebAssign and handling WebAssign is his primary responsibility.

Midterms and Final Exam

For detailed rules please refer to the Exam Procedures page. There are four (4) midterm exams and a final exam. YOU MUST TAKE THE FINAL EXAM TO PASS THIS COURSE. You must bring a picture ID (preferably your U or U ID card) with you to all exams. All exams are closed book. You may not bring any materials to any of the exams but a single 4" x 6" (or 3" x 5"card, with helpful equations and relationships on it, and a calculator. Having a 4" x 6" (or 3" x 5") card is a good idea for several reasons. First, preparing it will help you identify and focus on the most important relationships. Second, you will not have to memorize all the formulas. Thirdly, it will allow you to quickly find the equations of interest during the exam. Do not believe that you can do well on the tests without understanding the material, however. The tests will not be easy for most students.

Normal scientific and graphing calculators are allowed during exams. Laptop PCs, palm pilots or other devices with significant text (alphanumeric) storage capability, or wireless communications devices (i-Pods, i-Phones, cell phones, PDAs, infrared ports, etc.) are NOT allowed. If there is any doubt as to whether an item is allowed, check with Prof. Ailion or with the TA - the TA's decision is final.

The Final Exam is comprehensive. Last spring semester's midterm and final exams are posted on the course web page. Other old midterm exams from previous versions of this course are available. I do not guarantee that they will be completely relevant to the present exams, as the course content and emphasis has changed over the years.

Midterm Exam Schedule

Midterm 1: Friday, September 12, 2008
Midterm 2: Friday, October 10, 2008
Midterm 3: Friday, November 7, 2008
Midterm 4: Friday, December 5, 2008

Exam locations:

Section 001: 12:55-2:30 p.m., OSH WPRA [map]
Section 010: 2:00-3:30 p.m., FAMB Aud (MHGH) [map]

Midterm exams last 90 minutes and are thus longer than the normal lecture hour. Please arrive 10-15 minutes early on exam days so that we may get you seated, get the exams distributed, and allow you the full 90 minutes to complete the exam. On the day of the first midterm, plan to arrive extra early to get settled and to make sure you can find the location of the exam (see maps above). Because of space constraints, you must take the exam at the assigned time and location corresponding to the lecture section (001 or 010) for which you are registered! If there is a scheduling conflict that can be resolved by taking the exam at another time, this can be arranged, but you must notify Prof Ailion by email well in advance. Accommodations can be made in cases of legitimate academic conflicts only.

There will be no make-up tests or exams. The only exceptions to this rule are (a) absence due to a University sponsored activity or to military duty, and (b) serious medical emergencies. In either case the student must provide complete documentation. All requests for exam accommodations are handled exclusively by Professor Ailion; so not address such requests to anyone else, as they will not be honored. In the case of exception (a) the request for a make-up exam must be filed with Professor Ailion at least one week in advance of the anticipated absence. Please note that all exam dates and times have already been determined; mark your calendars now! Resolve any conflicts as soon as possible!

Final Exam Schedule

Monday, December 15, 2008, 3:30 - 5:30 pm as follows:

Final Exam locations:

Section 001, OSH WPRA [map]
Section 010, S Beh Aud [map]

All sections will take the final at the same time. This is a University departmental scheduled exam time. THERE WILL BE NO EARLY FINAL EXAMS!

Determination of Course Grade

Your grade for the course will be based on your homework , midterm and final exam scores. The homework counts 25%, the midterms 50%, and the final 25%. The lowest five (5) homework scores will automatically be dropped. The lowest midterm score will be automatically dropped.

Based on past performances with other instructors, I would expect that the median score will probably be in the C+/B- range. Roughly speaking, the third of the class that is just to the right of (higher than) the median, will probably be looking at some form of B. The third just to the left will likely be looking at some form of C. The extremes in the curve get A's and D/E's. I will use natural breaks in the scores to determine the actual lines between grades. Depending on these breaks, somewhere between 10 and 15% of the class will likely get some form of A.

Near mid-semester, I will provide a formula to you to estimate your grade based on homework and exams completed up to that point. Please note that this grade will only be an estimate, and that your final grade may change significantly, particularly since the final exam is worth 25% of your final grade. At the end of the semester, you will be provided with the point formula from which your final grade is calculated.

Please note that most homework assignments will be worth 12 points, with occasional deviations to 10 or 14 points. The five (5) lowest homework scores will be dropped automatically. Your final homework grade will be based on the total number of homework points you accumulate divided by the total possible number of homework points (not counting the five homeworks that have been dropped.)

If you feel that the grader may have made an error in grading part of an exam, you may request a regarding of the problem(s). However, any request for re-grading of a problem on an exam must be made before the following exam. You must fill out a re-grade form (found on this web site) and attach it to the entire problem (not just one part) to be re-graded. (Do NOT submit problems that you are not asking to be re-graded.) You must use a separate re-grading form for each problem. These sheets should be given to your TA or handed to Professor Ailion in class before the next mid-term exam. In the case of Midterm #4 (the lastmidterm), you must submit a request for re-grading before the end of the last course lecture on December 12. Problems will NOT be re-graded after the next exam occurs. Exams MUST be done in black or blue pen (NOT red), in order to be eligible for a re-grade. No exam done in pencil will be re-graded. When you submit a request for the re-grading of a problem, the entire problem will be re-graded, not just the parts that you are disputing. It is usually the case that you will not lose points by submitting a re-grade, but this is not guaranteed. Submitted problems for re-grade will be evaluated and returned with the following exam.

You are also allowed to ask for re-grades on the final exam. This request will be considered only if you are near a course grade boundary, in which case there are some additional special rules. The request must be made by 5:00 p.m. on December 19, 2008. You must turn in a re-grade form for each problem that you wish to have re-graded, just as with the midterms. However, you must turn in the entire final exam for a re-grade. The entire exam will be re-graded (not just the problems you submit for a re-grade), so it is possible that your score could be lowered if the grader finds other mistakes that were missed on the previous grading.

Students Must Check Course Grades

It is the student's responsibility to ensure the accuracy of all recorded homework and exam grades (which will reflect what is in our database). These are all accessible from the WebAssign website. Please check your scores regularly, keep all your returned tests (handed out during discussion sections), and contact your discussion TA in case of an error.

Important Dates

Deadline for submitting regrades:
By next exam - Midterms 1-3
December 12, 2008 - Midterm 4
Deadline for notification of recording errors, clerical errors, or arithmetic errors on any midterms or homework:
December 19, 2008 (Final Exam date)
Unless you point out any scoring or recording error by this date, the scores as recorded will stand

IOther Dates

December 15, 2008 -Final Exam
December 18, 2008 - Graded Final Exams available from Mary Ann Woolf in JFB 205 (after Dec. 22 exam will not be availabe until Jan. 5, 2009)
December 19, 2008 – Deadline for all requests for re-grading of Final Exam

Use of Course Website

We make extensive use of the course website. Consult it regularly! There is a link from the course website to the WebAssign login page Course information, announcements and changes will be posted there as soon as the information becomes available under News and Announcements. There is also information on how to contact TA's and the course instructor. Homework and exam scores will be available from the WebAssign site.

Office Hours

The instructor has posted office hours: 12:00 noon - 12:30 pm on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Outside of these you can meet with Prof. Ailion by appointment. These may be granted very promptly (i.e. you might call or e-mail and be told to come on over), but Prof. Ailion can not guarantee specific times to meet with you outside of the posted hours. Please respect the fact that he does not like to be interrupted between 12:30 pm and 12:55 pm on lecture days; he uses this time for last-minute prep before the two hours of lecture. He also reserves the right to adjust or cancel office hours on days when he is traveling out of town or had other engagements, which he will announce as they occur. He is best reached by e-mail, not by phone. He checks e-mail many times during most days and will respond promptly.

The TAs will also be available during the help lab hours. This is an important resource for students, which is often under-utilized. If you have questions that you have not been able to get answered in the discussion sections or during the lectures be sure to attend the help lab. TAs will also be assigned times to monitor the on-line forums on WebAssign for each homework assignment. Doing something about getting your questions answered is your responsibility.

Time After Lecture

On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, Prof. Ailion gives two consecutive lectures from 12:55-1:45 pm and again from 2:00-2:50 pm. This leaves only a short period of time to answer questions AND prepare for the next class. Therefore, only a few, short questions can be answered during the brief intermission. Often Prof. Ailion will have to leave promptly after the 2nd lecture.

Honesty

Cheating of any kind on an exam is a very serious violation of University rules and is unethical. Students caught cheating will receive a failing grade for the course and will be sent on to the University Disciplinary Committee for further action. All teaching assistants, including the course marshall, and the administrative assistant for the course are to be considered proxies for Professor Ailion when you are dealing with them regarding this course. They are to be listened to and treated with respect at all times.

Recent Changes in Student Code

All students and faculty need to be aware of important changes in the Student Code that went into effect in the last couple of years. Students now have only 20 business days to appeal grades and other "academic actions" (e.g., results of comprehensive exams). The date that grades are posted on the web is considered the date of notification. A "business day" is every day the university is open for business, excluding weekends and University-recognized holidays. If the student cannot get a response from the faculty member after ten days of reasonable efforts to contact him or her, the student may appeal to the Department Chair if done within 40 days of being notified of the academic action. Students should definitely document their efforts to contact a faculty member.

Similarly, faculty members who discover or receive a complaint of academic misconduct (e.g., cheating, plagiarism) have 20 business days to "make reasonable efforts" to contact the student and discuss the alleged misconduct. Within 10 more business days the faculty member must give the student written notice of the sanction, if any, and the student's right to appeal to the college Academic Appeals Committee.

All students and faculty members are urged to consult the exact text of the Student Code if a relevant situation arises. The code is on the University web site at http://www.admin.utah.edu/ppmanual/8/8-10.html.

Drop/Add/Withdrawal (to be added)

Last day to drop (delete) classes with no tuition penalty-Wednesday, September 3.
Last day to add classes is Monday, September 8.
Last day to elect CR/NC options is Monday, September 8.
Last day to withdraw from term length classes is Friday, October 24.
NOTE: It is now university policy that your courses will be irrevocably DROPPED if tuition is not paid on time!
Here is the entire Fall 2008 Academic Calendar.

Students with Disabilities

The University of Utah Department of Physics seeks to provide equal access to its programs, services and activities for people with disabilities. If you will need accommodations in this course, reasonable prior notice must be given to the instructor and to the Center for Disability Services, 162 Olpin Union Bldg, 581-5020 (V/TDD) to make arrangements for accommodations. You are strongly encouraged to come and talk to the instructor about your disability and necessary accommodations within the first two weeks of the semester.

Holidays

Monday, September 1	Labor Day
Monday-Saturday, October 13-18	Fall Break
Thursday-Friday, November 27-28	Thanksgiving Break

---

This page is maintained by: Mary Ann Woolf woolf@physics.utah.edu
U of U Content Disclaimer