Physics 8

Fall 2009

Instructor: Jacob Morris

Office: SCI 279

Phone: 434-3520

Email: morris_jacob@smc.edu

Webpage: http://homepage.smc.edu/morris_jacob/

Office Hours: M 1-2, T 3-4, W 1-2, Th 3-4, and by appointment

 

Course Description: This course is a calculus-based introduction to mechanics, waves, fluids, and thermodynamics.

 (Prerequisites: Math 7)

 

Place and Time:

Lecture: TTh 4-6, SCI 153    

Lab (2978): M 2:30-5:35, SCI 106           Lab (2979): W 2:30-5:35, SCI 106

 

 

Text: R. D. Knight, Physics, a Strategic Approach (with Modern Physics), 2nd Edition, Addison Wesley, 2008.

 

Supplementary Text: R. D. Knight, Student Work Book and Student Solutions Manual (both not required).

 

Grade:              

                        Participation                  5%

Homework                    5%

Quizzes                         10%

Lab/Tutorial                  15%

                        Midterm 1                     10%     Thursday 9/24                                              

                        Midterm 2                     15%     Thursday 10/22

                        Midterm 3                     15%     Thursday 11/19

Final                            25%     Thursday 12/17, 3:30-6:30 pm, SCI 153

 

Upon returning each exam I will give a breakdown of the grades for that exam.

 

Classroom Conduct: Under no circumstances is there to be any food or drink in either the lecture hall or laboratory. Please make a point of coming to class on time; doing otherwise creates a distraction to both your classmates and me. Attendance is not mandatory, however, missing class or laboratory might adversely affect your grade.

 

Exam Policy: There are no make-up exams. If you miss an exam due to an emergency or personal hardship a note from a suitable professional will be required. All exams are closed note and closed book. The midterm exams will consist of problems and conceptual questions based on material from the homework, class examples, text examples, tutorial problems, and laboratory. The midterms are of greater scope than the homework and quizzes and will require you to think and put ideas together.     

 

Lab: There are no make-up labs. Laboratory is mandatory to the extent that points will be given for every lab session, regardless of whether you are required to submit written work for that session. If there is ever any doubt you should submit all the work you have completed in the laboratory. Also, make sure you receive a graded report for every report you have submitted. In the event you do not receive a report that you submitted it is your responsibility to bring its absence to my attention. Missing more than 3 lab periods will result in a grade no higher than a D.

 

Quizzes: There will be several quizzes during the semester that will consist of two problems taken from the lecture and homework. I will drop your lowest quiz. There are no make-up quizzes.

 

Homework: There will be an assignment each week consisting of roughly 25 problems. Each assignment will be graded on a three-point system: based on completeness, clarity, and organization.     

Grade Guidelines: The Santa Monica College Physical Science Department now has guidelines for the distribution of course grades. Student proficiency among different sections is also assessed though standardized examination.

 

Participation: This component of your grade is based on your active participation in lecture and laboratory. I will consider the frequency that you ask/answer questions in class, your attentiveness, and whether you consistently review the relevant material prior to the laboratory.

 

Help: I realize some of you may have trouble making my office hours. If you need help please do not hesitate to drop by any time I am in my office. There is a tutoring available in the LRC located in SCI 245.

 

Academic Dishonesty:  The college policy regarding academic dishonesty will be strictly enforced. In particular I will not hesitate to inform the campus disciplinarian of any student’s dishonest conduct relating to the course. This includes, but is not limited to: cheating on a quiz or exam, submission of an altered exam for a regrade, verbatim copying of lab activities, falsification of laboratory work/attendance, forgery of my signature/grade, or forgery of any written excuse.

 

Tentative Schedule

 

Week of:          Sections:          Topics:

 

Aug. 31           1.1 – 2.2           Motion, Motion Diagrams, Velocity, Acceleration, Scalars, Vectors

 

Sept. 7             2.2 – 3.4           Description of Motion, Graphing, Kinematics, Free Fall, Vector Algebra

                                                                                                                                      

Sept. 14           4.1 – 4.7           2- Dimensional Motion, Projectile Motion, Circular Motion, Relative Velocity

 

Sept. 21           5.1 – 5.7           Mass, Force, Weight, Friction, Tension, 1st and 2nd Laws, Midterm 1 (Chs.1- 4)

 

Sept. 28           6.1 – 7.5           Free-body Diagrams, Force Interactions, Newton’s 3rd Law, Examples

 

Oct. 5              8.1 – 8.5           Examples, Uniform Circular Motion, Nonuniform Circular Motion

 

Oct. 12                        9.1 – 9.6           Impulse, Momentum, Conservation of Momentum

 

Oct. 19                        10.1-11.2          Work, Kinetic Energy, Potential Energy, Bar-Charts, Midterm 2 (Chs.5 – 9)

 

Oct. 26                        11.3 – 11.9        Energy Conservation Examples, Energy Diagrams, Power

 

Nov. 2             12.1 – 13.3        Gravitation, Gravitational Energy, Orbits, Rotational Kinematics, Torque

 

Nov. 9             13.4 – 13.10      Rotational Dynamics, Angular Momentum, Rolling, Equilibrium

 

Nov. 16           14.1 – 14.8        SHM, Pendula, Energy, Resonance, Midterm 3 (Chs.10-13)

  

Nov. 23           15.1 – 15.6        Fluids, Pressure, Buoyancy, Dynamics, Elasticity

 

Nov.  30          20.1 – 21.2        Traveling Waves, Sound, Light, Power, Intensity, Reflection, Superposition

 

Dec.   7                        21.3 – 21.8        Interference, Standing Waves, Phasors, Beats  

                        18.1 – 18.6        Temperature, Heat, Heat Capacity, Calorimetry, 1st and 2nd Thermodynamic Laws

 

Dec.  14                                   Final Exam (Cumulative exam covering all topics addressed in the course)

 

 

Special Dates:             Labor Day 9/7, Veteran’s Day 11/13, Thanksgiving 11/26, 11/27, Last Day to drop without a W: 9/21, Last day to drop with a W: 11/23