Physics 8

Spring 2008

Instructor: Jacob Morris

Office: SCI 279

Phone: 434-3520

Email: morris_jacob@smc.edu

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

 

Office Hours: M 1-3, T 11:30-12:30, W 2-3, and by appointment

 

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

 (Prerequisite: Math 7)

 

Time and Place:

Lecture: Tuesday and Thursday 4-6, SCI 153

Lab: Monday 3:30-6:35, SCI 101 (Sec. 2905); Wednesday 3:30-6:35, SCI 101 (Sec. 2904)

 

Text: R. D. Knight, Physics for Scientists and Engineers with Modern Physics, 1st edition, Addison Wesley, 2004.

 

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

 

Grade:              

                        Homework                      5%

Participation                    5%

Lab/Tutorial                  15%

                        Midterm 1                     10%     Thursday 3/6                                               

                        Midterm 2                     15%     Thursday 4/3

                        Midterm 3                     15%     Thursday 5/8

Conceptual Quiz              5%     Thursday 5/29

Final                            30%     Friday 6/6, 3:30-6:30, 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 both to other students and the instructor. 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 will not be just a compilation of the quizzes – they will have greater scope and will require you to think and put ideas together. Failure to take the final will result in an F grade for the course. 

 

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.

 

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 lecture and laboratory.

 

Homework: There will be an assignment each week consisting of roughly 25 problems. Each assignment will be graded on a three-point scale: S-, S, S+ based on completeness, clarity, and organization. Late homework automatically receives an S– grade. To receive a grade on an assignment it must be stapled and clearly labeled. Please do not staple different assignments together.  

 

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, and forgery of my signature/grade or forgery of any written excuse.

 

Tentative Schedule

 

Week of:          Sections:          Topics:

 

Feb. 11            1.1 – 2.2           Motion, Motion Diagrams, Velocity Acceleration, Scalars, Vectors

 

Feb. 18            2.2 – 3.4           Description of Motion, Graphing, Kinematics, Free Fall, Vector Algebra

                                                                                                                                      

Feb. 25            4.1 – 4.7           Force, Motion, Newton’s Laws, Free-body Diagrams

 

Mar. 3             5.1 – 5.6           Mass, Weight, Friction, Second Law, Examples, Midterm 1 (Chs.1- 4)

 

Mar. 10           6.1 – 6.4           2-Dimensional Motion, Projectile Motion, Relative Motion

 

Mar. 17           7.1 – 8.5           Circular Motion, Force Interactions, Newton’s 3rd Law

 

Mar. 24           9.1 – 9.6           Impulse, Momentum, Conservation of Momentum, Collisions, Examples

 

Mar. 31           10.1 – 10.7        Work, Kinetic Energy, Potential Energy, Energy Diagrams, Midterm 2 (Chs.4 – 8)

 

Apr. 7                                      Spring Break

 

Apr. 14            11.1 – 11.9        Conservation of Energy, Power, Examples

 

Apr. 21            12.1 – 12.6        Universal Gravitation, Orbits, Gravitational Energy  

 

Apr. 28            13.1-13.10         Rotational Kinematics, Torque, Dynamics, Equilibrium, Rotational Energy

                                     

May 5              14.1 – 14.8        Simple Harmonic Motion, Phasors, Pendulum, Energy, Damping, Resonance

Midterm 3 (Chs. 9 -13)

  

May 12            20.1 – 20.7        Traveling Waves, Sinusoidal Waves, Sound, Light, Power, Intensity

 

May 19            21.1 – 21.4        Holiday, Reflection, Superposition, Interference, Standing Waves

 

May 26            16.1-17.7          Atoms, Moles, Temperature, Ideal Gases, Work, Heat, First Law, Specific Heat,

Calorimetry, Heat Transfer, Conceptual Quiz

 

 

June 6                                     Final Exam (Cumulative exam)

 

Special Dates:  Washington Birthday 2/18, Flex Day 3/4, Break 4/7-13, Flex Day 5/23, Memorial Day 5/26, Last Day to

drop without a W: 3/2, Last day to drop with a W: 5/11