Phys 2110, Fall 2018

Classical Mechanics Recitation

important information

Name: Joshuah T. Heath
Occupation: Ph.D. candidate in theoretical physics
Office: Higgins 328 (third floor, outside main lounge area)
Email: heathjo@bc.edu
Confines of Twitterverse: Fearful Symmetry (@teamfysiks)
Coordinates of recitation: Mon @ 2 & 3 p.m., Higgins 265
Official office hours (URR): Thurs, 10 a.m.-12 p.m.
When I'm usually in my office or generally available:
When I'm usually not in my office or I'm busy:
Duties: Grading homework and exam problems; teaching you how to apply the stuff you learning in class to solve physical problems; instilling a love of physics into your young hearts
Comic origins: xkcd, "Mu": https://xkcd.com/815/

news from the twitterscape

Joshuah's laws of recitation

0th Law: I am here to help you understand the basic concepts behind one of the most important fields in physics, not to give you an easy A. I will be more than happy to help you if you show some attempt at a problem.
1st Law: All students should arrive on time to their recitation sections. There is no excuse for being late or for being absent (except for emergencies, of course); if you must be either late or absent to recitation, you MUST arrange with me 48 hours prior to the recitation. Otherwise, you might face a penalty.
2nd Law: Unless you have a special arrangement with me beforehand, use of computers and phones in recitation are greatly frowned upon, with repeated use (i.e., more than once in a semester) leading to repercussions.
3rd Law: All solutions to problems that I cannot read will receive a zero. Messy homework that I can partially read will get partial credit, even if it is correct. In physics, you will learn that there is an order to the universe. Have your homework reflect that order. The same goes for any emails you wish to send me regarding physics questions.

Joshuah's laws of grading

0th Law: Every question is 90% work and 10% answer. For example, if you show all your steps but make a stupid error like 2+2=3 in the final answer, you'll get 90% on that question. Similarly, if you get the correct answer with no explanation, you might get only 10% of that answer. Multiple choice questions are obviously not included.
1st Law: No late homework will be accepted unless you have already received permission from Prof. Graf.
2nd Law: If you have an issue with how I graded one of your assignments, please prepare a detailed physical argument on why my grading is incorrect BEFORE you request a meeting with me.
3rd Law: Organize, organize, organize. Write neatly, write your name/date at the top right corner, number the pages, staple at top left corner, and (most importantly) SHOW ALL STEPS. Also please use clean, unstained, white paper. No lined paper and definitely not paper torn from a binder or notebook. Any messiness will receive a penalty.
4th Law: Any homework that appears to be copied from a resource online, from a textbook, or from another student will immediately receive a score of zero for the entire homework set. The student(s) will then be reported to Prof. Graf. No exceptions.

resources

Main text: Principles of Physics, 5th edition, by Serway and Jewett. This is your main reference and the textbook Prof. Graf is using for the course.
Secondary text: Physics in Biology and Medicine, by Paul Davidovits. This book, along with Serway and Jewett, will be on a 2-hour reserve for you in O'Neill library.
My favourite text: The Feynman Lectures on Physics, by Richard Feynman. Volume I covers mostly classical mechanics in an easily understood manner. Click here to go to the Feynman lectures website.
Quick online refresher: The HyperPhysics website. Click here to go to the page on classical mechanics, and then click on one of the bubbles to see "CliffNotes" style reviews of important topics.
Good online reference: Fitzpatrick's introductory course on Classical Mechanics is an excellent resource. Click here to go to the website.
More advanced texts: Most everything listed above is introductory level physics, and will be more than sufficient to master this course. However, if you want something more advanced, try looking in John R. Taylor's Classical Mechanics. Too easy? Try tackling a little of Herbert Goldstein's Classical Mechanics.

schedule and class notes

Throughout the semester, I will update this website with class notes for each week I teach. Below, you will see a schedule of topics and a link to a PDF covering what I went over in recitation (click on the subject of each week to go to the lecture notes for that subject's recitation notes). Note that below is the schedule of Prof. Graf's class; the schedule for the recitation sections are one week behind.

Week 1 (Aug 27th-Aug 31st): Kinematics in one dimension
Week 2 (Sept 3rd-Sept 7th): Kinematics in two and three dimensions
Week 3( Sept 10th-Sept 14th): Newton's laws of motion
Week 4 (Sept 17th-Sept 21st): Examples of forces and uniform circular motion
Week 5 (Sept 24th-Sept 28th): Work, energy, and energy conservation
Week 6 (Oct 1st - Oct 5th): EXAM UNO (covering chapter 2-6 in Serway and Jewett)
Week 7 (Oct 8th- Oct 12th): Linear momentum and momentum conservation
Week 8 (Oct 15th-Oct 19th): Rotational dynamics and torque
Week 9 (Oct 22nd-Oct 26th): Angular momentum and angular momentum conservation
Week 10 (Oct 29th - Nov 2nd): Gravitational Force and Orbits
Week 11 (Nov 5th - Nov 9th): Harmonic oscillator and oscillatory motion
Week 12 (Nov 12th - Nov 16th): EXAM DOS (covering chapter 7, 8, 10, 11, & 12 in Serway and Jewett)
- Click here for a practice test, and click here for the solutions.
Week 13 (Nov 19th - Nov 23rd): Mechanical waves; Thanksgiving
Week 14 (Nov 26th - Nov 30th): Wave motion and the Wave Equation
Week 15 (Dec 3rd - Dec 7th): The Doppler Effect and Interference
Week 16 (Dec 10th - Dec 14th) : Fluid Mechanics
- Click here for a practice final, and click here for the solutions.
Week 17 (Dec 17th - Dec 21st): FINAL EXAM: Monday, Dec. 17th, at 4 p.m. MAKE-UP FINAL EXAM: Wed, Dec 19th, at 4 p.m. YOU ARE HERE (XᴥX)

UFOs

During the semester, I will upload optional problems to help you understand the current topic. These UFOs (ungraded, fun, and optional) will assist you in your understanding of the relevant physics, and you can discuss them with me during office hours. The UFOs will be uploaded as the semester progresses.

grade statistics

After I grade each week's homework sets, I will upload the grade distribution for both my recitation sections to this website. This way, you can see if you are doing poorly or doing well in my class. See all current grade distributions below.

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