PHYSICS 0106

Fundamentals of Physics

Note: This syllabus is available on the WWW at

http://www.phyast.pitt.edu/~cls/courses/p0106

TERM (Summer 2000)

• • Lecturer: Dr. Chandralekha Singh

  • Office: 218 A Allen Hall

  • Office hours: Mon and Wed 4.45-5.45pm or stop by anytime

  • Phone: 624-9045

  • E-mail (BEST WAY TO CONTACT ME): singh@bondi.phyast.pitt.edu

  • Lectures: MTW 5.45pm-8pm. (11 Thaw Hall)

  • Recitations: Thurs 5.45pm-8pm. (11 Thaw Hall)

  • Text: Fundamentals of Physics (extended), Halliday, Resnick and Walker, 5th edition, Wiley, 1993

  • Teaching Assistant: Sandeep Tyagi (office:306 OEH, phone:624-1826)

  • Teaching Assistant E-Mail: styagi@phyast.pitt.edu

Course Description

The major goal of this physics course is to enable you to develop logical reasoning skills to explain or predict diverse phenomena in everyday experience, and to become good problem solvers and independent learners. I encourage you to participate fully in class discussions. Physics knowledge is hierarchical: new concepts rely heavily on solid understanding of prior material. I strongly encourage you to ask questions to clarify your doubts. Remember that all questions are good questions, and there is a good chance that if you are having trouble understanding a concept, others are also struggling with the same concept. "Plug-and-chug" approaches to physics are neither useful for developing problem solving, reasoning and higher order thinking skills that I hope you will develop nor likely to produce satisfactory results on examinations. I also want you to remember that struggling is a very natural part of learning. Do not get discouraged. The lecture material will follow the text fairly closely, and most of the assignments will be drawn from the text. Hence it is a good idea for you to purchase the text or have regular access to it. There will be a copy (or copies) on reserve in the Physics Library in OEH. In this course we will cover most of Chapters 17,18, 31-44. It is highly recommended that students read the relevant chapter ahead of time. Occasionally there may be material covered in lecture which is not in the textbook; students will be responsible for such material. Students are expected to have a working knowledge of calculus.

Course info

Useful information including assignments for this course are available at the courseinfo site for this course. Information about this site will be given in class. This site can also be used for discussion forums related to this course in which your instructor and fellow classmates can participate.

Homework

Homework is an integral part of learning the material of this course. There will be regular reading assignments questions, exercises, and numerical problems assigned every Monday in the class. This assignment is to be handed in at the beginning of your recitation section. One of the questions/problems will be graded by the recitation instructor. 50% of recitation score for the week is based upon the graded question/problem and the other 50% is based upon sincerely working on all questions/problems assigned. Recitation performance will count approximately 15% in determining the final grade.

Due to the importance of the homework in helping you learn and apply the conceptual matter under discussion, and to prepare for examinations, you are highly encouraged to try as many of the assigned problems/questions as possible before they are discussed and solutions presented. The in-term examinations will involve problem solving to demonstrate mastery of the material, and the best preparation will be a thorough understanding of the assigned problems and questions. I expect to schedule some review time during the term.

Study Resources

A Resource Room will be available throughout the semester for help in understanding physics concepts and completing homework assignments. The room is available from 9am to 6pm, Monday through Friday, in room 223 Old Engineering Hall (OEH).

Grading Policy

There will be three in-term exams and a two hour cumulative final examination. The final examination is on the last day of classes (Thurs: Aug 3). The in-term exams are expected to fall on:

• • Exam #1 M, July 10

  • Exam #2 M, July 17

  • Exam #3 M, July 24

The lowest performance of the three in-term exams will be dropped. The course grade is expected to be determined by two in-term exam grades (25% each), the final exam (35%), and the recitation grade (15%). In practice the recitation performance often determines which side of a borderline (e.g., A to B or C- to D) the final grade will fall on. There will be no make-up midterm examinations.

Assignments will be given in class on Mondays.