Physics 123 – Waves and Modern Physics
Spring term 2020, University of Rochester
Information, Syllabus, and Schedule
This course is designed to be the third semester of a three-course sequence for students planning to major in physics, engineering, or some other physical science. The topics covered include: wave motion, physical optics, special relativity, photoelectric effect, Compton effect, X-rays, wave properties of particles, Schrödinger's equation applied to a particle in a box, penetration of a barrier, the hydrogen atom, the harmonic oscillator, the uncertainty principle, Rutherford scattering, the time-dependent Schrödinger equation and radioactive transitions, many electron atoms and molecules, and selected topics in statistical physics, solid state physics, nuclear physics, particle physics and cosmology.
Although this is the third course in an introductory sequence, it is considered a transition course between the basic mechanics and E&M classes and more advanced and formal physics and engineering classes. As such, students should expect to be pushed mathematically with the introduction to Fourier analysis, complex wave notation, and bits of vector calculus. The course will use some sources outside of the required textbook.
Course instructor:
Prof. Andrew Jordan e-mail: jordan@pas.rochester.edu
Phone: 275-2418
Office: B+L 317
Office hours: Monday and Wednesday 4-5 pm, or by appointment. With my research travel and your variable needs/schedules, I find that fixed office hours are not terribly practical. If I am unavailable during my normal posted office hours or if the allotted times do not work for you, speak to me or send e-mail to find a mutually suitable time.
Workshop leaders:
Office: B&L 478; office hour: Thursday, 1-2pm, or by appointment
Office hours by appointment in the POA.
Office hours by appointment in POA
Office hour: Wednesday 5-6pm, in the POA, or by appointment
Course materials/communication:
I will use BlackBoard to distribute materials (readings, lecture slides and audio, assignments, solutions, etc.) to the class and communicate via email with the class.
Lectures:
Hoyt Hall, Monday and Wednesday 12:30 to 1:45 pm.
Textbook:
Halliday, Resnick, Walker, Fundamentals of Physics, Volumes I-III, 10th edition (2014), Wiley.
We will use the version that has 44 chapters which is what they call the “extended version” if you have the all volumes in one book.
You are welcome to use previous editions of the text. Just be aware that the problem assignments will be referring to the problems in the 10th edition. Copies of the 10th edition will be on reserve in the Physics and Astronomy Library located on the 3rd floor of Bausch and Lomb Hall.
Given the nature of this course, there will be times I will venture beyond what the course text covers.
Books on reserve in Physics and Astronomy (PAS) library that might be useful:
Douglas Giancoli, Physics for Scientists and Engineers
Kenneth Krane, Modern Physics
Hecht, Optics
Eisberg and Resnick, Quantum Physics of Atoms, Molecules, Solids, Nuclei, and Particles
Griffiths, Introduction to Electrodynamics
Tipler, Physics
Workshops:
An integral part of this course will be "physics workshop". You will meet once a week, for two hours, with a group of approximately twelve other students and a leader. During this time, you will work on a set of problems that I prepare. The problems will include simple questions, conceptual exercises, and quantitative problems relevant to the material covered the week before in class. Much of this will be review and practice. Some of it will be new and relevant material. Since you have already done these for the past year, you should be familiar how they operate now.
Workshop leaders will keep track of workshop attendance. This will be one of my gauges as to the level of effort you put into the course. This will be taken into account during the final letter grade assignment and will be the deciding factor for hairline grades.
Laboratory:
Currently, the laboratory is conducted independently of lecture. The only contact between the two (other than subject) is the lab grade contribution to the final course grade. You must do all the labs get a grade for this course. The laboratory grade will be averaged in as 15% of the course grade. All questions regarding the laboratory should be sent to the laboratory e-mail address at
physlabs.modern@pas.rochester.edu
or addressed to Professor Bodek. The physlabs e-mail address is appropriate for the majority of your questions, and is more likely to yield a timely response. It is only necessary to bring laboratory issues to my attention if you do not get a satisfactory response from physlabs and Prof. Bodek.
Problem sets:
I will ask you to do a set of problems each week that illustrate and/or enhance what we've discussed in the lecture. P123 is a quantitative, problem-driven course. I will work mostly on concepts and mathematical techniques in lecture … but the exams will consist of quantitative problems. It is absolutely critical that you work on these problems each week.
A week after each problem set is assigned, I will release a solution set. Your job is to study these solutions, understand your mistakes, and correct any misperceptions or holes in your understanding.
You are encouraged to discuss the problems with others both before and after you turn in your assignment. However, I urge you to struggle with each problem on your own first. Otherwise your colleagues may carry you along and you won’t get much out of it. (They won’t be able to help you on the exams.) Most of you will find it easy to follow someone else’s work. If you follow others too much as you do the problem sets, you will find that you are unable to begin problems on your own.
A fraction of your grade (9%) comes from your solutions to the problem sets. We will check each problem set to see that you made a reasonable attempt to do the problems. That means your solutions should not be copies of the publisher’s solutions and should consist of more than a page of final answers; show your work. You are allowed to work together and even look at the publisher’s solutions on reserve in the library or tucked away online someplace. The point is to use the exercise to figure out the concepts and to understand how to solve the corresponding problems. In the end, while doing the problems or later, when looking at the solutions, be sure to come to closure and understand all the steps in the problems. If you don’t understand something, you need to figure it out and/or get help.
Your solutions to each week's problem set must be handed in before 10 am on Friday. To turn them in, deposit them in the “Phy 123” locker in the hallway by B&L 106. I will ask that your TA empty the locker when they come in on Friday mornings. If the problem set is not in that locker when the papers are picked up, it will count as a zero. Rather than negotiate or pass judgment about poor or good excuses, I will give you three problem set “drops”, no questions asked. In other words I will only count 9 of the 12 (or so) assigned problem sets. In spite of that, you should do and come to closure on any problem sets you fail to hand in or your exam grades will suffer and that will affect your final grade.
Keep up with the class. Physics does not cram easily. Many concepts/techniques need time to gel.
Grades:
Your grade will be calculated as follows:
Exam 1 - 20%
Exam 2 - 20%
Final exam - 30%
Lab - 15%
Prob sets - 15%
You will not receive a grade in the course until you have completed the required laboratory work.
Your initial relative position on the grading curve depends solely on the numerical grade as calculated above. I will then assign letter grades to the numerical scale. There is no fixed curve to be assigned … no grade quotas. If you all do "A" work in my eyes, you ALL get A's. It's a problem I would love to have!
If you are one point below a grade boundary … and many of you will be … I will give you the higher grade near the boundary if you have attended more than half the workshops.
Where's the prof?:
I must travel frequently for my research, and to attend conferences, etc. I will do all I can to schedule my travel so that it has a minimal impact on Phys 123. However, I won't be able to completely avoid it. Class will go on. I'll do my best to arrange a guest lecturer. I will usually be in e-mail contact when out of town. Please accept my apologies in advance.
Makeups/missing exams, problem sets:
If you do miss an exam for any reason, I will give you an exam privately in my office. Don't miss the final. That would likely mean you’d need to take an incomplete in the course and finish it in Spring 2021.
Exam regrade policy:
We will do our best to grade your exams fairly. That said, mistakes will happen. It is your responsibility to look over the solutions to the exam and your exam paper when it is returned. Once you are sure you understand the problem and solution, if you feel the grading for your work is inappropriate, please write on the front of the exam which problem you’d like us to examine again and give me or one of your TAs the exam.
Schedule:
This course schedule is tentative and subject to change as we go. The exam dates are fixed. Exam subject matter will change as appropriate for the material covered and you will be notified of the coverage well ahead of time.
Exam 1: Tuesday, February 18, at 8:00am - 9:30am, B&L 106 - Lecture Hall
Exam 2: Thursday, April 9, at 8:00 - 9:30am, B&L 109 - Lecture Hall
Final exam - Tuesday, May 5 at 8:30am - 11:30am, Hoyt Auditorium.
Course plan: