Syllabus

Boise State Fall 2021 -- PHYS 341 Classical Mechanics

Instructor: Prof. Brian Jackson -- http://www.astrojack.com

Email: bjackson@boisestate.edu

Virtual Office Hours: By appointment

Student Mentor: Nathan McGregor

E-mail: nathanmcgregor1@u.boisestate.edu

Virtual Tutoring Sessions: By appointment

Summary

PHYS341 Classical Mechanics is an advanced course in classical mechanics. We will cover Newtonian mechanics, oscillations, Lagrangian mechanics, orbital motion, non-inertial frames, and rotational kinematics.

Regular class meetings will take place over Zoom and consist mainly of discussion and problem-solving. The course material will also be covered through readings or video lectures.

I am available for virtual office hours. Please e-mail me to schedule them -- bjackson@boisestate.edu. In addition, Nathan McGregor, a senior physics major, is available to answer questions and help with homework -- nathanmcgregor1@u.boisestate.edu. However, he cannot help with exams.

Final grades will be based on homework, exams, and a final project. Exam grades will be curved but not the final grades.

As a general rule, late assignments will not be accepted, but I understand you have lives outside of class and that the world is on fire right now. If you anticipate difficulty submitting an assignment on time, please contact me as soon as possible. I will bend over backwards to help in whatever way I can that does not unfairly disadvantage a student.

I will try to keep lecture to a minimum during class time. Instead, students are expected to keep up with the reading assignments and video lectures.

Please do NOT wait to tell me you're struggling. Contact me before things get out of hand and read through the Advice page.

However, any arrangements we make through a discussion MUST be followed up by an e-mail exchange to document the arrangements. You are responsible for sending that e-mail, and any agreement that does not include an e-mail exchange may be considered null and void.

Student Learning Outcomes

1. Students will demonstrate conceptual understanding of the basic principles of classical mechanics.

2. Students will demonstrate the ability to use the tools and approaches of classical mechanics in areas including the following:

   1. Newton’s laws and applications

   2. Orbital motion

   3. Oscillations

   4. Lagrangian Dynamics

3. Students will demonstrate a basic proficiency with graphing solutions on the computer.

Class Website

https://sites.google.com/view/bsu2021phys341

Regular Meeting Time and Place

Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 3:00-4:15p MT on Zoom - check your e-mail for the link.

Class meetings will be recorded and publicly posted on the Class Meeting Videos page. To comply with the requirements of FERPA, I will edit the videos to remove any personally identifying information for you.

Textbook

Taylor's Classical Mechanics -- required

Boas's Mathematical Methods in the Physical Sciences -- supplementary

Div, Grad, Curl, and All That -- supplementary

Grading

Exam grades will be curved up, but not handing in work will not lower the curve and will be detrimental to your final grade.

Grades from coursework will be weighted as follows:

Homework -- 40%

Exam 1 -- 15%

Exam 2 -- 15%

Final Exam -- 15%

Final Project -- 15%

The following thresholds represent the minimum required for a final letter grade --

A: 90% B: 80% C: 70% D: 60% F: less than 60%.

Please be aware that I will curve exam grades as we go along and that I cannot modify your grades at the end of the semester for any reason. Therefore, if you have concerns about your grades, please contact me as early as possible. Don't wait until the end of the semester to consult about your grade. That will be too late.

Coursework

I describe the coursework and graded assignments below. There are no extra assignments that I can provide late in the semester to bulk up your grade, so please stay on top of the coursework and let me know ASAP if you run into problems.

Reading

The course schedule below provides approximate dates on which we will cover topics. You are expected to have read the sections by the end of the week indicated in the schedule (except, of course, for the first week of class).

Homeworks

All but the first homework assignment come from Taylor, and every homework assignment for the whole semester is already posted on the class website -- https://sites.google.com/view/bsu2021phys341/assignments. As you turn in the homeworks, I will post detailed solutions.

Homework will be assigned most weeks on Mondays. The assignments consist of problems applying the ideas from class and will usually be due at the beginning of class the following Monday.

Most Fridays will be reserved for working homework problems in class and answering your questions, so make sure you've at least looked at the problems before Friday.

We will spend some of each class period working problems in Zoom breakout groups, so it's worth attending class regularly.

You are welcome to work in groups on the homework, but the solutions you turn in must be your own work.

You must turn in your hand-written or typed solutions via e-mail (smart phone photos of your solutions are fine) -- bsuphys341@gmail.com.

Exams

You will have three exams, two during the semester and one final exam.

All exams are scheduled to begin on Friday afternoons and will consist of a handful of multi-part, in-depth problems on the material covered since the last exam, except the final exam, which will be cumulative.

Exams are due at the beginning of the next class. Turning the exam in after that (without agreed upon arrangements) will result in a zero.

For exams, you are allowed to use your textbook, notes, and previous homework and exam solutions but NOT the internet.

You are NOT allowed to work together on the exams.

You must turn in your hand-written or typed solutions via e-mail (smart phone photos of your solutions are fine) -- bsuphys341@gmail.com.

Final Exam

The final exam will be passed out via e-mail on Friday, Apr 23 and is due by 4:15p on the following Monday, Apr 26 via e-mail -- bsuphys341@gmail.com.

Final Projects

For the final project, students must film a short demonstration of one of the homework or exam problems or physical systems we discussed. The video is due by Monday, May 3 at 4pm MT. My preference is that you post the videos on youtube and send the link -- bsuphys341@gmail.com. In any case, all videos sent will be posted on youtube, so be sure they are appropriate.

More details, including a grading rubric, will be provided later in the semester.

You can find the project description and grading rubric here - https://docs.google.com/document/d/15g-yzLmtAYdFu0JWNMHvgZV1BCX4U9q6y9Rm1M7TBS4/edit?usp=sharing.

Academic Integrity

All students are required to adhere to Boise State University’s Student Code of Conduct on academic dishonesty. Assignments you submit must be your original work and cannot be used in other courses, nor can you use significant portions of assignments completed for another course in this course.

Assignments you submit must be original and developed by you. You are welcome to get ideas from other sources and work together (except on exams); however, you must interpret such ideas significantly and cite your sources. Anything copied from a source (even the textbook) must be indicated by appropriate citations. Please refer to Student Code of Conduct Sections on Academic Dishonesty, Cheating, Classroom Misconduct, and Plagiarism.

Chegg or Other Homework Help Services

You are NOT allowed to find or solicit solutions on homework help websites including Chegg. If it is found you used such a service, it will constitute academic misconduct. If you need help with your homework, please contact me (bjackson@boisestate.edu) or Nathan (nathanmcgregor1@u.boisestate.edu)

Educational Access

Students with disabilities needing accommodations to fully participate in this class should contact the Educational Access Center (EAC). All accommodations must be approved through the EAC prior to being implemented. To learn more about the accommodation process, visit the EAC’s website at https://www.boisestate.edu/eac/.

Student Well-Being

Boise State is committed to the safety and well-being of our college students, faculty, and staff. You can help to identify and assist members of our community who may be at risk. If you are concerned about the behavior or safety of a member of the campus community or are in need of support yourself, please share your concerns with the CARE team by submitting a report of concern at https://www.boisestate.edu/care/. When in doubt, reach out!

This class, like this university, is a community. Communities contain diverse identities and perspectives, and the most successful communities respect that diversity as a key to collective improvement. In alignment with the Boise State University statement of diversity and inclusivity, all community members are encouraged to contribute their perspectives and experiences. I encourage you to enrich yourself and the community by listening to others and sharing your thoughts. If you feel isolated from our classroom community in some way, please let me know so that we can work together to create a welcoming space for you to feel like part of the community.

Class Schedule

The following represents the planned topics and dates and is subject to change throughout the semester: