Physics 101-002, Introductory Physics I
MWF, 11:00 – 11:50, Spring 2009
Room 125 Science Center
Dr. Jeff Wragg
Office: 203B Bell Bldg.
Office hours: MWF 8:00-9:30
But come by any time
phone: 953-5781
email me at
or send me an anonymous web-based email
Tentative Schedule
(Subject to change as we go.)
Lots of cool simulations below are from UC-Boulder
| Date | Item |
Homework Problems (click for answers/notes) and simulations (some are fun) |
|---|---|---|
| Mon, 12 Jan | Intro and Chap 2, 1–D motion | Ch 2: 1,5,7,18,39,40,43,54,57,60,70 The moving man |
| Mon, 19 Jan | MLK Day—No class | |
| Chap 3, 2–D motion | Ch 3: 6,15,18,32,43,47,54 Projectile Motion more projectile motion 2-D motion v and a |
|
| Chap 4, Forces and Newton | Ch 4: 1,2,11,14,24,28,30,41,44,51,63,65,67,102 Forces and 1-D motion with graphs the Ramp Lunar Lander Adding Force vectors |
|
| Mon, 9 Feb | Test 1, through Chap 4 | |
| Chap 5, Circular motion | Ch 5: 1,4,17,25,28,53 Ladybug revolution Mass on a string, horizontal circle Vertical Circular Motion The Gravitron |
|
| Chap 6, Work and energy | Ch 6: 3,13,14,33,38,56,58,60,77 Pendulum energy |
|
| Chap 7, Impulse and Momentum | Ch 7: 2,4,14,16,22,28,30,39 Collision 2-D Collision, Inelastic Collision |
|
| Mon, 23 Feb | Last day to Withdraw | (Not that I want you to) |
| Chap 8, Rotational Kinematics | Ch 8: 3,10,20,29,33,40,51 Rotating turntable |
|
| Mon-Fri, 2-6 Mar | Spring Break | |
| Chap 9, Rotational Dynamics | Ch 9: 4,7,11,15,19,23,29,44,56,64 Masses and Pulley Hoop, Disk and Sphere Race |
|
| Fri, 13 Mar | Test 2, Chaps 5-8 | |
| Chap 10, SHM and Elasticity | Ch 10: 4,5,25,32,41,48,63 Mass on a spring Several Animations |
|
| Chap 11, Fluids | Ch 11: 4,13,21,40,49,51,58,82 Fluid Animations/Problems |
|
| Fri, 3 Apr (Tent) | Test 3, Chaps 9-11 | |
| Chap 12, Temperature and Heat | Ch 12: 4, 9, 16, 39, 44, 54, 64 | |
| Chap 13, Heat Transfer | Ch 13: 20, 22, 31 | |
| Chap 15, Thermodynamics | Ch 15: 41, 42, 43, 46, 50, 51, 53 | |
| Chap 16, Waves and Sound | Ch 16: 4,16,18,39,42,50,65,70,71 Types of Waves Water Waves Superposition of Waves Doppler Effect more Doppler |
|
| Fri, 24 Apr | Test 4, Chaps 12-16 | |
| Mon, 27 Apr | Last Class | |
| Tues, 28 Apr | Review Sessions | 9:00 am, and 1:00 pm, room 125 |
| Wed, 29 Apr | Final Exam! noon-3:00 |
HELP!
There are other sources of help with the material (besides me of course).
Physics is a field in which we attempt to describe, explain and predict how things happen. A law in physics is a concise summary of a broad collection of observations. The primary tool in physics is mathematics, which allows us to make simple yet concise statements of physical law. Our simple mathematical statements of law become a vehicle for precisely predicting the behavior of the physical world we live in. It is also important to be able to use words to describe and predict the behavior of systems.
If you have a question, please ask it. If you have a comment, please make it. Even an anonymous note under my door or in my mailbox is fine. Communication is the essence of the classroom experience. I am pleased to see you any time you can find me. I encourage you to use email, although it is tough to give detailed help with problems via email.
Preparation
I expect you to have studied the relevant material for each day, such that you could answer simple questions about the material before it is presented in class. Assume that I may give you a short quiz at any time to help motivate you to be prepared for class. The best advice I can give you is come to every class, participate, take good notes, read the book, do the problems and
keep up. The most common, and perhaps the deadliest habit is to postpone your assault of the material.
Bring your calculator every day!
To document an absence for any class
Each student who attends class is expected to participate in a positive manner. This means being on time (so as not to disturb the learning of others) and making positive contributions to the learning environment. Students who disturb others will be asked to leave.
I keep attendance sheets which you will initial daily in class. These sheets are used to identify problem attendance patterns, and may be used to help me make hard decisions when I am assigning final grades.
Responsibility
You have responsibilities to yourselves, your classmates and me. One responsibility is to be to class every day and on time. Another responsibility is to keep up with the pace of the class. Do not think it is my responsibility to teach you. IT IS NOT. It is my job to create an environment and situations in which you can teach yourself. This course is organized by the above goals and objectives in order to achieve this end. The goal of education is to empower the individual student to be self-taught. I can't really do this for you, but I can help a lot.
Due Dates
In the event that I make an assignment for you to turn in, it will be due at the beginning of class on the assigned day. Late assignments may be accepted (at my whim), but will usually be penalized 20% each day or fraction thereof. No credit will be given for late assignments if the solutions have been posted.
Homework & Quizzes
Homework will be assigned, but not collected. I encourage you to attack the homework promptly as we cover the material. Frequent in-class quizzes will rely heavily on homework proficiency. If you keep up on your reading and homework assignments and are attentive in class you should be OK on quizzes. Expect a quiz every Friday, but I can give one any time. I usually give quizzes at the beginning of the class period. Tardiness results in you having less or no time to do the quiz. Make-up quizzes are not given. I will throw out the lowest quiz score.
Tests
We will have four mid-term tests plus the final exam. My tests tend to require you to solve problems, draw or interpret graphs, make sketches, and provide explanations. I generally do not have multiple choice or true/false questions, although they are somewhat more likely on the final exam. You will be allowed to bring notes written on one side of one-half of a standard sheet of paper. You can write anything you want on it. For the final exam you will get to bring one side of a whole sheet of paper for your notes. If you question your score on an exam you must bring it to my attention within 24 hours after the graded exams were handed out in class.
Calculators may be prohibited for use on quizzes and exams without notice. This is not a cause for panic. The math will be simpler to accommodate the lack of a calculator. FINAL EXAM: noon - 3:00, Wednesday, 29 April If you have a problem with the final exam time, please read further. There are rules on how to deal with conflicts or if you have too many finals in too short a period of time. We can work out an alternative time if and only if you satisfy the rules the Registrar has established. The general rule is that you can get it changed in cases where you have a direct conflict with another final, or have 3 exams within 24 hours. I cannot consider alternate times unless the Registrar's Office has approved your request. If you need to request a change in final exams go to the Registrar's Office to get the request form. Your request must be submitted BEFORE finals start!!!!! There are limits on when it can be rescheduled, because I can't just do five of them at five different times. So please get your paperwork together, and I can coordinate them and get an alternative time and place scheduled.
Grades
I will give you specific letter grade on each test, so you should always have a pretty good idea where you stand. You must pass the final exam to pass the course. I encourage you to see me at any time for my assessment of your work.
| Quizzes | 20% |
| 4 tests | 60% |
| Final Exam | 20% |
| 100% of course grade |
updated: 28 April 09 - jlw