Physics 222 Classical Physics II

Fall 2003

 

Instructor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Administration

Prof Craig Ogilvie

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Judy Zunkel

Office A327, Physics

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rm 12, Physics

4-2219,  cogilvie@iastate.edu

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4-4936 jzunkel@iastate.edu

 

Office Hours, 11:10-12:45pm Fridays

Memorial Union, North or Northwest Study Lounge

(behind post-office on 1st floor) or by appointment

                                                                       

Non-discrimination Policy

This course is “dedicated to fostering an environment in which differences in people such as nationality, race, gender, religion, cultural background, physical ability, and sexual orientation, are respected and mutual understanding is promoted” (from the ISU Bulletin)

 

Student Outcomes:

Upon completion of Phys 222 you should be able to

1)      Solve multi-faceted problems. These problems cannot be solved by searching for the “right” equation from either memory, lecture notes, textbook, or from the instructor. Such a plug-and-chug approach is limited and cannot be easily extended to the complex, technical problems you will face in upper division courses and when you graduate. You will develop problem-solving skills that start from identifying the underlying principles within complex problems and from there building a solution

2)      Take a complicated physical system and reduce it to a model system whose behavior can be mathematically described. Once a model system is obtained, its key properties can be used to understand and then extend the physics and engineering of the real system.

3)      Have a firm understanding of physical concepts and be able to solve problems in the following areas

a.      Thermodynamics

b.      Waves

c.      Electromagnetism

d.      Quantum Physics

4)      Make experimental measurements using standard laboratory equipment, report the results and make scientific conclusions taking into account the uncertainties involved in the measurements.

5)      Be able to work in teams, utilizing the strengths of different team members

 

Weekly Course Components

To help you in this course we have designed the following parts of the course that have complementary roles. 

 

Computer Signup

This course will use webCT for posting of information, submission of prelabs and weekly problem-sets, distribution of mid-term scores, grades, as well as hosting threaded discussion groups. You will be automatically registered for webCT, check this at myWebCT

(https://webct.ait.iastate.edu/ISUtools/webhtml/login.html) Please make sure your recitation section is correctly listed on webCT. Go to the ”My Grades” link on the web-page and check your “section” value. If the section number is incorrect, please send the correct info to Judy Zunkel. We will use the section column for prelab submission times and possible TA grade-rescaling.

 

Laboratory:

There is a 2 hour lab each week. You must do all the labs in order to pass Phys 222. Students who have already taken Phys 222 can request a waiver from the lab, see the Physics Office, Rm 12. The lab-writeups are available at University Book Store, MU, and the lab-schedule and instructions for make up labs are posted outside Rooms 82 and 74, or follow the links on the Physics Dept. Learning page. Prelabs will be submitted via webCT and will be due by 8am the day of your lab. The labs will be graded using this rubric. Please refer to the rubric so you know what type of work is expected.

 

Recitations

Your task in recitation is to improve your problem solving abilities. Engineering, science and technical jobs require advanced problem solving skills. It is a major goal of Phys 222 to help you in this direction. During each recitation you will work on realistic, multi-faceted problems, tasks that involve the fusion of two or more concepts or ideas. You will practice problem-solving skills that you will need in the workplace, namely identifying the nature of the problem at hand and then applying the physical and technical concepts that are involved. As in real life, the problems are complex so that you need to move beyond plug-and-chug techniques. Because the problems are more difficult, you will work in groups of three to four.

 

The recitation sessions will look like this

  1. Each group of three to four students will receive a context-rich problem along with a single whiteboard (approx. 2 foot by 2 foot) and dry-erase markers.
  2. The TA will wander amongst the groups helping you, and pointing out problem-solving strategies
  3. At the end of the recitation, all students will receive a copy of the solutions.

 

Two of these recitations will be group exams. Student groups will receive one context-rich problem that will be graded according to a problem-solving rubric. These group exams will be at your regular recitation time on Tue 7 Oct and Tue 11 Nov.

 

Text

Young and Freedman, University Physics, Vols 1, 2 and 3, tenth edition

 

Problem Sets

There will be two weekly problem-sets of different styles. Both will be web-based using webCT, so that your answers are submitted electronically and graded immediately. If an incorrect answer is submitted, you are provided some feedback to help you learn. You can submit each problem-set only once.

  1. Skill problem set
    1. provides practice for the basic skills of unit conversion, relations between physical quantities, e.g. pressure and temperature for a gas, ratio logic, e.g. how does the speed of a pulse change if the tension in the string doubles, as well as key mathematics, e.g. differentials, vector dot products, vector products etc..
    2. problems will be randomly selected from a database, students will get different problem sets
    3. submission deadline Thur 11 pm.
  2. Complex problem set
    1. problems are adapted from end-of-chapter problems.
    2. problems will be randomly selected from a database, students will get different problem sets
    3. submission deadline Sun 11pm.

Expectations of Students

  1. Attend class and take responsibility for learning
  2. Treat the instructor and other students with respect (e.g. turn off cell-phones, beepers, pagers) during classes and exams
  3. Notify the instructor, at the latest by the beginning of class, if you need to leave class early that day
  4. Promptly check your access to webCT
  5. Realize that students in this class have a wide range of interests/career goals – this is part of the reason we’ll be addressing a wide range of topics.

 

What you can expect from the Instructor

  1. Sincere caring about your progress in learning physics
  2. Enthusiasm for the beauty of physics and its relevance to engineering
  3. Willingness to answer/discuss your questions both inside and outside of class
  4. Prompt posting of your scores on tests on webCT

 

Key Dates and Times

  1. Lectures MWF 1pm and 2pm in Room 5
  2. Recitation Sections meet once a week for one hour
  3. Lab Sessions meet once a week for two hours
  4. There are three Unit exams, the first two will be evening exams 8-9:30pm on Thu Oct 2, Thu Nov 6, the third Unit exam will be the first section in the final.
  5. Group exams will be held on Tue Oct 7, and Tue 11 Nov during your regular recitation time. If you have a Wed recitation the group exams will be the Wed closest to the above dates.
  6. Group projects due at 4pm Fri Oct 31, handed in or electronically sent to your recitation instructor.

 

Grading

Comprehensive Final Exam

20%

Three Unit Exams (12.5% each, drop lowest score)

25%

Two Group Exams (5% each)

10%

Group project

10%

Lab/prelab

12.5%

Skill problem sets

10%

Complex problem sets

12.5%

 

a) the two best scores from your three Unit Exams will be used in the grade calculation

b) the two hour exam that is given during the finals week will be split into two. The first part will be the 3rd Unit Exam that will cover the last part of the course, the second part will be the Comprehensive Final and will cover the whole course.

c) the unit exams and final will be multiple-choice, one point per question

d) there will be no make-up unit exams. If you are sick, or away on university business and must miss an exam, then this exam will be the one that is dropped when calculating your final score. Missing two Unit exams will mean that one of them will count as zero towards your final grade. There will be no exceptions to this policy.

e) In the group exams you will be graded according to a rubric that emphasizes your problem-solving skills rather than the final correctness of your solution. These exams will be taken in groups of no more than three students. All students in the group will get the same score for the exam.

 

Grading Scale

I do not grade on a curve, but assign grades on the following absolute scale.

A 85-100%            B 70-84%     C 60-69%     D 55-59%     F 54% or below

 

I reserve the right to adjust these borders downward to increase the letter grades, e.g. the bottom of the “B” range could be less than 70%. The borders will not be adjusted upwards to decrease the letter grade. Despite using common rubrics some TA’s may grade the lab-reports or projects with different degrees of rigor. I reserve the right to scale these components of the grades for different TAs to ensure fairness for all students.

 

Help Room

Phys 222 help room (Physics Room 83) will be staffed during the week. Hours to be posted on the door.

 

Group Project

The problems encountered during many engineering/science jobs can often be solved by formulating a reasonable physical model of the real system. This is a critical skill and will be the key outcome from the group project work. Project groups will be three to four people. Your team will

·        Identify a complex problem in the area of electromagnetism or thermodynamics, e.g. how to keep a train magnetically levitated, or the need for reproducible thickness of DVD disks.

·        Build a mathematical model of the system, e.g. mathematically describe how much the thickness of a DVD disk can vary before it cannot be read. The model will incorporate a range of physics, some of which will be more advanced than in the rest of Phys 222 syllabus.

·        Based on the model, you will solve the problem that you identified, and then use the model to explore some aspects of the real system, e.g. how to make the system more efficient.

A single detailed report will be handed in by each group. A draft report is due Friday Oct 24 and will be examined by your recitation instructor according to the criteria described in the group-project rubric. He/she will give you feedback that you can use to prepare a final version of the report. The deadline for the final report is Friday Oct 31.

 

Plagiarism and Cheating

All cases will be reported to the academic deans in accordance with university policy. Any student that plagiarizes material for the group project will fail the course.

 

Class Schedule

 

Week

Date

Topic

Reading (Y+F)

1

Aug 25-29

Temperature, expansion, heat transfer

Ch 15

2

Sep 3-5

Ideal Gas, Models of gases,

Ch 16, 17

3

Sep 8-12

Work, Internal energy, Adiabatic processes.

Ch 17

4

Sep 15-19

Entropy, Engines, Waves Concepts

Ch 18, 19

5

Sep 22-26

Wave Math, Sound,

Ch 19 20

6

Sep 29-Oct 3

Sound, Doppler Effect, Group Projects

Ch 20, 21

7

Oct 6-10

Effects of B fields,

Ch 28

8

Oct 13-17

Formation of B-fields

Ch29

9

Oct 20-24

Magnetism of Matter, Induction 

Ch 29, 30

10

Oct 27-31

Inductors, RL circuits, Maxwell Equations

Ch 31

11

Nov 3-7

Light as Electromagnetic Waves

Ch 33

12

Nov 10-14

Light Rays, Internal Reflection,

Ch 34

13

Nov 17-21

Plane Mirrors, Spherical Mirrors, lenses,

Ch 35, 37

14

Dec 1-5

Two-slit interference Diffraction Physical optics

Ch 37, 38, 40

15

Dec 8-12

Photons, Heisenberg Uncertainty, “Best 222 Lecture Ever”

Ch 41, 42

 

Key Dates

 

Unit Exam 1 Thur Oct 2, 8:9-30pm, covers weeks 1-5

Group Exam 1 Tue Oct 7, covers weeks 1-5

Unit Exam 2 Thur Nov 6, 8:9-30pm, covers weeks 6-10

Group Exam 2 Tue Nov 11, covers weeks 6-10

Unit Exam 3 (part of final), covers weeks 11-15

Project due, Fri Oct 31