Syllabus for Physics 260 - Fall 2006

General Physics: Vibrations, Waves, Heat, Electricity, and Magnetism

Professor Derek Boyd- Sections 201, 202, 203, 204, 205

Official Course Description: PHYS260 General Physics: Vibration, Waves, Heat, Electricity and Magnetism; (3 credits) Grade Method: REG/P-F/AUD. USP Distributive Studies Area B: Natural Sciences and Mathematics Course. Prerequisite: MATH141. Pre- or co-requisite: PHYS261. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: PHYS142; PHYS260 and PHYS 261 (Formerly: PHYS262) or PHYS272. Formerly PHYS 262. Second semester of a three-semester calculus-based general physics course. Vibrations, waves, fluids; heat, kinetic theory, and thermodynamics; electrostatics, circuits. PHYS260 and PHYS261 must be taken in the same semester and the grade for the courses will be combined into a single grade for both. To pass, students must complete passing work in both PHYS260 and PHYS261. CORE Physical Science Lab (PL) course only when taken concurrently with PHYS 261. If purchasing used books additional software may be required. This can be purchased on the web and the cost is under $10.00.

Instructor:

Professor Derek Boyd

Office:1201L Energy Research Facility Office Hours: By appointment.

Phone: (301)-405-5007 e-mail: dboyd@umd.edu

Teaching Assistants:

Simon Slutsky

email: simons@umd.edu

John Biddle

email: biddle@umd.edu

Lecture Time:

Monday- Wednesday.......4:00 - 5:15 PM

Lecture Room:

Room 1412, John S. Toll Physics Building

Discussion Sections: Phys 260

Section Number	Time	Room	TA
0201	Tu: 8:00 - 8:50 am	0405	John Biddle
0202	Tu: 9:00 - 9:50 am	3301	Simon Slutsky
0203	Tu: 11:00 - 11:50 am	0304	Simon Slutsky
0204	Wed: 10:00 -10:50 am	3301	Simon Slutsky
0205	Wed: 12:00-12:50 pm	3301	John Biddle

Discussion Sections: Phys 260H

Section Number	Time	Room	TA
0201	Wed: 2:00 - 2:50 pm	0405	Derek Boyd

Lab sections: You must enroll in Physics 261 and complete all the labs in order to pass Physics 260.

Textbook: Physics for Scientists and Engineers, Volumes 1 and 2, 6th Edition, by Serway and Jewett, 6th edition, Thomson. The book's website http://www.pse6.com/ looks useful. On this site, you can register for PhysicsNow using the pin-code packaged with the text. See pages 4-7 of the text for more details. The Active Figures are worth trying out.

Recommended Textbooks: There are many books that you may find helpful when Serway is not, including Physics by Paul A. Tipler, 3rd edition, Worth and Fundamentals of Physics by David Halliday, Robert Resnick, and Jearl Walker, 7th edition, Wiley. There are also many earlier editions of these and other calculus based physics textbooks printed in the last 10-20 years that contain much the same material and can be purchased quite inexpensively on the web or at local used book stores or found in the Engineering and Physical Sciences Library.

Grades: (TENTATIVE) Your total numerical score for the course will be computed by summing your scores on the final exam, the two midterms, the homework, the lab, and the quizzes with the following weight:

Final exam 25%

Two midterm exams (15 % each) 30%

Homework (Written) 10%

Participation 10%

Physics 261 Lab 25% (if all labs completed, F otherwise)

There is no rule connecting a particular total score with a letter grade for the course. The numerical scores will establish a ranking order for the class. The highest scoring students will probably get A’s and the lowest scoring students probably F’s. No fixed proportion of the students will be assigned any particular letter grade.

Important grading notes:

(1) Students who do not complete all of the lab experiments will automatically get an F in both Physics 260 and Physics 261 - YOU MUST BE ENROLLED AND PASS PHYSICS 261 IN ORDER TO PASS PHYSICS 260.

(2) You must take the Final exam in order to pass the course.

(3) No homework or exam scores will be dropped for any reason. Turning in late homework or missing an exam will not be allowed without a valid documented excuse (medical problem, religious holiday, or serious family crisis). In all cases, the makeup assignment or make-up exam will still need to be completed in a reasonable amount of time. The new due date and assignment must be arranged by consulting with Dr. Boyd as soon as possible after it becomes apparent that there will be a problem. If you are going to miss an assignment because of a religious holiday, it is your responsibility to inform the instructor of any intended absences for religious observances by the end of the first week of the semester, so that suitable arrangements can be made.

(4) For full credit for any homework or exam problem you must show your work. Therefore, in addition to the correct answer, you must justify your approach.

About the course: Physics 260 used to be called Physics 262. It is the second semester of the three semester 161/260/270 sequence in introductory physics intended for engineering students. You must also be enrolled in the Physics 261 lab in order to pass Physics 260. Physics 260 is a CORE physical science course with a lab. The course covers material in three main areas: Oscillations and Waves; Fluids and Heat; and Electricity through dc circuits. This is a calculus-based sequence and makes extensive use of material in Math 140 and 141. We also will use some vector calculus, mostly line and surface integrals, but nothing too complicated.

The course will stress qualitative understanding of physical phenomena as well as quantitative analysis through problem solving. If you miss a lecture, get notes from a classmate or see Dr.Boyd. Students are expected to acquire and retain knowledge of all assigned material, including reading, homework and labs. The same is true for material that is discussed in class but is not in the textbook. What this means is that material from any part of the course can appear on a test, quiz or homework, whether or not it was covered in the lectures.

The lectures will not be in the conventional format. It will be assumed that you will read and study the material in the textbook. The lectures will not be used to provide you with a set of notes covering the same material as the textbook. Instead there will be a discussion of the concepts, fundamental to the topic being covered. Demonstrations of physical phenomena will be provided. Questions will be posed and you will be invited to choose the appropriate answer from a list, by voting with your clicker. You will earn points for participation in this process. Whether you choice is correct or not, is not significant. You will get points for your participation.

Exams: Exams will be closed book, with no crib sheets allowed, either electronic or paper. If you have a reason why you cannot attend an exam, see the instructor before the exam. Only medical emergencies will be considered as excuses after the exams. You must take all the exams, if you miss an exam with a valid excuse, a makeup exam will be given. Sample exams from previous semesters are available for viewing. Review sessions for the exams will be announced in class and on the web.

Final exam: The schedule for the final review is posted. A formula sheet may be provided for the final exam. If so, it will be posted. The solutions for the first two exams will be posted.

Homework: There will be weekly homework assignments. These will consist of both electronic homework and written problems to be turned in. We will use WebAssign for electronic homework. Homework will generally be assigned on Wednesday and due by the following Wednesday at the start of class. You must submit your answers for the electronic homework problems over the internet and the written homework in class. You should check the announcement page if you believe there is an error in WebAssign. Solutions will generally be posted on the web by midnight the following Sunday after the homework is due. There are several advantages to electronic homework submission: (1) you have ten attempts at each problem to get the correct solution. Thus, you can try more than once and most students keep at it until their answer is completely correct. (2) you will be graded only on your final answers, (3) grading is almost immediate. (4) The WebAssign site also has a tutorial capability that you may find helpful. Note that the software will randomize the values of the parameters for each student, so be careful and remember that other students working on the same problems will be dealing with other numbers! The best way to do physics problems is to first work out a general procedure to get the answer and then plug in the numbers at the end. This is especially true if the values of the parameters are being randomized so everyone is using different numbers. For calculating more complicated expressions, I'd recommend using an electronic spreadsheet, such as Excel, rather than a calculator.

Why You Better Do the Homework: One of the main ways you will understand the Physics is by doing the homework. Do not wait until the night before it's due to start working on your homework. The homework is supposed to be hard. A sure way to get an F in this course is to not do the homework or not give your self enough time to work on it. You will not be able to answer the Exam questions if you haven’t developed your skills by doing the homework.

Academic Honesty: Note that although you are encouraged to discuss homework and class material with other students, any work you submit must be your own and should reflect your own understanding. Academic dishonesty, such as cheating on an exam or copying homework, is a serious. Details on the policy can be found at www.testudo.umd.edu/soc/dishonesty.html.

Note on Discussion Sections: You must attend the discussion section to which you are assigned. Your TA will discuss material (homework and exams) that may not be covered elsewhere. There may be quizzes given during the discussion sections. Please come prepared so you can ask questions, i.e. read the assigned chapter and work on the homework problems. Remember, the TA is there to give help when you are stuck, not to dole out answers.

Help with understanding the material: Physics and engineering are cumulative: the knowledge learned at each stage builds upon previous knowledge. Do not fall behind! If you find yourself in trouble, seek help early on. Contact the instructor or one of the T As. Attend the discussion sections and ask questions, or go to office hours. Don't wait until just before an exam. Help can be obtained by:

Attending your discussion section.

Visiting the Slawsky Clinic, in room 1140 Physics Building.

Going to the office hours of your instructor or T A.

The Learning Assistance Service (2201 Schoemaker Bldg., 301-314-7693) helps students with time management, reading, note taking, and exam preparation skills.

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Date	Topic	Chapter in Serway &Jewett
August 30	Fluid Mechanics	Chapter 14
September 6	Fluid Mechanics	Chapter 14
September 11 + 13	Oscillatory Motion	Chapter 15
September 18 + 20	Wave Motion	Chapter 16
September 25 + 27	Sound Waves	Chapter 17
October 2 + 4	Standing Waves	Chapter 18
October 9	Exam 1
October 11	Temperature	Chapter 19
October 16 + 18	Heat and 1^st Law	Chapter 20
October 23 + 25	Kinetic Theory	Chapter 21
Oct 30 + Nov 1	Heat Engines	Chapter 22
November 6	Exam 2
November 8 + 13	Electric Fields	Chapter 23
November 15	Gauss’s Law	Chapter 24
November 20 + 22	Electric Potential	Chapter 25
November 27 + 29	Capacitance	Chapter 26
December 4 + 6	Current & Resistance	Chapter 27
December 11	DC Circuits	Chapter 28
December 20	Final Exam	1:30 – 3:30 pm