Physics 260 Home Page
(Updated August 19, 2004, 11:30 PM
(So long and thanks for all the fish.)

Please complete the electronic student opinion forms by Friday Evening, August 20.  Go to:

https://www.courses.umd.edu/online_evaluation/

The main page includes instructions for accessing the evaluation system.

If you have any problem with the system, please contact Tom Gleason at(tgleason@umd.edu, 301-405-5979) or the OIT Help Desk (301-405-1500).

• Instructor
• Text book
• TAs and Recitation
• Homework
• Exams
• Lab
• Calculators
• Course Grade Summary
• Couse Calendar
• Simulations

• Oscillations and waves;
• Fluids;
• Heat, Kinetic Theory, and Thermodynamics;
• Electrostatics and (some) Circuits.

• Office hours (subject to change):
  • Tuesday and Wednesday after class (11:00am-12noon), 0405 or 1208 Physics
  • By appointment
• Email anytime, of course.
• Phone: 301-405-5984 (Voicemail indicates that you have reached the Slawsky Clinic at the University of Maryland. Leave a message with a return number.)

Your Professor's Philosophy

    This is a 6-week summer course and as such it will be fast-paced and consume most of your time. The instructional time allocated to the lecture is equivalent to the regular semester and therefore will cover the same content as any PHYS 260 course.  I assume that you have successfully passed PHYS 161, have the prerequisite math skills and are ready to get going the first minute of the first day of class.  I also assume that you know how you learn best and that you will do all those things that mature conscientious students do such as read the text before class, attend all lectures, recitations, and labs, take all exams at their scheduled times, abide by course policies, and are respectful of your colleagues, the TA's, and the professor.
    Engineers use tools to solve problems.  A calculator is a tool.  In this summer class, you may use your calculator in any manner that you wish for quizzes and exams.  Do whatever works best for you and increases your efficiency and effectiveness.  HOWEVER, please realize that the focus for me is for you to genuinely learn and understand the concepts and processes contained in this course.  Expect that I will ask you to SHOW ALL CRITICAL ASPECTS OF YOUR SOLUTION ON EXAMS AND QUIZZES.   I may also ask you to EXPLAIN.  Therefore it would be useful for you to practice this during your homeworks.  Exams and quizzes will be closed book and notes. For exams and quizzes you will be provided the integral tables, derivative tables, some physical constants, some conversion factors, and some material properties found in your textbook.
    Equations are relationships and I will refer to them as such.  An equation is an entity that students desperately search for among many others equations with the hope that they can plug in numbers and get other numbers.  Relationships convey a sense of understanding of the interplay among physical concepts or quantities.  For exams and quizzes, you will not be provided any Relationship Sheets nor can you bring in any, however you are welcome to use your calculator to store whatever you wish.  Please realize that future courses may not permit you to use your calculator in this manner, so do whatever you think is best for your own future success.
    In any event, we are all in this together so let's try to make this an enjoyable 6 weeks.  
   

Volumes 1 and 2 are available at the book store.  We will be using both.

Here is your section times and rooms, and your TA.

All sections will meet the first week of classes. The TA is there to help you with the concepts, and in particular to solve homework problems. There will be QUIZZES in the discussion sections.  

All homework for a given chapter will be assigned on the day we begin coverage of the chapters in the lectures.  See the course calendar below.

Online Web-based homework:  We are going to use the web-based homework system.  The company which supplies this is called Ilrn. There is no additional charge for this service.

Online homework will consist of problems that you can read, solve, and enter on the computer.  These problems will be graded by the computer, and as such will be of a format that requires an answer that is either correct or not.  The emphasis here is on understanding how to do the problems, not necessarily just getting the right answers, but the online programs are quite cleverly written.  You will have up to 12 chances to get the correct solution (with instant feedback as to whether your solution is correct), and we have found that students actually can learn from doing these homeworks. We believe this is a better system than the old one where you do the homeworks and give them to a TA to grade.

Login.  

• Go to http://ilrn.com
• First time: Scroll down to the very bottom of the page (footer).  Click on "STUDENT Support."   Then under "Links" find "Ilrn Student Guide."  Open the "Ilrn Student Guide" and follow the directions on the first page (Student Quick Start Guide).  The course PIN number is E-ZYWCEKX3P38U.
• Login:  Your login username shall be your last name.  If that is unavailable then it shall be your last name followed by the first letter of your first name. 

Methodology.  You will have multiple tries for each question.  For instance, say you are working on the first question, you calculate it and submit the answer.  When you submit the answer, the computer will tell you if you got it right or not, but the computer will not tell you what the right answer IS.  So, you can "go back to the drawing board", try again, and resubmit.  We think that this really helps you to learn, because in the old days when you just did the problem and hoped it was right, you stopped after the first try.  This way, maybe you will actually understand what to do.  We'll see.  Anyway, I will set the resubmittal level (take) to 12 for the first assignment, but I might make it lower as the term progresses.  So when you are doing the problem, don't sit there and put random numbers into it, or "guess" and see if that works, just go and figure out how to do the problem and enter the numbers after that.

Randomization.  All students will have the same problems, but the computer will randomize the values of all parameters in each problem, so the answers will be different.  This keeps people from being lazy and copying the answers from others, but it doesn't mean you can't all work together!  That's up to you, and working together can be a good thing as long as it is done in good faith.  Note:  The system randomizes parameters after each "take" of the assignment, so if you do not get the answer correct for a particular problem you may get a different set of values on the next "take."  I have set the system to permit two entries per problem per "take,"  so you will have the opportunity to make one quick adjustment and re-enter during any "take" with the same initial values.  For some of the longer multi-step problems, the system might not randomize after each take so you might receive the same parameters.

Late homework   For the online homework, you must do it before the closing date.  After the closing date, the grades will not be accepted by the computer, so please, don't screw this up!  The due date will be clearly posted when you log in to do the assignment.

Assignments so far (Updated August 17, 2004)

Ilrn Update (August 2, 2004)  Due to some Ilrn inconsistencies I have set the number of takes to "unlimited" and the number of attempts per problem to "unlimited".  I have added a 3% tolerance on the answer which will accept a limited range of numerical values which should reduce answers being marked incorrect due to rounding.  I have also set the grading to "loose" which is supposed to evaluate solutions to see if they are equivalent rather than just accepting only the "authored" form of the solution.

• Mid-term exams
  • There will be 3 mid-term exams.  Times are as listed in the course calendar below, but are subject to change.  The exams will be frequently, though not exclusively, based on the homework assigned for the chapters covered.  You will be asked to show your work and to occasionally explain the meaning of concepts and solutions.
  • There will absolutely be NO make-up exams. Instead only the best two mid-term exam grades will count and will account for 30% of your semester grade.   
  • In case class is canceled due to any reason, the exam will automatically be held on the next regular scheduled class day. If there is a fire alarm or bomb threat, the exam will be held at the same time in another room to be announced at that time.
  • Solutions will be posted inside of a glass case outside of PHYS 1410 and will remain posted until the next exam.
• Final exam
  • The final will be a mixture of what we covered all year.
  • All students must take the final exam to pass the course.
  • The Final counts for 25% of your semester grade.
  • The final exam will be in this classroom, Friday, August 20, 9:30-11:30 am.  Check your final exam schedule NOW to be sure there are no conflicts (there shouldn't be). The only recourse if your final exam schedule is inconvenient  is to change your course schedule now, during the drop/add period.

• Lab courses will NOT meet until Wed. July 14 (section 0201) or Thursday July 15 (section 0202), HOWEVER, you should obtain the laboratory manual and read through the Preface and Experiment 0.
• The lab course 261 is taught by Mr. Chris Fleming (section 0201) and Mr. Ken Hsieh (section0202) in PHY 3219, and you can find a pointer to the lab web site here.
• The lab will count for 25% of the course grade.  Your lab grade will be passed to me, and I will fit it into your final grade for 260. You will get the same grade for 261.
• If you do not pass the lab course, you will automatically fail this course.  These are University rules.

A histogram of total scores for the entire class will be plotted.  Assuming that the distribution is reasonably bell-shaped, letter grades will be assigned so that students with scores in the top 20% will receive an A, then next lower 40% will receive a B, the next lower 25% will receive a C, and the remaining 15% will be split between D and F.

As stated above, this calendar is subject to change, depending on how well we get through the material. But we will try very hard to stick to the scheduled exam dates.

• Collections:
  • http://www.falstad.com/mathphysics.html
  • http://www.phschool.com/science/cpsurf/sound-light/4simu.html
  • http://www.falstad.com/mathphysics.html
  • http://www.cath-mem.org/physics/Demoes.htm
  • http://www.rawbw.com/~xmwang/physDemo.html
  • http://panoramix.ift.uni.wroc.pl/~maq/eng/index.php
  • http://physics.nad.ru/start.htm
  • http://users.pandora.be/educypedia/education/physicsjavalabo.htm (very comprehensive list!)
  • http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hall/6645/
  • http://www.ph.ed.ac.uk/cgi-bin/ss/main?sorted=0&browse_all=1
  • http://ist-socrates.berkeley.edu/~cywon/
  • http://physics.uwstout.edu/physapplets/
• Buoyancy/Archimedes Law
  • http://webphysics.ph.msstate.edu/jc/library/10-3/index.html
• Waves and Oscillations
  • http://www.phys.hawaii.edu/~teb/java/ntnujava/shm/shm.html - example of simple harmonic motion and uniform circular motion using springs
  • http://www.walter-fendt.de/ph11e/pendulum.htm - simple harmonic motion with a simple pendulum
  • http://www.rawbw.com/~xmwang/javappl/threeSp2f.html - damped oscillations in 2 coordinates
  • http://www.flashkit.com/movies/Scripting/Physics/Damped_o-Achyut_V-8770/index.php - damped oscillation spring + graph
  • http://www.phy.ntnu.edu.tw/ntnujava/viewtopic.php?t=29 - transverse travelling
  • http://surendranath.tripod.com/Shm/FDHM.html - forced oscillations (resonance)
  • http://www.walter-fendt.de/ph14e/resonance.htm - forced oscillations (resonance)
  • http://www.bekkoame.ne.jp/~kamikawa/longtrans/lontra_e.htm - transverse and longitudinal waves
  • http://www.rawbw.com/~xmwang/javappl/tripWave.html - travelling transverse wave
  • http://www.measure.demon.co.uk/Acoustics_Software/db_demo.html - demonstration of decibels
  • http://www.rawbw.com/~xmwang/newDemo/tripWv0y.html - trevelling transverse wave, propogation v wave motion
  • http://thespoon7.tripod.com/wave.htm - superposition of waves (interference)
  • http://www.phy.ntnu.edu.tw/java/waveSuperposition/waveSuperposition.html - superposition of two travelling waves
  • http://ist-socrates.berkeley.edu/~cywon/Interference.html - interference of 2 waves
  • http://www.colorado.edu/physics/2000/schroedinger/index.html - intereference of 2 waves with different frequencies and amplitudes
  • http://ist-socrates.berkeley.edu/~cywon/Doppler.html - Doppler effect
• Temperature, Kinetic Theory, etc.
  • http://comp.uark.edu/~jgeabana/mol_dyn/KinThI.html - particles in a box
  • http://mc2.cchem.berkeley.edu/Java/molecules/ - more Kinetic Theory
  • http://www.chm.davidson.edu/ChemistryApplets/KineticMolecularTheory/Maxwell.html - Maxwellian distribution
  • http://www.phy.ntnu.edu.tw/java/idealGas/idealGas.html - molecular model of an ideal gas
  • http://stp.clarku.edu/simulations/ - collection of thermodynamics applets
• Engines
  • http://www.rawbw.com/~xmwang/javappl/ottoCyc.html - Otto cycle (automobiles)
• Fourier Analysis
  • http://falstad.com/fourier/
• Powers of 10
  • http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/java/scienceopticsu/powersof10/index.html
• Electrostatics
  • http://falstad.com/vector2de/ - visualization of E field in 2 dimensions
  • http://falstad.com/vector3de/ - visualization of E field in 3 dimensions
  • http://www.cco.caltech.edu/~phys1/java/phys1/EField/EField.html - Electric field applet, setup your own charge distribution and it will draw the field and potential lines
  • http://www.slcc.edu/schools/hum_sci/physics/tutor/2220/e_fields/java/ - Same type of applet as above
  • http://www.usafa.af.mil/dfp/physics/webphysics/Physlet_examples/gauss.html - Gauss' Law
  • http://home3.netcarrier.com/~chan/MATERIAL/BANDS/ntype.html - semiconductor demonstration of drift velocity
  • http://webphysics.davidson.edu/physlet_resources/bu_semester2/c09_driftvelocity.html - good simulation of drift velocity
  • http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/electromag/java/filamentresistance/ - simulation of current flowing in a light bulb