University
of Maryland - Department of Physics
Spring 2014 Prof. Alberto Belloni Physics 273/273H
Title: PHYS 273/273H Introductory Physics: Waves.
Oscillations and AC circuits using complex
variables, Fourier series and integrals, waves on strings, sound;
electromagnetic waves from Maxwell's equations in differential form; physical
optics.
Prerequisites: PHYS272 (Introductory Physics: Fields), and
MATH241 (Calculus III – Multivariable Calculus). (MATH 340 is also
acceptable.)
Instructor: Prof. Alberto Belloni, Room 4331, Phone: 5-6058, e-mail: abelloni@umd.edu.
Office Hours: Wednesdays and Fridays,
3:00 pm to 4:00 pm, and by appointment. You are also welcome to come to my
office without an appointment, however I may not be available.
Schedule: 3 meetings weekly:
T,H....... 9:30 am - 10:45 am
(PHYS 1410)
F........... 9:00 am - 9:50 am (CHEM
1402)
Optional Texts:
·
Waves and Oscillations, Walter Fox Smith (2010), ISBN:
978-0-19-539349-1.
Website: http://www.physics.umd.edu/courses/Phys273/abelloni-S14/
Homework: The homework assignment will be posted on
the course website each Thursday. It is the student's responsibility to
check the website for the assignment each week. Homework will be collected at the beginning
of class each Thursday, except for exam weeks, for a total of 12 homework
assignments. The homework problems will be graded on a scale from zero to
three: three points if completely correct, two points if mostly correct, one
point if mostly incorrect, zero points for entirely incorrect or no answer. No
make-up homework will be accepted, but the lowest two homework grades will be
dropped when your final grade is calculated.
Homework will not be accepted electronically. If you use a computer
but you have trouble printing your results, you may copy them by hand.
Lecture: Class time will be spent on a
mixture of lecture material and lecture demonstrations.
Exams: We will have two in-class
mid-term exams and a final exam. The final exam will take place on Friday May
16, from 8:00 am to 10:00 am in PHYS 1410. The exam questions will be a mixture
of qualitative and quantitative questions, similar to the homework. The exam
will be closed book, closed notes, and you will not be allowed to use a
calculator.
Undergraduate Peer Tutoring: There is a new tutoring service available to undergraduate
physics majors in the introductory courses, provided by physics majors who have
already completed the introductory series. The tutoring service is available
Monday through Friday, from 4pm - 6pm in PHYS 1304 (the room next to the
undergraduate student lounge). The tutors are happy to provide homework help
and discuss course topics in general with students at no cost. If you have
any questions, please direct them to Hannalore Gerling-Dunsmore at hannagd@terpmail.umd.edu and Mathew Calkins at mathewpcalkins@gmail.com.
Honors Section: Honors students will complete an honors project, to be approved by
the instructor. Honors students will meet with the each other and the
instructor once a month to discuss the status of their projects. Each student
will prepare a presentation based on their project to be given to the other
honors students at the end of the semester.
There may also be additional homework questions and exam questions for
students enrolled in 273H.
Credit: Phys 273 Phys 273H
Midterm 1 20% 15%
Midterm 2 20% 15%
Final
Exam 30%
25%
Homework 30% 25%
Honors
Project 20%
Grading Scale: A ten-point grading scale
will be used to assign final letter grades, with the “-“ and
“+” grades reserved for the lowest three and highest three points in each
bracket. For example, 97% to 100% will be an A+, 93% to 97% will be an A, and
90% to 93% will be an A-.