General course information
Calendar (with topics covered, supplements, & homework)
Homework and exam solutions
Pictures of Students

 

General course information

PHYS273(H): Prerequisites: PHYS 272, and MATH 241. Corequisites: MATH 246 or MATH 414.
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.

Required Textbooks:

Physics, vol. 1, 5th ed., R. Resnick, D. Halliday, K.S. Krane  (John Wiley & Sons)
Physics, vol. 2, 5th ed., D. Halliday, R. Resnick, K.S. Krane  (John Wiley & Sons)
Vibrations and Waves A.P.French The MIT Introductory Physics Series (Norton and Company)
The Feynman Lectures on Physics, vol. 1, R.P. Feynman, R.B. Leighton, M. Sands (Addison-Wesley)

Vibrations and Waves, will be specially useful for the first part of the course. However, this book does not cover the complete material, that we shall address in class. After 3/11 we shall follow RHK, vol 1,2.

Physics, vol. 1,2, of RHK were used for Phys 171 and Phys 272 respectively, so it is assumed that most students already have these. The chapters specifically relevant to Phys 273 are Ch. 15,19,20 in vol. 1 and Ch. 38-48 (except 44) in vol. 2, although we may refer to other chapters as well.

Also useful, will be The Feynman Lectures , which comprise three volumes, but only vol. 1 is required, since that is mostly, what we need. The relevant chapters are Ch. 21-34 (except 27 & 32), Ch. 37-38, and Ch. 47-51. From vol. 2,  Ch. 22 on AC Circuits will probably be required and if so will be copied and made available in the campus bookstore at a (hopefully) low price. Vols. 2&3 are excellent, and you can buy the three volumes together ($101 paperback, $107 hardback at amazon.com). The relevant chapters of vol. 2 are Ch. 18, Ch. 20-24, and Ch. 32-33, while those of vol. 3 are Ch. 1-3,7 (note Ch.1-2 of v. 3 are identical to Ch. 37-38 of v. 1).

E-mail:I encourage students to make use of e-mail for quick correspondence with me regarding lecture material, homework problems, or whatever. I will also use e-mail to communicate with the class at large. Students are responsible for making sure I have their correct email address.

Homework:Assigned weekly on Friday and due the following Friday at the beginning of class. Not every problem will be graded. Instead a randomly selected subset of them will be graded. To perform good on the homework assignments, take into account the following guide. Describe in words, why and where equations being used appear in your write-up. Show your work! Solutions or answers turned in without explanation will NOT receive full credit. Always write out your solution in algebraic form before you substitute in numerical values. Always carry along coorect dimensional units (i.e. mass, length, etc.). Turn in neat homework (points will be deducted otherwise). Box your answers. Late homework accepted only under dire circumstances. If you know it will be impossible to turn in an assignment on time you must discuss this with me  in advance of the due date. Medical reasons accepted only with a doctors's note. You are encouraged to discuss the homework with others, but what you finally hand in should be your own work. Please make sure you include your name and the homework and course numbers and staple the pages together.

Honors homework:The honors students will have an extra homework assignment each week. This might consist of (1) a more advanced or involved problem, (2) a numerical computation or simulation, (3) a home experiment to carry out and write about, (4) a reading assignment to digest and write about, (5) a question to research and report on. The honors homework will count for 20% of the homework grade, i.e. 4-6% of the overall course grade (see below), or between a third and half a letter grade. Please hand this in separately from the regular assignment.

Exams: Two mid-terms and a final. Notes, books and calculators will not be used in the exams. The mid-terms will take place on March 20 and April 22 during class hours. The final will take place on May 17 from 8-10am. The location will be announced at a later time. Absence from exams will be excused only under dire circumstances. If you know it will be impossible to attend an exam, you must discuss this with me in advance of the exam. Medical reasons accepted only with a doctors's note. A missed exam with legitimate excuse may be replaced by an oral exam.

Grading:

Early warning grades: Submitted around March 20.

Course grade: Based  on the homework and the exams. The relative weights will be adjusted to maximize the total, with the homework in the range 20-30%, each of the two midterms in the range 15-25%,  and the final exam in the range 25-45%. The letter grades will likely correspond to ranges of 12 percentage points:
A (100 - 89), B (88 - 77), C (76 - 65), D (64 - 53), F (52 - 0), though this will be adjusted as seems fit.

Tips for doing well:Work all of the homework problems. You are allowed and encouraged to discuss the homework with anyone you wish. However, in order to optimize your learning, you should initially make a serious attempt to solve the problems by yourself.Read the material in the textbook both before and after the material is covered in lecture.Seek help immediately if you do not understand the material.Freely ask questions in lecture.