Determining grades for such a large class requires that we be consistent in carrying out course policies, treat all students fairly and compassionately and adhere as closely as possible to the grading criteria laid out at the beginning of the semester. Our goal is always to establish a consistent and predictable set of expectations (even among different TAs), while employing policies (10% of points dropped) on all course work to allow students to recover from bad days or missed work.

After analysis of all the grades, we decided not to change the grade boundaries, except to accommodate students within a few hundredths of a point of a boundary. Approximately 58% of the class has a grade of B or more, higher than almost all previous semesters. We of course understand that many people fell just below grade boundaries and there are inevitably disappointments for people who worked hard and came up short. However, in a class of 520 students, with grade differences between students typically several hundredths to a a few tenths of a point, this situation would occur wherever we set the boundaries.

We wish all of you well and hope that you have a good summer. We welcome visits and would be glad to talk to you if you plan to take the course again. Good luck, everyone!

Sincerely,
Paul Avery, Pradeep Kumar and Yoonseok Lee

We also uploaded the total quiz points (out of 90) and the adjustment per section that was added to each student's quiz average (which was calculated by dividing the total quiz points by 0.9 and scaling the result to 15 points) to calculate the quiz_final score. The adjustment can be negative or positive depending on whether the section had an average higher or lower than 75% * 15 = 11.25. The "quiz_final" score includes this adjustment.

We are still working on the grading scale.

We do not know the grading scale yet, but will post it Tuesday or Wednesday. Please don't bombard us with mail because we just cannot answer yet.

Final exam room assignments: The final exam is Apr. 25, Saturday, from 10:00AM-12:00 PM. Students are assigned to the following rooms by the first first few letters of your last name (family name). For security reasons, you must come to the proper room!

• TUR L007: A - F
• TUR L005: G - J
• MCCC 100: K - Q
• TUR L011: R - TH
• FL Gym 270: TI - Z

Exam procedures: The following information is on the grading policy page.

• For reasons having to do with security you must come to the assigned room. Your exam will not be counted otherwise.
• You must bring your GatorOne ID to the exam! Your exam will not be counted otherwise.
• All cell phones, electronic devices, headphones, etc. must be completely off and out of sight. Any such device seen during the exam will result in a grade of 0 on the exam.
• Bring pencil, eraser, sharpener, calculator
• Bring two 8.5"x11" formula sheet (both sides OK).
• Bring (blank!) scratch paper. We are unable to provide paper to everyone

ScanTron information: You must bubble in all information, including your name, initials, UFID, and exam code (cols. 76-80). There is no section number. Because of the effort that must be expended in recovering this info, missing info will result in a 0.5 point penalty.

Tuesday's class will also include a review.

The 10 questions on the final covering material through exam 3 will be taken from problems from the first three exams and the WebAssign problems from those sections but modified somewhat.

All students are required to take the final exam. There is no truth to the rumor that students with an A average are excused.

Will Jewish students who could not make the April 9 lecture please contact us by email at the phy2054 account?

Tea and Cookies at 5:15 today!!

Midterm quiz grades: We have uploaded midterm quiz grades to WebAssign based on quizzes 1-5 only. The scores are out of 15.00 points max, where we dropped 10% of the points. To see your score, log into WebAssign, click on My Assignments, then All Assignments and find the score for Midterm_quiz. We also posted Midterm_Q, the raw sum Q of quizzes 1-5, described in the next paragraph.

The formula is as follows: Let Q be the sum of quizzes (each out of 10, so Q is 50 or smaller). Then the quiz grade = 1.5 * (Adj + Q/5/0.9), where Adj is the adjustment for each section, discussed below. 1.5 converts from a 10 point scale to a 15 point scale.

(For section 3461, which did not have quiz 1 because of a missing TA early in the semester, the grades will be based on 4 quizzes. Thus the formula is 1.5 * (Adj + Q/4/0.9), where Q is 40 or smaller. However, we have not posted your scores because we are still awaiting a quiz grade from your TA.)

We normalized each section so that the average for the section is 75%, so section scores either went up or went down (though no section went down by more than 0.85 pt).

These are approximate grades. We will recalculate the section adjustments at the end of the semester. Since our calculation of Q uses the scores that your TA provided to us, please talk to your TA if you have a question about your quiz grades.

Comment about midterm grades: The midterm_exam grade that we posted was obtained by scaling your exam points (out of 40) to 70 points (after dividing by 0.9). It is simply an extrapolation of your current progress to the entire course. After you take all four exams (worth 90 points), the score is calculated as shown on the grading page (scaled to 70 points). The grading page now has an example to illustrate the calculation.

Grading scale: We cannot answer questions about the grading scale until the end of the semester. We expect that grade boundaries will go down a couple of points but we can offer no predictions at this time.

Prof. Avery will be away Apr. 1-10 on two back-to-back trips. Please see Dr. Kumar if you need to discuss grades.

Exam 3 results: The solutions and distribution for exam 3 were posted to the solutions page. The average was 14.9, which is very good.

The scores and the grade distribution have been uploaded to WebAssign. To see your exam score, log into WebAssign, click on My Assignments, then All Assignments and find the score for Exam 3.

Tea and Cookies on Tuesday at 5:15PM.

Exam 3 room assignments: Exam 3 is Mar. 27, Friday, from 8:15-10:15 PM. Students are assigned to the following rooms by the first first few letters of your last name (family name). For security reasons, you must come to the proper room!

• CAR 100: A - MAN
• MCCC 100: MAR - ROL
• WEIM 1064: ROO - Z

Exam procedures: The following information is on the grading policy page.

• For reasons having to do with security you must come to the assigned room. Your exam will not be counted otherwise.
• You must bring your GatorOne ID to the exam! Your exam will not be counted otherwise.
• All cell phones, electronic devices, headphones, etc. must be completely off and out of sight. Any such device seen during the exam will result in a grade of 0 on the exam.
• Bring pencil, eraser, sharpener, calculator
• Bring one 8.5"x11" formula sheet (both sides OK)
  On the final exam, 2 formula sheets are allowed.
• Bring (blank!) scratch paper. We are unable to provide paper to everyone

ScanTron information: You must bubble in all information, including your name, initials, UFID, and exam code (cols. 76-80). There is no section number. Because of the effort that must be expended in recovering this info, missing info will result in a 0.5 point penalty.

Conflicts: Those of you who have contacted us with verifiable information about a conflict with exam 3, please see Dr. Kumar after Thursday's lecture to make sure we have the correct information.

Exam 3 review: Camila Mateo will hold the exam 3 review Tuesday, March 24 in room 1001 (our classroom) from 6:15 - 8:15.

We have created a formula page summarizing the formulas in chapters 15-22. We will continue to update this file as the semester progresses. Please let us know if there are any mistakes or anything missing.

Midterm scores uploaded to WebAssign: Approximate scores were uploaded to WebAssign for exams, HITT and WebAssign homework. Quizzes will be uploaded next week when we get all the scores.

Midterm exam is calculated by scaling your two exam scores (after dropping 10%) to 70 points. The formula is
70*(exam1+exam2)/0.9/40. The maximum is 70. If you are taking a makeup for one of the exams, then that exam counts as a 0 for now since we have no other information. You can make an estimate for that exam and use the formula to approximate your exam total.

Midterm HITT is calculated by scaling your raw HITT points through March 20 to 5 points after dropping 10%. The formula is
5.0 * (points/0.9/MAX), where MAX=57 for period 4 and MAX=58 for period 5. The maximum is 5.00. If your HITT score is zero it means you have not registered your remote on the course registration page.

Midterm WebAssign is calculated by scaling your raw WebAssign points (70 points total) for chapters 16-20 to 10 points after dropping 10%. The formula is 10.0 * (points/0.9/70). The maximum is 10.00.

Midterm quizzes cannot be calculated yet because we are waiting for scores by the TAs. These will be uploaded next week. The quiz average for each TA will be normalized to 11.25/15 (75%), so you can estimate your quiz grade based on how well you think you are doing relative to the average.

Grade scale: Looking at the grades we have so far (no quizzes), we expect that the grade boundaries will go down by 4-5 points for the B+ and below grades. We will post an approximate set of boundaries next week once we get the quizzes.

Please don't bombard us with email about the calculation or the grade boundaries. We will of course update this page if the procedure is not clear.

Quiz 7 has been moved to the week of March 30 to avoid being given the same week as exam 3.

Chapter 21 notes were reposted with additional slides that explain reactance in more detail and derive expressions for phase angle, XL XC, impedance, resonance and the connection between RMS quantities and average power in AC circuits.

Midterm grades: We are still working on the calculation of the mid-term grade, but have been hampered by some missing quiz data (most of the TAs are attending the March APS meeting). We will get this information as soon as we have it and post the mid-term numbers on WebAssign ASAP. This grade will include all work up to Spring break, including the 10% dropped points on all components so that you can get a realistic picture of how you are doing.

Grade boundaries are expected to be adjusted downwards. We will make an estimate when we post the mid-term grades.

WebAssign homework for Chap. 20 is due Wednesday night, Mar. 18.

Tea and Cookies!: Today, 5:15 in room 2165

Exam 2 results: The solutions and distribution for exam 2 were posted to the solutions page. The average was 11.6, including an extra point that we added to the scores. We will provide you with an idea of your mid-term grade (2 exams, homework, HITT, quizzes, WebAssign) in the next few days. The grades from the DSO have not been processed yet. We expect these on Monday.

The scores have been uploaded to WebAssign. To see your exam score, log into WebAssign, click on My Assignments, then All Assignments and find the score for Exam 2.

Exam 2 room assignments: Exam 2 is Mar. 5, Thursday, from 8:25-10:45PM. Students are assigned to the following rooms by the first first few letters of your last name (family name). For security reasons, you must come to the proper room!

• CLB C130: A - FA
• CSE A101: FE - LI
• TUR L007: LO - R
• PUGH 170: S - Z

Exam procedures: The following information is on the grading policy page.

• For reasons having to do with security you must come to the assigned room. Your exam will not be counted otherwise.
• You must bring your GatorOne ID to the exam! Your exam will not be counted otherwise.
• All cell phones, electronic devices, headphones, etc. must be completely off and out of sight. Any such device seen during the exam will result in a grade of 0 on the exam.
• Bring pencil, eraser, sharpener, calculator
• Bring one 8.5"x11" formula sheet (both sides OK)
  On the final exam, 2 formula sheets are allowed.
• Bring (blank!) scratch paper. We are unable to provide paper to everyone

ScanTron information: You must bubble in all information, including your name, initials, UFID, and exam code (cols. 76-80). There is no section number. Because of the effort that must be expended in recovering this info, missing info will result in a 0.5 point penalty.

Conflicts: Those of you who have contacted us with verifiable information about a conflict with exam 1, please see Dr. Kumar after today's lecture to make sure we have the correct information.

Exam 2 review: Camila Mateo will have a review Monday, March 2 from 6:15 - 8:15PM in room CSE 222.

We have created a formula page summarizing the formulas in chapters 15-20. We will continue to update this file as the semester progresses. Please let us know if there are any mistakes or anything missing.

URGENT: EXAM 2 DATE CHANGE: We just learned that the rooms we requested for exam 2 were given to us for Thursday, March 5 instead of Wednesday, March 4. Please make a note of this new date. We will send a note to everyone through E-Learning as well as by ordinary email. We are also posting announcements in E-Learning and WebAssign.

We are aware that many people are taking the Biochem exam and need time to get to the exam. To compensate, we will give the exam 5 minutes late and allow an extra 20 minutes, bringing the finish time to approximately 10:45. This should provide plenty of time for you to get to your assigned room and finish your exam without time pressure. Thanks to those of you who brought this issue to our attention.

Exam 1 adjustment: We have decided to adjust the grade of exam 1 upward by 1 point, partly because it is a first exam and partly yo reflect the difficulty of the exam. The new scores have been posted on WebAssign as "Exam 1 new". The new average is 11.5, and the adjusted distribution has been posted on the solutions page.

This would be a good time to reread the "Effective strategies for learning physics" section on the overview page. The section discusses the strategies for success that we typically see in the B+ and A student whom we have interviewed.

After exam 2, we will post a "midterm grade", which includes all work up to that point, including the 10% dropped points on all components so that you can get a realistic picture of how you are doing.

Tea & Cookies Tuesday: Prof. Avery will be conducting it from @ 5:00 till no later than 6:30 (Buchholz Band concert at 7:00).

Exam 1 results: The solutions and distribution for exam 1 were posted to the solutions page. The average was 10.5, about average for the first exam. We will be examing the overall scores at the end of the semester to decide whether grade boundaries need to be adjusted downward (never upward).

The scores have been uploaded to WebAssign. To see your exam score, log into WebAssign, click on My Assignments, then All Assignments and find the score for Exam 1.

Exam 1 room assignments: Exam 1 is Feb. 4, Wednesday, from 8:20-10:20PM. Students are assigned to the following rooms by the first first few letters of your last name (family name). For security reasons, you must come to the proper room!

• New Physics Building (NPB) 1001: A - GH
• McCarty C (MCCC) 100: GI - MI
• Weimer (Weim) 1064: MO - SP
• Little (Lit) 101: ST - Z

Exam procedures: The following information is on the grading policy page.

• For reasons having to do with security you must come to the assigned room. Your exam will not be counted otherwise.
• You must bring your GatorOne ID to the exam! Your exam will not be counted otherwise.
• All cell phones, electronic devices, headphones, etc. must be completely off and out of sight. Any such device seen during the exam will result in a grade of 0 on the exam.
• Bring pencil, eraser, sharpener, calculator
• Bring one 8.5"x11" formula sheet (both sides OK)
  On the final exam, 2 formula sheets are allowed.
• Bring (blank!) scratch paper. We are unable to provide paper to everyone

ScanTron information: You must bubble in all information, including your name, initials, UFID, and exam code (cols. 76-80). There is no section number. Because of the effort that must be expended in recovering this info, missing info will result in a 0.5 point penalty.

Conflicts: Those of you who have contacted us with verifiable information about a conflict with exam 1, please see the lecturer after today's lecture to make sure we have the correct information.

Exam 1 review: Camila has secured a room for a review on Friday, Jan. 30 (this Friday!). The review will take place 6:30 - 8:30PM in room 100 New Engineering Bldg.

Chapter 15 homework solutions are posted in the E-Learning area under pdf files.

WebAssign extension: Because of the recent problems with WebAssign and the textbook, we have extended the Chapter 15 homework to Jan. 21, Wednesday, 11:59PM. WebAssign has graciously extended the free period until Jan. 24. This is our version of a physics stimulus plan. :-)

We fixed an error with the date in the preceding paragraph. It is Wednesday, Jan. 21, not Jan. 22.

WebAssign has also fixed the display problem for Chap. 15 for IE7. Let us know if you encounter other problems.

Browser problems on WebAssign: It appears that Internet Explorer 7 has display problems with some of the problems in Chap. 15. We are investigating this problem with the WebAssign people. In the meantime, please use another browser such as Firefox which seems to work perfectly.

In the meantime, because of this problem and the textbook availability problem, we have requested WebAssign to extend the free period a few more days. Please watch this space for more news.

Textbooks have arrived! This is according to one of the management people at the UF bookstore.

SI instruction hours: The original posted hours for SI have now been corrected. The periods were correct but the times were wrong. We're very sorry for the misunderstanding, which arose from an incorrect assignment of times to particular periods. Please see the seeking help/office hour for the correct information.

PDF files from textbook: We were (finally) able to get access to an electronic version of the textbook and make pdf files of Chapter 15 and 16. The pdf files are low-resolution images of each page, rather than true text, but they are quite readable. Note that the files are from the 8th edition, not the 7th edition, since that was all that was available.

(Added Jan. 12. We finally received the 7th edition file for Chapter 15. It is posted at E-Learning)

The files are available under phy2054 in e-Learning, which you can access at https://lss.at.ufl.edu/. Since the files are so large (about 18 MB), we posted them in two versions, one uncompressed and one compressed. The compressed files are about 1/2 the size of the uncompressed files and look almost identical, so you will probably just want to get the compressed versions.

Prof. Avery is traveling to Washington, DC and will not return until Jan. 22. He will do extra office hours when he returns.

Textbook: We are working to resolve the problem with the textbook at the UF bookstore. For some reason the publisher held back the book shipment without informing the bookstore, causing confusion and delays. They should be arriving early next week, though not positive the exact day. In the meantime, we have requested them to send us Chapter 15 in pdf format so that we can post it for you. Even that process is taking far too much time. Please check this space for updates.

We are using the 7th edition. We are aware that some of you bought your text at the Orange and Brew bookstore, which sold the 8th edition. That book will work, but the chapter problems are in a different order.

Online resources: We will cover E fields and Gauss' law on Tuesday. Even without the text you can find material online. For example, the Physics Classroom has a variety of lectures and demos aimed at the advanced high school level, including tutorials and animations. There is also a simple applet showing an electric field as well as a more advanced applet that shows much more (multiple charges). FInally, this cool electrostatics applet shows charged points, dipoles, lines, etc.

HITT: We will begin using HITT for points on Tuesday. Register for HITT now.

WebAssign: Only 119 students have registered in WebAssign. Please be aware that the first assignment is due Jan. 18 and there are no extensions.

Supplementary Instruction location: Our SI instructor managed to get Physics 1100 for the three SI sessions. Please see the seeking help/office hour page for additional information.

Hardcopy of sample exams: Target Copy has received the order and will sell the sample exams for $19.99. They are expected to be ready by the end of today, Jan. 8. Note that some of the exams are different than the ones posted online (the online ones tend to me more recent).

WebAssign: Only 80 students have registered in WebAssign. Please do so today and Friday because we need to know if there are any more problems (e.g., passwords not working). Remember that the first assignment is due Jan. 18 and there are no extensions.

We added 15 new students this morning to WebAssign.

HITT: Please register your transmitter using the link on the registration page. We will do some tests during today's lecture.

Exam dates are final.

Review books: At the suggestion of one of the students, we added the College Physics review book to the list of review books on the Overview and References pages. This book has a lot of good material and many problems at the PHY2054 level.

Textbooks: The UF bookstore did not have textbooks late this morning but might have taken delivery this afternoon (the Jan. 12 date on the shelf is apparently a placeholder date). We will check on this situation Thursday morning and determine which other locations are carrying books now.

E-Learning: We registered the course in the E-Learning system this evening, but only did so to see what capabilities might be useful. We plan to upload grades to WebAssign, but might try to upload them to E-Learning as well if the process is not too complicated. Perhaps some of you could let us know the advantages of using the E-Learning tools?

WebAssign is ready: Students have been uploaded to WebAssign (1:45PM). If you used WebAssign in a previous semester, your password is not affected. If you have been added for the first time (using your 8 digit UFID), the password is your UFID. Please change it when you first login to WebAssign.

Supplementary Instruction: We have tentatively set up the schedule on the seeking help/office hour page. We have 3 times that occur at different parts of the course schedule. However, the rooms have not been assigned yet. Stay tuned.

Tea and Cookies: We will have our first session today at 5:15PM for students who feel like showing up.

Welcome to PHY2054! This is a new web site, so material is still being added in several places. We welcome comments and suggestions for making this course web site a unique resource for students. In particular, we would appreciate links to online material (explanations, problems and solutions, interesting applications, applets) that could enhance learning.

Texbook (Serway & Faugn, 7th edition) is bundled with WebAssign. Be aware that WebAssign must be purchased separately online if you buy the book used.

WebAssign: We have set up the first assignment (Chapter 15) on WebAssign that you can work on now.

Exam schedule is not fixed yet! We are still working on the dates, which we hope to be fixed this week. Do not make plans around the current dates.

Contacting us by email: If you contact us, always send mail to phy2054 AT phys.ufl.edu and include a meaningful subject line. Do not send mail to our individual email accounts.

Discussion sections begin Wednesday, Jan. 7.