PHY 3101 - Modern Physics - Fall 2015
Announcements
| Dec. 6 | Research projects: I have updated the research project page to make the directions absolutely clear. Please read the formatting directions carefully and follow the directions on the use of references. Both the hardcopy and pdf file must be turned in by 4:00PM Thursday, Dec. 10. The pdf file should be emailed to the class account phy3101@phys.ufl.edu. |
| Dec. 3 | Grade scale: As I mentioned in class Wednesday, somehow the grade scale got deleted from the Course Overview page. I have restored it and made some modifications. Most of you will be pleased with the scale, which I tested against current grades to predict how people will do. |
| Dec. 2 | Einstein's Centennial: This year marks the 100th anniversary of Einstein's General Theory of Relativity. I put some links on the links and applets page. One of the best articles is from the NYtimes. Homework 13 was posted. It is a fairly easy assignment and is due Monday, Dec. 7. |
| Nov. 30 | Homework 13: I will put HW13 up later today. Quizzes: I expect to have two more easy quizzes. One will be this week. |
| Nov. 19 | Exam 2 solutions were uploaded to Canvas. |
| Nov. 18 | Exam 2 grading: I will post the exam 2 solutions later today. Grading takes a lot of time and I will probabiy won't finish until Monday, Nov. 23. |
| Nov. 14 | Exam 2 formula sheet: As mentioned in class, you can bring two handwritten formula sheets filled out on both sides. Exam 2 location: Exam 2 is in Little 101 starting at 8:20PM. Homework 12 has been posted. It is not due until Monday, Nov. 23. |
| Nov. 9 | Study guide for exam 2. Please see the document "exam 2 topics" (updated Nov. 10) for a better understanding of what is being covered on exam 2. Basically, it will cover the material between the Bohr model and multi-electron atoms. I will also base a number of problems (not all) on the quizzes and homework. |
| Nov. 7 | No class Monday and Wednesday: This is a reminder that there is no class on Monday (Nov. 9) and Wednesday (holiday, Nov. 11). HW#11 (created Sunday afternoon) is still due Friday, Nov. 13. |
| Oct. 29 | New homework: Homework 10 has been posted. Note that it is due Monday after Homecoming (Nov. 9). A bonus problem was also assigned, due Nov. 13. |
| Oct. 26 | Exam 2 date is Nov. 16: As I mentioned in class, the date of the second exam was moved from Nov. 10 to Nov. 16 (Monday). The earlier date was problematic because it fell on the day before the Veteran's Day holiday and I would have been out of town. The extra 6 days will give you more time to study and provide you with more opportunities to ask questions. |
| Oct. 23 | Project outlines due Monday, Oct. 26: Your project outline, including title page, abstract, table of contents and annotated bibliography should be completed and turned in Oct. 26. Only a paper copy of the outline should be turned in. Homework problems 9 are on the homework page. Bonus problem 6 is also shown. |
| Oct. 15 | Friday class cancelled (Oct. 16): As announced in email earlier today, I must attend my father's funeral and will be away until Sunday. Homework still due: Friday's homework is still due before the mail room closes. Please place your homework in my mail slot in the mail room to the right of the Department of Physics main office on the second floor. |
| Oct. 13 | Homework 8: Homework 8 is now available on the homework page. Bonus problem 5: Bonus problem 5 has been uploaded to the homework page. |
| Oct. 8 | Homework: Homework #7 has been updated (due Friday, Oct. 16). See the homework page. The bonus problem will come later. Bonus problem 4 fixed: Someone caught a typo in the second problem which is now fixed. He also noticed that the output from the last part of the second problem is quite long. For that reason, you may turn in the entire assignment by email. Research project outline: On Wednesday, we talked about moving the date for submitting your research project outline to Monday, Oct.12. After some thought, I have decided to move the date to Monday, Oct. 26. This is a significant change of dates that should allow you enough time to find references and think about how you want to write the paper. Please turn in a paper copy only (do not email it to me). |
| Oct. 7 | Grading exams: I expect to finish grading the exams over the weekend and return them Monday. I will post the solutions by Thursday (Oct. 8). Travel and quiz: I am traveling Oct. 7-10. Prof. Korytov has kindly agreed to cover the class on Friday, Oct. 9. There will be a quiz on the Bohr model on Friday. Exam 1 solution: The exam 1 solution has been uploaded to the Canvas Files page under "Exam solutions". Let me know if you see any problems. |
| Oct. 5 | Exam 1 tonight!! Exam 1 is 8:20PM. See the schedule page. Bonus problems 4 were added to the homework. They are due Oct. 12 (M). I split the Bohr model material into two separate files. The first has the basic material and the second has the reduced mass modification, and brief summaries of characteristic x-rays, Moseley's experiment and the Franck-Hertz experiment. |
| Sep. 30 | Exam 1: As mentioned in class, you can bring two handwritten formula sheets filled out on both sides. The material that will be covered will include everything through Rutherford scattering. Homework: HW6 problems (Chap. 4) have been assigned. |
| Sep. 28 | Files reorganized: As promised in class today, I reorganized the files on the Canvas lecture page. The material in Chapter 3 now appears in 5 separate files, making each file much shorter and more digestible. I also adopted a better naming convention so that the files occur in order of the schedule, aside from General Relativity which is in chapter 15. Bonus problem 3 assigned: These problems are due Monday, Oct. 5. Please see the homework page. Homework due time: Homework is now due by 4:00 on the day specified and it must be put in my mailbox. It is up to you to get it there and not wait until the last minute hoping that the mailroom will not close early, which it does sometimes outside of my control. The grader does not have access to my office over the weekend. Exam 1: Exam 1 is Monday night, Oct. 5. See the schedule page. |
| Sep. 22 | Bonus problem 2 assigned: These problems are due Monday, Sep. 28. Please see the homework page. |
| Sep. 21 | Exam dates: Dates for Exam 1 and Exam 2 have been set by the Registrar. They are on the evening of Oct. 5 and Nov. 10. Please see the schedule page for precise times and locations. |
| Sep. 20 | Research projects: The file with research project titles is linked on the first line of the Research Project page. Sep. 25 homework has been updated (see Homework page). I will add bonus problems later. I updated the lecture for Chapter 3 in e-Learning. It now includes details on the Thomson experiments and Millikan experiment. |
| Sep. 17 | General Relativity lecture: I updated the GR lecture from Wednesday, fixing a couple of bugs and expanding the sections on gravitational redshift, time delay and black holes. I plan to modify the homework problems due Sep. 25. Don't start them yet. |
| Sep. 14 | Research Project 1: I have changed the due date for the title and short description from Friday, Sep. 18 to Monday, Sep. 21. This will give you the weekend to gather more information Research Project 2: For the research project title and short (3-4 sentences) description, please fill out this Word document and email it to me at phy3101 AT phys.ufl.edu with the subject line: Research Project. Do not turn in a handwritten sheet! I updated the relativity lecture (relativity_5) on e-Learning to improve the last section. |
| Sep. 13 | Bonus problems assigned: Please check the homework page. It is due the same time as HW 3. |
| Sep. 9 | Where to put homework: On the day homework is due, please bring it to me after class or place it in my mail slot in the mail room just to the right of the Physics Department main office on the second floor by 5:00. Since my grader doesn't have access to my office, please do not place it under my office door. Otherwise it will not be found until Monday and marked as 3 days late with lost points. Research Projects page updated: I've significantly updated the Research Projects page with further guidelines on writing the paper and a long list of possible topics that I will continue to update. |
| Sep. 9 | Homework and quizzes graded: HW grades are not yet entered on e-Learning. Quiz grades are entered and can be found by logging into e-Learning. Note: HW and quizz grades are not entered when your handwriting cannot be read. In some cases even the name was not readable. The TA has instructions not to grade HW and quizzes if he cannot read handwriting or decipher the name. Use block printing when entering your name and UFID and space your problems by several lines on the paper (or on a separate side) so that it is clear where one problem ends and the next one begins. What we don't want is HW that fits in such a small space that it is difficult to read. |
| Sep. 4 | Homework due today: Please give it to me after class or leave it in my mailbox by 5PM today. |
| Sep. 3 | New reference materials added: I added two links to the Links and Applets page; (1) a compendium of experimental results testing Special Relativity and (2) an analysis of experiments testing the General Theory of Relativity. Both of these sites have a large amount of interesting data. |
| Aug. 29 | Lecture material added to e-Learning: I added a pdf file describing what we covered in the Wednesday and Friday lectures to the directory lectures and other materials to the files part of the course e-Learning site. The material summarizes the situation of early 20th century physics and the Michelson-Morley experiment. |
| Aug. 28 | New material added: I've created three directories in the e-Learning course site: (1) Exam solutions (empty for now), (2) Lecture materials (with 2 files there now) and (3) Useful references (1 file there now). Programming: I have rewritten the programming page to deprecate Sympy and describe how one can download and install a Python distribution. Note taker needed: I need someone to act as a note taker for the course. Please see me after class or email me (phy3101 AT phys.ufl.edu). (Note added: Note taker has been found) |
| Aug. 25 | Reference material: Reference material was added to the Links and Applets page, including values of the fundamental and astrophysical constants, masses and abunfdances of the nuclides and data on the Periodic Table. Please read Chapters 1 and 2. |
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| Aug. 24 |
Welcome to PHY3101! Lectures begin Monday, Aug. 24, in NPB 1002 (period 4).
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