Spring 2008 / Section 3799
Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777-1855)
Spring 2008 / Section 3799
Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777-1855)
Prof. Steve Hagen
Office: 2362 NPB
Email: sjhagen (at) ufl.edu
Office hours: Mondays 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
MWF 4th period (10:40 - 11:30 am)
Room 1002 NPB
David J. Griffiths (website)
Introduction to Electrodynamics 3rd edition
Prentice Hall (1999)
List price $130
Click here for used copies, but
avoid buying cheap "international" or bootleg editions. Believe it or not,
some of those editions actually contain serious errors.
ISBN-10 013805326X
ISBN-13 978-0138053260
Each homework assignment will be graded on a ten-point scale. Late homework will suffer a 3-point grade penalty for every day (or part of a day)
that it is late.
The midterm exams are given in class. The final exam
is an assembly exam. During the exams and quizzes you may use the
official Phy3323 formula sheet, but you may not use any
other notes or books. You may bring a calculator.
Please note the exam dates: Please check these dates carefully before you make any plans to travel
away from campus during the semester. Airline tickets cannot be changed without penalty.
Some students may nevertheless suffer from a severe personal or
family emergency that forces them to miss a quiz:
Therefore, the two lowest quiz scores will be dropped when final grades
are calculated.
It is the policy of the University of Florida that the student, not the
instructor, is responsible for arranging accommodations when needed. The
instructor will not remind the student to schedule accommodations prior
to each quiz or exam. If you require extra time for in-class work, you
must initiate this request at least seven days before the exam or quiz.
The Dean of Students Office website has further details on
academic honesty policies at UF.
PHY3323 is the first part of a two-semester course in
electrodynamics, suitable for advanced undergraduate physics and
engineering majors. The goal of this first semester is to investigate
static properties of electric and magnetic fields. Electrostatics and
magnetostatics are the foundation for electrodynamics (the second
semester - PHY4324), which in turn provides the foundation for a number of
advanced topics in physics, such as electromagnetic radiation, wave
optics, antennas, diffraction theory, waveguides, nonlinear optics,
synchrotrons, etc. Therefore, although most students taking PHY3323 will
probably have already taken a one semester course in electromagnetism, this
two semester sequence reexamines the topic, using a much
deeper and more sophisticated approach characteristic of upper-division
and graduate physics courses. Along these lines, a secondary goal of the
course is to develop familiarity and intuition in the use of mathematical
tools (including surface and line integrals, gradient, divergence, curl,
complete & orthogonal functions, etc.) that become very important in
advanced physics courses. The theory of electromagnetism is one of the
most thoroughly successful and broadly useful theories in all of science
... it's a challenge to learn but it's well worth the effort.
The calendar (and all current information) is posted on the website,
which is maintained on the UF E-Learning Services (WebCT/Vista)
server. Access the site by visiting the UF E-learning Services
site (http://lss.at.ufl.edu)
and then using your Gatorlink ID to log in to the "E-Learning
System". There you will find the course calendar along with the syllabus,
homework and quiz problems and solutions, and various other
timely information. The instructor will assume that all
students visit the website regularly and are familiar with the
information and announcements that are posted there.
Click here for a direct link to the course website.
The only way to learn electromagnetism is to work a large number
of homework problems. Regular homework is therefore at the heart of
this course. Griffiths' book contains lots of excellent problems,
which will be assigned regularly, perhaps continuously. Owing to its
importance, the homework will definitely be collected and graded. Do not
be surprised if these assignments take up a fair amount of your time.
Work with a friend if you like - but make sure you understand each problem
and prepare your own solution: do not submit homework solutions that
are transcribed or copied directly from other people or other sources
(see Academic Dishonesty - below). If you don't have time to do regular
homework, then you don't have time to learn this subject and you should
not be taking this course.
The final grade will be determined by in-class quizzes (10%), graded
homework (20%), two midterm exams (40%), and a final examination (30%).
Each quiz will be graded on a 2-point scale (0-2 pts). Each HW assignment
will be graded on a 10-point scale (0-10 pts). No letter grades
will be given for quizzes or midterms: The only letter grade will
be the final course grade. (This approach minimizes roundoff errors
in your final grade, so it is ultimately more fair, even if it causes
some anxiety at times.)
The final examination is comprehensive. It is scheduled by the
Registrar (exam group 30D) for 3:00-5:00 pm on Wednesday April 30,
2008. Mark your calendar.
The Instructor believes that make-ups are intrinsically
unfair. This unfairness can be mitigated (but not eliminated)
by keeping the number of make-ups to an absolute minimum.
Therefore there will be no makeups for missed quizzes or homework.
A make-up for a missed exam will be granted only in a truly dire situation.
(A student who lacks diligence in contacting the instructor once
this dire situation arises is unlikely to be granted the make-up.)
Regular class attendance is definitely expected. Mastery of the course
material will require each student to make a sustained and consistent
investment of effort throughout the semester. Class attendance is part
of that effort. Poor attendance or frequent lateness will result in
a reduced final grade, or even a failing grade. A student who stops
participating in the class - i.e. who ceases attending class, doing
homework, communicating with the instructor, taking quizzes/exams - should
drop the course, because otherwise a failing grade is certain. No special
end-of-semester arrangements (such as make-up work, late-drop petitions,
incomplete grades, signatures on various forms, etc.) will be provided
to any student who simply disappeared for a substantial portion of the
semester. Such accommodations are only available to students who have
participated in class and kept in regular contact with the instructor
during the term.
Unfortunately the instructor cannot approve requests to audit
PHY3323. Every student must register formally and take the class for
credit. Coursework of unregistered students is not graded.
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Student academic records are confidential, under federal
law. I will not answer emailed questions about your grades or other
academic matters, unless the email comes from your UF email or WebCT
account. Parents (and others) cannot ask instructors for information on a
student's attendance, grades, performance, etc, either by phone or email.
Even your UFID is confidential.
Students who will require a classroom accommodation for a disability must
contact the Dean of Students Office and request proper documentation. Upon
bringing that documentation to the Instructor, the student will be
given the appropriate accommodations. No accommodations are available to
students who lack this documentation.
It is a sad commentary on the 21st century that some people need
to be reminded of appropriate classroom behavior. Frequent lateness,
entering and leaving the classroom during the lecture, listening to
headphones or reading the ALLIGATOR during class, clacking away at
email or instant messaging during class, cellphone rings, etc. ...
are all rude and disruptive behaviors. They distract the teacher
and the other students in the classroom - a direct violation of the
Student
Conduct Code. Please show courtesy and respect for yourself, your
colleagues, and your institution by avoiding such distracting behavior.
All students are required to abide by the
principles of academic honesty expressed in the Student Honor Code .
Consistent with university policy, any incident of academic dishonesty in
this course will be reported to the Dean of Students Office. It is normal
and reasonable for students in this physics course to work together on
homework assignments, but certain other activities are unacceptable:
academic dishonesty includes plagiarism, fabricating information,
giving or receiving any unauthorized assistance on academic work, and
interfering with the academic work of other students. Submitting homework
solutions that are transcribed or copied from another person or source is
unacceptable and will be interpreted as intentional dishonesty. If the
incident is the student's first offense at UF, the student will receive
a failing grade in PHY3323. If not, the Dean of Students Office will
decide the appropriate sanction.
