Aim: This course will be a survey of basic physics and some of its practical applications to the world around us. Topics in electricity, magnetism, optics, and atomic physics will be covered. The problem-solving skills you pick up should prove useful in your own field of specialization. I also hope that the course will help you become a more informed consumer of science and technology in general. Your job: You should attend class to learn about the basic concepts and how to apply them in solving problems, to take quizzes, and also to hear any special announcements. You are strongly urged to read the sections of the textbook to be covered before each class. Finally, you should work diligently at the homework assignments, which - although they are not collected or graded - form an essential part of the course. Problem-solving: This provides a good measure of your understanding of basic principles by testing your ability to combine different physical concepts as they apply to unfamiliar situations - something which is crucial if you are ever to apply physics to the world around you. Problem-solving is a skill that has to be be developed, and everyone benefits from practice. Your grade in this course will be based solely on your success at solving problems during quizzes, mid-terms, and the final exam, so there will be a direct payoff for your effort. You should be capable of earning an average grade on the course if you have successfully worked through all the homework problems assigned on page 3. If you are aiming for a B or better, you should expect to do additional problems. Try each problem on your own first. If you get stuck, talk the problem over with a friend, come to see me during office hours, or - in the case of an assigned homework problem - look up the solution in the course handout. Whenever you need help to complete a problem it is essential, though, that you consolidate your new understanding by successfully doing another problem of the same type by yourself. Don't despair if you seem to make a lot of mistakes at the start. A successful physicist is just somebody who has made all the possible mistakes in the past and has learned how to avoid repeating most of them! Quizzes: A short, open-book quiz will be given during about half the classes. Each quiz, which will cover material discussed in the previous class, will be graded on a scale of 0 to 3. The quizzes will not be announced in advance, so you will need to bring a writing implement to each class. Exams: There will be three mid-term exams and a comprehensive final, all in multiple-choice format. You must bring photo ID and a No. 2 pencil to each exam, which will be held during regular class hours. You may also bring an eraser, a calculator, and a formula sheet, but no other materials. The exams will emphasize physical reasoning rather than memorization of facts. This reasoning will be developed by steady work over the entire semester, not by last-minute cramming. A significant number of the questions will be closely based on homework problems. There will also be a few true/false questions of a type that does not appear in the homework. (Examples of the latter type will be discussed in class.) Grades: Your best two mid-term scores and the sum of your best 10 quiz scores will each count 20% towards your overall score on the course. The other mid-term will count either 10% or 20%, depending on your final exam score. If the final exam score exceeds your lowest mid-term score, the mid-term counts 10% and the final counts 30%; otherwise the mid-term counts 20% and the final counts 20%. Letter grades will be assigned by curving the overall scores, with approximately the following breakdown:
Help services: If you are encountering difficulties with the course, I encourage you to make use of my office hours. (If your schedule prevents you from attending, please contact me for an appointment at a more convenient time.) In addition, the Student Teaching Center in Broward Hall (tel. 392-2010) offers a range of free services, including individual tutoring in physics. The Physics Department (tel. 392-0521) maintains a list of for-fee tutors. Schedule: The day-by-day schedule which follows is provided for guidance only. It is your responsibility to be aware of any changes announced in class. (Important announcements will also be posted on the course Web pages.)
Kevin Ingersent / ingersent@phys.ufl.edu / Last modified: May 5, 2000. |
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