The course is graded on a curve. After each exam, we will give you an estimate of your class standing based upon your cumulative exam score.
If you cannot make an exam because of a medical or other emergency, there will be one make-up covering all the course material at the end of the semester. As before, you will need documentation for why you missed the exam (for example, from Student Services, 392-1261 Peabody Hall).
If you miss the final exam without making arrangements with the instructor, you will receive an I (incomplete) for the course provided you have a passing grade up until that point - such an incomplete will require you to re-take the entire course. If instead you had a failing grade, missing the final exam without making arrangements with the instructor will result in an E grade for the course. For excused absences, the make-up final exam is the final exam of the following semester (Fall 1999). This usually has a detrimental effect on grades because of the time lapse.
Please report to your designated exam room at least 10 minutes before the exam is scheduled to begin. You are allowed to bring #2 pencils, a calculator, and a one-page, handwritten (in your own handwriting) formula sheet (8.5x11 inch, both sides) to each exam, including the final. Do not bring scratch paper as it will be provided. You must hand in the formula sheet and all scratch paper when you turn in your exam: they will all be handed back to you after the exam is graded. Sharing calculators, formula sheets, or anything else during the exam is a violation of academic honesty, and thus expressly forbidden.
As a result of completing registration at the University of Florida, every student has signed the following statement: "I understand that the University of Florida expects its students to be honest in all their academic work. I agree to adhere to this commitment to academic honesty and understand that my failure to comply with this commitment may result in disciplinary action up to and including expulsion from the University." Any violation of Academic Honesty in this course will lead to a failing grade in the course.
Extremely useful course material is available on the worldwide web at the following three sites:
1.) PHY2054 home page: http://www.phys.ufl.edu/~reitze/teaching/spring99/phy2054.htm
This site will provide course handouts, class announcements, exam scores
and other relevant course information. Links to the instructor’s lecture
notes will also be available from this site. Note that there will be a
delay of a few days between the day of the lecture and the time the lecture
notes become available online. For this and other reasons, students are
strongly advised to attend lectures on a daily basis. Parts of this web
page will be private, i.e., they will require a login and a password. Unless
announced otherwise, the login is phy2054 and the password is gauss.
2.) Physics 2 home page: http://www.phys.ufl.edu/~phy3054/
This past PHY2054 site provides many helpful examples and sample problems,
plus copies of past exams from other instructors. Please note that the
URL contains phy3054 not phy2054 for historical reasons.
3.) The American Institute of Physics has set up a web page discussing why physics is relevant to a wide range of disciplines: http://www.aip.org/success/. A discussion of numerous important impacts of physics upon the field of medicine is provided at http://www.aip.org/success/improveshealth/index.html
As part of the course, each student can obtain a class computer account to access this information. Under the UF GatorLink program, each University of Florida student can receive at no cost an e-mail account, 15 hours of dialup internet connection per month, access to on-line course registration, and access to the microcomputer labs. Additional connection time is available for a small charge. All students are strongly encouraged to obtain a GatorLink account, and use it to access the online course materials. If you know your social security number and University of Florida PIN you can create a GatorLink ID in one of the CIRCA computer labs, at the UF Computing Help Desk in CSE E520, or online at http://www.gatorlink.ufl.edu (this site also has a detailed help menu).
You may find the free application Adobe Acrobat Reader useful to view
a few of the online documents, particularly course handouts requiring detailed
formatting or graphics. Acrobat Reader allows you to read pdf files ("portable
document format"), and can be configured as a helper application to enable
direct viewing of pdf files with your Netscape or Microsoft web browser.
Versions of Acrobat Reader are available for Windows, Mac and other operating
systems, and can be freely downloaded from the UF software archive http://www.software.ufl.edu/acrobat.html
or directly from Adobe at http://ww.adobe.com
(the direct link was http://www.adobe.com/prodindex/acrobat/readstep.html
as of 8/4/98). Please note that Adobe Acrobat Reader is free, while the
full-featured version Adobe Acrobat is not - if you already own Adobe Acrobat
it will definitely do the job, but you do not need to buy Adobe Acrobat
for this course.
Last modified 12/22/98