Physics 101 Summer 2012

You need to practice to learn anything, from painting to basketball to physics. Doing the homework problems yourself helps you learn the material and incidentally helps your grade!

Web assign course code: odu 0131 6537

Homework must be turned in on the internet via www.WebAssign.net. Use the course code above. Your subscription to WebAssign comes as a bundle with the textbook if you purchase the book at the ODU Bookstore. The bundle may be available from other sources, but if not, you must purchase the subscription separately from WebAssign (about $30). WebAssign can not accept late homework. You are responsible for logging in to WebAssign frequently to keep up-to-date on new postings, deadlines and any messages. Don’t wait until the last day! Do it early if you know you won’t have time close to the deadline.
Your lowest homework grade will be dropped. Numerical and multiple-choice answers will be graded immediately by Web-Assign. Exercises with written answers will be graded later.

Work out the problem on paper first, before putting answers into Web-Assign. Check your results to see if the magnitude makes sense. Check your units – no answer is complete without the proper units (e.g. meters, meter/sec, Watt, etc). Carry your units in your paper calculations. The consistency of your units is a powerful check on your algebra. You cannot add meters to seconds. If your are adding feet and meters, you should first convert to a common unit of measure. Enter all answers with at least 3 significant digits (In intermediate steps, keep at least 4 significant digits). WebAssign will automatically randomize some input values given, so no two students will have the same exact answer.

Homework is not a test. You are encouraged to work together. However, you may not copy another student’s final or almost-final answers. All narative explanations must be in your own unique words. Use of published homework solutions is considered cheating.

Students who fail the laboratory will fail the entire course!
Attendance is mandatory. You will be allowed one (1) unexcused absence during the semester. If you have two or more unexcused absences, you will fail the entire course. It is your responsibility to inform Prof. Hyde of any absence; there will be very limited opportunities to make up the missed work. Read the assigned experiment before the lab begins and bring the lab manual, calculators, graph paper, etc.
Laboratory reports should be prepared according to the instructions in the Physics 101 Laboratory Manual. Prof. Hyde will also discuss the format for your lab reports and the grading procedure.
Lab reports are due in Lab, exactly one week after the day of the lab. Lab 12 (Magnetism) will be submitted in abbreviated format at the end of lab, Tue 07 Aug.

General Considerations

1) Is this course for me?

The purpose of this course is to gain a fundamental understanding how Physics can describe the world around us with a coherent body of concepts and models. We will develop some very abstract ideas (energy, momentum, force) that have precise meanings (as opposed to the loose everyday meanings we associate with some of these words). We will also have to "unlearn" some of the "obvious" things we thought we knew about the physical world around us and how it works that just ain't so. Finally, to demonstrate the relationship between the abstract concepts and models and everyday phenomena or technical applications, we will have to study a variety of examples and observations and solve problems. It helps if you have some knowledge of math (high school geometry and algebra) and had some science courses in high school as well. Even more importantly, you should have some curiosity about science and how it can explain the natural world. If you think this applies to you, then this course should reward you with a deeper understanding of the world around you (not to mention a reasonable grade – but no guarantees!). In that case, this course is definitely for you!
If you tend to faint at the sight of any mathematical equation, this course may not come easy. This summer format is particularly intense. If you cannot commit substantial time and effort to this course (think at least 10 hours/week outside the class times), you may be disappointed by the outcome. Note that you only have until Friday June 29 to drop the class without either tuition obligation or receiving a permanent W on your academic record. It pays (literally) to figure out right away whether or not you plan to continue the course.

2) Suggestions for Homework

Some general suggestions:

Typically, HW problems are keyed towards new "tools" covered in the chapter they are attached to. If a problem in Chapter 7 asks you to calculate the speed of an object after falling in Earth's gravitational field, chances are you should use "Energy" to solve this problem (which is the chapter title).
If you don't have enough time to thoroughly study the book, at least make sure you go over several of the examples and "check yourself" questions for each chapter. Try to "think for yourself", by covering up the solution and first trying your own hand at it. If you are really pressed for time (HW deadline), try to find examples that look similar to the problem at hand and see which tools are applied how (and why).
Do not wait until the last minute before the deadline to submit your answers - there could be a last-minute technical problem and there won't be any extensions! Do not even wait until the last day, in fact!
For extra practice, you should do additional problems/exercises (and the "Review Questions") in the book or click on "practice" in WebAssign. Try to get as far as possible on your own, and then ask me or a Learning Center staffer (or a fellow student) for help where you need it.
I can not do more than a sample problem every now and then in class. However, make sure you benefit at least from the ones I do by interrupting me (yell at my back if necessary) if I'm doing something you can't follow. I'd rather have you understand one worked-out example than getting confused by a torrent of several running by too quickly.
Doing problems is not easy, but you will get better at it with practice. Unfortunately, there is no shortcut or a simple collection of "recipies" - you need to understand the underlying concepts to solve a problem.
Often it helps to work with other people. Bouncing ideas and questions of each other may clear things up - and there's often someone experienced around to ask if you really get stuck.
Come to my office hours (see above). Also, I will also generally be available after lecture each day for 15-20 minutes. I am also available by appointment on the main ODU campus.

Get involved: Tell me (via email, office hour, after class, phone) what you would like me to do or change to make the learning experience more productive for you. However, don't expect miracles: We can't simply reduce the material to be covered by a large fraction, so be prepared to offer trade-off options ("do more of this and less of that"). Remember, if you don't come to class, don't do the assignments on time, and never come office hours, we can't help you.

3) Suggestions on how to prepare for tests and exams

Many of the suggestions above for the homework also apply for the preparation for a midterm or final exam. In particular, the best preparation for exams is to do both your regular homework and maybe a couple extra "practice exercises" every week. (Note: You should have gotten a compendium volume "Practicing Physics" with your text book. This is full with extra problems to work on and the solutions are given). But to get anything out of that, you really have to work hard at getting the answer on your own. Don't expect your fellow classmates or the learning center to "just do the problems for you". Not only is this against my rules, but it also deprives you of the learning process. Even if you don't get the final answer (right), if you have at least made a serious attempt, you will understand the correct solution better and be able to see where you may have troubles or weak areas.

And now some other "good advice":

When you study the book, focus on the summaries at the end of each chapter and the "Review Questions". Make sure you understand the terms listed (read the relevant part of the chapter in the book if in doubt) and find at least one example in the text that illustrates each concept. Do all the "check yourself" problems in the text by covering up the solution first, then check! Make use of additional study material that came with the book, and go to the book website to check out the animated figures and video clips. And try to come up with your own examples from everyday life where you can apply what you learned in class - this will make it more real for you. (Example: braking distance of your car quadruples when speed doubles -> kinetic energy and work; how long for a stone to fall into the water when thrown off a bridge -> gravity, acceleration; riding an amusement park ride -> acceleration, velocity and postion; angular motion...) It's a good idea to keep a "reading log" while you read the book - jot down anything that you think might be important to remember, as well as anything that seems unclear (so you can ask someone later on).
Go over past homework problems. Often an exam problem is just a variation of a previous homework problem. Try to remember (or reconstruct) which concepts where used and how you could tell those were the relevant ones. Look at the WebAssign solution (visible as soon as the deadline is past).
Take a look at the formula sheet you are supposed to bring for the tests/exams. It contains equations and formulae that you might need during the exam. Try to recollect where and how each of these equations were introduced, and what situations they apply to (again, look for examples in the book).
Look also at previous tests to remind yourself of some of those questions.
Remember, midterm exams (and "extended clicker quizzes") will cover the chapters in the book treated in class up to the day before the exam, beginning with the first chapter treated after the previous test (for the second and third). However, some "background knowledge" from all of 101 may be needed to answer a given question. The final exam covers all material equally.

Finally, don't wait until the last moment. Spend a couple hours each week reviewing material and maybe 1-2 hours each day before the exam to prepare yourself. This is more efficient than cramming for one night (not only will you be tired, you will also forget everything more quickly again). Recent research shows that you learn more if you make sure you sleep enough during the night!

Course Schedule

Subject to Change, Last revised 31 May 2012

Text: Conceptual Physics, 11th Edition, Hewitt.

Week	Chapter	Comment	Lab	Homework	HW due
27 June	1,2	Roots of Science, Inertia	Lab Intro (Mandatory) EX01 Math Review	Chap 1,2	Tue 03 July
02 July	3, 4	Linear Motion, Force & Acceleration Holiday on Wed only	EX02 Velocity EX03 Acceleration	Chap 3,4	Fri 06 July
09 July	Exam 1 5,6	Midterm 1, Monday 09 July, Chapters 1-4 Lectures Ch 5,6: Action-Reaction, Momentum	EX04 Newton's 2nd Law EX05 Friction	Chap 5,6	Mon 16 July
16 July	7, 8	Energy, Rotation	EX06 Net Force EX07 Momentum	Chap 7,8	Fri 20 July
23 July	Exam 2 9, 10	Midterm 2, Monday 23 July, Chapters 1-8 Lectures Ch 9,10: Gravity, Projectiles	EX08 Projectile Motion EX09 Torque	Chap 9, 10	Mon 30 July
30 July	22, 23, 24	Electrostatics, Electric Current Magnetism	EX10 Rotation EX11 Electricity	Chap 22,23	Mon 06 Aug
06 Aug	25, Review, Final Exam	Magnetic Induction Your review questions Final Exam 09 Aug 09:00 am – 12:30 pm Chapters 1–10 & 22–25	EX12 Magnetism	Chap 24,25	Tue 07 Aug

Conceptual Physics I – Summer 2012