PHYS101N - Elementary Physics I | Fall 2009, TR 9:30 - 10:45
Important Links:
This is the website for PHYS101N, Fall
2009 Semester. Additional information will be posted as it becomes
available - come back often!
And use the "reload" button on your browser to get the most recent
version...
Thursday, November 19
- We DO have lecture next Tuesday, but (alas!) not on Thursday.
There is also NO lab next week. Happy
!
- If you participated in the Annual
Pumpkin Drop, you must
hand me the sheet with answers to the questions for extra
credit! Every person has to submit their own sheet - group
submissions will not be counted. (You won't be penalized if your
catcher wasn't successful, don't worry)
- WebAssign: HW
problem set 10 has a little extra time for you to
catch your breath... it is now due before WEDNESDAY Nov
25th! The following one is only due before Friday, December 4...but DO
NOT WAIT until the last minute for either one!
- LAB MANUAL: One of the
experiments (EX11) has the wrong writeup in
the manual - I have posted the
correct version HERE.
- Lecture
Notes for the first 13 weeks have been posted.
General Announcements
- What do you need? Our textbook ("Conceptual Physics" by Hewitt,
ed. 10), your WebAssign access
code and your PRS
Radio
Frequency
Clicker (to respond to in-class quizzes), as well
as the Department of Physics Manual for the PHYS101 Labs. All of these should be available in the ODU
bookstore; the textbook should
come with a WebAssign access code ("scratch off" silver bar). If you
buy a version of the book
without the
WebAssign access package (e.g. a used version) you can also get the
WebAssign Code directly from WebAssign's web page. The clickers are sold
by other sources, as well - e.g., amazon.com -, but make sure you get
the right model - see http://www.einstruction.com/products/assessment/prs/index.html
- I also recommend some additional books (from the library or even
to buy if you're interested): "Guesstimation" by Profs. Lawrence
Weinstein and John Adam (both at ODU), Princeton Press (a nice primer
on how to use rough quantitative estimations in everyday life); "How
Things Work" by Louis Bloomfield (UVA), Wiley; and "The Cartoon Guide
to Physics" by Gonick and Huffman, Harper Perennial. Also books by
Lawrence Krauss, Brian Greene etc....
- We will use the WebAssign
homework assignment system for all homework submissions. You will need
to have an access code to use this system. Also,
you should make
yourself familiar with WebAssign
if you haven't used it so far. You will be able to start using the
system around the week of
August 23. I will post a first assignment "Introduction to WebAssign"
which you can do at your leisure; it will not be graded. You can find a
lot of important information on the WebAssign
page for this class; please let
me know if you have any corrections.
- During approximately one session per week, I will administer a
short quiz to test your (conceptual) understanding of what we learned
in class. You will give your answers for the quiz questions (typically
multiple choice or simple numerical answers) using your
personal Interwrite PRS
Radio
Frequency
Clickers. You should come prepared for the very
first session:
The clickers will also be used for the
midterm and final exam and for extended tests, so you absolutely have
to have
one
if you want to get
credit for this class.
Note that you can use the same clicker throughout your whole
education at ODU - it is your personal property. (I believe you can
also resell your clicker, or vice
versa buy a used one - make sure it's the right type, though!)
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.
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
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. If you have too heavy a course load already
and cannot commit substantial time and effort to this course, you may
be disappointed by the outcome. Note that you only have until the end
of the first week of classes to
withdraw with full tuition refund, and only one more week to withdraw
with 1/2 tuition refund. It pays (literally) to figure out right away
whether or not you plan to continue the course.
Here
are 8 important nuggets of wisdom for all freshmen...
2) Suggestions for Homework
Homework will be submitted through WebAssign.
All
deadlines
are
hard and fast - no extensions under any circumstances
(that includes late-night technical glitches).
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 ahead", 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!
- 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 and/or in the Learning
Center.
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. For
your convenience, you can submit your HW answers to WebAssign from the
computers in the Learning Center. I will be in the Learning Center
after class on Tuesdays.
Get involved: Tell
me
(via email, office hour, note, in the learning center, after class)
what you would
like
me (or the TA) to do or change to make the
learning easier 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
give us trade-off options ("do more of this and less of that").
Remember,
if you never go to office hours, the Learning Center, etc.,
we can't help you. No student who
made an effort to meet with me when (s)he encountered problems has ever
failed this class!
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 my solutions and 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 midterm (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!
Solutions to
previous Homework Problem Sets and Tests
Note: WebAssign will allow you to see the Answer Key for all past HW assignments - check
yourself (and do additional practice problems if you had difficulties).
Lecture Notes 
The ODU
chapter of the Society of Physics Students (SPS) organizes an
annual "Pumpkin drop" competition. Teams of up to 4 students (both ODU
and high school) compete by building contraptions that are supposed to
catch a pumpkin dropped from the top of the BAL building without
destroying it. I encourage PHYS101 students to participate in this
event, which this year is on October 29 (close to
Halloween). There will be extra credit available! More information can
be found HERE.
Return to S. Kuhn Homepage.
Return to Physics
Department.