PHYS102N - Elementary Physics II | Spring 2011, TR 9:30 -
10:45
| OCNPS 200
Continuum Dynamics and Modern Physics - Instructor: Dr. Sebastian E. Kuhn -
Important Links:
April 26
Today was our final class - it's off to the Final (on Tuesday in one
week, May 3, at 8:30 - EARLIER than class - in our usual class room).
Make sure you bring paper, pen, calculator and your clicker (with fresh
batteries), as well as a copy of the formula
sheet. To help you practice, I have posted today's
clicker quiz covering the whole semester, with answers. If
any of these answers are unclear to you, make sure you read up in the
book, lecture notes and/or formula sheet.
April 19
I know that getting you head around Einstein isn't easy. In case you're
interested, I've posted HERE a write-up on "Einstein
and Sailing", an article that will appear in a forthcoming book on "The
Philosophy of Sailing". Admittedly, the article is written with sailing
enthusiasts and philosophers in mind (but at a level PHYS102 students
should be able to understand); I hope that even if you are not an avid
sailor, you can still find some useful ideas and analogies in there.
Give it a try (but please do NOT disseminate to avoid copyright
infringements).
April 5
Course Evaluations can now be submitted on-line.
This course will end soon, and therefore is available for students
to evaluate. The information gathered through the Course Evaluation System
is used as part of the evaluation of instruction at Old Dominion
University.
Students are notified via email that they can evaluate this course,
however, I want to remind you to participate in helping improve
academics at the University. Students can log into the Course Evaluation
System by using their University email account-id and password. The link is
available from the University Home Page:
www.odu.edu
Current Students
Course Evaluation System (under Academic Resources)
ALL EVALUATIONS ARE ANONYMOUS.
This site will be continuously updated
during the semester - come back often.
- What do you need? If you have taken PHYS101 last semester, you should
still have nearly everything you need, including the clicker. You don't
need a
new book or WebAssign access code. But you DO need the lab manual for
PHYS102 (from the bookstore)!
- All others, this is what you need: Our textbook ("Conceptual
Physics" by Hewitt,
ed. 10 or 11 - the exact edition is not important, even earlier ones
are o.k.), your WebAssign
access
code, a PRS RF clicker, as well
as the Department of Physics Manual for the PHYS102 Labs. All of these should be available in the ODU
bookstore; the textbook (if bought new)
should
come with a WebAssign access code and extra material ("Practicing
Physics").
- We will use the WebAssign
homework assignment system for all homework submissions. You will need
to purchase an access code to use this system. 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. Because of past bad experience, I
recommend against buying WebAssign access codes from the ODU bookstore
- you can buy yours directly from the WebAssign website. Make
yourself
familiar
with WebAssign
if you haven't used it so far. You can find a
lot of important information on the WebAssign
page for this class; please READ
IT
CAREFULLY and let
me know if you have any corrections.
- Note: Some copies of
the Lab Manual may be a little outdated - there is one (and only one)
experiment that changed slightly, EP09. Please make sure you follow the
revised version of EP09 (the
link is to a .pdf version of the lab writeup)!
- You will also
need a PRS
Radio
Frequency
Clickers to respond to in-class quizzes and for tests/exams. IMPORTANT NOTICE: The University as
a whole is moving to a new clicker system (from "Turning
Technologies"); however, this system is much less powerful than the PRS
system and is not suitable for
our
class.
Therefore,
you
MUST
obtain a PRS RF clicker for this class,
even if you use other clickers for other classes. There are several
ways to obtain them:
- Note - New:
I
just
learned
that
the
ODU
bookstore
doesn't
have
the
right
clickers
anymore,
but the "Dominion Bookstore" across from campus (off 47th St.)
does (for $22.50). You have to ask specifically for the "old" PRS
clickers.
- Maybe you already have one from a class you took in earlier
semesters (including PHYS101). In that case, do nothing
- do NOT exchange them for new
clickers (if and when Turning Point technologies offers a buy-back
coupon).
- You may buy used PRS RF clickers from any (ODU) student who
has
them and no longer needs them.
- There may be other sources, like Amazon.com or Ebay - just
make
sure you get the correct model
- Once you have your clicker, make sure it has a fresh battery
and store your UIN (triple-check it's the correct one). Instructions
can be found here. (Please Note:
you
do
not need to "activate
the
clicker ID in LEO"!)
- Familiarize
yourself
with
the
operation
of
the
clicker
- 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....
- Feel free to send me email for
any
questions
you
may
have,
or
to
set
up
an
appointment
outside
of
regular
office
hours.
General Considerations
1) Is this course for me?
Note: This course is the continuation
of PHYS101N. You must have
passed PHYS101N or an equivalent course to
enroll; if you did badly in PHYS101N, you might have a hard time with
this course also.
The purpose of this course is to give you 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, heat, wave, matter)
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 (as well as
do lab experiments).
It helps if you have some knowledge of math (high school algebra and
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. Ask yourself:
- Have you ever wondered what it would feel like if you were
"weightless"? What "weight" actually means? How you can tell from the
time it takes a stone to drop to the bottom of a well how deep that
well is? What you would see if you had "microscopic eyes"? Why (and if)
energy is ever "lost"? How we can understand the way atoms, nuclei and
elementary particles interact? How the Universe really began?
- If I tell you that the square of the orbit time of a planet is
proportional to the orbit radius cubed (T2 proportional to R3), could you tell me
how much
orbit time increase if orbit radius increases fourfold? (Elementary
algebra - the answer is "8 times")
- If I tell you the vertical and horizontal components of a vector,
can you tell me its length? Its direction? (Elementary Geometry)
If you can commit some serious effort and time, 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). Also, look at the "Summary of
Terms" and the "Review Questions" at the end of each chapter to find
relevant information.
- 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).
- Never 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! In fact, you should ALWAYS plan to submit your
solutions on the day before the hard deadline.
- 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 also strongly encourage you to try out some
of the "projects" in the book and as many of the animations in The
Physics
Place as you can.
- Most of you will have the companion book "Practicing Physics"
which has many nice practice questions with solutions (plus a list of
solutions to all odd-numbered exercises and problems in the book).
Study these!
- 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 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.
- As you can see, this class DOES require several extra hours of
work every week outside of the class room!
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 (e.g., doing sample problems, following the
examples in the text very carefully, etc.).
In particular, the best
preparation
for exams is to do both your regular homework and maybe a couple extra
"practice exercises" every week. 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 (honor code), but
it also
deprives you of the learning process. Even if you don't get the final
answer
(right), if you at least have 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 any additional study material that came with the book, or
go to the book website.
- The companion book "Practicing Physics is a perfect study guide -
but you have to keep up with each topic as it is treated in class. Fill
in the blanks and then check yourself!
- 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!
- 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).
- Remember, midterm exams will cover the chapters in the book
treated in
class up to the day before the exam, beginning with the first chapter
not covered in the previous midterm (for the second and third).
However, some
"background
knowledge" from all of 101 and 102 may be needed to answer a given
question.
The
final exam covers all material from 102 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 before the exam!
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
Go to PHYS101 Homepage
Return to S.
Kuhn Homepage.
Return to Physics
Department.
