PH101: Essentials of Physics Fall 2016 TR 12:00-13:50, 90 Fifth Ave Cinema

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PH101: Essentials of Physics Fall 2016 TR 12:00-13:50, 90 Fifth Ave Cinema Instructor: Dr. Christopher Butenhoff Email: cbuten@pdx.edu (do not use D2L mail) Dept.

1 PH101: Essentials of Physics Fall 2016 TR 12:00-13:50, 90 Fifth Ave Cinema Instructor: Dr. Christopher Butenhoff (do not use D2L mail) Dept. of Physics Course website: Science Res. & Teaching Center Phone: Off. hours: W 14:00-16:00, or by appt. Odd as it may seem, most people s views about motion are part of a system of physics that was proposed more than 2000 years ago and was experimentally shown to be inadequate at least 1400 years ago. - I Bernard Cohen, Science historian Of all the intellectual hurdles which the human mind has confronted and has overcome in the last fifteen hundred years the one which seems to me to have been the most amazing in character and the most stupendous in scope of its consequences is the one relating to the problem of motion. - Herbert Butterfield, Historian Course Description In Physics we try to discover how the Universe works, what rules it follows, what organizing principles it obeys, and of what stuff it is composed. This does more than simply satisfy our curiosity; it creates a model of what is out there, of Reality. Physics is more than just a means to technological ends; Physics determines in large part how we view the world and our place in it. It is a pursuit of knowledge at the most fundamental level of Nature. As such knowledge of physical laws is essential not only to scientists and engineers but to all contemplative people who wish to understand their world through reason and evidence. One can make a strong argument that a well-rounded education is simply incomplete without Physics. This course is the first half of a two-term sequence that continues as PH 102 in Winter Term. No previous background in Physics is assumed. Our focus this term is primarily the physics of motion at the human scale. At this level the laws of Newton are quite adequate. Though mathematically simple, Newton s three laws (four including his law of gravity) are conceptually challenging. They marked one of the greatest revolutions in human thought. In addition to Newton s laws of motion and gravity, we will also cover conservation laws and properties of matter. Course goals: Compare and contrast your intuitive understanding of the world with the Newtonian worldview Develop a conceptual understanding of physics to better understand the workings of the natural world Use laws of physics to solve novel problems Recognize physics in your daily life Think critically using the laws of physics as your guide Improve quantitative literacy 1

2 Improve problem solving skills through analysis and deduction Have fun and meet some new people! My teaching philosophy: Physics classrooms are traditionally lecture-based. Though successful for generations, this practice dates back to times when books were rare and the instructor was a sage on the stage. Times have changed. Books are plentiful (though not cheap!) and well-written and can be consumed easily outside the classroom. Physics education research shows that learning improves when students have the chance to interact, both with the instructor and their peers, and practice the material in the class. To this end, we will spend time in class on interactive activities, including practice problems, clicker-style questions, and peer-to-peer instruction. In addition students are required to answer WarmUp Questions before class (explained below). My motivation is to improve your learning. Interacting with peers is sometimes uncomfortable; nonetheless, once that hurdle is overcome most students find it quite rewarding. I hope you do as well. Textbook: Inquiry into Physics, Vern Ostdiek & Donald Bord, Cengage Learning. Lectures will follow the text and chapter problems will be assigned as homework. Older editions are fine but make sure you get HW problems from latest edition. A copy will be on course reserve at the library. You may also wish to check out a free open source OpenStax College Physics textbook: Although this text is meant for an algebra-based physics class there is considerable overlap with our course and conceptual material. For those of you who do not wish to buy the text this is an option. Even if you buy the other text, this is a good resource to use. Clickers : All students are required to purchase a license ($24) for the Top Hat Student Response System. We will use this system for both in-class interactive clicker-style questions and pre-class questions that must be completed before each class period. Participation credit and warm-up question credit will be determined by this. This is a website-based system that students interact with both directly online and with mobile devices (cellphones/smartphones/laptops/tablets) as the clicker. You will need to bring one of these devices to each class. If you do not have any of these devices please contact me. Sign up at: Our course code is The course name is PH101 Essentials of Physics (Fall2016). Course Requirements: Homework (15%): Practice, practice, practice! Think of some activity that you excel at photography, cycling, music, video games, etc. How did you reach that level? I would guess not simply by reading a book or watching someone do it. Same with physics. You must practice, thus homework problems. Three sets collected throughout the term. Homeworks are due at the beginning of the class. No credit given for late work. If you know you will miss class, you can turn in your homework early. Homework is an individual effort. Though you can use other students as resources, the homework you submit must be your own. Exams (65%): There will be two midterms and one final. The better of your two midterms is worth 25% and the other is worth 15%. The final exam is worth 25%. Exams are a combination of multiple-choice and short answer questions. The final will be comprehensive with an emphasis on the material covered after the second midterm. You are allowed to use one sheet of notes --- front and back --- for the exams and a stand-alone calculator (no smartphones/laptops etc. allowed). You are responsible for all specified 2

3 material in the text and classroom. You will need to bring one Scantron (Form 882-E) to each exam. Scantrons are available in the PSU Bookstore and Student Union. WarmUp Questions (10%): At least two hours before class (i.e. before 10:00am) you are required to answer questions about the day s reading. This serves a couple of purposes. It gives you more practice working physics problems, gets you thinking about class material before class, and provides me with feedback about student understanding and misconceptions which I can address in class. The questions are implemented in the Top Hat (tophat.com) in the WarmUps folder. Participation (10%): Based on participation in class with clicker-style questions. Your grade will be based on the percentage of the questions you answer regardless of your answer (correct answers are given extra credit!) You can check your participation grade anytime at the Top Hat website. Extra Credit Opportunities (up to 8%): 1. Correct answers for Clicker questions (up to 5%) Based on percentage of in-class clicker questions you answer correctly. Automatically recorded at the Top Hat website. 2. Online Discussion (up to 3% pts) Post and discuss anything related to physics on D2L, including physics-related news articles, examples of physics in everyday life, physics application to your major, etc. Links to physics-relevant videos are also encouraged, but you must provide description/summary etc. Posts that contain only links receive no credit. Non-trivial responses to other posts also receive credit. Post fifteen times for full credit. Grading A-range, B-range, C-range, D-range, <60 F + for top three percentages in each range - for bottom three percentages in each range NOTE: Exam grades are adjusted so class average is middle C (75) if lower. P/NP students must get 70% for a P. Final Grades are final. No extra work can be done after grades are submitted. Challenges: Learning physics is not memorization. It is recognizing the laws of physics in novel problems, and using those laws to reason logically to a proper conclusion. Reading and understanding the text is necessary but not sufficient to learn physics. You must apply physics concepts to new situations to truly test your understanding. You will get some experience with WarmUp and Homework questions but practice as much you can. Another difficulty with physics is the language and terminology. Words in physics may have different meanings than how we use them in everyday speech. For example we tend to use interchangeably the words velocity, speed, momentum, and inertia. Doing so in physics will get you into trouble. Each word has a precise meaning. Unless you know that meaning it is doubtful you will produce the correct answer. Much of the challenge is to first unlearn our preconceived definitions and replace them with the physical definitions. This is also true about our preconceived conceptual understanding. Our intuition about the world is often wrong and more similar to the physics of Aristotle than Newton. Learning physics is not just adding new information to our conceptual framework; rather we must rebuild it and replace our misconceptions about the world with new ideas. Integrating these new ideas into our conceptual understanding is challenging. Mathematics 3

4 You should look through the textbook to assess whether you are comfortable with the level of mathematics in this course. The equations we will use are algebraic, for example F=ma. The ability to manipulate algebraic equations (for example, solve for the variable a ) will be of great help to learn the material. We will work with graphs and slopes, scientific notation, and unit conversions. We will slowly go through these and there is a good math review at the end of the textbook. I am happy to work with you individually as well. Policies: Absences - To establish a fair policy, only absences due to documented illnesses or emergencies will be given the opportunity to do missed work. This means late HW due to illness will only be accepted with documentation. Exams can only be made up with documented absences. If you think you will miss a significant amount of class-time due to outside responsibilities, please be aware of this policy. Announcements - Most announcements and communications will be posted on D2L. Please check the site often for updates and due dates. Respect - You can do some simple things to ensure that everyone in class has the best opportunity to learn and do well. Please turn off phones before class, refrain from unnecessary conversations with others, refrain from listening to music, watching videos, or playing games during class. Above all please treat others with respect. We all enter the classroom with different skills and experiences. We want a classroom that is welcoming to all. PSU Code of Student Conduct and Responsibility: As with all other classes at PSU, conduct questions not explicitly covered by this syllabus are covered by PSU s Code. You may find this document at: Additional Resources: If you have a disability and require assistance obtaining resources at PSU, please see me. I will be happy to accommodate you as best I can. You will also need to register at the Disability Resource Center in Smith 435 ( ). 4

5 ++++ TENTATIVE SCHEDULE ++++ SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITH WARNING +++ Date Topics Readings Homework/Exams Week 1 T (9/27) Introductory Remarks All from Inquiry into Physics unless noted Th (9/29) Questions of Motion, Physics Worldviews Prologue, Worldviews (Dewitt, Ch1 pp 3 13, posted on D2L) Week 2 T (10/04) Physical quantities, Vectors & Scalars, Speed Section Th (10/06) Velocity, Acceleration, Centripetal Acceleration Section 1.3 Week 3 T (10/11) Types of Motion, Graphing Motion Section 1.4 Th (10/13) Forces, Law of Inertia Sections Week 4 T (10/18) Friction, Weight, Newton s 2nd Law Sections HW #1 due Th (10/20) Projectile Motion, Centripetal Force, Air Resistance Section 2.6 Week 5 T (10/25) MIDTERM I No new readings MIDTERM I Th (10/27) Newton s Third Law Sections 2.7 Week 6 T (11/01) Newton s Law of Gravity Sections 2.8 Th (11/03) Orbital Motion, Linear Momentum Section Week 7 T (11/08) Impulse, Law of Conservation of Momentum Sections 3.2 HW #2 due Th (11/10) C of Mom examples, Energy & Work Sections 3.3 Week 8 T (11/15) MIDTERM II No new readings MIDTERM II Th (11/17) Kinetic & Potential Energy Section 3.4 Week 9 T (11/22) Conservation of Mechanical Energy, Power Sections 3.5, 3.7 Th (11/24) HAPPY THANKSGIVING! - NO CLASS No new readings Week 10 T (11/29) Rotational Motion and Angular Momentum Section 3.8 Th (12/01) Spillover or start on CH4 TBD HW #3 due Th (12/08) FINAL *****Note different time (10:15-12:05)!! ****** FINAL 5

Teaching a Laboratory Section

Chapter 3 Teaching a Laboratory Section Page I. Cooperative Problem Solving Labs in Operation 57 II. Grading the Labs 75 III. Overview of Teaching a Lab Session 79 IV. Outline for Teaching a Lab Session