Class Web Page: The syllabus and other relevant material can be accessed through the class web page.

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1 PHY 102 Essential Elements of Physics Class Section 10 and Lab. Section 510 and 520 Syllabus- Tentative 09/20/10 Students please note the items in Bold Instructor: Dr. Shaukat Goderya Office: Science Building Room 213B Phone (O): (254) Office Hours: *M,T, W 1-2 PM or by appointment Lab Assistant: TBA *I may not be able to keep some office hours, due to other engagements. Catalog Description: This course introduces fundamental physics and astronomy concepts. Students are expected to design and conduct inquiry based experiments including the development of hypothesis, collection and analysis of data, and the use of appropriate laboratory equipment. Topics include motion, forces, energy, waves, light, electricity, magnetism, stellar and planetary evolution, and the atom. This course is required for Interdisciplinary Studies Majors. Class Web Page: The syllabus and other relevant material can be accessed through the class web page. Pre-requisites Students are expected to satisfy all the necessary pre-requisites requirements for this course. Math 107 College Algebra is required. A prereq Quiz will be given to assist you in deciding whether or not you are ready for this class. Topics include, Basic Trignometry, Basic Algebra, Basic Gemoetry, Basics arithmatic manupilations, working with scientific numbers, significant digits etc (all at the high school level). Required Materials 1. Required - Text Book - Conceptual Physics, 11 th edition, by Paul G. Hewitt, Pearson Addison Wesley 2. Required Laboratory Manual by Paul Robinson for above text: ISBN Registration on online tool WebAssign: Most likely access code is bundled with your textbook. Course Requirements Participation in the following activities is required in order to earn a letter grade in the class. 1. Lectures: Class meets M, W, from 10:00 to 10:50 PM in Science 110. Lectures will be brief introduction to chapter material often with the help of demonstrations. No lecture notes or worksheets will be provided. It is your responsibility to take notes, go home and fill in the missed materials and learn problem solving skills. Reading the text is not enough; you have to understand how the concepts are applied to solving problems. You will also need to pay attention to what math skills are used in each chapter. Some examples problems solving 1

2 will be done during lab period. You will be learning by process of inquiry which means you will need to put in a lot of time reading and learning to solve problems on your own. Random attendance will be taken almost once a week. Credit will be determined based on attendance. 2. Laboratory, Activities and Worksheets: There will be assigned activities and experiments in the lab every week. Some will be done in teams and some as individual. Official time is 2:00 4:50PM Monday for section 20 and 2:25-5:25 PM Tuesday for Section 20 in science 235. Expect to stay for full period during the Lab. This is where you will be doing most of the work. No excuses will be accepted. Do not take this class if you do not have time for the full lab period. A few of the laboratory activities may be be assigned as out of class activities. 2.a) Required Worksheets: Every week each student will be required to complete a worksheet (typically one page) during the last lab hour. The worksheet will have questions related to course content laboratory activity and problem solving. It should be considered as a mini test. It will be closed book, closed notes and on individual basis. The worksheet will contain short questions; fill in the blanks, solving problems, drawing diagrams etc. It will be collected and graded to determine laboratory grade. You will be allowed to use a calculator. 2.b) Lab Writing Assignments: Writing assignments will be given during Lab activity. Students are to complete it on their own and submit the required work on the due dates given. Writing assignment will be part of the Lab grade. 3. Homework: I will assign homework using WebAssign. The problems are based upon your textbook end of chapter problems. Homework will help you prepare for worksheets, test, term exam and the final. 4. Exams: Exam will consist of several different types of qeustions including questions that related to society and physics, skills learned in the course and which may require you to perform an experiement, collect and analyze data to figure out the answer. Details will be provided later (See absence and makeup policy for makeup exams). 5. Final: The final exam will be comprehensive and multiple choices (See absence and makeup policy). Absence Policy and Makeup Policy Class absence policies will be established and enforced. The course instructor may recommend to the Dean of Students that a student be dropped from a course if excessive absences prevent satisfactory progress (TSUSH). Random attendance will be recoded for this course. The student is responsible for any material covered. 1. No makeups for missed test or exams will be allowed after they are handed back to the students in class (in most cases one week). 2. No makeup for missed labs or activities will be allowed beyond the next lab period. 3. There is no makeup for finals, although you may be able to reschedule the exam for an earlier date. ADA accommodations In compliance with the American Disabilities Act (ADA), reasonable accommodations will be made for any student with documented physical or learning disabilities. 2

3 Students with disabilities may request appropriate accommodation by contacting the Director of Student Disability Services in the Mathematics Building, Room 201, at or at Drop Policy A student who withdraws from a course before the thirteenth class day of a regular semester or before the fifth class day in summer term receives no grade, and the course will not be listed on that student s permanent record. A student who withdraws from the course before the end of the tenth week of a regular semester or the fourteenth class day of a summer term receives a grade of W (TSUSH). Academic Conduct 1. Students are responsible for knowing and abiding by the policies and information contained in the Tarleton Student Handbook (TSUSH) 2. In accordance with University's Academic Dishonesty Policy (See TSUSH) any act of dishonesty, cheating, or plagiarism in pursuing course work will be penalized. Examples include cheating during the exam or on the final and copying answers from someone else in homework projects or laboratory report. 3. If your classroom is equipped with computers, you should not use computers in any activity ( , internet browsing, chat, etc) during class time, unless the instructor specifically gives you special permission for doing class related work or the computers are used in conjunction with lecture materials. 4. Cell phone use is not allowed in lecture class. During the lab period you can go out of the room to use your cell phone. 5. During the test and exams no electronic devices other than a scientific calculator will be allowed. Storing answers in calculator memory is considered cheating. You will be allowed to bring an equation sheet. Advise: Your continued registration in the class is considered as a binding agreement on your part to follow the university requirements, rules and policies. University Closure 1. In the event that the university is closed for a scheduled class time, whatever was scheduled for that day and/or whatever was due that day will be scheduled and/or due on the next scheduled class time 3

4 Grades Your grade for the academic progress alert will be based on class test and/or exam if it is given before the grades are due. Your final grade in the class is divided into several parts according to the following: Activity Comments Percentage Class Attendance Unspecified number 10 Homework Unspecified number 5 Lab Writing Assignments Unspecified number 5 Lab Worksheets Unspecified number 20 Exam 1 Required 20 Exam 2 Required 20 Final Exam Required 20 Total 100 Letter Grades will be assigned according to the following scale after rounding your scores to 4 significant digits. A % B % C % D % F less than 60% These letter grade scales are fixed, that is after the final exam no scaling will be done. However, I reserve the right to decrease the lower boundaries (that is your grade might increase if you are near a boundary). All items contained in this syllabus are subject to change as the semester progresses. Student will be notified in advance of any changes. 4

5 Intended Student Outcomes for this course 1. Conduct laboratory investigations using safe and appropriate practices to include: a. Planning and implementing procedures b. Formulating hypotheses c. Selecting and using equipment and technology d. Collecting experimental data e. Analyze data to include constructing graphs and charts, draw inferences and predict trends f. Communicate valid conclusions 2. Apply the concepts of motion and Newton s Laws to analyze and explain physical phenomena 3. Apply the energy concepts including definitions of heat, potential energy, radiant energy, and kinetic energy to analyze and explain physical phenomena 4. Apply wave concepts including reflection, refraction, diffraction, and interference to analyze and explain wave phenomena 5. Apply the properties of light to analyze and explain various optical phenomena including the formation of shadows, color patterns in oil slicks, why the sky is blue, etc. 6. Be able to describe various historical models of the solar system and the experimental observations that each model correctly and/or incorrectly predicts 7. Describe the characteristics of the universe such as stars and galaxies 8. Be able to relate the movements of the Earth and moon relative to the sun to various physical phenomena including the phases of the moon, seasons, length of the day, etc. 9. Be able to use basic concepts in electricity and magnetism to analyze or describe various electromagnetic phenomena including electromagnetism, DC circuits, motors, and electrical power generation by electromagnetic induction. 10. Effectively communicate mathematical and scientific information in written and oral form. 11. Be able to distinguish between an investigable and non-investigable question 12. Be able to describe the cultural, economic, philosophic and political impact of science discoveries in mechanics, astronomy, and electromagnetism upon society. Important Dates Labs every week unless noted on dates in this table Date/Week Events Sep 6 Labor Day Holiday Sep 8/2 Prereq Quiz in class- No Lab on Wednesday Sep 15 Last Day to drop class with no record Oct 13 Exam I During Class Oct 20 Midterm grades due Nov 15 & 16 Exam 2 During Lab Nov Thanksgiving Break: No this week Dec 6&7 Lab to be announced later Dec 10 Finals Begin Dec 15 Final Exam for Class (Wednesday at 11:30-2:00 PM) Normal class room unless changed. 5

6 Topics and content are tentative Day Topics Reading Assignments 1 Introduction Ch1,2 2 Kinematics: Speed, velocity, acceleration, examples, Law Ch 3 of Falling bodies 3 Force: Force, Newton s 1 st law Ch 4 2 nd law, normal force, support force, free body diagram 4 Force: 3 rd law, friction, terminal velocity Ch 5 5 Force: Tension and Equilibrium Ch 5 6 Momentum: impulse, momentum, Newton 2 nd law Ch 6 7 Collisions conservation of momentum Ch 6 8 Energy: work, kinetic energy, work-energy theorem, Ch 7 potential energy, spring energy 9 Energy: Conservation of energy Ch 7 10 Rotation: Circular motion, Newton 2 nd law, angular Ch 8 momentum, conservation of angular momentum 11 Gravity: Universal law of Gravity, Tides Ch 9, Waves: waves, characterization, reflection, refraction Ch Waves: superposition, interference, diffraction, Ch Waves Doppler Effect, Resonance Ch Oscillations: Simple pendulum, simple harmonic motion Ch Electricity: charges, electric force, electric fields, electric Ch 22 potential 17 Electricity: Current, Resistance, AC/DC, Circuits Ch Electricity: DC circuits Ch Magnetism: magnets, properties, compass, fields Ch Magnetism: Current and magnetic force, torque Ch Magnetism: Electromagnetic Induction, Faradays law, Ch 25 Lenz s law 22 Optics: Electromagnetic spectrum, colors Ch 26, Optics: Rays, Mirrors and lenses, colors Ch Optics: Atoms and Radiation Ch 29, 30 Dispersion, spectra and spectrographs 25 Astronomy: constellations, solar system, astronomical Online units, light year, distances, magnitudes 26 Astronomy: models of solar system, retrograde motion, Online parallax, Newton s laws 27 Astronomy: lunar phases, lunar and solar eclipses, seasons, Online 28 Astrophysics: Basic properties of stars, Temperature, color, Online brightness, luminosity 29 Astrophysics: H-R diagram, life of stars Online 30 Astrophysics: milky way and galaxies Online 31 Astrophysics: energy and dark matter Online 32 Astrobiology: origins of life Online 6

7 Misunderstanding and Misconceptions Q. Why do I have to take Physics? A. If you want to be a science teacher than you must take physics, because you might be expected to teach physics. Even biology and chemistry use concepts from physics so you cannot run away from it. Before you can teach someone how to write English you yourself must know how to write and speak English. Physics is the same; you must learn it first so that you can teach it later. Q. I am going to teach kindergarten and elementary school kids, why do I have to take a separate physics class. A. Texas and pretty much most states in the US require teaching certificate to teach science in schools. Degree programs are not specifically target to teaching any particular grade level, as teachers you might find yourself teaching in elementary, middle or high school; therefore it is essential to have a well rounded knowledge of all subjects in science. Q. Why does physics have to have so much maths in it? A. Physics is a quantitative science, without math it is impossible to prove your ideas and develop them into useable knowledge. Just like you cannot do plumbing without proper tools, you cannot learn physics without using mathematics. Q. Is Physics 102 the easiest class I can take? Is there an alternative? A. Physics 102 is the required class for your degree objective. There is one lower level class called Physics 101 that you can take before physics 102, but you will not get credit for it. Physics 101 is very descriptive and elementary; it is good for poets and those majoring in arts area and need a science credit. Physics 102 is one grade level higher, and requires that you develop some problem solving skills in addition to content knowledge. Q. I came to class and lab every day, yet I am failing this class. A. Showing up in class and lab is not enough, one has to be active and present in mind. Physics is about solving problems, if you are not learning that skill, then you are not learning physics the right way. An easy test to see if you are learning the material is to solve end of chapter problems yourself. If you can completely solve (not find the answer) them without looking at solutions, some ones work, notes, textbook than you know you are learning the material and should be able to do well in exams. 7

Spring 2015 Natural Science I: Quarks to Cosmos CORE-UA 209. SYLLABUS and COURSE INFORMATION.

Spring 2015 Natural Science I: Quarks to Cosmos CORE-UA 209 Professor Peter Nemethy SYLLABUS and COURSE INFORMATION. Office: 707 Meyer Telephone: 8-7747 ( external 212 998 7747 ) e-mail: peter.nemethy@nyu.edu