Physics
132 Home Page
Physics 132, Spring 2013
Profs. W. Losert and
E. F. Redish
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Fundamentals
of Physics for Biologists II
Description and Prerequisites
This
course is intended for biology majors and pre-health care professionals. The
physics topics chosen are selected for these students and the contexts emphasize
authentic biological examples. Prerequisites for the course include:
- One year of college biology (BSCI 105 and 106 or the equivalent)
- One semester of college chemistry (CHEM 131 or the equivalent)
- One year of college mathematics (MATH 130 and 131 or the equivalent --
calculus and an introduction to probability).
- The first semester of
this class (PHYS 131 or the instructor's permission)
(If you took 121 or 141 instead, we strongly recommend that you check review
the content you might have missed at: "Catchup
Readings for 132". The full
lists of readings and HW from 131 are available at Readings
for Physics 131 and HW
Problems for Physics 131)
This is not your parent’s
physics! This class will focus on the
physics relevant to living things from molecules to worms to woodpeckers.
While physics, chemistry, and biology are well established fields, some of
the scientific questions you will explore in this class have only recently
been tackled. You will focus on physics at the convergence with biology, where
physical, chemical and biological principles all come into play. A primary
theme for this course is the concept of motion -- and the difference
between coherent, directed motion and the random motion that occurs at the
molecular level. A second topic that we will go into in great detail is the
nature of light and its interaction with matter.
What do I need to buy?
There is no textbook to
buy for this course. We are developing a WikiBook that you will be able to
read on line for free.
There is also no lab manual to buy. The lab instructions will be made available
online.
You will need to have
- A Clicker --
a remote control device from TurningPoint that allows you to contribute
answers in lecture. It is available at the Campus Book Store. This is the
campus standard. If you have one from another class, you are likely to
able to use it here. If you have an iPhone or iTouch you should be able
to use it as a clicker. See
the campus clicker page for more information.
- An Online HW service --
most of the HW will be done online through the online service, MasteringPhysics, from
Pearson publishers. You may buy this at the bookstore or at http://www.masteringphysics.com/site/register/new-students.html.
The course codes for each professor are P132S13LOSERT and P132S13REDISH. (You
can buy this without a
text but you have to identify Knight, College Physics, 2nd ed. as the text.
This gives access to the problems and tutorials from the text, but not
the text itself. If you want access to the text, it costs extra.)
- Access to a computer --
if you have your own laptop you will be able to use that. If not, you will
have to seek out campus computers that run the programs we will be using
and to see our Announcements and to track your grades on ELMS.
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What
else do I need to get?
A lot of what we'll be
doing this term will be on the computer. Our readings and our homework
will be on the internet. You will also need access to a spreadsheet, and
a video analysis program. If you do not have your own laptop, you will
need to seek out the campus computer rooms and find the places where you
can access the appropriate programs. You need:
- A Spreadsheet --
You can either use Excel or the spreadsheet available at Googledocs (http://docs.google.com/)
to do repetitive calculations. If you plan to use Googledocs you will
need to have a Google account (a free Gmail account will work.)
For those of you who are unfamiliar with spreadsheets, there are a number
of good tutorials on the web. These two look particularly appropriate.
Many others are easily found by putting "Excel tutorial" into
your favorite search engine. We will do our own training on Excel
in the first lab.
- A Video Analysis
Program -- We'll be doing a some analysis of video clips
quantitatively. The tool we will use for this will be ImageJ.
This is a program developed for use in biology and medicine at NIH
and is the prefessional standard. If you have your own laptop, we
will help you install this in the laboratory period during the first
week of class (1/23).
What
do I need to do to succeed in this class?
Here is a brief outline of what you will need to do throughout the class.
For more details, see the
Course Mechanics page.
- Do the reading
and commentary for each lecture! -- For each lecture there
will be a required reading of a few web pages. For two of
these you will be asked to summarize the page on your Mastering
Physics online
homework program and ask a question about it. These write ups will
be due by 10PM the night before the lecture class.
You can find these reading assignments on our Reading Assignment page.
- Attend and participate
in all the lectures and recitations! -- This is a class very
much about doing, not just about learning facts or equations.
In lecture we will be doing very little lecturing but a lot of answering
questions, doing group problem solving, and holding class discussions.
You will get participation points for some of this stuff, but that's
not the point -- the point is that in the doing in lecture
and recitation is where a lot of the real learning in this class
takes place. A major part of what you will be learning is how to
talk about and make sense of physics through problem solving with
your classmates.
- Do the weekly
homework! -- While the lecture and recitation is where you
will learn to talk about and make sense of physics through problem
solving, the homework is where you will get to try it out with your
classmates on your own. You are encouraged to work with others and
we have a Course Center (room 0208) set up where you can find people
to work with (and get help when you are stuck). But be careful! If
you work together DO NOT create a common solution and everyone copy
it. Once you have worked out a solution together, each person must
write it up separately in your own words. If two solutions are too
nearly identical neither will get credit! Homework assignments themselves
are found on our Homework Assignment page.
- Keep up! --
I know that you're busy, and in many classes you can let things slide
and then catch up for the exam. In this class that will be very difficult.
Each class builds on the last and on the homework from previous weeks.
If you miss too much you may find yourself lost. In addition, your grade
in this class is based on the accumulation of points in many different
categories throughout the term. For details see our
Grading page.
Times
and Places
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Event
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Time (0101)
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Time (0201)
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Place
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| Lecture |
MWF 10-11 |
MWF 11-12 |
Physics 1219
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| Discussion |
Tu 11-12 |
Tu 3-4 |
Physics 3310
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| Laboratory |
Tu 9-11 |
Tu 1-3 |
Physics 3310
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Instructors
| Instructors |
Name |
Room |
Phone |
Office
Hours
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EMail |
Instructor
(0201)
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Prof. W. Losert |
AV Williams
3341 |
X-50629 |
W 5-6:30
(in the Course Center 0208 or by arrangement at other times in 1308) |
wlosert@umd.edu |
Instructor
(0101) |
Prof. E. F. Redish
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Physics 1308 |
X-56120 |
M 4-6
(in
the Course Center 0208 or by arrangement at other times in 1308) |
redish@umd.edu |
TA |
Kim Moore |
Physics 1322 |
X-56184 |
W 3-5
(in 0208) |
kmoore17@umd.edu |
Lab Insructor |
John Gianini |
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jgiannin@umd.edu |
Learning Assistant |
Max Kushner |
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Lab |
mkushne1@terpmail.umd.edu |
Learning Assistant |
Zach Karakower |
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Lab |
krakower@terpmail.umd.edu |
Slawsky Clinic
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Physics 1214 |
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10-3 MWF (1214) |
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Honor code:
The University of Maryland,
College Park has a nationally recognized Code of Academic Integrity, administered
by the Student Honor Council. This Code sets standards for academic integrity
at Maryland for all undergraduate and graduate students. As a student you are
responsible for upholding these standards for this course. It is very important
for you to be aware of the consequences of cheating, fabrication, facilitation,
and plagiarism. For more information on the Code of Academic Integrity or the
Student Honor Council, please visit http://www.studenthonorcouncil.umd.edu/whatis.html.
If you have any questions
about policy or procedures, please feel free to ask. I am looking forward
to working with you and hope that you will both enjoy and learn a lot from
the class.
Disability arrangements:
Students who have arrangements for extra time on exams should check in with
the instructor at the beginning of the class. In this class, arrangments will
be made for extensions of time on site rather than at the DSS site. This is
to account to permit the student to ask the instructor questions for occasional
corrections or clarifications that are made during the exam period as the result
of student questions.
Religious holidays and other excused absences:
This class follows campus policy for granting exemptions for religious holidays.
For absences for illness, please email your professor stating the cause and
date of your absence. For other potential absences, please consult your instructor.
Email Connections
To send a message to the entire class to start or contribute to a discussion,
send it to me and I will forward it to everyone.
This page prepared by
Edward F. Redish
and Wolfgang Losert
Department
of Physics
University of Maryland
redish@physics.umd.edu
wlosert@umd.edu
Last revision 6 February,
2013.