Department of
Physics
Spring 2008 Prof. Carter Hall Physics 272/272H
Title: PHYS 272/272H Introductory Physics: Fields: Second semester of a calculus based general
physics course. Universal gravitation, electric and magnetic
fields and potentials, simple circuits, Maxwell's equations in integral form.
Continues the application of mathematics to conceptual
models, now with more abstract components.
Instructor:
Prof. Carter Hall, Room
2220B, Phone: 5-6103, e-mail: crhall@umd.edu.
Office Hours:
By appointment. Also feel free to drop by my office. If I'm there, I'll be
happy to talk to you.
TA:
Rashmish Mishra, email:
rashmish@umd.edu.
Schedule:
Three meetings weekly: T,H.......
12:30 pm- 1:45 pm (PHYS 1201)
F...........12:00pm
- 12:50 pm (PHYS 1201)
Required
Texts:
Physics
for Scientists and Engineers Volume 2 (6th Edition) by Paul A. Tipler and
Gene Mosca, ISBN-10: 1-4292-0133-9.
Optional: Student Study
Guide Volume 2 to accompany Tipler/Mosca's Physics
for Scientists and Engineers (Sixth Edition) by Todd Ruskell,
ISBN: 1-4292-0410-9.
Student
Solutions Manual Volume 2 to accompany Tipler/Mosca's
Physics for Scientists and Engineers (Sixth Edition) by David Mills, ISBN-10:
1-4292-0303-X
Additional Resources: You will need a WebAssign account (www.webassign.com) to turn in your
homework. WebAssign charges a $30 fee for their
service.
Website:
http://www.physics.umd.edu/courses/Phys272/Hall-Spring-2008/index.html
Homework:
Homework will consist of a mix of textbook
and non-texbook questions. The homework assignment
will be posted on the course website each Thursday. It is the student's
responsibility to check the website for the assignment each week.
Part of the homework assignment will be
graded using WebAssign (www.webassign.com), a
web-based homework utility. Each student will need to purchase an account from WebAssign for $30. The homework assignment will make clear
which problems should be answered using WebAssign. The
WebAssign homework will be due each Thursday morning
at 5 AM.
Students will also turn in handwritten
solutions to ALL of the homework
problems, including those which are graded by WebAssign.
Two or three of the problems will be chosen for detailed grading by the TA and
instructor. The handwritten problems will be graded on a scale from zero to
three: three points if completely correct, two points if mostly correct, one
point if mostly incorrect, zero points for entirely incorrect or no answer.
The homework grade will be divided 50/50
between the WebAssign portion and the handwritten
portion. The lowest two homework grades will be dropped when your final grade
is calculated.
Pre-lecture
reading assignment and reading quizzes:
You are expected to do the reading
assignment from the textbook before each class. The assignment for each class is listed in the
class schedule and on the course website.
To encourage you to do the reading, we will
have occasional pop quizzes at the beginning of class. The quizzes should be
easy if you have done the reading assignment. They will be collected promptly
ten minutes after class begins. You may pick up the quiz five minutes before
class if you like. No make-up quizzes will be offered. However, your lowest
quiz grade will be dropped.
Lecture:
During class we will discuss the physical
concepts covered in the reading assignment, particularly those topics which are
known to be confusing. Students will vote on the answers to conceptual
questions, and try to convince their classmates - and instructor - of their
choice. Note that we do not have enough class time to cover all of material
during lecture. Nevertheless, students will be responsible for all of the
material in the reading, whether it is discussed in class or not.
Exams:
We will have three in-class exam plus a final exam. The final exam will take place on Tuesday May 20, from 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm in PHYS1201.
Honors
Section:
Honors students will be required to
complete the 272 homework plus additional 272H homework problems. 272H will
have a separate WebAssign page, so honors students
must complete the WebAssign problems for both 272 and
272H. Honors students will also have additional handwritten problems to turn
in.
Honors students will also write a 10-15
page paper to be turned in the last day of class (May 13) and prepare a 20
minute seminar to be delivered in a special session with the other honors
students. The topic of the paper and seminar will be agreed upon by the student
and instructor.
Dropping
the Course:
Note: the last day to drop without a “W”
is February 8. The last day to drop with
a "W" is April 11.
Grading:
Phys272:
|
Three
in-class exams |
|
40%
|
|
Final
Exam |
|
20% |
|
Reading
Quizzes |
|
20% |
|
Homework |
|
20% |
Phys272H
|
Three
in-class exams |
|
30%
|
|
Final
Exam |
|
15% |
|
Reading
Quizzes |
|
15% |
|
Homework |
|
20% |
|
Final
Paper / Presentation |
|
20% |