Syllabus for PHYS 142: Principals of Physics: S05
http://www2.physics.umd.edu/~eno/teaching/142/s05/s05.html
Instructor
Professor Sarah Eno
Office: Room 4335
Office Phone: (301) 405-7179
e-mail: eno@physics.umd.edu
Office Hours:Monday
3;00-4:00 and Tuesday,
I am often in
Where, When
Lecture: Physics
1201, MWF
Laboratory: PHYS
3314, Section 0101: M
Recitation: Section
0101: M
Physics Clinic: PHYSICS
1214. everyday
Course Description
The second of a two-semester series in general physics. This survey course will use algebra, trigonometry, and calculus and is recommended for chemistry and zoology majors. It also satisfies the requirements of medical and dental schools. The course is a continuation of PHYS 141, and covers waves, electricity and magnetism, optics and modern physics.
USP Distributive Studies Area B: Natural
Sciences and Mathematics Course.
4 credit hours
Credit will be granted for only one of the
following: PHYS 142, PHYS 260 and PHYS 261, or PHYS 272.
Prerequisite: PHYS141 or equivalent. Students are expected to be comfortable and
proficient in algebra, trigonometry, and calculus.
Required
Physics for Scientists and Engineers with
Modern Physics, Volume 2, sixth edition
Suggested
calculator
Your instructors have office hours, both scheduled and by appointment, and are happy to help you outside of class. Don’t be shy! We really are happy to work with you!
In addition, the physics clinic, located in PHYS 1214, is available to students in this course. They have special sessions for this class every day from 10-11 and from 12-1.
You will be required to demonstrate your abilities both to do traditional problem solving and also to answer “conceptual” problems that require little or no calculation.
Exams
There will be three 50-minute examinations and one final exam. You may bring one 4x6 index card to the exams, with any formulas, etc written on it that you want. You may bring 3 cards to the final. Your lowest exam score on the three 50-minute exams (not the final) will be dropped. All exams are cumulative. The exam will include problems and conceptual questions. You are responsible for showing up on time with a working calculator. The exam sheets will contain any numerical constants you will need. Make up exams will be given only under extraordinary circumstances, and if arrangements are made with me ahead of time.
Quizzes:
There will be a 10 minute quiz every week at the end of
class on Friday on the material covered the previous week (and in the HW you
turned in Wednesday). The quizzes will
start at
Homework:
Homework assignments will be made available on the web every Wednesday. They are due the following Wednesday at the end of class unless otherwise specified. Late homework is accepted only in exceptional circumstances. Solutions for the homework assignments will be posted during the evening of the day they are turned in. To get full credit, you must show all your work. You will not receive credit if you do not show your work, even if you write down the "right" answer. When answering the "questions", please use complete sentences. If the question is a true/false, a multiple choice, yes/no, or other similar question, explain why the answer you chose is the correct one. Your TA will deduct points if your handwriting is illegible, or if your answer is hard to understand because of poor grammar.
Your homework will be graded as
follows: your TA will choose 4 questions, including at least one of each type
("questions" and "problems"), to grade. These questions
will be graded on a scale of 1 to 10, and the grades will be summed.
Solutions will be posted on the
web site after you turn the homework in, on Wednesday afternoon.
Laboratories
This semester, we are completely revising the lab manual. Therefore, you will not need to buy a lab manual. Instead, you will be given the lab instructions each week in your lab class. The lab will consist of a check sheet and a set of questions. You will complete these during class and hand them in before you leave. You will not need to do any work outside of class.
Because all the labs are new, it may be a bit chaotic in the lab this year. Please be assured that, if the lab has problems that are our fault, you will not be penalized for this. If you come to lab, work hard while you are there and do your best, listen to the TA, discuss physics with him/her and with the other students in the class, you will receive full credit for the laboratory portion of this course.
Your final grade will be determined as a weighted average of your exam grades, your assignment grades, and your journal grades
|
total
number of points you receive/ total number of possible points for |
Weight |
|
Exam with highest grade |
0.20 |
|
Exam with second highest grade |
0.20 |
|
Exam with third highest grade |
0.0 |
|
Final Exam |
0.25 |
|
Quizzes |
0.20 |
|
Homework Problems |
0.075 |
|
Laboratories |
0.075 |
The final grade will be set at the end of the semester
after all work is completed. In assigning the final grade, I will be guided by
the
A denotes excellent mastery of the subject
and outstanding scholarship.
B denotes good mastery of the subject and
good scholarship.
C
denotes acceptable mastery of the subject and the usual achievement expected.
D
denotes borderline understanding of the subject. It denotes marginal performance, and it does
not represent satisfactory progress toward a degree.
F
denotes failure to understand the subject and unsatisfactory performance.
I will decide where to put the dividing line for various grades after looking at the distribution of points in the class.
Along with certain rights, students also have the responsibility to behave honorably in an academic environment. Academic dishonesty, including cheating, fabrication, facilitating academic dishonesty, and plagiarism will not be tolerated. Any abridgement of academic integrity standards will be referred directly to the Assistant Dean and forwarded to the University’s Office of Judicial Affairs. Confirmation of such incidents can result in expulsion from the University. Students who are uncertain as to what constitutes academic dishonesty should consult the University publication entitled Academic Dishonesty.
Of course, you must work by yourself on exams and quizzes. You are allowed to work with other students, the physics clinic, your TA and your instructor on your homework and on the labs. However, you should not just directly copy from them. Doing so is not only dishonest, it will hurt your ability to do the problems on the quizzes and the exams.
You should also be aware of the
The Honor Pledge is a statement undergraduate and graduate students should be asked to write by hand and sign on examinations, papers, or other academic assignments not specifically exempted by the instructor. The Pledge reads:
"I pledge on my honor that I have not given or received any unauthorized assistance on this assignment/examination."
The pledge was adopted by the University Senate on