Physics 131 Physics for Biologists

Part of the weekly homework assignment is in WebAssign, and part will be done on paper and handed in in class.

NOTE (for Redish): The homework will be scanned to guard against lost papers. As a result it is very important that you DO NOT STAPLE OR ATTACH YOUR PAGES IN ANY WAY. If you do so, the scanner may destroy them. Also, if you have torn your pages out of a spiral bound notebook, please remove the perforations.

The WebAssign homework is due on Friday at 5 PM and the paper homework is due at the beginning of the last lecture of the week.

Please note that WebAssign has some quirky rules for what can be entered where. If it is not accepting your answer check out: Answers that cannot be understood. Please follow the instructions for the problems that are given in the WebAssign environment. The links below are to public forms of the problem and may not include specialized WebAssign instructions.

You will be asked to do 3-5 challenging problems including estimations, explanations, essay questions, worked out problems, and even some challenging multiple choice questions. You are encouraged to work on these with friends. The course center is a good space to work together and get feedback from a TA or Professor. CLICK FOR THE COURSE CENTER SCHEDULE.

You have to write up your solutions independently. Be careful: If two or more submitted answers are essentially identical, neither will receive credit. If your solution is essentially identical to one found on the web, you will receive no credit and all your previous answers will be searched to see if they are also copied. Credit for those found to be copied will be removed.

Some of the WebAssign problems (mostly multiple-choice) will be computer-graded, some will be graded for correctness by a human, and some won't be graded (and you'll just get points for completion). However, we won't tell you ahead of time which problems will be graded, so you'll have to do your best on all of them! For the problems that are only graded for completion, make sure you look at the solution afterwards (posted on ELMS); don't let your perfect score on that problem (based on completion) fool you into thinking you did it correctly. (Maybe you did do it correctly, but it's good to confirm that.)

When you get your homework back, it may have otherwise-unexplained letters on it. These are grading codes, and there's a key to them here.

Due date (Fri)	Online HW (due at 5 PM)	Paper Hand in HW (due Beginning of last Lecture of the week)
HW 01 (9/8)	1. Feeding the cougar 2. Dimensions of chemical reaction rates 3. Atorvastatin calcium 4. Scaling up	Going around in circles
HW 02 (9/15)	1. Dynamic dimensionalities 2. How big is a protein molecule? 3. How fast do you need to go? 4. Making up a lap	Moving through a cell
HW 03 (9/22)	1. A traffic ticket 2. Acceleration at the top 3. A remote controlled car 4. Crawling amoebas	What if the Greenland ice sheet melts?
HW 04 (9/29)	1. Can trees save the planet? 2. Force on a woodpecker 3. Son of the ball and the juggler 4. Stretching multiple springs - Toy model of a muscle.	Space jam
HW 05 (10/13)	1. Scientific notation 2. Forces between a charge and a dipole 3. The content in Coulomb's law 4. Estimating the charge on DNA	Analyzing dipoles
HW 06 (10/20)	1. Components of cells 2. Molecular collisions: 1 3. Momentum conservation in subsystems 4. Carts and graphs	Effect of molecular shape on electric forces
HW 07 (10/27)	1. Diffusion through an ion channel 2. Counting H ions 3. Molarity, density, and diffusion 4. Diffusion in time and space	The diffusion spread equation
HW 08 (11/3)	1. Estimating with air 1 2. Partial pressure 3. Millimeters of mercury 4. Floating in oil and water	Fruit fly forces
HW 09 (11/17)	1. Launching a block up a ramp 2. Blood pressure and strokes 3. Physical dependence and the HP law 4. Sticky carts	Cannulae gauge
HW 10 (12/1)	1. Rolling down the electric hill 2. Bound states 3. Chemical bonds 4. Burning hydrogen	Gauss gun energy bar representation
HW 11 (12/8)	1. Energy in photosynthesis - a toy model 2. A biologist, a chemist, and a physicist... 3. A nice cup of tea 4. Considering energy changes	Tension in the heart