Syllabus for Physics 2C Fall 1999

Physics 2C Fall 1999

Fluids, Thermodynamics, Waves, & Optics

Instructor: Dr Jason Kriesel 534-6956 jkriesel@ucsd.edu

Office Hours: Thur. 2:00-3:45 Mayer Hall 3418

Teaching Assistant: James Bouwer 534-6088 jbouwer@physics.ucsd.edu

T.A. Off. Hours: Fri. 10:00-11:30 Mayer Hall 2106

Lectures: M, W 1:25-2:15pm WLH 2001

Tues 6:50-7:40pm York 2722

Disc. Sess.: W 4:40-5:30pm Center 216

or W 5:45-6:35pm Center 216

Prob. Sess.: Thur 7:00-8:50pm Peter 110

Quiz: Fri 1:25-2:15pm WLH 2001

Final: Wed 15-Dec 11:30-2:30pm TBA

Text: Halliday, Resnick, and Walker, Fundamentals of Physics (5^th Ed.)

Web Page: http://physics.ucsd.edu/students/courses/fall99/physics2c Course info, HW & Quiz solutions, and extra credit assignments to be completed each Tuesday by 5:00pm.

Grade: 70% Quizzes (best 6 of 8); 30% Final; extra-credit web assignments.

Basic Course Information: Physics 2C is the 3^rd quarter of introductory Physics for students majoring in science and engineering. Prerequisites: C or better in Physics 2A and 2B; Math 20A, 20B, 20C; concurrent enrollment in Math 2D (or equivalent).

Educational Goals: a basic understanding of physics concepts related to fluids, thermodynamics, waves, and optics with the ability to apply these concepts to novel situations; a greater appreciation of how different physics concepts relate to each other, leading to the acquisition of a more coherent picture of the laws which describe the Universe as a whole, as well as, one’s ever-day experiences within it.

Purpose of :

Book: to introduce concepts and provide numerical examples. Extra-credit web assignments reward the important act of reading the material before lecture.

Lecture: to elaborate on the concepts presented in the book, through demonstrations, explanations, and in class concept-tests. Lecture notes will be available at Soft-Reserve in weekly packets.

Homework: to practice applying concepts to numerical problems. The homework will neither be graded nor collected. Solutions will be posted on the web.

Disc. Sess.: to discuss concepts by going over assigned questions, as well as, concept-tests. Students are expected to participate.

Prob. Sess.: to discuss and explain how to apply the concepts to problems involving numerical calculations by going over assigned exercises and problems.

Quiz & Final: to test understanding of the concepts. Students must answer questions which require thought by using both words and numerical calculations.

Quiz Format: Weekly quizzes (total 20 points each) will consist of short-answer questions (5 points); multiple-choice questions (5 points ); and word-problems (10 points). The short-answer questions test your ability to describe physical situations using the concepts presented in class; they will require a written answer in English of a specified maximum length (the Discussion Sessions are designed to prepare you for these questions). You will be penalized if your answer is too long or illegible. The multiple-choice questions will resemble the concept-test presented in both lecture and discussion. The word-problems will resemble the assigned homework, and will require numerical calculations, as well as, written explanations/justifications.

You must bring an (approximately) 8.5" x 11" blue book to every quiz. The quizzes will be printed on a separate piece of paper, which you will receive at the beginning of the quiz period. You record your answer in your blue book and turn in your blue book during the quiz period (you may keep the sheet with the questions). You will receive a code# at the first quiz. Your code# and the words "Physics 2C Fall 1999" must be written on the cover of your 8.5" x 11" blue book. Graded blue books will be returned in WLH 2126 no later than the Wednesday following the quiz. You may use the same blue book for more than 1 quiz. You may write formulas, notes, and motivational phrases on the inside cover of your 8.5" x 11" blue book. I will tell you in the Wednesday lecture, which formulas (if any) will be needed for the following Friday’s quiz.

Re-grades & Make-ups: Re-grades must be submitted to the TA (James) within a week of quiz return with a separate note describing the possible grading error. Only quizzes written in ink will be accepted, and the entire quiz will be re-graded. In other words, the process of re-grading could leave the re-gradee with a lower score.
No make-ups can be scheduled for any reason. If you need to miss a quiz, then you will have to use it as one of your 2 drops.

Final: The final will be of a similar format to the quizzes except it will be about 3 times as long and cover the entire quarter. You must bring a fresh 8.5" x 11" blue book to the final (i.e. not the same one used for quizzes). You must also bring a picture I.D.. As with the quizzes, you may write formulas, etc. on the inside cover of your blue book. I will provide a list of formulas needed for the final at the last lecture (this list will also be available on the web.) You may not paste or tape anything in your blue books.

Academic Dishonesty: Don’t cheat! Bad things will happen to those who cheat. Those caught cheating will receive zeros and will be reported to their respective colleges for further disciplinary actions. For more information read about Integrity of Scholarship and Academic Dishonesty in the General Catalog.

Add/Drop/Withdraw Procedure: You can add/drop/withdraw and get on waitlists using T-Reg. If you have any problems or questions talk with Patti Hey (email: plhey@physics.ucsd.edu) in the Physics Student Affairs Office, 118 Urey Hall Annex. Add/drop cards will not be signed by the instructor nor the TA. Last day to add is Oct 15. Last day to drop without a W on transcript is Oct 29. Last day to drop without an F (but with a W) is Dec 3.

To do well in this course: you need to understand the concepts and be able to relate them to physical situations.

You must read. The lectures are not a replacement for reading the book. In fact, you will be rewarded with better understanding (and extra credit points) if you read the material BEFORE I lecture on it.

You must think. You will not learn unless you think critically about the concepts. Opportunity will be provided for you to use your brain in class, take advantage of this time. Also, do not hesitate to discuss physics outside of class with classmates, friends, family, dates, etc. The best way to learn something is to explain it to someone else.

You must do. Like any complex skill you will only learn physics by practicing. This means doing the homework, as well as, the in-class problems. Don’t forget to analyze the numerical problems in terms of the concepts (see next page).

Homework Assignments (in Halliday, Resnick, & Walker):

Week Chapter Quiz Assignment

1 15-Fluids Oct. 8 Q: 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 E&P: 7, 9, 16, 27, 29, 30, 44, 55, 75, 77

2 19-Thermo 1^st Law Oct 15 Q: 6, 7, 8, 9, 13 E&P: 1, 8, 11, 15, 41, 53, 67, 71, 74, 86, 95

3 20-Kinetic Theory Oct 22 Q: 1, 2, 6, 11, 15 E&P: 5, 17, 21, 23, 37, 43, 55, 67, 70, 84

4 21-Thermo 2^nd Law Oct 29 Q: 4, 5, 7, 10, 13 E&P: 11, 23, 24, 27, 32, 47, 50, 56, 57, 67

5 17-Waves I Nov 5 Q: 3, 4, 10, 13, 14 E&P: 8, 27, 31, 32, 35, 36, 46, 60, 63

6 18-Waves II Nov 12 Q: 3, 4, 8, 11, 14 E&P: 1, 10, 12, 21, 43, 51, 53, 59, 89, 92

7 34-EM Waves Nov 19 Q: 4, 9, 11, 15, 16 E&P: 2, 7, 10, 14, 19, 41, 51, 67, 77, 84, 85

8 34, 35, & the Eye no quiz

9 35-Images Dec 3 Q: 1, 8, 9, 13, 15 E&P: 1, 8, 11, 16, 30, 33, 34, 39, 50, 51

10 36-Interference no quiz Q: 1, 3, 11, 12, 19 E&P: 9, 10, 24, 53, 73, 78

37-Diffraction just read

PROBLEM SOLVING

Practice, practice, practice = do your homework. However, do not be obsessed with getting the right answer, the mental effort is much more important. Problems are intended to illuminate concepts and to give you practice using reasoning and logic to arrive at a conclusion. You learn by going through the mental steps and by confronting and resolving inconsistencies. Mistakes are good, if you later see the errors of your ways. Patience is a definite virtue and persistence ain’t so bad either, and above all be sure to try the problems yourself before seeking help.

IDENTIFY THE PROBLEM

What concepts does the problem involve?
How do these concepts apply to this particular situation?

EXTRACT THE INFORMATION

Form a mental picture of the physical situation being described. Draw a picture or enhance an existing one (draw arrows for movement, etc.).
If there are graphs pay special attention to the axis labels. (What is being plotted? What is x & y? What is the graph telling you?)
What do you know about this problem? What are the givens? Write them all down.
What are you looking for? Make sure you are clear about what the problem is asking—rephrase the question if it helps.

SOLVE THE PROBLEM

Use your mental picture of the situation along with your own intuition and common sense. What do you think would happen? Be the problem.
Think of a similar problem that you have already done
Relate what you already know (the givens) to what you want to know. Sometimes this relation can be conveniently written as an equation.
Don’t use equations blindly—Make sure you know the concept behind the equation and when it is applicable. Translate words into symbols and symbols into words. (F = ma The force on an object is equal to the mass of the object times the acceleration of the object.)

GETTING UNSTUCK—Don’t waste too much time. If something is not working. Stop & rethink.

Make the problem simpler. (What if ___ was zero?) This goes along with using your intuition.
Are you using all the information given? Is there some information you have yet to exploit?

POST-PROBLEM

DOES YOUR ANSWER MAKE SENSE!! If not, then reexamine your steps to see if there is a mistake. You will learn a great deal about physics by identifying and correcting inconsistencies and errors.
When satisfied with your answer, quickly go back over the problem—noting the steps needed to complete it, pay special attention to any tricky or sticky points.
Reconsider the concepts related to this problem. What have you learned?

Try to put a different slant on the problem. (What if ___ was ___ instead of ____?)

Attempt to explain the problem to someone else. You might be amazed at how well the act of verbalizing helps cement ideas in your brain.