Office:  I'll be in the study center during office hours. Office hours TBA

Tutorial Sessions : Tuesdays ,Thursdays

Course  Texts :

Tipler, Mosca , "Physics for Scientists and Engineers", 6th  ed ;
 McDermott and Shaffer "Tutorials in Introductory Physics";
 PHYS 121 Lab Manual .

NOTE : Concurrent enrollment in  121Z Lab is  MANDATORY

WebAssign  Homework is due as announced . Check the WebAssign  system every few days.

WebAssign address : https://www.webassign.net/washington/login.html

Course Web Site : http://faculty.washington.edu/jamesr4/physics121Asummer09/

Discussion Board : https://catalysttools.washington.edu/gopost/board/jamesr4/11710/

Lecture Instructor's Comments

Welcome to   PHYS  121  , the first of a three quarter sequence of introductory physics courses for physics and engineering students. The topics covered in this course include   Mechanics, Energy, Rotations, Gravitation  and Fluids.

The course design is a cooperative effort of several faculty. Each element of the course ( lecture, lab and tutorial ) is essential to your mastery of physics.

You are encouraged to visit with me during office hours or contact me by email.

During office hours I will be in the Study Center  downstairs from the Lecture rooms.

Grading Policy
Students  will receive a combined grade for lecture, tutorial and lab. The total course grade is based on the best two of the three midterms, the final exam(mandatory) , labs, tutorials  and WebAssign homework . 

Grade weighting :
       Midterms ( best 2 of 3)                40%
       Final                                             25%
       Lab Section                                  15%
       Tutorial  Section                            10%
       Homework(WebAssign)               10%

All grades are converted to z scores  . Your z score    is equal to
( your score  -  class mean )/ (class deviation ).   It is a function of how well you do in comparison to the average of the class. 

EXAMS 

There are   NO    MAKE-UP    EXAMS   !!    Students with time conflicts must see  me early in the quarter  to make alternative arrangements . Students who miss a midterm exam  without making prior arrangements will drop that score. Except for
extreme circumstances a final  course grade of 0.0 may be assigned to any student who misses two midterm exams. The combined scores from the midterms will contribute 40% to your total grade. The final is MANDATORY  . A final grade of 0.0 may be assigned to any student who does not take the final. The final is  on  Thursday august  20th   8:30 – 9:30 am  in class.  It is   comprehensive . You may bring a calculator and blank paper to work on. Cell phones,radios, laptops and  any device with text storage capability are NOT permitted .

LABS  and TUTORIALS
Lab Instructor :  Tianchi   Zhao
email : tianchi@phys.washington.edu
phone: 206-543-3020

Grading policies and requirements  for these will be explained in your lab and tutorial sections by the relevant instructors .

HOMEWORK

Lecture Homework will be assigned and collected weekly through the WebAssign  system.WebAssign is an authentification system so you will need your UW NetID to enter it. Student names are not pre-loaded as a roster so that until you have entered the system ,the system has NO knowledge of your name .IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT ALL STUDENTS enter the system at the very first opportunity in the first week. It is not necessary to try any problems at that stage. Just entering and leaving
the system is sufficient to register you with WebAssign. Without this we cannot load your exam, lab and tutorial scores later on. PLEASE  DO THIS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  In general the homework will be due midnight each friday . No homework will be assigned in the last  week of the quarter. Tutorial  homework will be assigned and collected in each session.

Your  Responsibility  :  Check your grades on WebAssign regularly each week . Report any problems to the Lecture Instructor or the TAs.

Contact the Program Coordinator  Susan  Hong  for issues
 relating to WebAssign, exam returns and related questions
 susanh82@phys.washington.edu   C 136   tel 543- 4982

Grading problems reported in a timely fashion will be  investigated and action taken if warranted. The instructors may ignore grading complaints that are not reported in a timely fashion.