Physics 323, Spring Quarter 2016

Prof. Leslie J Rosenberg, Department of Physics, University of Washington

Useful Information:

• Readings, Lectures and Exams


• Homework 1 (Due April 7)
• Homework 1 solutions
• Homework 2 (Due April 14)
• Homework 2 solutions
• By request, no homework 3 (see practice exam)
• Homework 4 (Due April 28)
• Homework 4 solutions
• Homework 5 (Due May 5)
• Homework 5 solutions
• By request, no homework 6 (see practice exam)
• Homework 7 (Due May 19)
• Homework 7 solutions
• Homework 8 (Due May 26)
• Homework 8 solutions
• Homework 9 (Due June 2)
• Homework 9 solutions


• Exam 1 info. An equation sheet is provided on the exam. You will have from 9:00am until 10:20am to take the exam. The exam includes chapters 1 through 9 in Griffiths. All material, including lectures, homework, tutorial, and text material may appear in the exam. You won't need a "bubble" sheet. The exam has three lecture questions (hand-graded) and one tutorial question (hand-graded). You may bring a calculator, but you can't bring anything that can display pages (e.g., a PDF or text viewer). Graphing calculators are OK. No cell phones. We won't post a seating chart; you can sit wherever you wish. You may not bring your own equation sheet or information sheet. You may bring scratch paper, but nothing on scratch paper will be graded.
  Exam 1 practice exam. (Problems 1 & 2 are from chapter 9, problems 3 & 4 won't be covered on the exam.)
  Exam 1 solutions.
  Mean exam score 46. Std.Dev exam score 15.
  Regrades are rare and limited to grading blunders, not requests for more partial credit. Regrade requests for exam 1 are due at the beginning of the lecture a week after the exams were handed back in lecture. Requests after the 1-week deadline will not be accepted. Write the request on a separate sheet of paper attached to the front of the exam. Include all the exam pages with your submission. Never write anything on the handed-back exam. Regraded scores may go up, down or remain the same.
  
  
• Exam 2 info. An equation sheet is provided on the exam. You will have from 9:00am until 10:20am to take the exam. The exam includes chapters 1 through 11.2.1 in Griffiths. All material, including lectures, homework, tutorial, and text material may appear in the exam. You won't need a "bubble" sheet. The exam has three lecture questions (hand-graded) and one tutorial question (hand-graded). You may bring a calculator, but you can't bring anything that can display pages (e.g., a PDF or text viewer). Graphing calculators are OK. No cell phones. We won't post a seating chart; you can sit wherever you wish. You may not bring your own equation sheet or information sheet. You may bring scratch paper, but nothing on scratch paper will be graded.
  Exam 2 practice exam. (Problem II on exam-2 practice exam are relevant to exam-2. Problems III and IV on exam-1 practice exam are also relevant to exam-2.)
  Exam 2 solutions.
  Mean exam score 76. Std.Dev exam score 12.9.
  Regrades are rare and limited to grading blunders, not requests for more partial credit. Regrade requests for exam 1 are due at the beginning of the lecture a week after the exams were handed back in lecture. Requests after the 1-week deadline will not be accepted. Write the request on a separate sheet of paper attached to the front of the exam. Include all the exam pages with your submission. Never write anything on the handed-back exam. Regraded scores may go up, down or remain the same
  
  
• Exam 3 (final exam) info. An equation sheet is provided on the exam. You will have from 10:30am until 12:20am to take the exam. The exam includes chapters 1 through 12 in Griffiths. All material, including lectures, homework, tutorial, and text material may appear in the exam, but the exam content is weighted towards more recent material. You won't need a "bubble" sheet. The exam has three lecture questions (hand-graded) and one tutorial question (hand-graded). You may bring a calculator, but you can't bring anything that can display pages (e.g., PDF or text viewer). Graphing calculators are OK. No cell phones. We won't post a seating chart; you can sit wherever you wish, but sit in every-other-seat. You may not bring your own equation sheet or information sheet. You may bring scratch paper, but nothing on scratch paper will be graded.
  Exam 3 practice exam. (Practice exam problems I, II and IV are particularly relevant to exam 3.)
  Exam 3 solutions.
  Mean exam score 61.5. Std.Dev exam score 19.4.
  You may pick up your exam from me through the summer. Regrades are rare and limited to gross grading blunders, not requests for more partial credit. Regrade requests for exam 3 are due two weeks after the date of exam. Requests after that deadline will not be accepted. Write the request on a separate sheet of paper attached to the front of the exam. Include all the exam pages with your submission. Never write anything on the handed-back exam. Regraded scores may go up, down or remain the same.
  
  

Recent course news:

• [03jun6 09:15] The last lecture on Thursday June 2 was on the special topic of recovering Maxwell's equations from the Euler-Lagrange equations. The lecture can be found here. The material in that lecture will not be in exam-3.
• [31may16 10:25] The lecture on Thursday June 2 will be on the special topic of recovering Maxwell's equations from the Euler-Lagrange equations. The material in this lecture will not be in exam-3.
• [29apr16 16:45] The guest lecturer Thursday May 5 is Dr. Ryan Hazelton.
• [15apr16 17:30] The guest lecturer Tuesday April 19 is Dr. Ryan Hazelton. There are no office hours April 19.
• [01apr16 14:47] Homework #2 will be posted Friday, April 8. Homework #1 solutions will be posted Friday, April 8.
• [01apr16 14:45] The guest lecturer Tuesday & Thursday, April 5 & 7, is Dr. Ryan Hazelton.
• [01apr16 14:35] The course instructor will be on travel the week of April 4. There will be a guest lecturer April 5 & 7. There are no office hours April 5.
• [29mar16 08:45] No tutorial ("quiz") sections the first week of class.

Lecture Instructor's Comments

Welcome to Physics 323, the third of a three-quarter sequence of electrodynamics for advanced undergraduates. I hope you find this course challenging and stimulating. The topic of electrodynamics is crucial for understanding the underpinnings of the physical and biological sciences. It's also crucial for modern technology. I hope that you also find it to be interesting and enjoyable. Regarding the course: We'll use Griffith's text "Introduction to Electrodynamics". You might want more details than found in Griffiths, or perhaps you'd like an alternative approach. In which case you might want to look at Lorrain and Corson "Electromagnetic Fields and Waves" or "Fundamentals of Electromagnetic Phenomena". Another alternate text is Marion, "Classical Electromagnetic Radiation". My personal favorite texts at this level are Panofsky and Phillips "Classical Electricity and Magnetism" and Slater and Frank "Electromagnetism"; both are sadly out of print (and out of style). For a challenge, you might want to peek at the graduate-level text Jackson "Classical Electrodynamics". And the lovers of hard problems might want to try the problems in Smythe "Static and Dynamic Electricity." There's no perfect text, and every text has gems scattered throughout. That said, In the early part of the course we will follow the text by Griffiths closely.

Syllabus The syllabus for 323 starts with chapter 9.3 in Griffiths. We'll then follow the text in more or less the text ordering. We will supplement Griffith's presentation with added material. You should read the relevant text and added material before class; this will take time but there's a big payoff in your understanding. Approximately, Physics 321 covers electrostatics. Physics 322 covers magnetostatics and introduction to electromagnetic induction and electromagnetic waves. Physics 323 covers dynamics. The pace of 321 was relaxed. The pace picks up in 322. And Physics 323 is yet more challenging.

Grading 20% of your grade is assigned to each of homework **, exam 1, exam 2, final exam, tutorial ("quiz section") ***.

Important dates
April 21 Exam 1.
May 12 Exam 2.
June 8 Final.

The course design is a cooperative effort of many faculty, each of whom is deeply concerned with providing the most effective learning experience for every student. Each element of the course (lecture [called "quiz section"] and tutorial) is useful to your mastery of physics. Don't be shy about seeing the Professor or tutorial instructor outside of class during the quarter; it will pay off for you in many ways.

Memorization of material is not particularly helpful in this class. Your goal in this class should be to understand how each new topic is related to all of the previous material, and how the concepts, rules and formulae can be applied to solve real-world problems. Never let anything go by if you do not understand. Generally, ask questions immediately. If it is inconvenient to interrupt, make a quick note to yourself and inquire later.


General Comments

Note regarding math: We will make use of partial differential equations, vector & multivariate calculus, differential operators, complex arithmatic and special functions. You should have seen this before. If not, the text has refresher material. You may have to put in more effort at times to master the mathematics. Also note we will make use of special relativity. If you've not seen this before, you should loo, at Griffiths chapter 12.1 and 12.2.

Grading Policy

Concurrent enrollment in tutorial (also called "quiz section") is mandatory; students will receive a combined grade for lecture and tutorial. The final course grade is based on two midterms, the final exam, the lecture homework, plus tutorial participation and exercises.
• Midterm and final exams: There will be two closed-book midterm exams and a final exam. Each exam will emphasize the more recent material, but may include topics from far earlier in the course and earlier courses. The exams will could include both multiple-choice and hand-graded questions. An equation sheet containing selected numerical values and major equations will be provided for each exam, so memorizing equations and numerical values should not be necessary. Calculators are permitted, but text storage and graphics functionality must not be used. Cell phones, radios, etc. are not permitted. Laptop computers are not permitted. Exams are to be your own work; you are not permitted to collaborate with any other person. The Physics Department reserves the right to ask for valid identification from any student during examinations.
• Note that there are no make-up exams or make-up homeworks. Students with outside professional, service, or career commitments (i.e. military service, ROTC, professional conference presentation, NCAA sports, etc.) conflicting exactly with the exam dates must contact the instructor early in the quarter to establish alternate procedures. Students who miss an exam or homework due to illness should contact the instructor as soon as you are able to discuss alternate procedures. Except for debilitating illness, students who miss an exam or homework without making prior arrangements with the lecture instructor will get a zero for that score. Except for illness and circumstances noted above, a final grade of 0.0 may be assigned to any student who misses a midterm exam and a final grade of 0.0 will be assigned to any student who misses the final exam.
• Exam Re-grades: If you believe that points on an exam or homework were incorrectly totaled or if there's a gross error in the grading, you may submit an exam or homework for regrading. To do so, you must resubmit the exam or homework no later than at the beginning of the lecture following the one in which it was returned. You must write a brief note on a separate piece of paper explaining the possible error in the grading, and staple this note to the front of the exam or homework pages when you submit them for re-grading. Do not make *any* changes or marks on any pages of the exam or homework. A request for a regrade may result in re-grading of the entire exam or homework. Therefore your total score may increase or decrease.
• Tutorials ("quiz sections"): Grading policies will be explained in your tutorial section. Please note that grades for your tutorial form a non-negligible percentage of your overall grade for the course. ***Also, a passing grade in the tutorial is required in order to pass the course. *** Students failing the tutorial receive a 0.0 grade in the class.
• Homework:
Lecture homework will be assigned and collected weekly. You'll usually turn in homework on the due-day in class. You may also leave the homework in the instructor's mailbox in the Physics Department Main office by 8:45am on the due-day. Late homework receives zero points. Note that not all the homework problems will be graded. ** You must pass 7/9 homework sets to pass the class. (A passing homework is 30%.) Students not passing the lecture homework threshold receive a 0.0 grade in the class.

• The lecture and tutorial instructors will ignore re-grading requests that are not reported promptly.

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