Syllabus: PHYS 116, Summer 2009

Waves, Optics, and Modern Physics


Lecture Instructor: Matt DePies

email: depies@phys.washington.edu
Office: PAB B025  Phone:TBA
 
• PHYS 119 Lab Instructor: R. Daryl Pedigo
• 
  
<>Course WWW: http://faculty.washington.edu/mrdepies

Office Hours See course website.
• Also available by appointment in my office.

 
• Lecture Hall: A102 in the auditorium wing of the Physics and Astronomy Building
• Lecture schedule: MTWTh 10:50-11:50
  


• Course Texts: J.S. Walker, "Physics", 6th edition (UW custom Volume 3); PHYS 119 Lab Manual.
• NOTE: Concurrent enrollment in 119 Lab is recommended but not mandatory
  
• Tycho Homework will be due as announced



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• Tentative Weekly Course Schedule:
<>The schedule for Phys 116 is available on the course website.
This will be followed as closely as possible, and changes will be announced as necessary.

Lecture Instructor's Comments

Welcome to PHYS 116, the third of a three-quarter sequence of introductory physics courses for science majors. You should find this course challenging and stimulating, though perhaps it will not fit your preconceptions of what a university physics course should be. I hope that you also find it to be interesting and enjoyable. Have a great quarter!

You are strongly encouraged to visit with me regularly during office hours, by appointment, by e-mail, etc. Get used to the idea of seeing the Professor outside of class during the quarter; it will pay off for you in many ways as the years go by! This will not happen unless YOU take the initiative, and now is a great time to start.

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

• Each quarter, the UW Office of Educational Assessment conducts surveys of undergraduate courses. For many years, the PHYS114-5-6 courses have been among the courses reportedly requiring the most hours of work per week outside of class. A typical course will show a span from 5 hours per week to 20 hours of study per week outside of class, probably including some time spent on PHYS116 . Many courses claim to require at least two hours outside of class for each hour in class;  physics classes tend to deliver.
• Be aware that many technical majors have a minimum grade requirement for a core of lower-division technical classes including the PHYS114-5-6 sequence. Therefore, each student is strongly urged to discuss departmental entry requirements with their undergraduate or departmental advisors, and plan their course loads accordingly. The course grading policy is detailed below.

Grading Policy

• Midterm exams: There will be three closed-book midterm exams. Each midterm will emphasize recent material, but may include questions dealing with topics from far earlier in the course. The exams will include both multiple choice and essay-style questions. Only the best two of three values of the z-score [(your score - class average) / (std deviation)] will count toward the final course grade. Your lowest midterm score (relative to the mean) will be dropped. After correcting for different average scores on different midterms, the midterms will contribute 40% to your final raw grade. You are permitted to bring one 8.5"x11" page of notes (front only) to each midterm. Calculators are permitted. Cell phones, radios, etc. are not permitted. Laptop computers are not permitted, and the use of the text-storage capability now available on many calculators is 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 will be no make-up exams in PHYS 116. 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 intructor early in the quarter to establish alternate examination procedures. Students who miss an exam without making prior arrangements with the lecture instructor will drop that exam score. Except for extreme circumstances, a final grade of 0.0 may be assigned to any student who misses two midterm exams.
• Final Exam: A one-hour closed-book comprehensive final exam worth 25% of the final raw grade will take place on the final Thursday of class from 10:50 to 11:50 for PHYS 116. This examination will cover material from the entire course. You are permitted to bring one 8.5"x11" page of notes (front and back) to the final exam. Calculators are permitted. Cell phones, radios, etc. are not permitted. Laptop computers are not permitted, and the use of the text-storage capability now available on many calculators is not permitted. The final exam is 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. A final grade of 0.0 may be assigned to any student who does not take the final exam.
• Exam Re-grades: If you believe that the points on the examination were incorrectly totaled or if there is a gross error in the grading, you may return an exam for regrading. To do so, you must resubmit the examination no later than at the beginning of the lecture following the one in which the exams are returned. You must write a brief note on the front page or attached to the front page of the exam explaining the possible error in the grading. Do not make *any* changes or marks on the other pages of the examination. Portions of each examination are scanned or photocopied. You should be aware that any request for a regrade may result in a regrading of the entire exam. Therefore your total score may increase or decrease.
• Homework:
1. Lecture homework will be assigned and collected weekly through the Tycho system.
   
2. Tutorial homework will be assigned and collected in each tutorial section. One problem from each assignment will be graded in detail, and will contribute to your score for tutorials.
3. There may be computer projects assigned in the tutorial sections. Computers are available in the Physics Study Center from 8:30am-5:20pm on weekdays and at various other locations around campus.
• Your responsibilty: Check your grades on the Webassign.com system every week or two and report any problems to both the lecture instructor and the relevant TAs immediately. Lab and exam grades should be recorded for your review within one week from the date that papers are submitted for grading. Webassign.com homework grades should be recorded within 24 hours of submission. Supplemental HW should be recorded every two weeks or so. Grading problems that are reported in a timely fashion will be investigated and, if action is warranted, corrected. The lecture and lab  instructors may choose to ignore grading complaints that are not reported in a timely fashion.

The Physics Study Center