11/18
Here are some books that might help with understanding
to concepts of special relativity: "How to build a time machine",
by Paul Davies; "Time travel in Einstein's Universe", by
Richard Gott.
10/16
I have been asked to spread the word about a new seminar,
ENGR 199B , called "Women, Computing, and Collaborating".
This is open to all UW freshmen and sophomores,
offered Winter 2004, 1 credit, has no prerequisites
(absolutely no computer experience required!).
See
course webpage .
If you wish to talk with an academic
counselor
about becoming
a physics major or minor, or have general questions about the physics
program, please contact Margot Nims
[margot@phys.washington.edu,
C139 PAB, 543-2772].
Office Hours: Monday 11-12, in my office.
Tuesday 11-12 in the study center.
Additional hours prior to exams will be announced
in class and on this page.
Resnick, Halliday and Krane, "Physics", 4th Ed., Volume.1.
(used versions may be available). Note that we will use Volume 2 (Extended)
in subsequent quarters of this sequence.
McDermott and Shaffer, "Tutorials in Introductory Physics",
1st edition.
Lab Manual for 121. This is available from the Copy Center,
B-042 Communications.
Richard P. Feynman, Robert B. Leighton and
Matthew Sands,
"The Feynman Lectures on Physics", Addison-Wesley,
(ISBN: 0201021153). This is a three volume set, with most of
the material of interest to us this quarter in the first volume.
These lectures are fantastic supplementary reading, though hard
to learn from the first time.
Teaching assistants wil be available for consultation
in the Physics Study Center located in Room AM018.
It is staffed from approximately 9:30am-4:30pm on weekdays.
Weekly short
pretests
will be administered on the
web. These are intended to start you thinking
about concepts that will be addressed in the tutorial
later in the week. Pretest questions will be posted
in the tutorial room. Completion of pretests will
be a factor in determining your course grade.
Weekly "lecture HW" assignments will consist of about 10-12 problems
divided between two components:
Problems using the computer-based
Tycho
system. The Tycho web page provides instructions as to how to log in.
You only need to do the problems listed as 121 Honors---although
you have access to the regular 121 class' problems if you want
more practice.
Homework must be submitted over the web
by 9:20am
WEDNESDAY in
the week after it is assigned.
Homework submitted between 9:20am Wednesday
and 9:20am Friday will be awarded 70% credit.
(Note that these times differ from those in the regular 121 sequence.)
See
here for more information on using Tycho.
Problems from the text (HRK) plus occasional problems that I write.
These will be assigned in class each week and will be due in class
the following week, usually on Wednesdays, at which time solutions will
be handed out. The assignments will be listed
here.
A few
problems from each assignment will be graded in detail. Solutions
will be posted on the "solutions" link. Problems with grading should
be addressed to the TA: attach an explanation of the concern, written
on a separate sheet of paper, to your homework, which itself should
not be changed.
Tutorial
homework
will be assigned and collected
in tutorial sections. One problem from each assignment
will be graded in detail.
There will be three one-hour midterms
(Fridays October 17th and November 7th,
and Wednesday November 26th)
and a two-hour final exam
(Tuesday December 16th, 8:30-10:20am). All will take place in
the lecture room, A118.
Each exam will consist of various types of problems:
some similar to the homework assigned in lectures,
others based on material discussed in the tutorials,
and others related to laboratory experiments.
There will be a roughly equal mix of multiple choice and standard
questions.
The one-hour exams will emphasize the material covered
in the prior two or three weeks,
but may include earlier topics too.
The final exam will be comprehensive.
The standard cover sheet for exams is
here
.
All exams will be CLOSED BOOK
with one sheet of notes allowed---four such sheets for the final.
Calculators are allowed and recommended.
If you think there is an error in the grading of
an exam, or in the adding up of points, you
may return your exam for regrading.
To do so, you must resubmit the exam at the
beginning of the lecture following the one in which
the exams were returned. Attach a brief note to the
exam (preferably using the
regrade
form )
explaining the possible mistake(s). Do NOT
make any marks or changes on the original exam.
Please note that portions of each exam are
photocopied, and that a regrade request may trigger
a regrading of other parts of the exam as well,
so that it is possible that your total score may
decrease.
Examples
of previous exam questions will be posted before each exam
on the
handouts link .
Solutions will be posted after the exams.
Your course grade will be computed
using weightings close to the following.
30-35%---your two best midterms
25-30%---final exam
20%---laboratory
10%---lecture homework
10%---tutorial homework
Note that your lowest midterm score will be
dropped, and that there will be NO make-up exams.
Normally a grade of 0.0 will be given to students
who do not take the final or who miss two midterms.