Physics 121: Mechanics

Syllabus: PHYS 123A Fall 2003

Lecture Instructor: Prof. Tom Trainor

Tutorial Instructor: Prof. Peter Shaffer
PHYS 123Z Lab Instructor: Prof. Mark McDermott
Course WWW: http://faculty.washington.edu/trainor
Office Hours: Wednesday, 12:30-1:20 or by appointment

Lecture Hall: A102 in the auditorium wing of the Physics and Astronomy Building
Lecture schedule: PHYS123A: MWF 1:30-2:20
Holiday - 28 November

Course Texts: Giancoli, "Physics for Scientists and Engineers", 3rd edition; McDermott and Shaffer "Tutorials in Introductory Physics", PHYS123Z Lab Manual
NOTE: Concurrent enrollment in 123Z Lab is mandatory
Homework due Wednesdays
Tentative weekly course summary PHYS 123A Autumn 2003

week date, lecture topic, text reading, tutorial lab

Sep 29 Intro, Harm. Oscill. 14-1,2,3 (14-5) Superposition+Reflection Pendulum+Sound

Oct 6 Superpos.+ Interfer. 15-6,7,8 Reflection + Transmission Standing Waves

Oct 13 Interference+Beats 16-6 Propagation+Refraction Speed of Sound

Review

EXAM 1

Oct 20 Maxwell's Equations 32-1 to 32-4 EM Waves Reflection+Refraction

Oct 27 Mirrors+Thin Lenses 33-4, 34-1,2,3 Two Source Interference Curved Mirrors

Nov 3 Thin Films 35-6 Wave Properties of Light Thin Lenses

Review

EXAM 2

Nov 10 Diffraction 36-1 to 36-3 Multi-slit Interference Optical Devices

Nov 17 Polarization 36-11 to 36-12 Single Slit Diffraction Diffraction + Interference

Nov 24 Review SS Diffrac Tu only Make-up lab

EXAM 3

HOLIDAY

Dec 1 The Bohr Atom 38-8 to 38-10 Bohr Atom Spectroscopy

Dec 8 Optional topic Make-up labs

Review

FINAL EXAM

Lecture Instructor's Comments

Each quarter, the UW Office of Educational Assessment conducts surveys of undergraduate courses. For many years, the PHYS12xcourses 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 PHYS123Z. PHYS123/123Z is a very challenging class, which will take a disproportionate fraction and number of your study hours compared to most other courses in your UW career.
Unlike many of the general education requirement courses that you have taken, PHYS12x/12xZ focuses on showing you new skills, not only new facts. In particular, nearly all of PHYS12x/12xZ revolves around two general features: (1) learning new ways to think quantitatively about nature ('concepts') and (2) learning to use these concepts to solve problems. Please be aware that merely reading the textbook is unlikely to provide satisfactory preparation for the course examinations solve. Full involvement in all aspects of the course (lecture, lecture HW, tutorial sections, tutorial HW, and PHYS123Z lab) will provide the best preparation.
It is the opinion of many instructors that students who have completed MATH124 are at a slight advantage in PHYS121, and further that students who have completed MATH125 are at a considerable advantage in PHYS122. Hence, although it is possible to take the PHYS121-3 and MATH124-6 as simple corequisites (i.e. 121 _with_ 124, etc.), students who have no prior experience with either calculus or physics should consider getting 'one quarter ahead' in the MATH124-6 sequence with respect to the PHYS121-3 sequence.
Be aware that many technical majors have a minimum grade requirement for a core of lower-division technical classes including the PHYS12x 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 grading policy outlined below will be followed.

Grading Policy

Concurrent enrollment in PHYS123 and PHYS123Z is mandatory; students will receive the same grade for both courses. The final course grade is based on three midterms (30%), the final exam (30%), lecture HW (10%), tutorial participation and HW (10%), and PHYS123Z Lab (20%).

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 for (student score - average score) 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 30% to your final grade. You are permitted to bring one 8.5"x11" page of notes (front and back) to any midterm. Calculators are permitted. Laptop computers are not permitted, and the use of the text-storage capability now available on many calculators is not permitted. 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 PHYS123. 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 due to illness will drop that exam score. Except for extreme circumstances, a grade of 0.0 will be assigned to any student who misses two midterm exams.
Final Exam: A two-hour closed-book comprehensive final exam worth 30% of the final grade will take place on (TBA). This examination will cover material from all ten weeks of the course. You are permitted to bring two 8.5"x11" pages of notes (front and back) to the final exam. Calculators are permitted. Laptop computers are not permitted, and the use of the text-storage capability now available on many calculators is not permitted. The Physics department reserves the right to ask for valid identification from any student during examinations. A grade of 0.0 will 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 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 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 decrease.
Labs and Tutorials: Grading policies will be explained in your lab and tutorial section. Please note that grades

completion of most

of the lab and tutorial work is required in order to pass the course

Homework:

Lecture homework will be assigned and collected weekly through the WebAssign system. Lecture homework will count 10% toward the final course grade.
Tutorial homework will be assigned and collected in each tutorial section. One problem from each assignment will be graded in detail. Tutorial homework will count 10% toward the final course grade.
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.

The Physics Study Center

Students are encouraged to gather and work cooperatively in small groups in the Physics Study Center located in room
AM018 of PAB. (to reach the Physics Study Center, go down the stairs that circle behind the Foucault pendulum and
proceed toward the end of the hall).Teaching assistants will be available for consultation in the Physics Study Center located in room AM018 of PAA. (to reach the Physics Study Center, go down the stairs that circle behind the Foucault pendulum and proceed toward the end of the hall). The Study Center is staffed from approximately 9:30am to 4:30pm on weekdays, but staffing is reduced this year due to budget cuts.