Instructor: Paul Williams, Ph.D.

Office: NRG 2217 e-mail: pwill@austin.cc.tx.us

Phone: 223-4871 url: www2.austin.cc.tx.us/nrgpsc

Office Hours: I will hold office hours according to the following schedule. I hold office hours in order to aid students. Please feel free to come and visit, get help, whatever.

MW 1:30-2:45 PM (in RVS 2214)

TH 9:15-10:30 AM (in NRG 2217) Or by appointment.

Tests: There will be three tests and a cumulative final. The tests will be closed notes and books. The tests will be cumulative and will reflect the homework assignments. You may replace the grade on one previous test with your grade on the final, with the provision that you may not replace the grade for an exam you did not take. No make up exams will be given.

Laboratory: Physics is a laboratory-based science. Concurrent enrollment in the laboratory section #5675 is required. The laboratory will be 25% of your total grade.

Grade: Your grade will be determined as follows:

Tests 45%
Final 15%
Homework 15%
Laboratory 25%

Based on the following scale:
A 90-100
B 80-89
C 70-79
D 60-69
F 0-59

Attendance: Attendance is required and I expect you to attend class regularly. It is my experience that a typical student will drop a letter grade for each three to four absences. Every student must complete all labs. There will be three make up periods scheduled during regular lab time and most Friday afternoons will be available for make ups with prior arrangement with the instructor.

Problems: If some problem arises causing you to miss an assignment, please see me in advance if at all possible and I will try and make accommodations. Incompletes are not given except under extreme circumstances.

Help: If you need help, get it. I hold office hours to help students and you should view me as a primary source of aid. Also free tutoring exists in the parallel studies tutoring lab, and I highly recommend this service. Feel free to work on homework assignments with classmates. (cont.) However, regardless of the source of help you receive, you are responsible for your own work. If you copy someone else's homework without doing it yourself, you will not understand the material and despite having a good homework grade will not do well in the course.

Time: An important part of learning physics is homework. I believe whole-heartedly in homework. Physics requires a different type of thinking than other classes and this thought process needs to be developed through practice. I will assign a large number of problems weekly, which I consider a minimum amount of work to learn the material. It is my fervent belief that unless a student is a physics prodigy, he/she will not do well in this class without keeping up with the homework.

Grading: Homework will be picked up according to the accompanying course calendar, and I will spot check each assignment, assigning a grade from 0-5 depending on effort and completeness.

Quizzes: Each day homework is due, there will be an accompanying quiz. It will also be graded on a scale from 0 to 5.

Due Date: Assignments are due on the dates specified in the course calendar unless otherwise specified. All assignments are due by the end of the lab period on the assigned day, whether the instructor calls for the assignment or not, unless otherwise specified.

Organization: Please keep your returned homework assignments and labs so that any possible errors in my grading records can be rectified. It is a good idea to keep your homework in a loose-leaf binder for reference.

Late Homework: Late homework will not be accepted. Your lowest two homework and quiz grades will be dropped.

Laboratory: A major component of this course is the laboratory. You will perform approximately fourteen laboratory exercises in this course. Each will require a brief write up, which will be described in the laboratory assignment. The write-ups will be due in lab according to the schedule in the course calendar unless otherwise specified.

1. Learn about electricity and magnetism, electromagnetic waves, light, optics, the history of quantum mechanics, and nuclear physics

2. Develop appropriate problem solving techniques using algebra, trigonometry, and geometry applied to problems in electricity and magnetism, electromagnetic waves, light, optics, the history of quantum mechanics, and nuclear physics

3. Develop conceptual understanding of the topics of electricity and magnetism, electromagnetic waves, light, optics, the history of quantum mechanics, and nuclear physics