PHYSICS 1405 - Conceptual Physics I
SECTION # AND SYNONYM: 23106
CREDITS: (4-3-3)
INSTRUCTOR: Paul Williams, Ph.D.
COURSE DESCRIPTION: Conceptual survey of topics in physics, including the fundamentals of motion, forces, energy and momentum. Intended for liberal arts and other non-science majors, but science majors with weak physics background may wish to use this as and introduction to physics principles.
PREREQUISITES: none
TEXT: Hewitt, Conceptual Physics, 9th edition
OTHER: calculator
METHODOLGY: Lecture/Lab
LECTURE: TTh 9:10-10:25AM NRG 2213
Lab: TTh
10:35 -11:50 AM NRG 2228
OFFICE LOCATION: NRG 2153
PHONE NUMBER: 223-4824
E-MAIL ADDRESS: pwill@austincc.edu
Website: www2.austincc.edu/nrgpsc
OFFICE HOURS: All office hours are held in NRG 2153
MW 10:40 – 11:40 AM
TTh 8:35 – 9:05 AM
TTh 2:40 – 3:40 PM
TTh 5:05 – 5:35 PM
APPOINTMENT HOURS:
MW 11:40 AM – 1:10 PM
TTh 4:05 – 5:05 PM
If you cannot make any of these office hours then we can make an
appointment.
COURSE
RATIONALE: Non-mathematics physics course intended for
liberal arts majors who want an understanding of how physics can explain
everyday life physical phenomena and how physics relates to their everyday
lives.
COURSE
OBJECTIVES:
I. Lecture
1. To develop the concepts and language of
physics.
2. To make students aware of how physics related
to their everyday lives and their word.
4. To develop critical thinking.
1. To strengthen the concepts and ideas introduced
in class and show the link between theory and experiment.
2. To introduce students to experimental
techniques.
3. To develop critical thinking.
EXPECTATIONS
AND ROLES:
Instructor: It is the instructor’s role to create a
learning environment. This includes but
is not limited to presenting material in lecture and laboratory formats,
providing group activities, assigning homework, lab write-ups, and giving
tests. Also the instructor’s role is to
provide feedback on student work and tests.
Student: Learning is the student’s responsibility –
not the instructors. You are expected to
attend and actively participate in class regularly, complete your assignments
on time, actively participate in and complete your lab assignments on time, be
prepared for tests at the designated time, and seek and obtain any help that
you need. In general, what you receive
from any course and the grade you obtain will reflect the effort you put into
the course.
GRADING
SYSTEM:
You grade will be determined as follows:
Tests 45%
Final 20%
Homework 10%
Laboratory 25%
Based on the following
scale: A 90-100
B 80-89
C 70-79
D 60-69
F 0-59
Tests – Four
one-hour tests will be given approximately every 3-4 weeks as shown in the
course calendar. The tests will be
closed notes and books unless otherwise indicated. No make-up exams will be given. However, a student may replace their lowest
test grade with their grade on the final exam.
COURSE POLICIES:
a. Attendance Policy: 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. Each student must complete every lab.
b. Withdrawals and Incompletes: The instructor makes no commitment to withdraw a
student who stops attending. If you
decide to not complete the class at this time, you must withdraw yourself by
the drop deadline April 18, 2004.
Failure to do so will result in a failing grade which will not be
changed. Incompletes are given only
exceptional circumstances and only to students who have completed the
preponderance of the course work.
d. Academic Freedom: Students are free to disagree with instructors on matters
of opinion or personal philosophy, and will incur no penalty from doing
so. However, instructors will judge
student work based upon its relation to the current state of mainstream
scientific fact and theory students are allowed to voice opinions,
concerns, complaints and suggestions to the instructor. However, it is up to the instructor to decide
how to use the student’s comments to meet the class’s best interests.
e. Student Discipline: Matters of
student disciple will be adjudicated by the instructor on a case-by-case basis,
in conjunction with the Task Force Leader or Dean. Students may consult with the Office
of Student Services or the Associate Dean at their campus on these matters.
f. Office with Student with Disabilities: Each
ACC campus offers support services for students with documented physical or
psychological disabilities. Students
with disabilities must request reasonable accommodations through the Office for
Students with Disabilities on the campus where they expect to take the majority
of their classes. Students are
encouraged to do this three weeks before the start of
the semester
g. Help: If you need
help, get it. I hold office hours to
help students and you should view me as a primary as a primary source of
aid. Also, free walk-in tutoring is
provided by the Learning Labs, and I highly recommend this service. You are encouraged to work on homework
assignments with classmates. 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.
h.
Problems: If some problem arises causing you to miss an
assignment, please see me in advance if at all possible and I will try to make
accommodations. Incompletes are not
given except under extreme circumstances.
i. Time: You should expect to spend 2 hours outside of
class for each hour in class. It is
expected that you will keep up with the reading assignments and you should expect to
read 5-10 pages per night in the text. I
believe whole-heartedly in homework.
Physics requires a different type of thinking than other classes and
this though process must be developed through practice. Homework will be due approximately every week
as shown in the class schedule.
j. Homework
Grading: Homework will be spot checked with each
assignment earning a grade from 0 – 10 depending on effort, correctness, and
completeness.
k. Assignment
Due Dates: Homework assignments are due on my desk
without my asking for them at the end of the class period indicated in the
course calendar or as directed in class.
Lab assignments are due at the end of thee period the assignment is
completed unless otherwise directed.
l. Organization: Please keep
your assignments 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.
m. Late
Homework: Homework is an integral part of this
course. You need to work on assignments
regularly and turn them in a timely fashion.
Late homework will be given 5 points for completeness but will not be
graded. Also no assignments will be accepted after Monday of the last week of
class.
n. Laboratory: A major
component of this course is the laboratory.
You will perform laboratory exercises typically twice per week. Each will require a brief write-up which will
be due at the end of that class period unless otherwise directed.
o. Laboratory
Make-up – You may make up a
total of three missed laboratory periods.
To make-up a laboratory obtain a copy of the missed activity from the
instructor and then schedule a time to make up the lab with the laboratory
coordinator. Typically make-ups are held
on Friday mornings. There may be one or
two times during the semester that a lab can be made up during the normally
scheduled lab time.
p. Cell
Phone – As a courtesy to your
instructor and your classmates, please make sure that your cell phone is turned
completely off before class. If you are
expecting an urgent phone call, then please place the phone in a silent mode
Tentative Course Outline / Calendar:
In the calendar below the
date is the Tuesday of that week. For
each week, the first row gives approximately the sections of the text to be
covered and second row gives the lab activity for that day.
Week Date of Tuesday |
Tuesday |
Assignment Due |
Thursday |
Assignment Due |
1 1/11 |
Introduction to Course Ch.
1 |
|
|
|
|
Safety Orientation, The Diameter of the Sun |
|
Galileo’s Hot Wheels |
|
2 1/18 |
|
|
|
HW #1 |
|
The Equilibrium Rule |
|
Hooke’s Law |
|
3 1/25 |
|
|
|
HW #2 |
|
Motion Diagrams |
|
Kinesthetic Kinematics |
|
4 2/1 |
|
HW #3 |
Test #1 Chs. 1-3,11,12 |
|
|
Test #1 Review |
|
|
|
5 2/8 |
|
|
|
HW #4 |
|
Test #1 Review |
|
Impulse and Momentum |
|
6 2/15 |
|
|
|
HW #5 |
|
Conservation of
Momentum |
|
Work and Energy |
|
7 2/22 |
|
|
|
HW #6 |
|
Conservation of Energy |
|
Introduction to
Rotational Motion |
|
8 3/1 |
|
|
|
HW #7 |
|
Conservation of Angular
Momentum |
|
Apparent Weight and
Weightlessness |
|
9 3/8 |
|
|
Test #2 Chs. 4 - 8 |
HW #8 |
|
Test #2 Review |
|
Projectile Motion |
|
3/15 |
Spring Break |
|
Spring Break |
|
10 3/22 |
|
|
|
HW #9 |
|
Hydrostatic Pressure |
|
Archimedes’ Principle |
|
11 3/29 |
|
|
|
HW #10 |
|
Boyle’s Law |
|
Bernoulli’s Principle |
|
12 4/5 |
|
|
Test #3 Chs. 9,10,13,14 |
HW #11 |
|
Test #3 Review |
|
Introduction to Heat |
|
13 4/12 |
|
|
|
HW #12 |
|
Heat Transfer |
|
Heating Curves |
|
14 4/19 |
|
HW #13 |
|
|
|
Introduction to Waves |
|
Standing Waves |
|
15 4/26 |
|
|
Test #4 Chs. 15 - 20 |
|
|
Test #4 Review |
|
Waves and Sound |
|
16 5/2 |
Final Review |
HW #14 |
Final Exam |
|