Syllabus for PHYS 1401
General Physics I
Section #35070
Class Time:
MW 7:05 – 8:20 PM
NRG 2213
MW 8:30 – 9:45 PM NRG
2228
Instructor: Paul
Williams, Ph.D.
Office Hours: All
office hours are held in NRG 2153
MW 6:00 PM – 7:00
PM
TTh 9:45 AM –
10:30 AM
TH 2:00 PM – 2:45 PM
By Appointment Only:
MW 4:30 PM – 6:00 PM
TTh 5:30 PM – 6:30 PM
If you cannot make any of these office hours then we can make an
appointment.
Phone:
223-4824
E-mail: pwill@austincc.edu
Website: www2.austincc.edu/nrgpsc
Text: Physics, 6th Edition, by Cutnell and Johnson (Wiley)
Course
Overview:
From the ACC Catalogue: Study of principles and applications of
concepts in mechanics, energy, heat, wave motion, and sound. PHYS
1401/1402 is the standard algebra-based physics sequence and may, in addition,
serve as a prerequisite for the calculus-based PHYS 2425/2426 sequence for
students who have not taken high school physics. Prerequisites: MATH 1314 or
equivalent.
Instructional Methodology:
A substantial portion of the course will consist of
lectures by the instructor to convey the basic principles of physics. Students will also explore the basic laws of
physics in the laboratory, using a combination of hands-on experiments and
computer simulations. The course will
also involve demonstrating to students how the basic laws of physics can be
used to solve problems, with an emphasis on situations students will encounter
in their everyday lives. Instructor will
make use of collaborative group activities.
Course
Rationale:
This course is designed for students who are
pursuing degrees in scientific and technical majors other than physics and
engineering. It is intended to provide
an overview of basic physics to assist these students in their further studies
in science and technology. Because many
if not most students will be using this course for transfer credit, the course
will be taught at the University level.
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 instructor’s. 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.
Course
Objectives:
We realize that most of our
students will not be pursuing careers in physics. To that end, the following objectives apply
to this course:
·
Students will
understand the basic principles of physics.
·
Students will
be able to communicate these principles clearly.
·
Students will
be able to use algebra and the laws of physics to solve simple problems.
·
Students will
be able to work together in collaborative groups to perform experiments, gather
data, reach conclusions, and solve problems.
Grading
System:
Your grade will be determined as follows:
Lecture Tests 53 1/3%
Final
26 2/3%
Homework
13 1/3%
Class Participation/Attendance 6 2/3%
100%
Laboratory Report Average 100%
Combined Grade = 75% Lecture Grade + 25% Lab Grade
Based on the following scale:
A 90-100
B 80-89
C 70-79
D 60-69
F 0-59
Subject to the following policy:
You must earn a grade
of “C” or better in the laboratory portion of the course as well as a grade of
“C” or better in the lecture portion of the course in order to earn a grade of
“C” or better in the course. If you do not earn a grade of “C” or better
in both the lecture and the laboratory sections of the course, then your grade
for the course will be a “D” unless due to your overall course average you have
earned an “F” for the course.
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.
Final – The final exam will cover the entire course
and will be given on the last day of the semester.
Homework Grade – Your homework grade will consist of two
pieces. One piece is a completion grade
for each assignment that will range from 0 -5 depending on the number of
problems attempted. Following the return
of each assignment a two question take home assignment will be given over that
assignment which will be graded 0 -5 based on correctness. The primary form of feedback I give on
homework assignments is answering questions in class or during office hours.
Class Participation - Your participation grade will be determined
by the percentage of class participation activities completed. Class participation activities will include
but are not limited to clicker responses, in-class worksheets and interactive
lecture demonstrations. Class participation cannot be made up.
Lab Grade – Your lab grade will consist of the average
of your laboratory assignments.
Course
Policies:
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. Each
student must complete every lab.
Class Response System – Attendance and class participation will be recorded
via a class response system. A classroom
set of clickers will be utilized and no additional purchase will be required on
the part of the students.
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 24, 2006. Failure to do so will result in a failing
grade which will not be changed.
Incompletes are given only for exceptional circumstances and only to
students who have completed the preponderance of the course work.
Scholastic Dishonesty – Standard
ACC Policy: Acts prohibited by the
college for which discipline may be administered, including but not limited to
cheating on an exam or quiz, plagiarizing, unauthorized collaboration with
another in preparing outside work.
Academic work submitted by students shall be the result of their
thought, research, or self-expression.
Academia is defined as, but not limited to tests, quizzes, whether taken
electronically or on paper; projects, either individual or group; classroom
presentations and homework.
Adding
your name to a group lab that you did not complete in its entirety nor that you
contributed to in a significant way will be viewed as scholastic dishonesty and
will result in a grade of 0 for that lab activity. Also using a classroom response clicker
assigned to another student will viewed as scholastic dishonesty and will
result in grade of 0 for the class period.
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.
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 will want to consult with the Office
of Student Services or the Associate Dean at their campus on such matters.
Students with Disabilities – Standard ACC
Policy: 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.
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.
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.
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.
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 the period the assignment is completed unless
otherwise directed.
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.
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.
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.
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. You must make up a missed lab within two
weeks or a grade of 0 will be assigned for that lab activity. 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.
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 Monday 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. The instructor reserves the right to adjust
the calendar to meet the needs of the class and to deal with any unusual
circumstances that might arise.
Week Date of Monday |
Monday |
Assignment Due |
Wednesday |
Assignment Due |
1 1/16 |
MLK |
|
Introduction to Course
1.1 -1.3 |
|
|
|
|
Safety Orientation,
Motion Diagrams |
|
2 1/23 |
2.1 -2.4 |
|
2.5 – 2.7 |
HW #1 |
|
1 – D Kinematics |
|
Free Fall |
|
3 1/30 |
1.5 – 1.7 |
|
3.1 – 3.3 |
HW #2 |
|
Vector Addition with
Force Table |
|
Projectile Motion |
|
4 2/6 |
4.1 – 4.7 |
HW #3 |
Test #1 Chs. 1-3 |
|
|
Test #1 Review |
|
|
|
5 2/13 |
4.8 – 4.12 |
|
5.1 – 5.3, 5.5 – 5.6 |
HW #4 |
|
|
|
Centripetal Force |
|
6 2/20 |
6.1 -6.4 |
|
6.5 – 6.8 |
HW #5 |
|
Conservation of Energy |
|
Impulse and Momentum |
|
7 2/27 |
7.1 – 7.2 |
|
7.3,7.5 |
HW #6 |
|
1-D collisions |
|
Introduction to
Rotational Motion |
|
8 3/6 |
8.1 – 8.6 |
HW #7 |
Test #2 Chs. 4 – 7 |
|
|
Test #2 Review |
|
Rotational Motion |
|
3/13 |
Spring Break |
|
Spring Break |
|
9 3/20 |
9.1-9.3 |
|
9.4 –
9.6,10.1,10.3-10.4 |
HW #8 |
|
Rotational Dynamics |
|
Conservation of Angular
Momentum |
|
10 3/27 |
10.7 – 10.8, 11.1 -11.2 |
|
11.3 – 11.6 |
HW #9 |
|
Simple Harmonic Motion |
|
Archimedes’ Principle |
|
11 4/3 |
12.1 -12.5 |
HW #10 |
Test #3 |
|
|
Test #3 Review |
|
Introduction to Heat |
|
12 4/10 |
12.6 – 12.8 |
|
13.1 – 13.3 |
HW #11 |
|
Calorimetry |
|
Thermal Conductivity |
|
13 4/17 |
14.1 – 14.2 |
|
15.1 – 15.3 |
HW #12 |
|
Gas Laws |
|
Gas Laws |
|
14 4/24 |
15.4 – 15.5 |
HW #13 |
Test #4 Chs. 12 -14 |
|
|
Test #4 Review |
|
Introduction to Waves |
|
15 5/1 |
16.1 -16.3 |
|
17.1 -17.2 |
|
|
Wave properties |
|
Standing Waves |
|
16 5/8 |
Final Review |
HW #14 |
Final Exam |
|