General Physics

PH 211 General Physics (Calculus-based)

Fall 2010 Galileo Newton Noether

Homework Format/Schedule Course Description Homework Projects Exams Labs Grades Climate Links

Section 1 Class times: MW 8:00 –9:50 AM F 8:00 – 10:50 AM Instructor: Dennis Gilbert, 239/16, 463-5049, [email protected] Office hours: MWTh 1:00 – 1:50 PM; online and 20 exam review hours; and by appointment www Section 1: ILT site currently down (alternative TBA) ------Section 2 Class times: MF 11:00 –12:50 PM W 10:00 – 12:50 PM Instructor: Jared Stenson, 190B/16, 463-5050, [email protected] Office hours: WF 2:00 – 2:50 PM; online and exam review hours; and by appointment www Section 2: ILT site currently down (alternative TBA) ------Section 3 Class times: MTu 10:00 –11:50 AM Th 9:00 – 11:50 AM Instructor: Dennis Gilbert, 239/16, 463-5049, [email protected] Office hours: MWTh 1:00 – 1:50 PM; online and 20 exam review hours; and by appointment www Section 3: ILT site currently down (alternative TBA) ------

Text: Giancoli, Physics for Scientists and Engineers – with Modern Physics, 4th Ed. Student Study Guide

Co/Prerequisite: Math 251 (first term/semester calculus or equivalent) Journal: Hard copy weekly entries by Friday 5:00 PM in class, instructor’s office, or Science Office

Reading Answered online by 6:00AM the day of each class, questions: except on the first day, and days with exams.

Resources: Tutors in SRC, elsewhere Homework Solutions Group Study Exams and Exam Solutions Mastering Physics Publisher website Harvard online site ( ILT) or alternative

Homework Format and Schedule:

Format your homework according to the following rules: Label each page with your name and class section. Leave adequate space for your solutions. Clearly label each problem solution. Write only on one side. If more than one page is used for a solution, staple the pages together. On the front page note the chapter number. Following is the tentative schedule: week chapt. homework due comments 1 1 1,7,11,13,21,27,30,37,45,55 10-4 2 2 9,11,14,33,35,43,60,71,76 10-7/8 3 3 8,9,10,17,21,30,42,54,66, 10-14/15 78,80,87,95 4 4 10,12,16,18,32,36,46,54,55, 10-21/22 69,74 5 5 2,4,11,17,23,24,33,34,40,41, 11-1 51,66,84,92 6 6 7,8,19,23,27,30,35,44,46,53, 11-8 56,65,69 7 7 11,18,21,26,35,40,53,62,75, 11-16/17 84 8 8 7,19,20,27,48,49,52,70,85, 11-22 86,88,90,91,98 9 9 6,17,26,31,38,43,46,61,64, 11-30/12-1 89,100 More information on homework later is provided later in this document.

Course Description:

PH 211 concerns Classical Mechanics, primarily Newton’s Laws of motion and their application and Energy and Momentum. Classical Mechanics provides a theoretical basis for much of engineering and the classical basis for modern physics. We will discuss the connection of Classical Mechanics to these subjects. We will also mention from time to time (when it suits our purposes) the connection of Classical Mechanics to other intellectual and cultural developments that arose from, or along with, the phenomenal success of the Newtonian framework and its evolution into Modern Physics. Extensive research has shown that most people enter introductory physics classes with deeply held beliefs and intuitions about mechanical motion. This is to be expected, since by adulthood people have had a lot of experience with such motion. Most of these beliefs and intuitions, if summed up, are not unlike the understanding of the most brilliant thinkers 400 years ago. However, the classical mechanics of Newton radically advanced the understanding of mechanical motion since then. To change one’s thinking to incorporate classical mechanics is no small task. Physics education research has shown that for most people, it is not nearly enough to read a text or attend lectures, as necessary as these activities are. Active engagement in constructing and re-constructing your understanding is required, and these activities are an important component of the learning environment of this course.

Asking questions is a component of active engagement. You are invited and encouraged to ask questions about the subject matter and also about the structure of the class learning environment. Your understanding of the pedagogical issues will help you get the most out of the class.

The course operates within a lecture-lab format, which means we will move between lecture, small group work, problem solving, demonstrations, short laboratory exercises, and lengthy lab investigations. Activity in class will also be coordinated with work outside of class.

Even though most people cannot learn physics just from a text, reading the text before discussions is extremely important to gain familiarity with the subject matter and the way you are currently thinking. This will prepare you for the class activities and the deep learning that we expect to be taking place. Reading the text again later will help in sharpening and solidifying your thinking.

To support use of the text in the course and to keep us working together (“on the same page”!), answers to brief reading questions will be due by 6:00 AM the day we meet for class. You will also be able to raise concerns you want addressed in the class as well. Sometimes we will have questions asking you to begin thinking about a specific task we will be taking up the next day. (Work schedules or online access may make this unworkable for some students, so other arrangements will be made as necessary.)

You will also submit, in hard copy, weekly journal entries, which are due by each Friday. They will be read and commented on by the instructor each weekend and handed back to you in class. Journal entries provide you the opportunity to carry on a mindful conversation with the instructor about the course subject matter as well what is working (or not) to support your learning. Taking the time to think about your learning has been shown to help you learn better. In addition, journaling supports and encourages the development of a robust internal conversation that is part of an intellectual life.

Practice is useful and necessary to gain mastery of physics concepts and a level of understanding that gives you problem-solving skills. This is the primary purpose of regular homework assignments throughout the course, which is an important component of your learning. Advice concerning the general goals of the course

1. Physics is the study of matter and motion in its most fundamental forms. You will see in classical mechanics that there are relatively few concepts. Because of their great power and generality, precision of understanding is necessary, and this takes some effort to accomplish. Several kinds of conceptual representations will be used – graphs, diagrams, mathematics, narrative, etc. It will be useful for you to understand them and apply them individually and together. Conceptual understanding is the foundational element of this course.

2. Physics can make quantitative predictions and reach quantitative conclusions. Calculation is an essential part of theoretical work in physics as well as part of the practical application and investigation involving physics. Mathematics provides an important representation of physics concepts as well as the language of calculation, and thus is an important tool of problem solving and problem posing. The novice physics problem-solver usually uses trial and error within a framework of searching for sufficient formulas and data and using mathematical skills to solve for unknowns (“plug-and-chug”). In contrast, the expert physics problem-solver has a much wider variety of strategies and tactics and begins with a conceptual understanding of the physics involved and applies mathematical tools in a targeted manner. While the novice is, at best, a problem solver, the expert can creatively pose problems. The course will support your development toward being an expert physics problem-solver and problem-poser. Problem-solving is an essential element of this course.

3. In this calculus-based version of General Physics, you will use the mathematics in which physicists express Newtonian Classical Mechanics, namely calculus. You need to be co-enrolled in the first term of Calculus (Math 251), or to have successfully taken Math 251 or the equivalent previously. We will need to use some elements of calculus before you encounter them in the calculus math classes, if you are taking them concurrently. You will see that this is not a significant problem. We will take the time to provide explanations as needed, and generally need to do so anyway because everyone’s knowledge of calculus is not perfect. You will also find that understanding the physics in this class will help you understand calculus if you are taking it concurrently. Newton, after all, developed calculus (independently of Leibniz) to fully represent his theory of mechanical motion.

If you believe, or wonder if, you need better understanding of the mathematics used in the class, you are welcomed and encouraged to raise questions specifically pertaining to the mathematics.

Homework:

► Homework will be assigned from the text and will be due as posted above. Providing constructive feedback to your classmates on their homework after they hand it in will be part of your homework assignment. ► You are required to show your work and reasoning as appropriate to receive full credit. A model solution will be posted in week one. What constitutes good solutions will be an ongoing topic of discussion. ► You are welcome and encouraged to work on homework with your classmates. Please feel free to seek help from instructors, tutors, or in the Science Resource Center. The work you turn in must be your own. ► Complete solutions will be available soon after the due date. These solutions will be useful in giving feedback; please use it for this purpose. As you use these solutions, however, you will find that you may occasionally need to do a little thinking about how one step follows from the next, and you will encounter the fact that there are often many different good ways to solve a problem. Your aim in using these solutions is not to memorize them for use on similar problems, but to gain a sense of the representations and principles that will enable you to solve problems you haven’t seen before. ► Some homework will make use of an online service, Mastering Physics, providing instant feedback or tutorial support. A schedule of this work will be provided in class. ► Since homework is an essential mode of practice, there will be penalties for late homework.

Projects:

In the class, there will be ongoing and specific projects, which will count toward your grade (under projects, later). Ongoing projects include your participation in the online reading questions, Mastering Physics, online forums, daily class activities, and weekly journaling. During the course, a few specific projects will also be assigned.

Exams:

There will be two midterms and one final exam. Exams will cover the broad range of subject matter and course learning activities. Exams are closed book, but generally useful equations and physical constants will be provided. For full credit, you must show all work necessary to demonstrate the result. The instructor, time permitting, will provide practice exams and solutions approximately a week before each mid-term.

Exams are not used only to measure your current level of understanding, but are organized and used as opportunities for learning. Expect to spend time analyzing and learning from your exam experience.

The facilities we use allow the course to be organized in a lecture-lab format, which allows a fuller integration of lecture-like and lab-like activities. There will be both short, directed lab activities as well as a few longer investigations that involve skills of inquiry, experimental design and presentation. In general, the aims of lab work include the following:

 To support the development of conceptual understanding  To provide experience in investigation and inquiry  To support the development of analytical skills of experimentation, including data analysis, error analysis, modeling, estimation, and ethics  To provide familiarity with experimental equipment, including software interfaces  To support the development of presentation skills, including use of data presentation software

Students will keep and maintain Lab Notes that document an honest record of experimental work in the class, and students will produce Lab Reports on specific longer investigations. More information about these lab reports will be provided at the time of the first major investigation.

Many forms of help are available beyond the classroom, including tutors in the Science Resource Center, online help, reading materials, and instructor office hours. Contact the instructor as soon as possible, if you are not learning at the level you desire, or if you could use help thinking through how you will deal with unexpected difficulties.

Grades:

The instructor has the responsibility for determining grades. Different components of the course will generally contribute in the following proportions; however, because these components are not linearly independent, the instructor will exercise a more holistic and non-linear grade determination as the situation warrants.

Exams - 60% Homework - 15% Labs - 10% Projects - 15%

Letter grades are based on the following criteria: A excellent performance B good performance C satisfactory performance D less than satisfactory performance F unsatisfactory performance

Please note that grades are not based on ranking in the class (for example, a “C” is not defined as average). Grades are based on performance, a standard set by the instructor that does not immediately fluctuate with student performance. Thus, learning from each other and helping and encouraging each other, instead of competition, is the optimal strategy for getting good grades.

Class Climate: Student Rights and Responsibilities: Students have both rights and responsibilities. You have the right to be taught by a qualified teacher, graded fairly and expeditiously, and provided with a respectful, stimulating learning environment. Students also have a role in creating and maintaining a respectful, stimulating learning environment. You should participate in a thoughtful manner by sharing your ideas and responding to the ideas of others. When another person in the class is speaking, you should give that person your full attention. You should treat everyone in the classroom with respect; belittling or derogatory remarks are not appropriate. Really thriving in this class involves openly sharing your current understandings, which are often in need of improvement (Otherwise, why are you in the class?). Not only is there much to learn from the free expression of each other’s mistakes and misconceptions, you will not learn as well if you feel intimidated from expressing yourself for fear that you will be belittled or dismissed.

Since you are here to learn, you are responsible for completing assigned readings and work on time, as well as showing up for class in a prepared manner. You have a responsibility not only to yourself, but to other students who will be distracted when you are not engaged in learning or who rely on you for group activities. Cell-phones/ pagers are to be turned off during class (and no text messaging) unless there is a reason that you have cleared with the instructor. You should be attentive and focused on the work at hand; you are not allowed to do work for other classes or use class computers or your own laptop for activities outside the class during class time. You will have timely ten-minute breaks approximately each hour to conduct personal business or work involving other classes.

If you have questions, or you are unclear about elements of the subject matter, it is part of your responsibility to ask questions. If part of the class is not working well for you, you have the responsibility to share this fact with the instructor.

Academic dishonesty is inappropriate in the class and college environment. If it appears to the instructor that your behavior is similar to that of students who have engaged in academic dishonesty, the instructor will take action that will reach a determination of whether academic dishonesty took place. You have the right to due process in this determination. In general, the instructor does not make the determination of whether academic dishonesty took place, because part of the optimum learning environment is a practice of trust by the instructor.

Academic dishonesty: Students registered in this class are assumed to be giving their word to the college that they will not cheat. Therefore, all students proven guilty of academic dishonesty in this class will receive an F/N grade with the recommendation that they be suspended. (In other words, don't waste time thinking about cheating.)

Professor Rights and Responsibilities: Instructors have the right to be treated as professionals and to create, structure and teach classes in the manner that their expertise and training best informs them. Instructors for this class don’t see the class as either teacher-centered or student-centered, but as subject- centered. That is, the subject matter, and what is needed to best learn it, will direct the roles of both the students and the instructor. That is what instructors will keep in mind as they exercise their responsibility to structure the environment in which you learn. For example, you may wonder whether it is appropriate to ask a particular question. Your main job is to ask the questions you need to ask. You should not hold back because you think it might interrupt the class. It is your instructor’s responsibility, and not yours, to determine whether there is sufficient time to answer questions or whether the questions are sufficiently distracting to other students. Each of you are also encouraged to use multiple avenues to keep your instructor informed about what is working (or not) to support your learning in this class.

The classroom is a sacred space, and it is the instructor’s responsibility to define appropriate rules for the class and to protect the boundaries of the class. In accordance with Lane policies, an instructor may dismiss a student from a class for the day for in-class behavior that is deemed to be disruptive or inappropriate. All guests (or other non-students) may attend only with the consent of the instructor, and may attend only under the conditions set by the instructor. For example, adult guests are usually expected to participate in class activities.

I welcome the responsibility to encourage you to use college procedures to improve the course and your learning environment. I invite you to inform me of problems you have with the course, make suggestions for improving the class or your learning, and make suggestions for maintaining the quality of the class and your learning. I encouraged you to find out about the student complaint procedure or other resources for redressing grievances, which you may do by asking me or consulting the college catalogue.

Thanks:

This course parallels similar physics courses at other institutions. The curriculum coordinators for this course thank colleagues and students at Lane and other colleges and universities who have contributed good ideas toward the structure and content of this course and the resources for this course. Students have made and are encouraged to make suggestions to their instructor. Thank you in advance.

Links:

Following are some addresses to useful websites:

(More links will be added throughout the term to the version of this document in the Handouts section of the online site for this course.)

MIT Classical Mechanics lectures http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Physics/8-01Physics- IFall1999/VideoLectures/index.htm

phet site (Physics Education Technology – Univ. of Colorado) http://phet.colorado.edu/new/index.php

Some algebra, trigonometry, and geometry review on an MIT site: http://mit.edu/firstyear/mathdiagnostic/modules.html