might
be a ball’s position at time 1. (1pt)Physics 233:General Physics III
Goals, Policies and Expectations
Course Goals
As the final foundational course for a Physics Major, this course shares some of that program’s broader goals: developing your skills in Quantitative Problem Solving, Experimentation, Computation, and Communication, while developing your knowledge of Quantum Mechanics and Thermodynamics & Statistical Mechanics. I also hope to help you explore the broader field of Physics, so you understand what lies beyond introductory courses.
Specifically, By the end of the semester, you should be able to
Policies and Expectations
Reading: The course and its texts have been designed for the reading to be done before class. The text will serve as the primary source of information while the class meetings will be an opportunity for us to work with and explore the material further to solidify your understanding.
Assignments: 25% of your grade. There are two types of assignment: Reading Exercises and Homework.
Reading Exercises: 10% As the name suggests, these are intended for you to try while you’re doing the reading before coming to class. Doing these will help you to get familiar with ideas and tools presented in the reading. These are online, and most are versions of the exercises you’ll encounter as you read the text. They give you instant feedback and let you try until you get them right. You’ll find that you are able to correctly answer some of these after having done just the reading, while you may need to see examples of others in class. The grading scheme is designed to account for this: you get 15% bonus on all questions correctly answered at least 10 min prior to class, and you can get 85% credit for any questions you correctly answer within the next 24 hours; that means that you’d average out to full credit if you got half the questions right before class and the other half right after class. Here’s how to access the RE assignments. Log in at www.webassign.net. Your login has the format firstname.lastname, and your institution is “redlands”; if you’d previously had a WebAssign account, then your password is what it was then (let me know if you don’t remember and I’ll reset it), otherwise it’s simply “Phys233” (I’d suggest personalizing it.)
Homework: 15% Weekly homework assignments consist of more involved problems than are found in the Reading Exercises. Unlike the Reading Exercises, your work (not just the final answers) must be turned in and will be graded; thus the work must be legible and easy to follow (if your original work is not, you should copy it over.) Because good problem solving style and communication are crucial to success on more challenging problems, you will be graded not just on the quality of your solution, but also on the quality of your communication. For one thing, this means explaining your reasoning in words as well as doing the math. Here are some key things that I’ll be looking for:
· Visual representation of the given and desired information which communicates how they’re related. (1pt)
·
Meaningful and distinct symbols for the given and desired
quantities, ex. might
be a ball’s position at time 1. (1pt)
· Mathematical relations phrased in terms of these symbols before numbers are used. (1pt)
· Clear & Correct algebra (1pt)
· Units accompanying all numbers. (1pt)
· Correct Answer (1pt)
You must also include units anywhere you use numbers (not just at the end) and use proper vector notation when appropriate. Feel free to consult with each other or with me, but the work turned in must be your own. Another resource is answer checking in WebAssign – type in your final answer, and it’ll tell you if you got it right; if you didn’t, then you know to double check your work or check with me or a classmate. Homework will usually be due on Monday at 4 p.m. No late work will be accepted, so pace yourself accordingly. If you have worked seriously on a problem without success, stop and get help from the instructor or another student before continuing. Although you are encouraged to discuss problems with your classmates, copying someone else’s work or allowing your work to be copied is cheating and will not be tolerated.
Homework Helpers / Answer Submission. Most of the homework problems are reproduced as ‘homework helpers’ in WebAssign. The idea is that you can use this the same way you’d use answers in the back of the book – to check whether your final answer is correct, and thus whether you want to double check your work, check with a classmate, or drop by my office to figure out what’s wrong. As little extra incentive to use this resource, the 1pt per problem for simply getting the right answer will come from WebAssign (so when you find and correct a mistake, don’t forget to update your answer in WebAssign.)
Laboratory Experiments: 25% of your grade. More so than in General Physics I or II, in this course we will particularly focus on developing your laboratory skills. To help with that, we’ll augment the usual lab handouts with a Lab Reference Manual. By the end of the semester, you should be able to
1. Keep organized and complete records in a lab notebook
2. Propagate experimental uncertainties through calculations
3. Make linear plots from various types of data and extract values using linear regression
4. Write laboratory reports that are organized, concise, and clear.
The lab assignments are already posted online. Usually, there will be reading on a lab skill and some pre-lab problems (in WebAssign) to be done before each lab. As the name suggests, you’re responsible for doing these before we meet for lab. A quadrille-ruled laboratory notebook will be provided. You may only keep records in this notebook, not on scratch paper. The lab notebook is due every Monday by 4 p.m. The notebook should include the post-lab assignment from the previous week and any pre-lab problems that are to be done on paper (many are to be done in WebAssign, but some are not) for the current week.
Over the course of the semester, you’ll be working on writing Lab Reports, starting off doing just one part each week, and ending up doing full lab reports. For each writing assignment, there will be a checklist showing what I’ll be looking for when grading. You will be expected to revise any writing that you submit after it receives comments, except for the final one. Be sure to turn in the first draft with your revision. While laboratory work is often completed in groups, each lab report should be your own work. Reports that have identical or nearly identical sections will be considered copies and will receive grades of zero.
For each lab, your score will be based on the pre-lab assignment (25%), the in-class work recorded in your notebook (25%), and the post-lab assignment (50%) which includes the work on report writing
Quizzes: 10% of your grade. There will be a short quiz over most chapters during lab. To help you to learn from returned homework, there will always be something taken directly from it.
Exams: 40% of your grade. There will be two (20% each). All exams will be closed book, closed notes. Some equations will be provided; the most fundamental principles must be committed to memory.
Reschedules: Tragedies do sometimes happen, and you may not be able to take an exam at its regularly scheduled time. If you let me know well in advance, we can reschedule your exam. If you do not notify my until the day before the exam, you must provide documentation of your conflict (doctor’s note, plane ticket stub, etc.) before your make up exam score will be recorded.
Accommodations: With the support of Student Services, I am happy to make accommodations for learning differences of which we are aware; of course, it’s difficult to make accommodations at the last minute or after the fact, so I encourage anyone with a documented learning difference to talk to Student Services.
Cheating: Dishonesty seriously undermines academic pursuit; therefore, it is my philosophy that the punishment for cheating should not simply erase its 'beneficial' effects, but be enough of a deterrent that the 'benefit' of cheating not be worth the risk. For example, if I identify cheating on an exam, the offender is more likely to be failed from the course than invited to take a make‑up test.
Grade: If at anytime you are interested in reviewing your standing in the course feel free to give me a call, send me an e-mail, or drop by my office.
Assignments 25%
Laboratory Experiences 25%
Quizzes 10%
Exams 40% (20%, 20%)
Final Grade Assignments: Final grades will be assigned according to the following:
93 ⅓ ≤ A (4.0) ≤ 100%
90 ≤ A- (3.7) < 93 ⅓
86 ⅔ ≤ B+ (3.3) < 90
83 ⅓ ≤ B (3.0) < 86 ⅔
80 ≤ B- (2.7) < 83 ⅓
76 ⅔ ≤ C+ (2.3) < 80
73 ⅓ ≤ C (2.0) < 76 ⅔
70 ≤ C- (1.7) < 73 ⅓
66 ⅔ ≤ D+ (1.3) < 70
63 ⅓ ≤ D (1.0) < 66 ⅔
60 ≤ D- (0.7) < 63 ⅓
0 ≤ F (0.0) < 60