Reading:
Required Text: Classical Mechanics, John R. Taylor (REQUIRED) – A colleague once tried teaching from something else,… he regretted it.
Recommended Resource: A mathematical handbook such as (OPTIONAL) Schaum's Mathematical Handbook of Formulas and Tables, Second Edition by Murray R Spiegel or Pocket Handbook of Integrals and Mathematical Formulas, 3rd Edition by Ronald J. Tallarida. One of these will be useful for all upper division physics courses. Alternatively, learn your way around on-line resources.
Recommendation: The different components of the class (reading, meeting times, and homework) work together best when mixed. Take note of what problems will be assigned, do the reading with the problems in mind and even do some preliminary work on them, and then come to class. That way you’re attuned to exactly what you need. If I’m demonstrating something that’ll be useful on a problem, you’ll recognize it and take note. If the reading raised questions, you’ll be able to ask them. The alternative – coming to lecture, then reading, and then looking at the problems is apt to be much less efficient and repeatedly leave you in a lurch. Regarding the text itself, Taylor’s text is quite popular for a reason; however, it does expect you’ve had (and mostly remembered) a course like Phys 231. I encourage you to look back at your Sherwood & Chabay to review any rusty topics that come up.
Homework: 45% of your grade. The homework is intended to give you practice working with the material introduced in class and in the reading, and to extend beyond lecture’s coverage. There are two components to the homework: Problems, and Discussion Prep.
Discussion Prep: 5% of your grade. As already mentioned, you’ll get the most out of all components of the course (reading, meeting times, homework,…) if you read deeply and before class. To encourage that practice, by 9a.m. on lecture days, you should turn in three prep items of your choosing: a) first drafts of some of the homework (no final grade will be recorded until homework is due), b) unassigned homework problems, c) questions that the reading raised, or d) something else like filling in the ‘left to the reader’ gaps in the book’s derivations; or putting one of the book’s particularly confusing arguments into your own words.
Problems: 40% of your grade. More difficult problems will be worth more points (ê = 10, êê = 15, êêê = 20). Some problems will be difficult or require the use of a computer, so don’t wait until the last minute to start the assignments.
Bi-weekly homework will usually be due at 4pm Tuesdays and Thursdays (see schedule.). Each problem will be graded as roughly:
Full points: excellent effort – clear solution, appropriate notation, and correct results
4/5 points: good effort with only a few minor errors and a good explanation
3/5 points: good effort with modest errors
2/5 points: fair effort or good effort involving serious errors
1/5 points: poor effort
0 points: no effort
In
order to get a score greater than 3/5 of the possible points, an answer must
include at least a few words of explanation or the use of diagrams in
addition to calculations. To get full credit,
you must include units in calculations, not just at the end. You should be careful to use vector notation correctly because
it is impossible for me to distinguish a lack of understanding from sloppy
notation. Instead of using boldface (F) for vectors, you should use
“arrow notation” (
).
I will do the same in class. Components of vectors should be labeled with
subscripts (
,
,
),
but not arrows. Unit vectors should also be used correctly (
).
Scalars (including magnitudes of vectors, like
)
should not be labeled as vectors.
In addition to analytical / pencil-and-paper problems there will also be computational / keyboard-and-CPU problems. It’s important to practice computational methods since many problems physicists tackle cannot be solved analytically. Some useful tutorials are available at http://bulldog2.redlands.edu/facultyfolder/deweerd/tutorials/. Most weeks, there will be at least one homework problem that requires the use of a computer. For computer problems, you should email me your program in addition to turning in any background calculations (you will often have to do some work with pencil and paper before using the computer) and results with your homework. You may have already installed Python and some of the add-ons we use (Visual, Sciyp, and matplotlib) for a previous physics course; if not, you can find instructions at http://bulldog2.redlands.edu/facultyfolder/deweerd/tutorials/installation.html.
