PHY 1200 Syllabus Fall 2020

General

Course Outline

Physics likes to describe itself as the study of essentially everything, and PHY1200 is a survey of the main topics and applications of physics. We will discuss many things, from cats falling out of buildings to rocket engines, from bird flight to global warming, from power generation to air conditioners, from invisibility cloaks to lasers, from nuclear weapons to the Higgs boson. Or, in the language of physics, we will study kinematics, dynamics, thermodynamics, electromagnetism, optics, relativity, atomic, nuclear, and particle physics.

That’s a lot for one course, so we’ll visit some topics more deeply than others, and instead of focusing on the content in depth, we will focus on the skills necessary to succeed in physics.

Goals

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

A Typical Day in Class

For each class day, there is an assigned reading consisting of a few sections of the week’s chapter coverage. There is also a homework set that covers the reading material. Finally, there are 1-3 videos that introduce the topic and then provide example problems and solutions that are designed to get you comfortable with the homework.

Prior to each class day, you should plan to (1) do the reading, (2) watch the overview video(s). and (3) start the homework. Plan to spend 3-4 hours outside of class preparing for each in-class session.

In class, I will not be giving traditional lectures! We will recap the key points, cover additional material as needed, and then carry out some form of activity involving some combination of homework problem solving, conceptual question-and-answer sessions, quick in-class experiments, and short presentations of results. This more interactive approach has been shown repeatedly to be vastly superior to traditional lectures.

Prerequisites

This course will rely heavily on concepts from algebra and trigonometry and will introduce concepts from calculus, but otherwise, this is the starting point for understanding things. This course introduces the answers to the “why” questions and so does not require you to already know the answers.

Textbook

College Physics, by Urone, Hinrichs, Dirks, and Sharma:

See https://openstax.org/details/college-physics (or Google “OpenStax College Physics”), where you can download a PDF or view the full text online.

The textbook is available for free online. 1 If you prefer paper, you are welcome to purchase a paper copy (under $50 on Amazon), but it is not required.

The textbook is also available on our discussion site hosted by Perusall. Instructions for accessing Perusall are in Schoology.

Grading

Grading will be on the basis of the tentative weighted average of in-class problems, quizzes, participation, and exams on the right. Letter grades will be assigned approximately according to the table below, but note well: since this course carries lab science distribution credit, you must successfully complete the lab portion to get credit for the overall course.

Reading Assignments

Given the structure of each class meeting as described above, it is essential that you come prepared for class by effectively reading the textbook. The daily section assignments are brief but crucial to your understanding of the day’s work. In this course, reading refers to the active process of logging into our textbook Perusall site, reading the sections and commenting in the margins of the text using a collaborative bookmarking tool, responding to peer comments, and posting questions as they arise.

Activities / Homework

On a typical day of class, the bulk of the time will be spent doing some sort of activity. Typical activities include solo and group whiteboard problem solving of homework questions, modeling or simulation exercises, tutorials, and conceptual question/answer sessions. Homework is due per the schedule on OpenStax Tutor (access instructions in Schoology).

A note on the homework: there are between 10-30 problems assigned for each class. That’s a lot of work. Physics can only be learned by doing. In much the same way that a musician does not perfect her craft by reading about it and watching videos, you will make no progress in the course if you do not actively engage with the material. That’s why there is a LOT of homework assigned in the course. The homework is to give you practice in doing physics, practice that you will need in order to demonstrate understanding and facility on the exams. Please do as much of the homework as you can. I expect that a successful student will attempt at least 75% of all the problems on the calendar. Some days, you will just not have time to complete all the assigned homework problems and that is understandable. For this reason, the homework portion of the final grade is adjusted by 10%. For example if you completed all the homework in the course and received 100% on the final homework score, you would receive an additional 10% toward your final grade.

All homework is online and is administered through OpenStax Tutor. You will be auto-enrolled in this system and will access each assignment from the dashboard calendar for this course.

Labs

There will be one lab each week including the first week of course. The labs are an essential part of the course and will be tied to lecture material.

Missed labs can be made up only with prior arrangement and instructor permission.

Exams

There will be two mid-term exams and one final exam. Each exam primarily covers one unit of material, but is comprehensive of the material in the previous unit(s). Exams are designed to demonstrate mastery of the material. You will do well on the exams if you have consistently completed and understood the homework and in-class problem solving activities.

Late Work Policy

Please stay on time with your work! Missed or late reading assignments and activities will be accepted but will be graded up to a maximum of 85% of the total possible with the penalty increasing by 10% per class day late, up to a maximum penalty of 50%. See at right for an example. Missed exams and labs can be made up only with instructor permission and advance arrangements.

How to Succeed

This will not be an easy course for any of you, but if you work hard, you will succeed. Here’s what you need to do:

Accommodation and Special Needs

Carthage College strives to make all learning experiences as accessible as possible. If you anticipate or experience academic barriers due to a disability (including mental health, learning disorders and chronic medical conditions), please let me know immediately so that we can privately discuss options.  To establish reasonable accommodations, you also need to register with Diane Schowalter in Learning Accessibility Services (dschowalter1@carthage.edu).