Physics 201 - College Physics
(Texas A&M University, Spring 2007)
Homepage for Sections 509-512
Announcements
(updated regularly)
Lectures
Tue+Thu 11:10am-12:25pm
Room: Heldenfels 107
(1st class: Tue Jan 18
(university closed on Jan.16+17, last class: Thu Apr 26,
no classes/Lab/Rec on
Mon-Fri, Mar 12-16 due to spring break)
Recitations
(HELD-121) LABS(HELD-220)
Sect. 509:
Wed, 08:00-09:00am
09:00-10:50am
Sect. 510:
Wed,
10:20-11:20am
11:20-01:10pm
Sect. 511:
Wed,
12:40-01:40pm
01:40-03:30pm
Sect. 512:
Wed,
03:00-04:00pm
04:00-05:50pm
For the Lab
Schedule, click here
Course Instructor
Dr. Ralf Rapp
Office
: Cyclotron (Building 434) Room 211
Office-Hrs : Tue 2-3pm, Wed+Thu
3-4pm, or by appointment
Phone : 845-1411 (ext. 226)
E-mail : rapp@comp.tamu.edu
Teaching Assistants
all TA's listed
below are either simultaneously responsible for Recitation and Lab
in the respective sections, or
listed separately. For questions on the Lab, Lab-reports
or homework/quizzes outside
the standard Lab and Recitation times, please schedule
an appointment via email.
Sect. 509
Kevin Resil
Office : tba
E-mail: mystyc@physics.tamu.edu
Office Hour: by appointment
Sect. 510
Lucas
Naveira
Office : tba
E-mail: lucas@physics.tamu.edu
Office Hour: by appointment
Sect. 511
Jose Valadez
Office : tba
E-mail: jose_valadez@physics.tamu.edu
Office Hour: by appointment
Sect. 512
Weiping Gou
Office : tba
E-mail : wgou@physics.tamu.edu
Office Hour: by appointment
Supplemental Instruction (Group Sessions)
The University provides free
Supplemental Instruction (SI) sessions to further improve
your study options. The name of the SI leader
assigned to PHY201 is TBA. His 50-minute
sessions are open to all
PHY201 students, held during the following evening hours:
-- TBA --
You are very much encouraged to
take advantage of this additional University
resource.
Personal Tutoring by International Graduate Student
The
physics department provides another learning resource by offering free personal
tutoring sessions with an international physics graduate
student (GANT).
For our PHYS 201
course, the name and email address of the GANT is:
tba
(TuTh 11:10am-12:25pm),
tba@physics.tamu.edu
The
GANT will attend the lectures indicated in the parentheses, and solve the complete
homework assignments. Therefore, he will be well prepared
to help you with any
class-material related question. Be aware that the GANT is not a native English
speaker, but he is eager to improve in this respect, also
by the tutoring. He
is
available for individual appointments with you for up to 9
hrs per week, Mon
through
Fri during daytime (i.e., before 8pm) in Held 211.
To schedule an
appointment, contact the above GANT at least one day (preferably
somewhat more) in advance by email.
Again, you are very
much encouraged to make use of this opportunity. I recommend that
you try out the tutoring soon to see whether it could
improve your PHYS 201
skills.
Make sure not to miss out on something useful!
Required Material
1.)
TEXTBOOK:
The course will be based on the book
College Physics,
8. Edition, by Young and Geller
2.) LAB MANUAL:
Physics 201 Lab Manual (published by Hayden-McNeil)
3.) optional:
Student Solutions Manual; Student Study
Guide
Scope
The course will cover the basic
concepts and applications of Newtonian Mechanics,
Thermodynamics and Waves+Sound,
corresponding to chapters 1-16 in the textbook.
Course Grade
The total course grade is decomposed as follows:
Exams
The exams are
closed book, and are held in the classroom (HELD107) during standard
lecture times
(except for the Final); you should only bring a pen and pocket
calculator,
capable of
evaluating trigonometric functions (sin, cos, tan) and logarithms.
Formula sheets
will be provided. Special preparatory review sessions will be held by
the
course instructor on an evening ca. 2-3 days before each exam, see
announcements on top
of page. For files of old exams, see http://faculty.physics.tamu.edu/ford/p201.html
.
SCHEDULE:
Midterm I: Tue Feb 13, in class
(Held 107, 11:10am-12:25pm),
material covered: Chap 1-6
Midterm
II: Tue Mar 27, in class (Held 107, 11:10-12:25pm),
material covered: Chap 7-11
Midterm III: Tue Apr
24, in class (Held 107, 11:10am-12:25pm),
material covered: Chap 12, 14-16
FINAL:
Fri May 04 (Held 107, 03:00-05:00pm)
material covered corresponds to the entire semester (Chap 1-16)
Notes on Lectures
Attendance
in the lectures, as well as taking notes of the material presented, is mandatory.
Furthermore, you are responsible for all announcements
made in class
(including
information on review sessions, etc.).
The material
discussed in the lectures, together with the homework problems, essentially
defines the scope of the exams. Formula sheets to be used
in the exams are
handed out
in the lectures at the time the material is started to be
discussed (this will
allow you to get
acquainted with the notation well ahead of the exam).
Notes on Homework and Recitation
For the weekly assignment of
homework problems drawn from the textbook, cf. the
main Syllabus here.
Cooperative work and discussions are
encouraged, but every one of you should
generate his/her individual solution
set. Questions can be addressed to your course
or recitation instructor, who will
be happy to help you (preferably during office hours).
Recitation attendance is mandatory; each week, a quiz will
be given and graded,
which will determine your recitation
grade (the semester-average on your quizzes
makes up 5% of your total course
grade).
The "Mastering Physics" online homework assignments
(which make up 11% of your
total course grade) are dated. They are ordered by
chapters and very similar to the
problems on the Syllabus. Your access to the online
assignments will expire approximately
one week after the material has been discussed in class.
The best strategy is to first do the
problems on the Syllabus and then the online HW. This
will also contribute to an efficient
midterm-exam preparation.
Notes on Laboratory Experiments
Lab
attendance is mandatory. It follows
the recitation session of your section each
week in which an
experiment is scheduled.
Your
Lab-instructor (who is usually the same person as the recitation
instructor)
will advise you on
when (typically no more than one week after the experiment)
and where to hand
in the Lab reports which are based on the data you take.
In certain weeks
there are no formal Labs scheduled, but this extra time will be used
by the recitation
instructor to provide additional exam preparation or discussion
of the solutions
after an exam.
Information on
policies on missed labs can be found at
http://faculty.physics.tamu.edu/ford/lab.html
.
Strategy
To pass the course, you will have to keep up with the material of the
course by
attending the lectures (besides the
recitation and Lab) and thoroughly work through
the weekly HW problems (which, in addition,
is the best preparation for recitation
quizzes). Otherwise, pile-up of not
understood material is likely to lead to a failing
grade. It is impossible to get a
passing grade without hard work in this course.
AGGIE Honor Code
An Aggie does not lie, cheat, or steal or tolerate those who do.
Also see http://www.tamu.edu/aggiehonor
Any type of cheating (copying homework, lab reports, during
exams, etc.) is
strictly prohibited and seriously penalized.
ADA Statement
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal anti-discrimination
statute that provides comprehensive civil
rights protection
for persons with
disabilities. Among other things, this legislation requires that all students
with disabilities be guaranteed a learning environment that provides for
reasonable accommodation of their disabilities. If you believe you have
a
disability requiring an accommodation, please contact the
Department of
Student Life, Services for Students with Disabilities, in
Cain Hall, Room
B118 or call 845-1637; for more info see also http://disability.tamu.edu/
Department of Student Life, SSD, will review your concerns and
determine,
with you, what accommodations are necessary and appropriate. All
information and documentation concerning disability is
kept confidential.
Despite all the above regulations and
rules (which are needed for a fair assessment
of
your grades), we hope that you will enjoy this course, and that you will
achieve
knowledge that will both be helpful in your further career and provide
deeper
insights into daily life encounters with physics!
If
you have any questions or concerns, do not hesitate to contact your
course/
recitation instructors who shall be glad to help you!