Physics 201 - College Physics
(Texas A&M University, Spring 2018)
Homepage for Sections 513-517
Announcements
(updated regularly)
The Help Desk is in the MPHY ground floor lobby area, usually open Mon-Thu 9am-4pm and Fri 9am-12noon
Find info on how to get access to webassign and Modified Mastering Physics on the syllabus, or here
Find the formula sheets for each exam here
For exams in previous semesters, click here
For supplementary information (incl. answers to even-numbered HW problems), click here
Lectures
Tue+Thu 09:35-10:50am Recitations
(MPHY 332) Labs (MPHY 235)
For the full Lab Schedule, click here Course Instructor
Dr. Ralf Rapp Teaching Assistants
All TA's listed below are
responsible for Recitation and Lab in the respective sections.
Sect. 513
Room: MPHY 203
(1st class: Tue Jan 16, last class: Thu Apr 26, no class on Mar 12-16 (spring break))
Sect. 513:
Mon 12:40-01:40pm
01:40-03:30pm
Sect. 514:
Mon 05:10-06:10pm
06:10-08:00pm
Sect. 515:
Wed 10:20-11:20am
11:20-01:10pm
Sect. 516:
Wed 03:00-04:00pm
04:00-05:50pm
Sect. 517:
Thu 04:55-05:55pm
05:55-07:45pm
Office: Cyclotron CYCL-329
Office Hrs: Mon+Fri 10-11am, Tue 2-3pm, or by appointment
Phone: 845-1411 (ext. 226)
E-mail: rapp@comp.tamu.edu
For questions on the Lab, Lab-reports or homework/quizzes outside the
standard Lab and
Recitation times, please schedule an appointment via email.
tba
Office: MPHY-nnn
E-mail: tba@physics.tamu.edu
Sect. 514
tba
Office: MPHY-nnn
E-mail: tba@physics.tamu.edu
Sect. 515
tba
Office: MPHY-nnn
E-mail: tba@physics.tamu.edu
Sect. 516
tba
Office: MPHY-nnn
E-mail: tba@physics.tamu.edu
Sect. 517
tba
Office: MPHY-nnn
E-mail: tba@physics.tamu.edu
Supplemental Instruction (Group Sessions)
The University provides
free Supplemental Instruction (SI) sessions to further improve your Required Material 1.)
TEXTBOOK: 2.)
LAB ACCESS:
3.) IN CLASS iClickers:
study options. The name of the SI leader assigned to PHYS201 is
tbd (email: tbd).
His sessions are open to all PHY201 students, held during the following evening hours:
tbd in tbd
You are very much encouraged to take advantage of this additional
University resource.
The course will be based on the book
College Physics, 10. Edition,
by Young, Adams and Chastain
with Modified Mastering Physics access
through eCampus
Webassign Account
i>clicker2 available from the bookstore
Scope and Learning Outcomes
The course will cover
basic concepts and applications of Newtonian Mechanics, Thermodynamics
and Waves+Sound, corresponding to chapters 1-16 in the textbook.
Upon completion of the course you will understand the basic laws and
formulae in the above
areas and be able to quantitatively apply them to pertinent physical
situations and problems and
solve the latter using algebraic methods.
Course Grade
The total course grade is decomposed as follows:
Final Exam (comprehensive) : 20%
4 Midterm Exams : 13% each
Online HW (Mastering Physics): 10%
Laboratory Experiments : 7%
Recitation (weekly quizzes): 7%
Pre-lecures and quizzes: 2%
In-class iclickers: 2%
If the grade on the final exam is better than on one of the midterm exams, that ONE midterm
exam grade will be replaced by the grade on the final exam.
This DOES NOT apply to a missed midterm exam (which is counted as zero).
Exams
The exams are closed book/no notes; you should only bring a pen and pocket calculator.
capable of evaluating trigonometric functions (sin, cos, tan) and logarithms.
Schedule:
Midterm 1: Tue, Feb 13, 7-8:30pm (room to be announced); material: chapters 1-5
Midterm 2: Tue, Mar 06, 7-8:30pm (room to be announced); material: chapters 6-8
Midterm 3: Tue, Apr 03, 7-8:30pm (room to be announced); material: chapters 9-11
Midterm 4: Tue, Apr 24, 7-8:30pm (room to be announced); material: chapters 12, 14-16
Final: Thu, May 04, 12:30-2:30pm (MPHY 203); material: chapters 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
infon poteintial 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
The weekly assignment
of homework problems can be found on your Modified Mastering Physics
account (through eCampus); the problems are dated, especially the
lecture tutorials have tight due
dates. 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).
The semester average on your online HW makes up 10% of your total
course grade, which is a small
amount given the required effort. However, mastering the HW problems is THE key
to performing
well on the exams which make up the major portion of the course grade.
Recitation attendance is also mandatory; each week, a quiz will be given and graded,
which will
determine your recitation grade (which is usually high and help you with the total grade).
Notes on Laboratory Experiments
Lab attendance is mandatory as well. Labs follow the recitation session
of your section each week
in which an experiment is scheduled. You will conduct the Labs using
the Webassign system, for
which you need online access, see here.
There is no printed lab manual for PHYS 201.
Each lab has three parts: Prelab, Inlab, and Postlab.
You do the Prelab individually and it is due 15 minutes before the start of recitation
on the day
the lab will be done. The Inlab is done during the lab period. It is done in groups
of 2 or 3 and all
results are entered into Webassign and graded immediately. The Postlab is done
individually after
the lab period is over and is due 30 minutes before the start of the next week's
recitation.
You are entitled to a make-up lab if you have to miss a
regular one due to a University-allowable
exuse. Similar to the recitation grade, lab grades are usually high and help you with your total
grade (better than 70% to pass the course).
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, importantly, is the best preparation for exams and
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://aggiehonor.tamu.edu/
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 be both 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!