Physics 113General Physics I: MechanicsSummer Term 2007“If one studies too zealously, one easily loses his pants.” – Albert EinsteinCRN: 16014B&L 269Monday – Thursday, 9:30-11:45May 21 – June 29Instructor Contact InfoJulie LangenbrunnerEmail: [email protected]: 585-275-0339 (office)Office: Bausch and Lomb 478Office hours: Tues. and Thurs.12:30 – 2:00 Also by appointmentCourse Websitewww.pas.rochester.edu/~julie/PHY113_07/homeTextbookGiancoli, Physics for Scientists & Engineers, Volume 1, 3rd Edition (2000)(Note: If you plan on taking 114 as well and want to get the double volume Giancoli, be sure to get the one that includes modern physics. It should have 45 chapters.)AttendanceYour final grade does not depend (at least not directly) on your attendance. However, since we are packing a full 15-week course into an intensive 6-week session, if you miss a day's lecture you will have a lot of catching up to do. My presentation of the material will deviate from the textbook significantly on some topics, and I will often present information that you cannot find in your textbook, so missing lecture means you miss potentially helpful stuff.Please make it a point to show up to class on time. Consistent lateness is distracting and disrespectful to me and your fellow students.LectureI'll spend most of each class day lecturing, but there will be some times when I'll ask you to participate or take periodic pop quizzes. This is partly to keep your neurons firing and your eyes open, and partly because physics is learned best with a combination of passive learning (likelistening to lecture or reading the text) and active learning (like asking questions, talking to peersabout the concepts, or actual writing). Another reason is that your participation and the quizzes will let me see where the class as a whole is, which will help me keep everyone on the same pageand up to speed. The quizzes will not ask you to work through problems (that's the job of thehomeworks), but will check to see how well you have been paying attention and understanding the recent concepts. I'll treat them as extra credit.The material we'll cover each day will build on everything covered before, so I suggest that you revisit each lecture sometime after class of the same day to help cement what you learned (and while you're doing that, you might as well begin the applicable homework problems). This sounds like a lot to ask, but it will keep you on top of the material instead of behind it, and when you see new material you'll have a better foundation for it. This will also lead to easier studying when it comes time for exams.Workshops (not "recitations," but they are called that on the registrar's course schedule)Workshops are simply one more way for you to increase your understanding and familiarity with the material. They are basically just problem sessions in which you work with your peers to solve the problems (I'll be there to help out, too). The benefit of this group work is that you get to see different approaches to solving a problem, and, by experience, you can learn to exercise controlled creativity in your physics work. The problems themselves are separate from the homework and exam problems, but will cover the same material. The workshop is an optional part of the course and will be held in B&L 208 on Mondays, from 12:00 to 2:00.Since many of you will be taking the MCAT eventually, the workshops will incorporate many MCAT-like problems, but they will contain conceptual questions as well, in order to give you a deeper understanding of the material.HomeworkThere will be eleven assignments throughout the course, each graded for completion and method. (I will explicitly grade only a few problems from each set, but you will not know whichones ahead of time.) I will drop one of these grades when calculating your final grade (to your benefit). Homeworks will be due at the beginning of class, and I'll post solutions on the website after class. It is your responsibility to go over them to make sure you understand the material covered (especially for those problems I do not grade). If you do this consistently throughout thecourse, you will find studying for exams much easier. Since solutions will be available immediately after class, there will be NO extensions. We do not have time to fall behind.I highly encourage group work. It is very beneficial to hear how your peers approach problems differently than you do; however, make each of your assignments your OWN work. Academic dishonesty, the attempt to pass of the work of another as your own, will not only hurt you when the exams come around, but it will unpleasantly introduce you to the Dean. I have every intention of following the rules of the College regarding academic dishonesty. Please see the College's policy on Academic Honesty (http://www.rochester.edu/College/honesty/) for more information.ExamsThere will be three exams, the final being cumulative. I will provide you with an equation sheet for each exam, and I'll make sure you see it in advance.Exam I (covering weeks 1 and 2): Thursday, June 7Exam II (covering weeks 3 and 4): Thursday, June 21Final Exam (covering weeks 1-6 but stressing 5 and 6): Thursday, June 28My exams are intended to test your understanding of the material, not to test your ability to pick an equation that has the right symbols in it and plug and chug the numbers. The examproblems, much like the homework, will focus on conceptual understanding as well as problem solving method. I am very picky about how you solve the problems, but not so about whether you get the right answer. The important thing is that you show me that you understand the material. Picking equations or repeating example problems that seem to fit will show me that you're shooting in the dark. Showing explicit steps and justifying the equations you use will show me that you understand the concepts, even if you don't get the right answer.Learning AssistanceLAS (Learning Assistance Services) offers support for students with learning disabilities such as attention deficit disorder, as well as testing-induced stress (and things like that). In order to receive special accommodations, students must go through LAS in order to document their needs. If this applies to you, please see me or the LAS website for more information as soon as possible so we can make arrangements.(http://www.rochester.edu/College/LAS/index.php)LabThere are