Physics 218: Mechanics Professor Jairo Sinova Email [email protected] Phone: (979) 845-4179 Office MPHYS 413 Lectures TR 11:10 a.m.-12:25 p.m. (Sec. 526-528) MPHYS 203 TR 2:20 p.m.-3:35 p.m. (Sec. 501-504) MPHYS 203 Co-Requisites MATH 151. You are expected to have a working knowledge of plane geometry, trigonometry, and algebra. As the semester progresses you will also be expected to have a working knowledge of derivatives and integrals, and be proficient in the use of vectors (addition, subtraction, dot and cross products). Office hours TR 12:30 p.m.- 2:15 p.m. and F 1:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m. or by appointment if there exists an schedule conflict with other classes Primary text University Physics, Young and Freedman 12th edition. Lab info http://visual.physics.tamu.edu/vp218/ Web site All course information will be posted at http://faculty.physics.tamu.edu/sinova/courses/P218/ Course Grading The total course grade consists of 750 points distributed as follows: • 3 Exams 275 (75, 100, 100) • Final Exam 200 • Laboratory 100 • Recitation Quizzes 100 • Homework/Math quizzes 75 NOTE: If your final exam grade is higher than your 3-exam average, then the final will count 275/750 points toward your final grade and your midterm exam average will count just 200/750. You must pass three parts of this course separately in order to pass the course: • Lectures (3 midterm exams, final exam, recitation); • Laboratory (with a minimum score of 70%) • Homework with 100% score. You get unlimited number of tries. Exams There will be three midterm exams and one final exam. (a) Each exam will generally consist of problems similar in content and difficulty to the homework. The entire solution will be graded and partial credit given if merited. Your work must show steps toward the solution; the answer alone is not sufficient. The grader will judge your use of physics in arriving at the solution. Exams may also include examples worked in the lecture but not appearing in the text nor assigned as problems. (b) Formula sheets will be provided for each exam and the final.(c) If you miss an exam due to an authorized excused absence as outlined in the University Regulations, then you should attempt to contact me prior to the exam, but no later than the next working day following the missed exam to arrange for a makeup exam. There may be a single course-wide makeup exam for those missing an exam. This makeup exam will be written by a committee of Physics 218 lecturers and administered outside normal class time within 7-10 class days following the missed exam. Note: Very few conditions qualify as an authorized excused absence, so avoid missing an exam at all costs. (d) You must bring your student ID with you to all exams for identification purposes. Homework • For each chapter there is a set of homework problems listed in the Tentative Course Schedule assigned to practice problem-solving techniques. • How to solve and submit your Homework Solve: homework for each week is detailed in the Course Schedule. The idea is to solve all the problems using variables instead of the actual numbers and keep a detailed log of the formulas used to obtain the solutions. Submit: once the solutions are obtained the homework highlighted in bold must be submitted using eLearning. The eLearning homework problems are non-descriptive and will refer to problems of the book, typically changing some parameters of the problem (e.g. "If you redo problem X.y of the book assuming now the mass is 5.6 Kg, what would be the final velocity ?"). If you did all the problems using generic variables, instead of hardcored numbers, you can just plug the new numbers into the formula you derived when doing your homework, get the proper answer, and plug it into eLearning. Grading: You may take as many tries on each as you like, but a perfect score on each is required to pass the course. You are expected to work homework problems each week before recitation and there will be a quiz each week in recitation to test your ability to work one of the assigned homework problems. BEFORE the system allows you to access the first homework you need to take the Force Concept Inventory, and have a perfect score on ten math quizzes. If you get perfect scores on all of the math quizzes, homeworks and associated homework quizzes, a mini-practice exam will become available to you to help study for each exam. • Instructions on using eLearning (also known as WebCT) for Physics 218 may be found at http://faculty.physics.tamu.edu/toback/WebCT/. Questions not answered in the website should be directed to [email protected]. Labs If you miss a regularly scheduled laboratory for valid reasons, it is your responsibility to inform your TA immediately and promptly make suitable arrangements. Any missed laboratory that is not remedied will count as a zero towards your final laboratory grade.Even thought the lab work worth 13.33% of your final grade, you MUST achieve a 70% or better grade in the laboratory to pass the course. Note that if you miss two labs without an excuse and do not make them up then you will have failed the course. If you are repeating PHYS 218 and have an 80% or better in the lab from a previous semester, you do not have to redo the lab part of the course (but you may if you want to improve the lab grade). However, you must contact the Physics Front Office immediately in order to transfer your grade. Note that you must still attend the recitation this semester. ADA 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 Room 126 of the Koldus Building or call 845-1637. Aggie Honor Code As a student at Texas A&M University, you are bound by the Aggie Honor Code: “An Aggie does not lie, cheat, or steal or tolerate those who do.” Should you have concerns or questions about ethical conduct in
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