Physics 207: Fundamentals of Physics I

THIS IS THE FALL 2003 SYLLABUS: STAY TUNED FOR FALL 2004!!!!

John E. Gizis
Office: Sharp Lab 236
Class Hours: MWF 12:20-1:10 in Sharp 131
Office Hours: Monday 10:30-11:30, Thursday 1:00-2:00, or by appointment
302-831-2668
gizis@udel.edu

Prerequisites

One year of high school calculus is recommended. MATH241 is a co-requisite

Course Description

First course in a sequence with PHYS208 and PHYS209 that provides an introduction to physics for those in the physical sciences and engineering. Emphasis is on Newton's laws of motion, force laws, and conservation principles. Integrates conceptual understanding with extensive problem solving and laboratory experience.

This is a lecture class. Some classroom activities are required. There is a weekly lab which meets in sections of up to 24 students and weekly discussion sections.

The goals of this course are to teach you the basic concepts of classical mechanics and to make you adept in solving relevant problems. To achieve these goals several reinforcing activities are used: 

1.interactive lectures to present, discuss and demonstrate the principles,
2.laboratory experiments allowing you to actively explore these principles,
3.homework to engage you in problem-solving and to broaden the context of the course, and
4.interaction with the discussion TA and students in discussion sections to develop problem solving skills. 

Lectures

Three 50 minute lectures will be given each week.

Come to the lecture! Prepare for each lecture by reading the required sections of the text. You should read the appropriate sections of the text PRIOR to each lecture, and use the lecture session to clarify and reinforce the ideas encountered. 

WARNING: Do not let yourself get behind. This course covers a large amount of new material. The understanding of new topics will frequently require knowledge of previous material. 

Discussion Sessions

Each week there is a one-hour discussion section conducted by your discussion TA.

Discussion sessions are designed to aid you in the understanding of the course material and to hone your problem solving abilities; you should find them beneficial in preparation for the hour exams. 

There will be a short quiz given during the discussion section.

Lab Sessions

Each of the 2-hour laboratories will involve a series of activities, including:

1.setting up simple experiments to study topics studied in class,
2.making predictions about the outcome of your experiments,
3.performing measurements of different phenomena you have studied,
4.analyzing your results, and
5.answering questions concerning your results and predictions.

Course Requirements and Policies

There will be weekly homeworks which will include questions from the textbook. Questions involving math illustrate the application of quantitative reasoning to problem solving.

There are five midterms and a final exam. The final is cumulative and will be scheduled later.

Students are encouraged to discuss the homeworks with each other. However, students may not copy the answers from anyone. Students may wish to review the University of Delaware's Code of Conduct.

Make-up exams will only be given in the case of an excused absence as defined by the University.  If you know of a conflict ahead of time, you must let me know in advance that you will be absent.  If you experience an illness, accident or life event, you must notify me at the earliest possible time. 

Homework consists of two parts: assigned reading and assigned problems.  It will be assumed that the student has done the necessary reading before the lecture.    The homework is due at 12:20 on the date shown on the schedule.  Homework must be placed in appropriate homework drop-boxes, which are outside the classroom, 131 Sharp Lab.  Homework solutions will be distributed during the subsequent discussion sections.
 
Homeworks will be graded by the discussion TAs or the helper and returned in discussion periods.  Exams will be graded by the instructor.  Partial credit will be given for homework and exam solutions, provided the logical steps of the solution can be identified.  It is not sufficient to provide a correct answer (many of these are in the back of the book) without providing a correct sequence of steps to reach the answer.

The labs are graded by the lab TA.  Because the lab sections do not all have the same TA, lab grades will be converted to a common scale by comparison of average grades assigned by a TA.

Grading 

Discussion Quizzes  5%

Homework: 15%

Labs: 16%

Midterm #1: 8%

Midterm #2: 8%

Midterm #3: 8%

Midterm #4: 8%

Final: 32%

There are actually five midterms, but the lowest of the five midterm grades will be dropped.

Course Calendar

The following is a tentative course outline for this semester.  It is subject to change.  

Texts/Resources/Readings/Supplies

The primary textbook is Physics for Scientists and Engineers (Vol. I, 6th ed) by Serway and Jewett.  

The required studyguide is The Portable T.A.: A Physics Problem Solving Guide (Vol I) by Elby.

A calculator will be useful to you in this class.  In addition, you may find it useful in this and future classes to have a table of math information such as integrals and derivatives.  

Study Tips/Learning Resources 

Textbook Website: Tutorials and study information.