Yi Ji Physics and Astronomy

Syllabus

Textbook    Office Hours    Course Description    Course Objectives    Class Policies
Miniute Paper    Quiz     Cocept Check    Grading System    Lab      Other Matters    Acknowledgements   

Textbook:

Principles and Applications of Electrical Engineering, 5th ed., Rizzoni (McGraw Hill, 2007; ISBN 0-07-246298-4.
Textbook Website: http://www.mhhe.com/rizzoni/

Office Hours:

My office hours are M&W 11:00 to 12:00. You can send me email too.  Often simple questions can be answered without a visit.  The office hours for discussion TA, Aisha Gokce (aisha.gokce@gmail.com ) is Tuesday and Thursday 5:15 - 6:30. Her office is ________.

Course Description:

Fundamentals of electricity and magnetism specific to dc and ac circuit analysis, transient circuit behavior, and rotating machinery.
Fundamentals of analog and digital electronics, with emphasis on applications in engineering. Integrated circuits and operational amplifiers.

Course Objectives:

As a result of this course, I hope that you can better 
        Access the fundamental physics available for dealing with engineering problems in the electrical domain.
        Apply selected physical concepts important in designing and using electrical and electronic circuits.
        Translate verbal and graphical descriptions of physical systems into appropriate mathematical models.
        Analyze and draw valid conclusions from experimentally obtained data.
        Apply spreadsheet or modeling software to organize data, perform calculations, and display results graphically.
        Communicate technical ideas effectively, both in writing and orally.

Class Policies:

• Reading: Preparatory reading is strongly recommended before you come to the class.   Refer to course schedule for preparatory reading assignment.
  

• Concept Checks: Concept checks will be an important part of each class. Typically two or three physical situations will be compared and a simple question posed regarding their relative behavior. You will be given a minute or so to think quietly about the question, followed by another minute or so to discuss the question with a neighboring student, where you attempt to work out an answer in consensus. I then ask for a show of hands for each possible answer so that I may determine if you understand the concept well enough to continue.

• Homework: Assigned homework are due at the beginning of the following Wednesday's class.   Homework submitted late will not be graded.  You are encouraged to work in groups.  However, the homework you hand in should be your own write-up. All the homework will be graded, but may not be graded rigorously. Please staple your homework if there are more than one page. Otherwise the TA will not accept it!
  

There will be two one-hour exams and one two-hour final exam.    Do your own work.  They are close book exams, no notes, books, homework,   etc. are allowed.

Grading system
           
Lab           10%
Homework   15%    Each problem is graded on a 0-10 scale. The average of all problems in the set is the score of the set.                   
Two one-hour midterm exams       20% each                  
Final Exam                        35%  
For each midterm, you will receive a letter grade (curved) to indicate your standing in the class.
The course grade will also be curved.           

No make-up exams will be offered. If you have to be excused from an exam, show solid evidence to convince me. If the reasons are justified, I may excuse you from the exam and try to assign you a grade based on the other two exams. But be aware that if you choose to do this you will not be graded on the same curve as the rest of the class. Missing an exam without consulting with me and showing proper evidence will result in losing the total credit assigned to that exam.          

Lab

Instructor: Derya Vural<deryavur@udel.edu> and Zhiyuan Chen <czy@udel.edu>  will be your lab TA.

Laboratory work is an essential part of the introductory physics course. It will likely play an important role in your career as scientist or
engineer as well. Time spent in the laboratory, developing skill and experience in making good measurements, is a critical part of your training.
Our laboratory schedule presents ten laboratory exercises that have been selected to develop further your ability to:

        use standard instruments such as multimeters and oscilloscopes effectively
        make reliable measurements, with no fear
        recognize and troubleshoot errant circuits
        present results more clearly through graphs and tables
        analyze data to reveal underlying relationships
        use computers for curve fitting and preparing graphs
        estimate experimental uncertainties and understand their consequences
        report reliable calculations with the appropriate number of significant figures
        keep an accurate and complete laboratory

Satisfactory laboratory work is required to receive a passing grade for this course.  Attendance is mandatory. There is no additional penalty if you miss one or two labs (except that you lose the credit assigned to the missed labs). If you miss more than two labs, you lose all the 10% credit assigned to the labs!

The grading schedule for late reports and the makeup policy for missed labs will announced by the lab instructor.  Lab reports are due in the following lab section. 

All lab reports have to be typed, no specical paper is required. You can share the data with your group members, but lab reports have to be written individually with your analyses. A good report should be concise and following the following format:

1. Introduction: Briefly describe why you are doing this lab, and what objectives are.
2. Experiment: Describe how you do the experiment.
3. Results: Present measured results
4. Analyses: Analyze the results and research the conclusions. Have you achieved your objectives? How accurate is your results, what are the error sources, how would you improve the experiment, etc. This is the most important part. Bad exerimental data or results do not mean you will get very bad grade. If you successfully point out where you did wrong, you can still get good grade.
5. Summary: Tell the readers a few (maybe just one) important findings from this experiment. Try to write in such a way that readers will still learn a few things even he just read this part only.

The lab manual should be studied before coming to the lab meeting. A short discussion may be given at the beginning of each lab to orient each student to the equipment and instructor's expectations.  Generally the lab exercised will be performed by teams for two students.  Lab reports should be submitted in whatever format and notebook is recommendated by the lab instructore. 

Other Matters:

Any students with disabilities who seek accommodations in this course are encouraged to speak with the instructor to make appropriate arrangements. UD's Academic Services Center should also be consulted.

Acknowledgements:
Many thanks to  professor John Xiao, who designed this course and let me use many of his resources.