Phys 2426: U P II C S: S 2015: Matt - Wood@tamuc - Edu WWW - Astro.tamuc - Edu/wood

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PHYS

2426: UNIVERSITY PHYSICS II


COURSE SYLLABUS: SPRING 2015

Instructor: Dr. Matt A. Wood
Office Location: Science 106A
Office Hours: MWF 1:002:00 or by appointment
Office Phone: 903-886-5488
Internet: [email protected] ; www.astro.tamuc.edu/wood

Course Location and Time

Lectures: MWF 11:00 a.m. 11:50 a.m., BA 106
Note: Class will start promptly at the top of the hour, and end at scheduled time. Please
dont be late
Labs: Wednesday Noon 2:50 p.m., Sci. 107; Wednesday 3:00 p.m. 5:50 p.m., Sci. 107
(Note: Labs begin week 1)

Suggested Companion Course (not required)

PHYS 202: Problem Solving in Electricity & Magnetism, Call #22123, Wednesday 2:00-2:50,
Science 135

Materials Textbooks, Readings, Supplementary Readings

Textbooks Required:

Fundamentals of Physics Extended, 10th edition, Halliday, Resnick, and Walker

A lab manual will be required and can be purchased at the bookstore.

Prerequisites: PHYS 2425, MATH 2413 (Calculus I), and you should have taken (or be enrolled in)
Calculus II (MATH 192).

Course Description

Physics 2426 is the second semester of a calculus-based physics sequence. University Physics
II introduces electrical and magnetic phenomena in nature, including the concepts of
electrical charges, electric and magnetic fields, the application of Gauss' Law, electric
potential, conductors and insulators, currents, basic circuits, Maxwell's E&M Equations, and
electromagnetic oscillations and waves. Yes, it's quite a bit, and there's a bit more I didn't list,
as well.

Physics is how the world works. Things move and their motion is changed by forces on them.
Whether it's the space shuttle burning reverse thrusters to change to an orbit that will
intersect the atmosphere as part of a re-entry maneuver, or the flow of blood through arteries
and capilaries pumped by a beating heart, or the flow of electrons through a computer chip.
The concepts and way of critically thinking about the world that you will learn and hone in
this class will change the way you think about the world. The most useful skill you may refine
in this course is the ability to qualtitatively understand a process or system as a first step
towards quantitative problem solving. We all have a 'model' of the world and how it works in
our heads. We also all have different ways of learning that may differ from our friends, and I'll
try to accomodate that variety of learning styles. I strongly encourage you to spend a few
minutes examining your own personal learning style using the online Index of Learning
Styles survey.


Critical Thinking

Most students who take this course will not pursue advanced physics degrees (although some
will) and many of you will not often directly use most of the physics concepts taught in the
course in your careers. But what you will use is your ability to think about a problem, to
simplify it to the fundamental essence and solve for that situation, then adding in more
complexities until you've solved your original problem. And when I say "think about a
problem" what I'm saying is to be able to visualize it in your head from different sides and
from different scales. What happens at the moment of impact when a baseball or softball
player bats a ball for a deep line drive over the fence? First you picture it as you've seen in
either live or on TV: the ball is pitched, the batter decides it's in the strike zone and that they
need to swing; the swinging bat hits the ball, the ball changes direction by roughly 180
degrees and moves faster after the hit than before - homerun! Now think about what happens
during the impact itself. It isn't a "moment" of impact, but is spread out over some short time
interval, and in that time intervall both the ball and the wall of the bat compress slightly,
providing the impulse that reverses the direction of the ball's flight and changes the speed
with respect to the dejected pitcher watching his or her ERA notch up as the ball flies out of
the park. While a simple example, this captures the essence of what I mean by visualizing the
problem you're thinking about before starting to work on a quantitative (equations and
numbers) solution.The reason that many students find physics difficult is that it goes beyond
memorization by requiring higher level thinking skills (levels 4 through 6 below). Learning
physics is also like learning a foreign language since new words and symbols must be
understood and applied correctly within the context of various physical situations.

Bloom's Taxonomy of the Cognitive Domain:

1. Knowledge - memorization of facts, words, and symbols
2. Comprehension - understanding the meaning of knowledge
3. Application - applying concepts to various situations
4. Analysis - breaking apart complex ideas
5. Synthesis - putting individual ideas together to form a complete explanation
6. Evaluation - judging the merits of individual ideas and making decisions

Not only are these skills needed for physics, but employers consistently rank critical thinking
and problem-solving ability near the top of their list of desired traits in valued employees.


Topics Covered:

Electric Charge & Electric Field



Gauss' Law

Electric Potential

Capacitance & Dielectrics

Current, Resistance, and Electromotive Force (EMF)

Direct-Current Circuits

Magnetic Field and Magnetic Forces

Sources of Magnetic Field

Electromagnetic Induction

Inductance

Alternating Current (if time permits)


Student Learning Outcomes:

Students completing this course will demonstrate mastery of:

Use of basic units, vectors, and their components


Analysis of physical Situations involving electrostatic fields
Basic concepts of current, voltage, resistance, power, and capacitance
Analysis of basic electrical circuits (DC and AC)
Analysis of physical situations involving simple magnetic fields

Collaborative Group Work

I encourage collaborative teamwork, which has multiple benefits for you both as a student and in your
career. Most jobs require at least some interaction with other people, and consequently, most
employers place a high value on their employees' ability to work well with other people. Also, many
good ideas and solutions to problems grow out of discussions with colleagues. As many teachers will
attest, you will find that the concepts covered in this course will become clearer to you as you discuss
and explain problem solutions to your peers. As you work together, you should help your peers to
understand confusing points, ask each other questions, and carefully critique any group assignments.
You can learn a great deal by teaching each other! However, you must also realize that YOU must know
how to solve the physics problems come exam time, so I very strongly recommend that you work
on ALL problems yourself before you meet with your peers to work on the problems as a group. And if
you get stuck on a problem or three, and you find the solution working with a group, go back and work
the problem from scratch on your own, and then find another problem that's similar but that has an
answer in the back of the book, and work that one.

Attendance

Studies show attendance at lectures is an important component to mastering the course


material and hence earning a good grade. There will also be homework assignments that
must be turned in regularly and if they are not turned in during class you will receive a zero
for that assignment. The most important thing you can do in this class is to never miss a class
and pay close attention during class.
Readings

You are responsible for reading the textbook and working suggested problems on your own.
You should be reading ahead in the textbook before coming to class. Time spent in class is
intended to be a review and elaboration on the information you should have already gathered
from the textbook.

Class Participation

Class participation is an important part of this course. There are many opportunities for
active student participation, both in and out of the classroom, including: responses to in-class
questions, surveys that are submitted in-class or on-line, predictions for classroom
demonstrations. Responses to in-class questions are scored primarily on effort, with only
minor emphasis on getting the "right" answers. Note that you are expected to attend all
lectures, and to be on-time. Studies show that students who miss class for minor reasons (e.g.,
"a minor cough"), particularly in the first 4 weeks, tend to have the lowest grades in the class,
and are mostly likely to fail.

Exams

We will have three (3) midterm exams during the semester. Each will be announced at least 1
week in advance. Each midterm will focus on material covered since the previous exam.
However, note that concepts and techniques build on each other, and concepts/techniques
from exam 1 may be required to solve problems on subsequent exams. There will also be a
cumulative final exam. Your lowest midterm exam grade will be dropped from the calculation
of your final grade.

For midterms and the non-lab final, you may use a calculator (no cell phone calculators are
allowed). No other books, notes, backpacks, computers, iPods, headsets, cell phones, PDAs,
etc. will be permitted. Using any aids other than your calculator will result in you being
removed from the exam and a grade of a zero. Hats with brims must be removed during
exams.

Homework

In order to really learn the material, you need hours and hours of practice. There is no
shortcut to rewiring your brain! The homework assignments will have different types of
problems, including questions that test your understanding of concepts, exercises that help
you learn to use these concepts in straightforward settings, and more complex problems that
combine concepts under a real-world setting. Think of these as sample exam questions
because they are.

Your textbook has the answers to most odd-numbered exercises. However, homework
grades will depend completely on how you arrive at the answer. If you do not explain what
you are doing when solving homework problems, you will lose points.
The following are considered cheating and will not be tolerated (see section on Academic
Integrity below): Searching for answers on the internet, obtaining copies of solutions
(whether from past students or other sources), directly copying another students answer,
etc. As noted above, you may work with other students to complete assignments, but
identical papers are considered copying.

Assignments will be announced in class and due dates will be clearly specified. Your lowest
homework score for the semester will be dropped.

Labs

Labs are mandatory and are part of your grade. According to University policy, if you fail
the lab section of the class, you will also automatically fail the course. Labs will be held in
Science 107. Be sure to have a pencil, a calculator, and your lab manual with you. Labs are
usually led by a graduate student assistant. If you have questions about lab, first ask the lab
assistant. If the problem is not resolved to your satisfaction, you should then talk to me.
More details on labs will be discussed on your first lab date.

Web Project.

To help make connections between physics and the "real world" and gain experience with
webpage development, students are encouraged to publish an on-line group report that
explains the physics of some form of technology of interest to their group. This optional
project is due near the end of the course (Wednesday, Dec 10, 2014) and may be posted on
the Web. Up to 3 percentage points (1/3 of a letter grade) of extra credit will be added to
each of the authors' final course scores. More details are available following the link.

Grading

The grading breakdown is as follows:

Homework Assignments 15%

Midterms (3 total, low 40% (20% each)


score dropped)
Final 25%

Labs 20%

Class Participation & EOC Up to 5%*


quizzes

* Class participation can help your final score, but lack of participation will not hurt your score
(shucks, you might be shy).
Students who choose to do the optional Web Project may receive up to 3 percentage points of extra
credit added to their final course score.

Note: If your exam scores show improvement over the course of the semester, an additional
improvement factor will be added to your final score, which may result in the next higher letter
grade for borderline cases.

The nominal grading scale is:

90% to 100% A

80% to 89.9% B

70% to 79.9% C

60% to 69.9% D

Below 60% F

COURSE AND UNIVERSITY PROCEDURES/POLICIES

Course Specific Procedures:

Classroom behavior: I require you to follow some simple good manners that will make class
time much more productive for you and your fellow students.

During lecture and labs,

Do not be disruptive or disrespectful.


Turn off your cell phone ringer.
Do not answer your phone in the classroom.
Do not send or view texts, tweets, emails, photos, or any other communication.
Do not use computers during lecture for any purpose (laptops are lousy for taking
notes in physics).
Do not use iPods, MP3 players, Pandora, or any other type of noise-making device.

Academic integrity: A major goal of this and most every university course is for you to learn and
appreciate subject material. Academic dishonesty (cheating) actively prevents you from
achieving this goal. Academic dishonesty is taken seriously by the University and by me, and will
not be tolerated. (See the TAMU-C Code of Student Conduct and the TAMU-C Procedures A 13.04,
13.12, 13.31, and 13.32.)

This conduct is not only considered wrong in this course and at this University, but also in the real
world. Engaging in these activities will get you fired from a job and prevent you from getting
another job.

Unethical student conduct includes:

Plagiarism, or copying the words of others with the intent of making it look like
your own. Whether you use someone elses phrase word for word, or whether you
try and change a few words, or even if you just borrow someone elses original idea
and dont give them credit, thats unethical. Use your own words whenever possible,
give credit to wherever you got an idea, and put direct quotes inside quotation
marks.
Cheating involves trying to trick me or others into thinking you did work that you
really didnt do, or into thinking you know what you really dont know. This can
include stealing exams, changing your answers on a graded exam or assignment and
claiming it was graded wrongly, putting your name on someone elses homework,
and so on. Searching the Internet for homework or exam solutions is considered
cheating. Borrowing a previous students homework, exams, or solution sets is
considered cheating.
Collusion is working with another person to cheat. This can include copying
someone elses answers to an exam or assignment, doing work for another student,
buying or otherwise obtaining homework/exam solutions from any source online or
off-line, or any other instance of multiple people engaging in some form of cheating
or dishonesty. Working with other students on an assignment is fine and
encouraged as long as everyone contributes and each student does their own work.
Any other activity that, to a reasonable person, looks wrong. If you have any
doubt whatsoever whether a certain action is considered dishonest, please ask me
before engaging in the activity. There is no need to be embarrassed about asking,
and I wont penalize you for asking! In this class, if you follow the maxim its easier
to beg forgiveness than to ask permission, dont expect forgiveness to be
forthcoming.
If you engage in academic dishonesty during any graded activity, you will receive no
credit for that activity. More than one instance of dishonesty by a student will result in
automatic failure of the course and referral of the student for disciplinary action.

For further information, search the Texas A&M-Commerce website for academic integrity
policy.

University Specific Procedures:

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 have a disability requiring an
accommodation, please contact:
Office of Student Disability Resources and Services
Texas A&M University-Commerce
Gee Library 132
Phone (903) 886-5150 or (903) 886-5835
Fax (903) 468-8148

[email protected]
Student Disability Resources & Services

Student Conduct

All students enrolled at the University shall follow the tenets of common decency and acceptable
behavior conducive to a positive learning environment. (See Code of Student Conduct from
Student Guide Handbook).

Nondiscrimination Statement

A&M-Commerce will comply in the classroom, and in online courses, with all federal and state laws
prohibiting discrimination and related retaliation on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national
origin, disability, age, genetic information or veteran status. Further, an environment free from
discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression will be
maintained.

Course Calendar

Labs begin this week!


Phys 202 will start next week.

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