PHYSCS 203: College Physics I

Fall 2004 Course Schedule Online Syllabus: www.uwsp.edu/physastr/kmenning/phys203.htm
MCAT practice WebAssign: www.webassign.net/login.html WebAssign Hints

Instructor:	Dr. Ken Menningen	Office hours:	M	T	W	R	F
Office:	B203 Science Building	9:00am – 10:00am	X	X	X		X
Phone:	(715) 346-4871	1:00pm – 2:00pm	X			X	X
email:	Ken.Menningen@uwsp.edu	3:00pm – 4:00pm		X
		By appointment	X	X	X	X	X

Course Prerequisites: 1 year of high school algebra and 1 year of high school geometry, or equivalent.

Required text: Physics: Principles and Applications, Giancoli, 6^th edition (available at Text Rental)

Other required materials: Scientific calculator (graphing capability is not necessary), and a laboratory notebook (quadrille ruled, spiral bound is best).

Course Objectives: College Physics I is the first of the algebra-based course sequence designed for pre-professional and general education students. The principle objectives are:

• Understand the fundamental concepts of mechanics, waves, sound, and thermodynamics.
• Use algebra to explain measurements and make predictions.
• Understand the usefulness and limitations of applying problem-solving methods to realistic examples

Attendance: Attendance is required only for the laboratory sessions and midterm examinations but it is a disadvantage to miss any lectures because the lectures, demonstrations, and in-class activities will greatly enhance your ability to understand the material. There will often be quizzes or assignments done in class that are worth points. If you are ill, please contact me before class to make arrangements. Otherwise, late assignments are not accepted. Late exams are not allowed, but in special cases you may take an exam early.

Grading policy: The grade you earn in this class will be based upon the five assignment types listed below. A grading scale is also given for your reference. Grades are not curved, encouraging you to work together, but I expect each student to hand in their own work. The lowest lab, homework and quiz grades will be dropped at the end of the semester.

Grading Scale		Grade Breakdown
Letter	Score	Assignment	Weight
A- → A	85 - 100	Midterm exams	30%
B- → B → B+	70 - 84	Final exam	20%
C- → C → C+	60 - 69	Homework	20%
D → D+	50 - 59	Quizzes	10%
F	0 - 49	Labs	20%

Exams: Midterm exams are scheduled to occur on September 23, October 21, and November 18. These dates may change but it's not likely. The comprehensive final exam is scheduled for Saturday, December 18, at 10:15 am.

Homework: The homework can be handed in using the web-based Desire2Learn system that allows multiple submissions and gives instant feedback but will not allow late entries. To avoid a zero for late homework you must warn me by phone or email before it is due and make special arrangements. If you are too ill to complete the assignment, please see a doctor, and have the doctor write an excuse. You should not believe that the homework problems are sufficient practice for the exam. Instead I recommend that you work out at least five additional problems for each chapter from the text. The answers to odd problems are provided by the text and I have the solutions to even problems as well.

During the semester you will be asked to write a paragraph response to a New York Times article that concerns any physics topic you have learned about in the course. Free copies of New York Times newspapers are available in the UC, designated buildings in the academic core and the Debot Center. Pay special attention to the Tuesday Science Times section, but you can find appropriate articles in pretty much every edition. In your paragraph you are to summarize the contents of the article, indicate which physics topic is pertinent and explain how you were able to better understand or evaluate the article using what you have learned in this course. You can hand these paragraphs in (with the article attached) at any time but no later than the midterm examination dates listed above. The paragraphs are each counted as 30 homework points (about half that of a chapter assignment). There will also be multiple extra credit opportunities throughout the semester, and extra credit points are added to your homework score.

Quizzes: On many days there will be a short quiz covering material that you have recently learned. Regard them as a "safe" practice experience for the exam and as some measure of how well you understand the material. In addition, some "class quizzes" may be given in which you may confer with other students and vote as a class on the answer. These quizzes might improve your quiz grade but will not hurt it.

Labs: You must complete all 10 of the laboratory exercises to pass the course. You may miss one lab and make it up during the last week of class. The lab grades will be determined from a combination of lab quizzes and lab exercise sheets that you hand in. The labs are designed to illustrate and expand upon the topics we cover in the lecture portion of the course, and are invaluable hands-on experiences.

Tentative Course Schedule:

[For a detailed course schedule with links to lecture content, see the online course schedule]

Week	Chs.	Topics	Laboratory
1	1	Measurement and units	No Lab – partial first week
2	2	Motion in one dimension	Lab 1: Acceleration of gravity
3	2-3	Freefall, vectors	Lab 2: Newton's 2^nd law
4	3-4	Projectiles, Newton’s laws	No Lab - Exam I 6:30 pm Thurs Chs. 1-3
5	4-5	Circular motion, gravitation	Lab 3: Conservation of energy
6	5-6	Orbits, work & energy	Lab 4: Car collisions and crumple zones
7	6-7	Conservation of energy and momentum	Lab 5: Motion in a circle
8	7-8	Rotational motion	No Lab - Exam II 6:30pm Thurs Chs. 4-7
9	8-9	Angular momentum, static equilibrium	Lab 6: Building structures and the body
10	9-10	Elasticity, static fluids	Lab 7: Fluid dynamics and the Bernoulli eq.
11	10-11	Fluids in motion, oscillations	Lab 8: Stringed instruments
12	11-12	Waves and sound	No Lab - Exam III 6:30 pm Thurs Chs. 8-11
13	13	Temperature and ideal gases	No Lab – Thanksgiving
14	13-14	Heat and internal energy	Lab 9: Vibrations and sound waves
15	14-15	Heat transfer, laws of thermodynamics	Lab 10: Measurement of specific heat
16	15	Entropy	Makeup Lab

Community Rights & Responsibilites:

Students with special needs should contact the Office of Disability Services during the first two weeks of the semester in order to request accommodation. A Reasonable Accommodation Request-Report Form is available online. Religious beliefs will be accommodated according to UWS 22.03 as long as the student notifies the instructor about the conflict within the first three weeks of class. Students are expected to maintain the highest standards of academic integrity for their work in this course. The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point dedicated to a safe, supportive and non-discriminatory learning environment. It is the responsibility of all students to familiarize themselves with University policies regarding special accommodations, misconduct, religious beliefs accommodation, discrimination and absence for university sponsored events. (For details please refer to the Community Rights & Responsibilities document.)