PHYS 111L Fundamentals of
Physics I
TR Period 1
(8:15-9:30), Spring 2008
Instructor
Prof. Xiaoliang (Leon) Zhu, Stratton 207, x3287, xzhu@wells.edu
Office Hours: TBA.
Text
Fundamentals of Physics, 8th ed., by Halliday, Resnick, Walker.
Prerequisite
MATH 111 or permission of instructor
This is a calculus-based introductory course for all sciences, mathematics, and pre-engineering students. It concentrates on Newtonian mechanics, including topics like particle kinematics, vectors, Newton’s laws, forces, energy, momentum, system of particles, rotations, and the applications of these concepts.
At the end of the semester, your overall
grade will be determined from your performance on exams, homework, and labs,
weighted as follows:
30% Cumulative final exam grade
30% Three in-class exams:
25% Overall homework grade
15% Overall laboratory grade
Letter grades will be assigned according to the standard scale of 90% for A, 80% for B, 70% for C, and 60% for D. Overall numerical grades will not be rounded (i.e., 89.9 is still a B).
There will be three in-class midterm exams, as well as a cumulative final exam. They will all be closed-book and closed-notes. However, you can make your own formula sheet for each exam, so that you can focus your studying on understanding rather than rote memorization. You may use a scientific calculator for arithmetic only; all memory registers and programs must be cleared. Exams will consist of both conceptual and problem-solving questions, similar to homework and in-class examples. Unless told otherwise, you must show your work on each exam problem in order to receive full or partial credit.
Homework
In general, weekly
homework assignments will be due before class every Thursday. The pace of the
class and changes to the schedule may necessitate different due dates, which
will be announced in class. Each assignment will be weighted equally. Responses
will be graded for correctness, although for some problems incorrect responses
may earn partial credit for the effort. You must show all work legibly in order to receive credit.
Attendance
Although attendance is not mandatory, you will be at a serious disadvantage if you do not attend class, because this course is built up incrementally. Class absence does not excuse you from your responsibility.
In the final grade, your may receive additional points (up to 5 points) for good attendance and active participation in discussion. The adjustment can be crucial if you are near the boundary of grades. For example, it may pull a B up to an A-.
Academic Honesty and Honor Code
You are encouraged to
work with each other collaboratively. This helps both the helper and the
helped, and the helper often get more from such an exchange of ideas. However,
you should only submit your own work. Don’t hand in anything copied from others
that you don’t understand.