Physics 141 - Principles of Physics
Syllabus

Fall 2008

Course description: Principles of Physics The first of a two-semester series in general physics. The first semester covers the fields of mechanics and thermodynamics. This survey course will use calculus and is recommended for chemistry and zoology majors. It also satisfies the requirements of medical and dental schools.
Pre-requisite none
Co-requisite: MATH141 or MATH221
Textbook: Physics for Scientists and Engineers, Serway and Jewett, volume I, 7th edition
CORE status This course is designated a CORE Physical Science Lab (PL) Course
Instructor Prof. Arthur La Porta
Dept. of Physics
Institute of Physical Science and Technology
1111 IPST (building #085)
(301) 405 3291 (on campus x53291)
alaporta 'at' umd 'dot' edu
Office Hours Wednesday, 1:30pm to 2:30pm
Thursday 1:30pm to 2:30pm
Sections
SectionTeaching AssistantMeeting Time and Place
0102 Michael Richman
richman 'at' umd 'dot' edu 		Dis Monday, 3pmPhysics 4208
Lab Monday, 4pmPhysics 3314
Office Hours T.B.A.T.B.A.
0103 Michael Richman
richman 'at' umd 'dot' edu 		Dis Tuesday, 8amPhysics 1402
Lab Tuesday, 9amPhysics 3314
Office Hours T.B.A.T.B.A.
0104 Konstantinos Koutrolikos
koutrol 'at' umd 'dot' edu 		Dis Tuesday, 10amPhysics 0405
Lab Tuesday, 11amPhysics 3314
Office Hours T.B.A.T.B.A.
0105 Matthew Severson
mseverso 'at' umd 'dot' edu 		Dis Tuesday, 1pmPhysics 0405
Lab Tuesday, 2pmPhysics 3314
Office Hours Wed, 4pmThurs, 3pm
Clickers Students are required to have "clickers," which will be used for student participation during lectures.
Lectures Students are required to attend lectures, where homework assignments will be given and collected, exams will be announced and administered and the course material will be presented. Lectures will consist of prepared video presentation, calculations done on the chalkboard, live demonstrations and student participation using "clickers." The video component of lectures will be available on this web site in Adobe pdf format on the day that the lecture is given.
Preparation Not all material will be directly covered in lectures. Students are responsible for reading and understanding all material in assigned chapters, whether or not this material is explicitly treated in the lectures. Reading assignments will be available under the WebAssign system.

Tentative Lecture Schedule (subject to change as the Semester goes on)

Week of Topic Homework problems Links
MWF
September 1
(week 1)
 Chapter 1, 2 -
-
 Lecture Lecture
-
 Supplement Supplement
September 8
(week 2)
 Chapter 2, 3 1.3, 1.5, 1.8, 1.10, 2.9, 2.10, 2.15, 2.19, 2.25, 2.33, 2.44, 2.48 solutions Lecture Lecture Lecture
Supplement Supplement Supplement
September 15
(week 3)
 Chapter 3, 4, 5 3.4, 3.14, 3.16, 3.22, 3.51, 4.8, 4.14, 4.15, 4.18 solutions Lecture Lecture Lecture
Supplement Supplement Supplement
September 22
(week 4)
 Chapter 5, 6, Biological Supplement 5.2, 5.13, 5.16, 5.17, 5.26, 5.32, 5.40, 5.42, 5.54 solutions Lecture Lecture Lecture
Supplement Supplement Supplement
September 29
(week 5)
 Chapter 6, 7, 8 6.7, 6.15, 6.21, 6.31, 6.37, 6.49, 6.50, 6.55, 7.12 solutions Lecture Lecture Lecture
Supplement Supplement Supplement
October 6
(week 6)
 Chapter 8, Midterm 1 7.21, 7.22, 7.34, 7.36, 7.38, 7.42, 7.44, 7.52, 8.4, 8.12, 8.13, 8.21 solutions Lecture Lecture -
Supplement Supplement -
October 13
(week 7)
 Chapter 9 8.23, 9.37, 8.39, 9.7, 9.18, 9.19 solutions Lecture Lecture Lecture
Supplement Supplement Supplement
October 20
(week 8)
 Chapter 9,10 9.24, 9.29, 9.39, 9,42, 9.46, 9.57 solutions Lecture Lecture Lecture
Supplement Supplement Supplement
October 27
(week 9)
 Chapter 10, 11 9.50, 9.52, 10.2, 10.4, 10.8, 10.13, 10.22, 10.25, 10.28. 10.34 solution Lecture Lecture Lecture
Supplement Supplement Supplement
November 3
(week 10)
 Chapter 12, 13 10.38, 10.43, 10.55, 11.6, 11.8, 11.14, 11.23, 11.32, 11.44, 11.50, 12.4, 12.9 solution Lecture Lecture Lecture
Supplement Supplement Supplement
November 10
(week 11)
 Chapter 14, 15 12.01, 12.04, 12.09, 12.19, 12.24, 13.11, 13.28, 13.21, 13.37solution Lecture Lecture Lecture
Supplement Supplement Supplement
November 17
(week 12)
 Chapter 14, 15, Midterm 2 - Lecture Lecture -
Supplement Supplement -
November 24
(week 13)
 Chapter 15, 16 14.12, 14.16, 14.28, 14.39, 14.43, 15.11, 15.20, 15.27, 15.63 solution Lecture Lecture Lecture
Supplement Supplement Supplement
December 1
(week 14)
 Chapter 17, 18 - Lecture Lecture Lecture
Supplement Supplement Supplement
December 8
(week 15)
 Chapter 19, 20, review, final exam 16.8 16.9 16.24 16.35 17.33 19.7 19.8 19.21 19.24 20.2 20.10 solution Lecture Lecture Lecture
Supplement Supplement Supplement

Discussion sections Discussion sections will be conducted by Teaching Assistants, and are a forum where students can ask questions about the course material and where problems will be worked with student participation
Lab Lab sections will be conducted by a Teaching Assistant. Each student is required to their designated lab section each week and complete the assigned experiment. The student should read the lab description beforehand and must turn in a report at the end of the section. If a student cannot attend a session for an excusable reason the student may attend another section given the same week (with the permission of the Instructor) or may attend a scheduled makeup session. In general, it will only be possible to perform a single experiment during the makeup session. More than one experiment can only be performed if space is available and with the approval of the instructor.

The schedule of labs is as follows

Week Of Experiment # Title
September 15 1 Intro and Errors and Significance of Data
September 22 2 The Freely Falling Body
September 29 6 Centripetal Force and Acceleration
October 6 5 Ballistic Pendulum
October 13 4 Two Dimensional Collisions
October 20 (1-2,4-6) Make Up Session (only one lab can be made up)
October 27 3 Equilibrium of Forces
November 3 7 Angular Momentum and Acceleration
November 10 8 Simple Harmonic Motion and Hooks Law
November 17 9 The Pendulum
November 24 10 Standing Waves on a String
December 1 3,7-10 Make Up Session (only one lab can be made up)
December 8 - Final Exam clinic

Homework Homework will be assigned through WebAssign. All problems should be printed out and handed in on paper with all mathematical steps and reasoning described. The solutions should also be input using WebAssign. The homework score each week will consist of the WebAssign submission as well as grading of one selected problem on paper.
Exams There will be two 50 minute mid-term exams (On October 10 and November 21) and a single 2 hour final exam (December 17 at 8am in the lecture room). Brief 5 minute quizes may be given during lectures or on-line.
Final Grade The final grade will be based on the components below

Homework and Quizzes20%
First Exam15%
Second Exam15%
Lab25%
Final Exam25%

It is to be expected that the top 20% of students will earn an A, the following 40% will earn a B with the remainder earning a C or lower.

Students with disabilities Students with disabilities should meet with the Prof. La Porta at the beginning of the semester so that appropriate arrangements can be made to accommodate the student's needs.
Tutoring The Physics Department has a free tutoring service, the Slawsky Clinic, run by a group of retired senior physicists. It is located in Room 1214 in the Physics building. The time reserved for PHYS141 is 10-11 and 12-1 Monday through Friday. However, you can usually get help at any time they are open, from10 AM until 3 PM. See http://www.physics.umd.edu/academics/ugrad/slawsky.html
University Closure In the event of a University Closure the department will do its best to accommodate students by scheduling make-up sessions or revision of the lab schedule.
Academic Integrity All students will be expected to comply with the University of Maryland's academic integrity policies, including the code of academic integrity and the honor pledge. Failure to comply will result in a failing grade and will be reported to the Honor Council.