PHY 182 and 182.P Section A - THE PHYSICAL WORLD (4 hours) - Spring 1998
Class: 11-11:50 M Tu Th F Room 46 Culler Hall
Objectives: Physics 181-2 aims to introduce to the student the basic laws of nature, including classical mechanics, quantum mechanics, thermodynamics, statistical physics, electromagnetism and relativity. These "laws" are actually models successfully employed by contemporary physicists in describing physical phenomena. The course is designed to include modern physics concepts as early as is practical and in that respect differs from the traditional introductory physics course. In 182, we will begin by examining the macroscopic (thermodynamics) and the microscopic (kinetic theory) descriptions of thermal behavior of matter. This will be followed by an investigation of the fundamental principles of electromagnetism. Finally we will study (the oftentimes startling) aspects of relativity.
| Texts: | Boltzmann's Vision Julian, Kelly, Marcum and Rice
Principles of Physics Raymond A. Serway Saunders Publishing Company |
| Instructor: | Michael Pechan Room 17 Culler Hall Phone: 529-4518 Email: pechanmj@muohio.edu Web Page: http://miavx1.acs.muohio.edu/~pechanmj Office Hours - 10 to 11 M Tu Th F |
| Grading: |
Three (3) one-hour examinations Final examination (comprehensive) Homework |
60% 25% 15% |
| Grade scale: (guaranteed not to be higher) A: 100-90 B: 89-80 C: 79-70 D: 69-60 F: below 60 |
The grade scale is a guarantee. For example, if your average
score on all examinations and homework is 90 or above you are guaranteed an A for the course. You might get an A for a lower average than 90 but there is no guarantee. In any event, the final grade scale will not differ significantly from the guaranteed scale. |
Homework: Homework will encompass responses to exercises and problems taken
from the text or handouts. The assignments will be made in class (And will
be posted on my Web page). A subset of the homework assigned will be designated
as "team" homework and will be collected (one set per team). All members
of the team will receive the same grade. Since all assigned homework is "fodder"
for exams it is in the best interest of each student to understand the homework
and rather than to relegate that responsibility to the most capable member
of your team.
Exams: Examinations, (Rm 46 Culler, 7:30 -9:30 pm on the Tuesdays indicated in the following schedule) will involve a combination of hand graded and multiple-choice questions. The questions will be drawn from the homework, class examples and lecture demonstrations and discussions. Answers will be posted following each exam to provide immediate feedback on your performance. The final exam will be held in Room 46 Culler at 12:30 pm on Wed. May 6.
Make up exams: NONE ARE GIVEN. If you have a legitimate reason for missing an exam, the instructor will assign an estimated score based upon the following:
estimated score = [your average on the exams you took / class average on those exams] * class average on exam you missed.
Assignment of this score is not automatic - you must inform the instructor, in writing, of your desire to utilize this estimation and the reason for missing the exam. An incomplete course grade will be assigned to anyone who misses two or more exams.
Laboratory: The laboratory is a separate course. You should be enrolled in a section of PHY 184 for the laboratory and should obtain a lab manual from one of the bookstores.
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE (Test dates are fixed, rate of coverage may vary.) We will jump around somewhat, so be alert and be not dismayed. Pertinent chapters are indicated below. Specifics will be given in class.
Week Beginning Topics Chapters (B=Boltz.) (S=Serway) 1 Jan-12 Temperature and Heat; Ideal Gas B1,2; S16,17 2 Jan-19 Ideal Gas; First Law of Thermo; Phase Changes B2,3; S17 3 Jan-26 Heat Engines; Second Law; Entropy; Probability B4,5; S18 4 Feb-2 Thermodynamic Temp.; Micro and Macrostates; Statistics B5 Exam #1 Tuesday 2/3 7:30pm 5 Feb-9 Boltzmann Distribution; Quantum Statistics; Electron Gas B5,7,8 6 Feb-16 Electric Charge; Coulomb's Law; Electric Fields; Gauss's Law S19 7 Feb-23 Gauss's Law; Electric Potential; Electric Field; Capacitance S19, 20 8 Mar-2 Electric Energy; Dielectrics; Current, Resistance and Ohm's Law S20, 21 Exam #2 Tuesday 3/3 7:30pm 9 Mar-9 Spring Break 10 Mar-16 Electrical Conduction Model; EMF; Simple Circuits S21 11 Mar-23 RC Circuits; Magnetic Fields and Forces S21, 22 12 Mar-30 Biot Savart Law; Ampere's Law S22 13 Apr-6 Faraday's Law; Inductance S23 Exam #3 Tuesday 4/7 7:30pm 14 Apr-13 RL Circuits; Maxwell's Equations S23, 24 15 Apr-20 Electromagnetic Waves S24 16 Apr-27 Special Relativity S9 17 May-4 Final Exam: Room 46 Culler at 12:30 pm on Wed. May 6.