General
- Welcome to PHYS 110, the introductory conceptual physics course for liberal arts and other non-science majors. You will learn how nature works and how we find out how nature works. I hope that you find it interesting and enjoyable. Have a great quarter!
- The course consists of lecture, group exercise, and laboratory components. Each component provides a different way of learning the material.
- Never let anything go by if you do not understand. Generally, ask questions immediately. If it is inconvenient to interrupt, make a quick note to yourself and inquire later.
- Note that completing MATH 099 (Intensive Intermediate Algebra) with 2.0 or better grade point is a prerequisite for this class.
- You can take this course with a Pass/NC grading option.
- It is expected that you will attend all lectures, group exercises, and labs. Class participation is also expected.
- Please turn off cell phones and pagers during class. Students exhibiting disruptive behaviors will be asked to leave the classroom for that day. Should this occur more than once with a particular student, administrative action might be taken.
Course Text
- Hobson, "Physics Concepts & Connections," 4th Edition
Lecture Notes
- Lecture notes are posted before the lectures.
- Lecture notes are now posted on BlackBoard under Course Documents, Lecture notes.
Schedule
- The weekly schedule is as follows, but the activity could be changed as necessary.
Day Time Room Activity Monday 11:30am - 12:20pm 2920 Exam Tuesday 11:30am - 12:20pm 2920 Lecture Wednesday 11:30am - 12:20pm 2920 Lecture Thursday 11:30am - 12:20pm 2920 Group exercise Friday 11:30am - 1:20pm 2924 Lab
- The approximate schedule of topics is the following.
Week 1 (W-F) The way of science Chapter 1 Week 2 Atoms (no exam on Monday) Chapter 2 Week 3 How things move Chapter 3 Week 4 Why things move as they do Chapter 4 Week 5 Newton's universe Chapter 5 Week 6 Conservation of energy Chapter 6 Week 7 Second law of thermodynamics Chapter 7 Week 8 Light and electromagnetism Chapter 8 Week 9 Electromagnetic radiation and global climate change Chapter 9 Week 10 The special theory of relativity Chapter 10 Week 11 The quantum idea & the nucleus and radioactivity Chapters 13 & 15.1 through 15.5
- The following dates are holidays. The school will be closed.
- November 11th
- November 26th
- November 27th
Grading Policy
- The points earned in various components will be weighted according to the following percentages:
Weekly exams 30% Final exam 20% Labs 25% Group exercises 20% Quizzes 5%
- The final course grade is based on the percentage of the possible points with the above weighting:
85+% 4.0 75-84% 3.0 - 3.9 65-74% 2.0 - 2.9 60-64% 1.4 - 1.9 45-59% 0.7 - 1.3 44-% 0.0
- Note that there will be no make-up exams, but your lowest 3 weekly exam scores will be dropped.
- Note that there will be no make-up labs (experiments), but your lowest lab score will be dropped.
Make-up Policy
- If you are absent due to the result of an unavoidable serious accident, a death in the family, or a serious illness, etc, please contact me as soon as possible so arrangements may be made for missed work.
- These exceptional circumstances must be verified by an appropriate third party, e.g., a police report, a funeral notice, or a letter from the student’s doctor stating the patient’s inability to attend.
- If you provide sufficient evidence for your exceptional circumstances, the following can be applied.
- You can work through the group exercise questions yourself and submit late report.
- Quizzes may not be made up, but may be dropped.
- You can submit late lab report given that you performed the experiment.
- Labs (experiments) may not be made up, but everyone's worst lab score will be dropped. If you miss one of the labs due to an emergency, that lab will be dropped.
- Weekly exams may not be made up, but everyone's worst 3 exam scores will be dropped. If you miss one of the weekly exams due to an emergency, the missed exam will be dropped.
Exams
- Weekly exams on Mondays will cover the material covered in the previous week.
- All the exams are open-book; you are allowed to refer to your textbook and lecture note print-outs (no other reference is allowed). However, if there are essay style questions on the exam, you are not allowed to simply copy from the textbook. Everything must be in your own words.
- Calculators are permitted, but text storage and graphics functionality must not be used. Cell phones, computers or any other devices that enable you to communicate with others are not permitted.
- You will be shown a statement of what is and is not allowed on exams, and you will be asked to sign an agreement to abide by these principles. Basically the agreement is that you shall not cheat on exams.
- Exam Re-grades: If you believe that the points on the examination were incorrectly totaled, or if there is a gross error in the grading, you may return an exam for regrading. To do so, you must resubmit the examination no later than at the beginning of the lecture following the one in which the exams are returned. You must use this form and attach it to the front page of the exam explaining the possible error in the grading and return it to me. Do not make *any* changes or marks on the other pages of the examination. Each examination is scanned or photocopied. You should be aware that any request for a regrade may result in a regrading of the entire exam. Therefore your total score may increase or decrease.
- Final exam will be on December 9th from 11am to 1pm.
Labs
- We will perform an experiment every Friday.
- I will assign 6 groups of 4 or so students. You will work with your lab partners to conduct experiments.
- You will be expected to complete each experiment and hand in a lab report. I will provide you with a handout describing the experimental goals and procedure.
- Lab reports are due at the beginning of the following lab.
- A missed experiment may not be made up, but everyone's lowest lab report score will be dropped.
- Lab reports will be scored out of 5 points based on the following standard.
- After receiving the graded lab report, you can improve the report and resubmit it to improve the score by up to 1 point. The deadline for resubmission will be announced when the graded lab reports are returned.
| 5: | Assigned experiment is completed, and the lab report is without errors. |
|---|---|
| 4: | Assigned experiment is completed, and the lab report needs a few improvements. |
| 3: | Assigned experiment is completed, and the lab report needs significant improvements. |
| 2: | Assigned experiment is completed, and lab report is not completed. |
| 1: | Assigned experiment is only partially performed, and lab report is not completed. |
| 0: | Assigned experiment is not performed. No report is submitted. |
Group Exercises
- We will have a group exercise every Thursday. I will assign 6 groups of 4 or so students. You will work on problems together. I will collect your report at the end of the exercise, and you will receive a grade as a group.
Quizzes
- I will give you pop quizzes at random times during lectures. The quizzes are on the material that I just covered in the lecture.
- For each quiz, you will receive 1 point for attempting, and another point if your answer is correct.
- All the quizzes given to date are posted on BlackBoard under Course Documents.
Getting Help
- You are strongly encouraged to visit me regularly during office hours from 2:00pm to 3:00pm on Thursdays and Fridays in the physics learning center (room 2923).
- You can also visit me by appointment in my office, room 2810.
- I will attempt to answer questions by email in a timely manner.
Academic Integrity
- You are not allowed to present something that you did not do as your own work. You are not allowed to help someone else to cheat.
- If students are suspected of cheating on exams, etc, they will be asked to discuss the situation with me. If they failed to explain the situation, they will receive a zero for the exam/assignment.
- If cheating has occurred, the student(s) will receive a zero for the exam/assignment.
- If a student cheats twice in one quarter, they will receive a zero for the course.
Inclement Weather
- In the case of extremely inclement weather, students should check the school’s website for closure information.
- You may also get school closure information from local radio and television stations, but be sure to remember that SCC is NOT a part of the Shoreline public school district.
- Every attempt will be made to keep campus roads and walkways open, and students can expect that classes will start at their scheduled start times when/if the school does open.
- If school is closed because of snow or another emergency, we will pick up where we left off when class resumes.
- For more information, please refer to this website.
Students with disabilities
- Students with physical and/or learning disabilities need to be registered with Service for Students with Disabilities. For more details please refer to this website.