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Course Objective:
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This course is primarily about motions of objects and
forces, which underlie these motions.
Some particular examples of the motions you will study
include "free fall",
collisions between objects (such as cars),
rolling and spinning.
The theory that describes the above phenomena was developed
by Isaac Newton in the 17th century and is called "classical
mechanics".
Historically, this theory gave a foundation for development of all
modern physics. Therefore, this course is an introduction to
physics in general.
Physics in turn provides a foundation for most other natural sciences
and engineering.
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Text:
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Young & Freedman, University Physics,
Volume 1, 12th edition, with Student Access Kit to Mastering Physics.
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Instructor:
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Prof. Tomasz Skwarnicki
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Office: Physics Building, Rm. 325
Phone: 443-5973
E-mail:
tskwarni@syr.edu
Office hours: Wed 1:30-3:30pm or by appointment.
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Co-Instructor:
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Prof. Steven Blusk
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Office: Physics Building, Rm. 327
Phone: 443-3158
E-mail:
sblusk@syr.edu
Office hours: Wed 1:30-3:30pm or by appointment.
Prof. Blusk will substitute for Prof. Skwarnicki on several occasions.
You may see Prof. Blusk to get help with coursework, however you should
contact Prof. Skwarnicki for all other matters.
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Pre- and Co-requisites:
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Working knowledge of high school level algebra and trigonometry
is required. Calculus will also be used.
Calculus is covered in the co-requisite course
(MAT 285 or MAT 295).
Useful formulae are summarized in Appendix B of the textbook.
The math department runs Math Clinic in the Reading Room of
Carnegie (hours are posted on the door) if you need assistance
with math.
Students are also required to enroll
in the laboratory course PHY 221 (see below).
Your grade in PHY 211 may be withheld if you don't
co-register for the laboratory.
Prof. Foster (tel 443-9220, E-mail:
kwfoster@syr.edu ) is in charge of the PHY221 course.
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Lectures:
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Twice a week:
Tuesday, Thursday
9:30-10:50am (lecture section M002) or
11:00-12:20 pm (M001), Stolkin Auditorium, Physics
Building.
See the course calendar
for lecture topics.
You are expected to attend the lectures.
Talking or distracting other students in any other way during the lectures
will not be tolerated. Violators will be asked to leave the lecture hall and their
course grade will be lowered.
Three Midterm Exams
will be given at the lecture hours.
The Final exam will be given at special times listed below.
Seats will be preassigned for each midterm and the final exam. You
will not be allowed to take the exam at a period different than you registered for!
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Electronic Clickers:
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To fully participate in lectures you must get an
electronic clicker (iClicker) .
They are available at the SU Bookstore.
A mail-in rebate for a clicker is included with
the purchase of the new textbook.
The lecture hall is wired to receive signals from any seat.
Your responses will be recorded and used to assign
bonus participation credit.
Each clicker has a unique identification code, which you
will register with your name on the class website.
The identification code is on the back of your clicker - place a piece of smooth
tape over that bar code and ID to preserve it.
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Reading assignments:
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Reading assignments for each lecture are given on the course calendar.
You are strongly encouraged to do the reading in advance,
since the lectures will not contain a complete
presentation of all material but instead emphasize important
(and possibly difficult) points.
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Workshops (recitations):
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There are two one-hour workshops each week.
You will be asked to work on problem solving.
Assignments will be handed out in workshop.
Bring a scientific calculator to the workshops.
You are expected to work in groups of
3 or 4 students.
These workshops are an
essential part of the course.
Attendance is required and will affect your final grade at the 5% level.
You can miss up to two workshops (including medical and family emergencies!)
with no penalty.
A graduate Teaching Assistant (TA) will be in charge of the workshop
sessions. He will collect and grade your homework assignments and record
your attendance. An undergraduate coach may also be assisting
students during the workshop.
Times of different workshop sections, their locations and instructor names
are listed elsewhere .
You are not allowed to attend a different workshop section than the one you are
registered for.
You will not receive credit for attendance or homework
turned in at a wrong section.
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Homework:
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Homework will consist of web-based MasteringPhysics assignments and
written assignments called "Problem Sets".
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MasteringPhysics homework assignments
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You will access them via Internet.
You will need the access code included with the purchase of the
new textbook to register.
If you have a used textbook you can purchase the access code on-line.
New assignments (two MP sets each time) will be usually released on Wednesdays
and they will be due in a week. They will often include material
discussed at the Thursday lecture and Friday workshop.
The four lowest scores for the assignment sets will be dropped.
MasteringPhysics homework will contribute 15% to your final grade.
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Problem Sets
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They will be handed out at Friday workshops and posted on the course
web page. They will be collected a week later at the beginning of the Friday
workshop (except for Problem Sets 7 and 9 which are due on Wed).
If you are going to miss the Friday workshop but you want to turn in your
homework you can do it by dropping it off at your TA's mailbox
(mailboxes are located in front of the Main Physics Office - Rm. 201
Phys. Bldg.) before your workshop time (e.g. on Thursday).
The lowest two Problem Set scores will be dropped.
Problem Sets homework will contribute 15% to your final grade.
Solutions to Problem Sets will be posted on the course web page
after the due date. Teaching Assistants will not always be able to
write down detailed comments on your written homework assignments.
It is your responsibility to check your work against the posted
solutions.
Late homework will not be accepted. In particular, the MP homework
expires automatically at 6pm on Wednesday (partial credit is given for
assignments completed until 10pm; percentage of the credit decreases linearly
from 100% to 0% between 6 and 10pm). Work on the on-line assignments well ahead
of the deadline, since computer or network problems may prevent you from
submitting solutions at the last minute.
You are encouraged to seek help if you cannot understand
a problem by yourself.
Discuss the problem with your peers,
or come to Physics Clinic (see below).
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Midterm Exams:
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Three mid-term exams will be given at the lecture hours
as specified in the
course calendar.
Each exam will mainly focus on
material from the three or four weeks prior to the
day of the exam but may include earlier
material as well. The lowest mid-term exam score
for each student will be dropped.
The remaining two exam scores will contribute
35% towards your final grade.
There will be no make-up exams.
All exams are closed book, however,
you are free to bring a single double-sided sheet
of handwritten notes (no photocopies).
Bring a scientific calculator to the exams.
Use of cell phones, laptop computers and other electronic devices other
than the calculator is strictly forbidden.
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Final Exam:
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Comprehensive
Final Exam is scheduled
for Friday, May 7th, 12:45-2:45pm for those
registered for 11:00-12:20pm lecture,
and for Wednesday, May 12th, 8:00-10:00am for those
registered for 9:30-10:50am lecture.
It will contribute 30% towards your final grade.
It cannot be missed. There will be no make up final.
Three double-sided sheets of handwritten notes will
be allowed at the final.
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Honesty:
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The Syracuse University Academic Integrity Policy holds students accountable
for the integrity of the work they submit.
Students should be familiar with the policy.
The policy also governs the integrity of work submitted
in exams and assignments as well as the veracity
of signatures on attendance sheets
and other verifications of participation in class activities.
Serious sanctions can result from academic dishonesty of any sort.
For more information and the complete policy, see
http://academicintegrity.syr.edu .
While you are encouraged to seek help on the homework assignments,
it is a violation of the academic code to seek or give assistance
during the exams.
The instructor is the only person you can communicate with during the tests.
Please do not make any changes or marks to the graded exams,
if you want to preserve a right to appeal grading mistakes.
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Students With Disabilities:
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Students who are in need of disability-related academic accommodations
must register with the Office of Disability Services (ODS),
804 University Avenue, Room 309, 315-443-4498.
Students with authorized disability-related accommodations
should provide a current Accommodation Authorization Letter
from ODS to the instructor and review those accommodations
with the instructor. Accommodations, such as exam administration,
are not provided retroactively; therefore, planning
for accommodations as early as possible is necessary.
People eligible for extra time on tests must take the exams at the ODS office
at the regular exam time by either staying beyond the class time or starting
up to an hour and a half early. Requests to change exam time will not be honored.
For further information, see the ODS website, Office of Disability Services:
http://disabilityservices.syr.edu/ .
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Grading:
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The final course grade will be determined as follows:
MasteringPhysics homework assignments: 15%
Problem Sets homework assignments: 15%
Workshop attendance: 5%
Midterm Exams: 35%
Final Exam 30%
Please notice that 2/3 of the final grade is based on credits you
can earn only during the semester. You cannot pass this course
just by scoring high on the final exam.
The following grading scale will be used:
Your score (%) Letter grade
93- A
90-93 A-
87-90 B+
83-87 B
80-83 B-
75-80 C+
70-75 C
60-70 C-
50-60 D
0-50 F
If an average cumulative class score drops below
81.5% (mid range of B-), the cumulative numerical scores
of all students will be scaled up to restore
the average class grade to B-.
Only cumulative scores will be curved in this way.
Individual exam scores will not be curved,
but the exam score distributions will be posted.
Compare yourself to the class average to find out how well you did.
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Absence Policy:
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In general late homework will not be accepted, and
missed lectures, workshops and exams cannot be made up.
Since we drop two lowest written homework scores,
four on-line assignment sets (equivalent of 2 weeks of on-line homework),
one midterm exam score, and we excuse two missed workshops,
medical and family emergencies
should not affect your grade.
Do not skip exams, workshops and homework assignments
early in the semester - save the drop policy for real
emergencies which may come later.
No accommodations will be made if you get sick, but skipped
other classes or assignments.
Contact Prof. Skwarnicki immediately if you get sick for extended periods of time.
The final exam cannot be missed.
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Physics Clinic:
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Physics Clinic is operated in room 104S of the Physics Building.
Hours are posted on the door and
on-line at
/Courses.htm .
The clinic is staffed by graduate
Teaching Assistants who can help you
with this course.
Preferably come to the clinic when one of the TAs
assigned to this class holds his hours.
See the staff web page .
However, this is not a requirement and
you can drop in at any time for help.
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Laboratory Course PHY221:
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You must co-register for the
laboratory course PHY221
(1 credit hour)
unless you passed it previously or your program does not require it.
Your grade in PHY211 may be withheld if you don't
co-register for the laboratory.
PHY221 will provide you with hands-on experience with the
physical phenomena discussed in this course (PHY211) and introduce you to
the measurement process.
The PHY221 course is graded separately.
Prof. Foster (tel 443-9220, E-mail:
kwfoster@syr.edu ) is in charge of the PHY221 course.
