General Physics II
Spring 2016
Tuesday, Thursday
9:30 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.
PHYS-UA 12
Skirball
Dr. Andre Adler
Department of Physics
Office: Meyer Hall, Room 252
Phone: (212)-992-7472
Course Description
This course is an introduction to electricity and magnetism, light, geometrical and wave optics. Many
concepts from General Physics I will be used in this course such as: position, velocity, acceleration,
force, Newton’s laws of motion, work and energy. The course uses high school algebra, geometry and
trigonometry, vectors and vector arithmetic, and some calculus. Calculus will be used in class but
sparingly on exams. The algebra, geometry, and trig are absolutely essential. If some time has elapsed
since your last math course, or you feel a lack of confidence in this area, you are strongly urged to
study math intensively before we get too deeply into the physics course. The course has lecture, online
homework and laboratory portions.
Required Materials
1. An access code for MasteringPhysics - an online homework and tutorial system with either etext
and/or print copy of University Physics, 14th edition, by Young and Freedman. (This is the same
package used for General Physics I, so if you purchased it for General Physics I in Fall 2015, you do
not need to purchase anything else.)
Please note that if you already have a copy of the 14th edition of University Physics, or you purchase a
copy from a third party source, that does not mean you have the access code. You can purchase the
access code by going to www.masteringphysics.com or by going to the NYU Bookstore.
Reading the assigned sections of the text is one of things you should do to learn the material. Doing
the MasteringPhysics homework, the homework problems from book, and the questions posted the
night before each lecture also constitute work designed to increase your understanding of fundamental
concepts. There is more material in each chapter than will be discussed in lecture.
Homework from the textbook will be assigned but it is not to be handed in for grading. The only
homework that will be graded is that on MasteringPhysics. However, I hope you treat the homework
problems from the textbook as required.
2. Laboratory Experiment Descriptions can be found by going to
http://physics.nyu.edu/~physlab/Lab_Main/ and clicking on General Physics II.
Exam Schedule, Assessment Weightings and Letter Grade
There will be examinations, three during the semester and one cumulative final examination. The four
exams will be based on the homework, textbook, and lectures. All examinations are in multiple-choice
format and are written with the assumption you have read the assigned sections of the book, completed
the homework from the book, the MasteringPhysics Homework, and attended the lectures. Both
quantitative and conceptual questions will appear on the examinations, as this reflects the content of
the course.
Exam
Day
Date
Time
Weighting
Location
1
Thursday
February 25
9:30 - 10:45 am
15%
Skirball
2
Thursday
March 24
9:30 - 10:45 am
15%
Skirball
3
Thursday
April 21
9:30 - 10:45 am
15%
Skirball
25%
TBA
Final
Assessment
Weighting
Dropped Items
Laboratory
20%
Lowest score dropped.
MasteringPhysics Homework
10%
Lowest score dropped.
You may use a calculator on all exams, but you may not store nor access information in calculator
memory prior to arrival at the examination room.
The final examination is cumulative. The lowest lab report score will be dropped, the lowest
homework score will be dropped, but the lowest examination score will not be dropped.
Your total numerical score, calculated from the components listed above, correspond to the following
letter grades:
If your total percent score is at least:
90 86 82 72 68 64 54 45 40 Below 40
then you will receive a grade no lower than: A A- B+ B B- C+ C C- D F
The cutoffs for each letter grade might be lowered but they will not be raised.
A formula sheet will be provided with the exam, but you will be able to see the formula sheet online on
NYU classes before the exam. You will need to bring a calculator to all exams. Sharing calculators
with other students during examinations is not allowed. You may not use a cell-phone, or any other
communication device, during the exams. Examination dates are displayed in the weekly schedule of
topics, which is on the last page of this syllabus.
Missed Examinations
There will be no make-up exams offered this semester. If you miss an examination it will count as a
zero.
However, if you are absent from an examination due to a medical reason, and you can provide
documentation from a health care professional, indicating the dates to which it applies, and indicating
you were too ill to attend the examination, then
your other examination scores will count for more to compensate for the missed examination
and,
2. if you so choose, you may take the missed exam the next time the class runs; your score will be
used to determine a new letter grade for you.
1.
If you miss the final exam and you provide acceptable documentation, your grade will be an
incomplete (I). You are then required to take the final examination the next time the course is given.
In this case, that is during the second summer session, usually a date in mid-August. If you cannot
make that date, then the next opportunity to take the make up exam is in May 2017.
If you miss an exam due to medical reasons, do not send the documentation to me via email. You
must present it to me in person.
Laboratory Sessions
You will attend laboratory weekly; laboratory sessions will be held in Rooms 222/223 of Meyer Hall.
The schedule of labs is on the last page. The laboratory grade will be based on an average over all
labs, but the lowest lab grade will be dropped before the average is calculated. Any lab missed without
a doctor’s note or prior arrangement with the instructor counts as a zero. There are no make up
sessions for missed laboratories. You may not attend a laboratory that you are not registered for.
It is important to bring a calculator and your laboratory experiment description to the laboratory
sessions. Your laboratory instructor will provide more information regarding the policy for handing in
lab reports.
MasteringPhysics Homework: Online
Homework will be assigned weekly using MasteringPhysics, an online tutorial and homework system.
You will access them on www.masteringphysics.com. The MasteringPhysics course ID for the Spring
2016 semester of General Physics II will be posted at a later date. You will not be able to access
homework without this course ID.
Important: When you register for MasteringPhysics,
1. enter your NYU ID (the “N” number) when you are prompted to enter a Student ID and
2. enter your NYU email address.
Failure to do these two steps will result in your homework not counting towards your grade.
Acquaint yourself with the grading policy and due date for each assignment. A penalty for late
assignments may be enforced. Should you require an extension please see me in my office.
There are different types problems you will encounter in MasteringPhysics: not all are found in the
textbook. Some questions will be conceptual, others quantitative, some will be multiple choice and
some not; some will require a numerical answer while others will require a symbolic answer, one
expressed using variables, including subscripts. You must first learn how to use the system properly.
To aid you in this, your first assignment is called “Introduction to MasteringPhysics.” While it will not
contribute to your grade, it is strongly recommended that you complete this assignment. Doing so may
prevent you from losing credit on homework assignments. This assignment will introduce you to the
wide variety of questions you will encounter, such as “sorting questions,” “ranking questions,” and
“graphing questions.” The system also provides hints for many individual problems. You should
familiarize yourself with the grading policy as it pertains to homework, including hints.
A list of the top questions from students can be found by going to the following web page:
http://www.pearsonmylabandmastering.com/northamerica/masteringphysics/students/support/topquestions/index.html
In particular, you should view the following two videos on registration and grading.
http://www.masteringsupport.com/videos/registration_tips/registration_tips.html
http://www.masteringsupport.com/videos/understand_grading/understand_grading.html
You must check that your computer is set up properly to use MasteringPhysics. You will find the
following web page useful in assisting you with this task:
http://www.pearsonmylabandmastering.com/northamerica/masteringphysics/students/support/systemrequirements/index.html
Optional Help
There are two sources of assistance you can look utilize to help you learn the material in General
Physics II.
1. Free physics review sessions, exam reviews, and one-on-one tutoring by upper-level undergraduate
physics majors in the Meyer Building, Room 421. The sessions run Monday through Friday, at many
different times during the day. The physics majors will be able to help you with the course concepts
and the homework problems assigned from the textbook. This is a great place to go for help. You can
go to as many sessions as you wish. Ideally, you should go on a weekly basis.
physics.as.nyu.edu/object/physics.ug.tutoring
2. Free peer tutoring, Study Slams, group reviews, workshops, and more!!
University Learning Center
www.nyu.edu/ulc
ULC@Academic Resource Center, 18 Washington Place, Lower Level
ULC@UHall, 110 East 14th Street, top of stairs by UHall Commons
Achieve Excellence!
Date
Chapter Title
Ch. #
Laboratory
T Jan 26
Electric Charge and Electric Field
21
Week of 1/25: No Lab
R Jan 28
Electric Charge and Electric Field
21
T Feb 2
Electric Potential
23
R Feb 4
Electric Potential
23
T Feb 9
Capacitance and Dielectrics
24
R Feb 11
Capacitance and Dielectrics
24
T Feb 16
Current, Resistance, and Electromotive Force
25
R Feb 18
Current, Resistance, and Electromotive Force
25
T Feb 23
Direct-Current Circuits
26
Week of 2/22: Oscilloscope
R Feb 25
Exam 1
T Mar 1
Direct-Current Circuits
26
Week of 2/29: Voltage, Current and Resistance I
R Mar 3
Magnetic Field and Magnetic Forces
27
T Mar 8
Magnetic Field and Magnetic Forces
27
R Mar 10
Sources of Magnetic Field
28
T Mar 22
Sources of Magnetic Field
28
Week of 3/21: RC Circuit
R Mar 24
Exam 2
T Mar 29
Electromagnetic Induction
29
Week of 3/28: Current Balance
R Mar 31
Electromagnetic Induction
29
T Apr 5
The Nature and Propagation of Light
33
R Apr 7
The Nature and Propagation of Light
33
T Apr 12
Geometric Optics
34
R Aug 14
Geometric Optics
34
T Apr 19
Interference
35
Week of 4/18: Snell’s Law
R Apr 21
Exam 3
T Apr 26
Interference
35
Week of 4/25: The Human Eye
R Apr 28
Diffraction
36
T May 3
Diffraction
36
R May 5
Questions from the Class
Week of 2/1: Introduction to Gen. Phys. II Lab
Week of 2/8: E Field Mapping
Week of 2/15: No Lab
Week of 3/7: Voltage, Current and Resistance II
Week of 4/4: Measurement of e/m
Week of 4/11: EM Induction
Week of 5/2: Interference