Physics 8A-094 Syllabus – Spring 2013
Instructor: Andrew Combs
Office: 1824 (or possibly 1825, just outside 1824)
Office Hrs: T 3:30-4:30pm
E-mail: AndrewCombs@yahoo.com
Text:
Required: Physics for Scientists and Engineers, 3rd edition by R. Knight (chpts.1-13)
Labs: On-line (http://lpc1.clpccd.cc.ca.us/lpc/physics/course_websites/physics8Alabs.htm)
Prerequisites: Mathematics 1, Minimum Grade of C
Class Schedule:
Lecture:
MW
Lab:
T
5:00pm-6:50pm (Rm. 1816)
4:30am-7:20pm (Rm. 1831)
Course Description:
This is a calculus based course in Newtonian mechanics. The course will cover Newton’s laws,
applications to static equilibrium and dynamics, the conservation of energy, linear and angular
momentum, and rotational dynamics and gravity. This is covered in chpts.1-13. Unless otherwise
stated, we will typically follow the chapter progression of the text.
Classes will consist of lecture and (usually) lab each week. Lecture time is focused upon
problem solving. Lectures will be black-board presentation, with concepts or derivations often applied
in class-work exercises. I prefer interaction during the lectures. If you have questions, please ask them.
If you ask a question that is beyond the scope of the lecture, I’ll try to answer your question after class.
Grading:
Devotion is the key to success in any aspect of life. If you prepare well through diligent effort,
it will reflect in your grade. You will improve your chances for a good grade by 1) full class
attendance on time and focus during lecture, 2) preparing for class and quizzes by reading the text
ahead of time and doing sample problems, 3) doing all the labs and homework on time, and 4)
working with classmates, and with your professor during office hours, on concepts and problems.
The grading will be calculated as follows:
Homework:
Class-work
Quizzes:
Lab Reports:
Mid-terms:
Final Exam:
Extra Credit Report:
Class Participation
5%
5%
10%
20%
35% (two: tentatively - late Feb, mid April)
25% - comprehensive
Part I – last lab period - Tuesday May 21st
Part II – Friday May 24th, 5:30pm-7:20pm
up to 3%
±1%
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Unless there is a medical or family emergency, or specific exceptions granted by the professor,
there will be no make-ups for mid-terms. I will drop one home-work, one quiz, and one class
exercise, and one lab, but all mid-terms will count toward your grade. Make-ups for quizzes or midterms may be given in exceptional circumstances, but only when arrangements are made with the
professor beforehand, not after the fact. Test and quiz scores may be curved up if the class average
falls below a certain value. At the end, the grades are all entered on a spread sheet and computed as per
the formula given above, and applied equally to all students. The normal number ranges to apply to
letter grades: a 90 or greater is required for an A, 80 or greater (and less than 90) for a B, and so on.
Homework will typically be due at the beginning of lecture one week following the assignment.
Homework can be hand-written, but should be neat, and all work should be shown, as credit will be
given for each problem attempted only if work is shown. Expect a quiz when homework is due and
after all questions from the homework are covered.
Lab reports are due the lab period following the week of the lab execution. You must be
present during the lab period to receive credit for a lab report. You may have lab partners, but each
student is responsible for his or her own lab write up. Labs are of two types: exercises and full reports.
Exercises are labs requiring completion of a prepared form submitted by the group; full reports are
typed, and for grading are weighted 1.5 times an exercise weight. Full reports have a standard format,
and format guidelines will be given out during the first lab period of the term.
Quizzes and class exercises are given during class. So, to maximize your grade, attend class
on time! Class exercises are given during lecture. Class exercises are collaborative work during class,
and will be scored like homework – credit will be given if work is shown. Quizzes are of two types:
problem solving and occasional quick-reading quizzes. Reading quizzes may be given occasionally at
the beginning of class – a 5 minute check up on something you should know for the given class based
on the chapter assigned that week (terminology, or a simple calculation; multiple choice, or fill in). If
you come late, you will miss the reading quiz, so be on time. These will be a smaller portion of the
quiz grade depending upon how many we do – but a good estimate is 20% of the quiz grade. Problem
solving quizzes will typically occur the day homework is handed in, but may occur during lab or
discussion time. I am fond of selecting a short derivation or problem out of a class exercise, sample
problem, or previous lecture for a quiz. They will be 30 minutes or so, and will test your understanding
of concepts through problem solving or derivations found in the text or class.
Mid-terms will test understanding of concepts through and problem solving and derivation.
Their content will largely follow problems or derivations covered in the class lecture, homework, class
exercises, quizzes, examples in the book, or prominent derivations in the book. There will be a practice
review test session preceding them. Mid-terms will be given during the lab time, as will the review
sessions.
The “extra credit report” often can make the difference of one grade. It is optional, and consists
of up to 5 written annotated pages on a topic covered in the course material that you are interested in. It
must be within the course content, but go beyond what is actually done in classes or written in the text.
Class participation credit can be earned with a perfect class-work or homework record, or with
verbal engagement in the class-room. Many absences can lose you credit.
Expect late work to be reduced in grade unless specific exceptions are made. Student’s
overall grades have suffered in the past due to persistent lateness (or absence of) work, especially of
labs. If labs are over two weeks late, expect a zero. No homework or labs will be accepted after the
2
last day of class before the final (i.e., Wed, May 22nd). E-mailed reports, labs or homework are not
accepted unless permission is specifically granted. No incompletes will be granted, as per college
policy, unless a verified emergency causes you to be unable to finish a course – you cannot fail to show
up for mid-terms or finals and expect to somehow take it later.
Attendance:
Attendance to all lectures and labs is mandatory. Five or more absences may result in being
dropped from the course. Also, you are responsible for dropping the course; you cannot assume that
after a few absences you will be dropped. If you mean to drop but fail to perform the drop yourself
with the registrar, expect an “F” for the course.
Classroom Behavior:
Single mindedness is a key component of devotion to learning. Coming in late or making noise
causes distraction. So does eating food. Studies have shown that once a student’s focus is lost, it takes
up to five minutes to re-establish an equivalent level of focus. To this end please turn off all
electronics except your calculators: phones, tablets, watch alarms.
Anything that is disruptive to the class: making noises, distracting others through talking,
texting, use of electronic devices for other than class activity, can result in your being asked to leave the
class, and a notification may be sent to the Dean of Student Life. In addition, you may be required to
meet with the Dean of Student Life before you return to class. Disruptive behavior can also include
excessively argumentative behavior when it becomes disruptive to the educational process.
PC’s may be used for note taking only if you can show evidence that is the purpose it is being
used for. In any case, however, PC’s and all electronic devices (including music players with
earphones) except calculators must be turned off during quizzes or exams, and their use during quizzes
or exams will be considered violations of the academic integrity policy (see below).
Academic Integrity:
Almost everyone has participated in acts of academic dishonesty, whether it was blatant
cheating or something seemingly minor like cutting and pasting stuff from the web and calling it ours.
But ultimately, we are happiest when we are “clean inside”, when we live lives of honor and true love,
living for the sake of others. That is when we become truly reliable and responsible men and women
who can benefit the world.
Your grade on the explicit write-ups of homework and labs, and on your quizzes, mid-terms and
the final, is an evaluation of your understanding of course material. To be evaluated in this course, it
must be based upon your work, not other’s work. So here are some activities that are not allowed in
this class:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Using any kind of notes (e.g. on hand, on desk, in calculator) during a quiz
Copying or looking at another’s work, or encouraging or allowing another to look at your work,
during a quiz or exam
Sharing a calculator during a quiz or exam
Copying another’s lab report work for inclusion in your own lab report
Collaborating on the wording of the written portions of your lab report
Copying another’s homework
3
•
Assisting another to violate any of theses guidelines
Here are some activities that are allowed and encouraged in this class:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Using notes during an exam – 1 sheet (one-side) for mid-terms, 2 sheets (one front and back, the
other front only) for the final exam.
Learning how to use the functions of your calculator (e.g. quadratic formula, graphing)
Collaborating on the data analysis and calculations for a lab report
Discussing goals of a lab and general outline of a lab report
Asking anyone to proof read your rough draft of the lab report
Explaining how to do a homework problem to any classmate
Checking your homework problem answers with another student, or any other source
If you are found committing an act of academic dishonesty, as outlined above, you may be
given a zero on the assignment in question and be reported to the Dean of Student Life. If more than
one instructor reports you to the Dean for cheating, you may be expelled from LPC and your transcript
permanently marked for cheating. If this is an isolated incident, nothing more will come of it. If you
are found committing a second act of academic dishonesty, you may be given a zero on the assignment,
be reported to the Dean again, and have your final course grade lowered by one full letter grade.
Tentative Homework Assignments (due one week following assignment):
Chapter
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Problems
4,19,23,28,29,54,55
27,29,30,31,34,43,49,57,63,69
19,20,23,26,30,32,39,41,42
39,43,45,53,54,55,57,59,63,69,70
12,25,26,33,34,35,37,40,41,54
26,28,32,40,42,46,53,74,76,77
8,11,19,27,34,38,39,49,51,55
Chapter
8
9
10
11
12
13
Problems
23,32,38,41,42,48,55,64
26,27,28,34,35,43,51,61,74
28,31,37,39,41,43,48,53,59
38,39,42,45,49,51,57,60,74
36,42,51,52,57,61,68,77,79,84,86
28,35,41,46,50,52,56,58,67,70
Tentative Lecture-Lab Schedule (Write-up due in Lab period following the Lab)
Physics 8A
week of
Jan 22
28
Feb 4
11
18
25
Mar 4
11
18
25
Apr 1
8
15
22
29
May 6
13
20
27
week
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
lecture chapter
chpt 1
chpt 2
chpt 3
chpt 4
chpt 5
chpt 6
chpt 7
chpt 7-8
chpt 8
chpt 9
lab
the lab report, measurement
Measuring density
Gravitational Acceleration & the Picket Fence
Projectile Motion
Review for Test I
Test I (chpt. 1-5 - tentatively)
Atwood
Friction
Centripetal Force
Conservation of Momentum
spring break
chpt 10
Conservation of Energy
chpt 10
Review for Test II
chpt 11
Test II (chpt. 6-10 - tentatively)
chpt 11-12
Static Equilibrium
chpt 12
Rotational Inertia
chpt 13
TBA
chpt 13, Review
Final Exam Part I – lab period Tuesday May 21
Final Exam Part II – Friday, May 24th, 5:30pm-7:20pm Rm 1816
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