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Physics 206
Complete syllabus
( in pdf )
is posted on
the course web site:
http://www.phy.ilstu.edu
/~hmb/phy206
/phy206.html
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Instructor: Hiroshi Matsuoka
Office: Moulton 313B
Phone: (438) 3236
e-mail:
hmb@phy.ilstu.edu
Office hours:
2 - 3 p.m. (MWRF) or
by appointment.
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‘53 : Born in Tokyo, Japan.
‘78 : B.Eng. in Materials Eng.
(U. of Tokyo)
Grad school
(Physics, U. of I)
‘85 : Ph.D in theoretical
high energy physics
‘85-’90 :
Research associate at
Argonne Nat. Lab
U. of Houston
Nagoya U., Japan
‘90- : ISU (theoretical
statistical physics)
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Business Admin.
Chemistry
Theatre
Communication
Philosophy
Others
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2
2
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Sophomores
Juniors
Seniors
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5
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Texts (Required)
“Chaos:
Making a New Science”
by James Gleick
“Physics 206 Class Notes”
by Matsuoka
(PIP: Packet #3)
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Course content
Recent developments in
“nonlinear science”
in the cultural context of
the latter half of
the 20th century
Especially,
the recognition of
“deterministic chaos”
in a wide variety of
natural phenomena
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Course objectives
1. The role played by
the human culture in
the evolution of science
2. Impacts that
scientific ideas have on
the wider culture
3. A basic understanding of
nonlinear science,
especially
deterministic chaos
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Course structure
I. At home before each class
• Reading an assigned
portion of the text
II. Class
• A 3-min multiple-choice
reading quiz
at the beginning of class
• Lecture/demonstrations
• In-class hands-on labs
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III. At home and/or
in the computer studio lab
(Moulton 309)
• Homework questions
IV. A 50-minute quiz after
each chapter
V. A 2-hr comprehensive
final exam
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Reading assignment &
reading quizzes
• Reading assignment:
on the course web site
• At the beginning of class:
a 3-min multiple-choice
reading quiz
• Extra points
• No make-up reading quiz
• Answers: given in class
right after the quiz
• Answers: also on the web site
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6 in-class hands-on labs
• One lab with the lowest
score will be dropped
6 homework sets
• Homework sets will be
posted on the web site
• Answers are given in class
• No late homework accepted
• The set with the lowest
score will be dropped
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Quizzes
• A 50-min quiz after each
chapter
• 5 quizzes
+ an “optional” extra quiz
• The quiz with
the lowest score among
the 5 quizzes will be
dropped.
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• If you take the optional
extra quiz and your score
is better than
your lowest score from
the kept 4 quizzes,
the optional quiz
will replace the quiz with
the lowest score.
• No make-up extra quiz
• Tentative dates:
“Class schedule”
in the course syllabus
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• Closed notes and closed book
• A list of equations and
constants: included
• Cheating on a quiz
-> a zero for that quiz
that cannot be dropped
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• In general, no make-up quiz.
If an officially justifiable
circumstance forces you
to miss a quiz,
contact me
within one week after
the missed quiz.
If you fail to contact me
within that one week,
no make-up quiz.
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Final Exam:
(The date and time will be
announced later)
• The 2-hour final exam
will cover topics covered
in the 5 quizzes
• Cheating ->
a zero point for the exam
• Closed notes and closed book
• A list of equations and
constants: included
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On the course web site
• Announcements including
schedule changes.
• Reading assignment
• Links to the web sites
mentioned in Class Notes
• Reading quiz that you have
taken and its answers
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• Homework problems
• Solutions for Homework
problems
• As the semester goes by,
older “pdf” files will be
taken off the web site.
Download files ASAP.
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Grades
• Regular points (100 points)
Homework
In-class labs
Quizzes
Final Exam
25 points
5 points
50 points
20 points
• Extra points from reading
quizzes: at most 3 points
Your extra points
= 3 (Your Total)/(Total Max)
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• Grading scale
(subject to change)
A
B
C
D
above 90.0 points
above 80.0 points
above 70.0 points
above 60.0 points
Important dates
January 27 (M): the last day
to withdraw w/o WX
March 7 (F): the last day
to withdraw w/ WX
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Physicists’ view of nature
(Class notes#1)
Based on collective experiences
accumulated over centuries
1. “Physical nature is
understandable.”
Behind seemingly complex
physical phenomena,
we find regularities that
can be summarized by
simple statements
we call laws.
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Using laws, we can explain
a wide variety of
phenomena.
Physicists equate
the simplicity of laws
with the beauty of nature.
Example:
Newton’s laws of motion
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2. “Universal laws.”
Various natural phenomena
can be understood
in terms of the same set
of laws.
This universality of
laws allows us
to understand nature
systematically.
Example: Newton’s laws of
motion and gravitation
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3. “Only experiments and
observations can
establish physical laws.”
Physics is an empirical
science.
Physical laws cannot be
chosen arbitrarily.
Example: Einstein’s special
relativity: time runs slowly
for a fast moving particle.
Verified in the Lab.
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4. “From a few basic laws
to many results.”
There are a “limited”
number of basic laws,
from which many results
logically follow.
Example: Newton’s laws of
motion in mechanics
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5. “Mathematics is physical
nature’s language.”
Once we discover
basic physical concepts
and a law connecting
them, we can find
mathematical expressions
for the concepts and
the law.
Physical laws, as equations,
lead to precise predictions
for experiments.