PHYS 241
DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS
Electricity & Optics (Summer 2015)
http://www.physics.purdue.edu/phys241/
INSTRUCTORS:
Mr. Brian Fields
Office: Phys 61
Email: fields38@purdue.edu
Office Hours: Evenings on Piazza
Dr. V. K. Saxena
Office: PHYS 176
Phone: 494-9575
Email: chip241@purdue.edu
Office Hours: By Appointment
TEACHING ASSISTANTS:
Mr. Troy Seberson
Office: PHYS B89
Email: tseberso@purdue.edu
efsefef
Office Hours: Online Piazza TBD
Mr. Jedidiah Redding
Office: 359A
Email: jrieblin@purdue.edu
Office Hours: Help Center (phys 12) TBD
Mr. Tyler Browning
Office: PHYS6A
Email: tbrownin@purdue.edu
Office Hours: Help Center (phys 12) TBD
Mr. Cyrus Vandrevala
Office: Phys 230
Email: cvandrev@purdue.edu
Office Hours: TBD
TEXTBOOK AND MATERIALS:
Online and On-Campus Sections
Physics for Scientists and Engineers, 6th Edition, Vol. 2, Tipler and Mosca, Publisher: Bedford,
Freeman and Worth, ISBN 1429284587
PREREQUISITES:
PHYS 172 and MA 162 are prerequisites for this course. You are expected to have a good
understanding of classical mechanics, be able to differentiate and integrate simple functions, and be
familiar with vectors (including dot and cross products).
COURSE STRUCTURE:
The course has two different components: lecture and recitation. The lectures will concentrate on
developing an understanding of fundamental concepts. The recitations will be devoted to developing
problem-solving skills
ASSIGNMENTS:
We have posted a schedule on the course homepage that outlines when all of the assignments are due.
Additionally, we have posted a schedule showing what sections you should read in the book and what
lectures you should watch before attempting the homework and attending recitation. Students who
study the assigned material before class will find the recitations far more meaningful. You can also
find the due date of each assignment on the CHIP website.
LECTURES:
Lecture videos will be used to introduce new material in the course. These videos can be found on
iTunes through Boilercast: http://www.purdue.edu/apps/Boilercast. The videos are located under the
"Science" link and are stored under "PHYS241". Demonstrations and discussions will take place
during lecture videos to illustrate the physics concepts.
After you watch a lecture video and read the associated sections in the book, you need to log onto the
CHIP homepage and take the corresponding lecture quiz. These quizzes will ask questions about the
material covered in your reading as well as what you saw during the lecture. Once you begin an online
quiz, you cannot exit and start over. Additionally, you cannot go back and redo an old quiz. There
will be no make-up quizzes. However, your three lowest quiz grades will be dropped, so you can miss
up to three quizzes without any penalty. The idea is to provoke you to think more deeply about the
material and hopefully learn more.
All lecture quizzes will be due on Tuesday, August 4th.
RECITATIONS:
During recitation you will have the opportunity to discuss the reading, the lecture videos, and the
homework problems that have been assigned. You are expected to attempt all the assigned problems
BEFORE attending recitation. If you are familiar with the problems then you will benefit more from
the discussions in recitation
ONLINE SECTIONS:
During your scheduled online recitation time, log onto the online classroom using the following link:
www.purdue.webex.com
**Individual recitation sections will be emailed an event number by TA that allows you to enter your
recitation section’s corresponding meeting/event room
After the recitation, log onto the CHIP website and complete the recitation quiz for that day. Once you
begin an online quiz, you cannot exit and start over. Additionally, you cannot go back and redo
an old quiz. There will be no make-up quizzes. However, your three lowest quiz grades will be
dropped, so you can miss up to three quizzes without any penalty
CHIP HOMEWORK:
There will be 15 Homework assignments. Each homework problem has randomly generated input
values so each student will have a unique answer. Make sure that you use your own input values when
solving each problem. To receive credit your answer must be within  1% of the correct answer, so
you are advised to CARRY AT LEAST 4 SIGNIFICANT FIGURES IN YOUR CALCULATIONS.
The CHIP grading policy is as follows: (for details, click on “Grading Policy Details” button in any
CHIP assignment)
A – Multiple-choice problems have a limited number of attempts depending on the number of possible
answers. If you answer correctly within the specified number of attempts and before the specified
deadline, you will get 100% credit. Within one week after the deadline, but still within the allowed
number of attempts, you obtain 50% credit. No credit is granted after one week past the deadline or if
you used up the maximum number of attempts.
B – Numerical problems have a maximum of 5 attempts before the deadline to obtain 100% credit.
If you require between 6-10 attempts before the deadline you will receive 50% credit. If completed
late, up to one week after the deadline and within 5 first attempts, you will receive 50% credit. Within
one week after the deadline and using between 6-10 attempts, you obtain 25% credit. No credit is
granted after one week past the deadline or after using all 10 attempts.
USEFUL WEBPAGES:
You can find this syllabus, a class schedule, course announcements, learning center hours and other
important resources on the course homepage: http://www.physics.purdue.edu/phys241/.
We will use the Computerized Homework in Physics (CHIP) system to assign and grade all of the
homework and lecture quizzes: https://chip.physics.purdue.edu/public/241/summer2015/.
The lecture videos are posted on Boilercast: http://www.purdue.edu/apps/Boilercast. The videos are
located under the "Science" link and are stored under "PHYS241".
Online sections only – this is the link
https://piazza.com/purdue/summer2015/phys241
for
the
online
recitation
classroom:
We will use Piazza for discussions and office hours with your classmates and the teaching assistants.
Rather than emailing questions to the teaching staff, post your questions on Piazza. You can sign up
for a Piazza account and enroll in our class page using the following link:
https://piazza.com/purdue/summer2015/phys241/home
If you have any problems or feedback for the Piazza developers, email team@piazza.com.
EXAMS:
There will be two online exams and one two-hour final exam. The online exams are multiple-choice
and should be able to be completed within 75 minutes by a well-prepared student; note that we’re
giving you 120 minutes. Students will log onto the CHIP website anytime during the day of the exam
and click the posted exam link to begin the exam. Once you click the link, you will have two hours
to complete the exam. You may not pause the exam once it is started. You must finish the exam
in one sitting! The tentative times and locations of the online exams are as follows:
Exam 1: Wednesday, July 1st 2015 (Tentative)
Exam 2: Sunday, July 19th, 2015 (Tentative)
The final exam will take place ON CAMPUS at a time and place determined by the university. The
exam will be cumulative. The exam is closed book and notes. However, you may prepare three 8 ½ x
11” sheets of paper (front and back) with any notes, equations, and concepts that you think will be
useful for the exam. The sheets may be written or typed.
Those with adaptive learner status as certified by the Office of the Dean of Students should email or
speak with Mr. Brian Fields as soon as possible. Adaptive learners will get extra time on the online
exams as well as the final exam.
GRADING POLICY:
There are two online exams and a final exam. The grade will break down as follows:
Online Exam #1
Online Exam #2
Final Exam (On Campus)
CHIP Homework Assignments
Recitation quizzes
Lecture quizzes
TOTAL
100
100
200
100
75
25
600
Letter grades will be derived using a curve that has not yet been determined. It is possible to get a D
or F in this course. We have no desire to give a certain percentage of C’s and D’s. We would like for
all of you to earn A’s.
During the semester, you should regularly check that your exam, homework, and quiz grades have
been correctly entered into your grade book in CHIP.
IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO BRING ANY PROBLEMS WITH YOUR ASSIGNED
GRADES TO THE ATTENTION OF YOUR INSTRUCTOR IMMEDIATELY, AND TO NOTIFY
DR. SAXENA IMMEDIATELY IF YOUR CHIP ACCOUNT IS NOT OPEN TO YOU.
ABSENCES AND EXCUSED GRADES:
There is no way to make up missed exams or quizzes. Unexcused absences from any exam or quiz will
be assigned a grade of zero. Excused absences will receive an EX grade. At the end of the semester,
an EX grade on an exam will be replaced by one-half of your final exam grade. A similar procedure
will be applied to excused quizzes. Excused grades will be given only in one of the following
circumstances:
(1) Illness
(2) Personal crisis (e.g., automobile accidents, required court appearance, incarceration, death of
a close relative, weather conditions that make it impossible to get to the university)
(3) Required attendance at an official Purdue activity (e.g., athletics)
You must contact Mr. Brian Fields as soon as possible BEFORE the exam or quiz. Appropriate
documents (e.g., a written note from a doctor, with his/her name and phone number included) may be
needed to judge the merit of the excuse. More than one exam or quiz will likely not be excused.
**FINAL EXAM**
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THE FINAL EXAM WILL BE HELD ON CAMPUS THIS SUMMER
MISSING THE FINAL EXAM CANNOT BE EXCUSED.
THERE WILL BE A MAKEUP EXAM HELD ON CAMPUS DURING THE FIRST
WEDNESDAY OF FALL SEMESTER (EXACT TIME/TESTING LOCATION TBD)
ONLY STUDENTS WHO HAVE OBTAINED PERMISSION TO TAKE THE MAKE UP
FINAL EXAM FROM MR. FIELDS WILL BE ALLOWED TO TAKE THE EXAM
TO OBTAIN PERMISSION TO ATTEND THE MAKEP FNAL YOU MUST EMAIL MR.
FIELDS BY JULY 1ST REQUESTING PERMISSION.
CHANGING SECTIONS:
You may change your recitation section only with the permission of the new recitation instructor. You
must get a recitation section change form from Physics Room 144 and have the new instructor sign it.
Then, you must take the form to the Registrar's Office, Room 45. You must have a good reason to
change recitation sections; recitation instructors are under no obligation to accept additional students.
Make sure your grades are transferred to your new instructor. Section changes will be allowed only
until the first exam.
Additionally, either Mr. Fields or Dr. Saxena will sign a drop slip for the course (without a grade) until
July 10th, 2015.
CHEATING:
Just don't do it. It is not fair to other students or to you, and it won't be tolerated. If you are willing to
put in the effort studying and practicing, you will have no problem earning a respectable grade.
Working with other students on your homework is not considered cheating and is encouraged.
However, direct copying of another's homework is considered cheating.
If a student is found to be cheating on the homework or quizzes, he or she will receive a zero for that
part of his or her grade, and possibly an F for the course in more serious cases. A student who is caught
cheating on an exam will receive an F for the course and be reported to the Dean of Students. In more
serious cases that student will be suspended or expelled from the university. The same applies to all
other parties involved in cheating.
HELP CENTER AND PHYSICS LIBRARY:
Help is available in room PHYS 11 – the Physics Help Center. We will post the hours when the help
room is staffed soon after the semester starts. There is a link to the Help Center hours on the course
web page. It will be open during finals week, but only on a limited basis. If you ever need additional
resources, the Physics Library is located in PHYS 290.