HOFSTRA UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY
PHYS 012A – Sec 01 – General Physics II – Fall 2015
TTh 9:35-11:00 in Berliner 031 and F 10:10-11:05 in Berliner 207
Instructor: Prof. Adam Durst
Office: Berliner 102E
Phone: 516-463-5586
Email: Adam.C.Durst@hofstra.edu
Web: http://people.hofstra.edu/Adam_C_Durst
Office Hours: Wednesday 1:30-3:00 and Friday 1:30-3:00 in Berliner 102E
Textbook: Physics for Scientists & Engineers, Serway and Jewett, Ninth Edition, Cengage Learning
Course Website: Course materials will be posted via Blackboard
Lectures: Attendance at lecture is mandatory, and fun! Every student is responsible for knowing all
information – both physics and course related announcements – that is provided during lectures. Lectures will
be presented via a combination of PowerPoint slides and handwritten whiteboard notes. The PowerPoint slides
for each week will be available via Blackboard, but students should get in the habit of taking notes on key
concepts, as well as any whiteboard notes, as we go.
Clickers: We will be using clickers from Turning Technologies to answer quick-response questions in lecture.
You must obtain one of these devices by the first lecture of the second week of class (Tues Sept 8). They are
available from the university bookstore for rent (used: $27.40/semester; new: $33.00/semester) or for purchase
(used: $32.15; new: $42.85). Once you have your clicker, go to http://webreg.turningtechnologies.com to
register your device. When registering, be sure to use your Hofstra NetID (the one you use to login to the
Hofstra portal) as your User ID. Thereafter, be sure to bring your clicker to class every day. It is your
responsibility to make sure you always have your clicker with you, and that it has been registered and is
functioning properly. Contact the Technical Support Center at Hammer Lab (516-463-7777, scs@hofstra.edu)
to resolve any technical problems. Clicker points missed due to missing, mis-registered, or malfunctioning
clickers will not be excused.
Homework: We will be using WebAssign, a web-based tutorial and homework system, for this course. To
sign up, go to www.webassign.net, click the Enter Class Key button at the top right of the page, and enter the
class key for this class (hofstra 4538 5470). After a two-week trial period, the system will prompt you to
register by entering an access code. If you purchased the textbook from the bookstore, just enter the access
code that came with the textbook. If not, and if you don’t already have an active WebAssign subscription, then
you’ll need to purchase one on the WebAssign site for either $79 for the semester or $118 for multiple
semesters.
Homework should be completed as follows: First write out your solutions neatly, by hand, on paper. Then
submit your answers online, via WebAssign, for grading. Doing homework is an absolutely crucial element of
this course. It is what will enable you to master and apply the concepts introduced in class. And by writing out
your solutions carefully, just as you would during an exam, you will become well practiced at doing so and
therefore well prepared for the exams. Homework will be assigned weekly, usually due by Friday at 9:00am.
After each assignment deadline, WebAssign will provide solutions to the problems. For this reason, amongst
others, no extensions will be granted for homework assignments. Typically, we will review selected problems
from homework during class on the day it was due. Students will be asked to present solutions on the board and
will be rewarded for their bravery with extra credit on the homework (+20 points per problem presented,
whether or not the solution is correct).
Please note that copies of the Instructor Solutions Manual for your textbook have, unfortunately, made their
way onto the internet. Do not look at these solutions, ever. Using the Instructor Solution Manual to do
homework is cheating, and in direct violation of Hofstra’s Academic Honesty policy. Doing so will result
in an immediate F for the entire course. I trust that none of you would ever cheat, and you are on your honor
never to do so.
Quizzes: There will be three or four in-class quizzes throughout the course of the semester. Quizzes are not
exams. They are brief (around 15 minutes), unannounced, typically consist of a single question (very similar to
a question from the most recent homework assignment), and will be reviewed in class immediately afterward.
Of the three quizzes, I will drop your lowest quiz grade. If you miss one, that’s the grade I’ll drop. If you miss
a second one, it will enter your average as a zero. There will be no make-up quizzes.
Examinations: There will be two midterm exams during the semester as well as a cumulative final exam during
finals week. Midterm exams will occur during the normal class time and place on Fri Oct 9 and Fri Nov 6
(these dates are tentative and might change). The final exam will take place during finals week, the week of
Dec 14, and will cover the entire course. There will be no make-up exams. Missed exams will be dropped only
with an official, verifiable medical excuse. Information about the style of the examinations and what is to be
covered on them will be provided during scheduled lectures.
Exams will be graded by the instructor. If you believe that the grading of an exam question needs
reconsideration, please bring the exam and a brief written statement of the issue to me within one week after
the exam is returned and I will be happy to regrade it. Verbal or email requests for grade adjustments will NOT
be considered.
Final Course Grade: Your grade will be determined by assigning weights to various components of the course
as indicated in the following table:
Clicker Questions
3/4 for Clicking
10 %
1/4 for Correct Answers
Homework via WebAssign
10 %
Quizzes
10 %
Midterm Exam #1
20 %
Midterm Exam #2
20 %
Final Exam
30 %
Acknowledgments: Materials for this course have been derived from a variety of sources, including those
accompanying the text, Serway and Jewett, as well as from the MIT Open Courseware website, course 8.02T by
John Belcher, Peter Dourmashkin, and Sen-Ben Liao, embellished by Gene Sprouse of Stony Brook University.
Disabilities Policy: If you believe you need accommodations for a disability, please contact Student Access
Services (SAS). In accordance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with
Disabilities Act of 1990, qualified individuals with disabilities will not be discriminated against in any
programs, or services available at Hofstra University. Individuals with disabilities are entitled to
accommodations designed to facilitate full access to all programs and services. SAS is responsible for
coordinating disability-related accommodations and will provide students with documented disabilities
accommodation letters, as appropriate. Since accommodations may require early planning and are not
retroactive, please contact SAS as soon as possible. All students are responsible for providing accommodation
letters to each instructor and for discussing with him or her the specific accommodations needed and how they
can be best implemented in each course. For more information on services provided by the university and for
submission of documentation, please contact Student Access Services, 107 Student Center, 516-463-7075.
Academic Honesty: Plagiarism is a serious ethical and professional infraction. Hofstra’s policy on academic
honesty reads: “The academic community assumes that work of any kind […] is done, entirely, and without
assistance, by and only for the individual(s) whose name(s) it bears.” Please refer to the “Procedure for
Handling Violations of Academic Honesty by Undergraduate Students at Hofstra University” to be found at
http://www.hofstra.edu/PDF/Senate_FPS_11.pdf, for details about what constitutes plagiarism, and Hofstra’s
procedures for handling violations.
Representing the solutions of others as your own on homework assignments, whether it be the work of other
students, online solutions, or the Instructor Solution Manual, is a clear and blatant example of plagiarism, and
will not be tolerated.
WebAssign Appeal Policy:
•
•
•
•
If you believe that WebAssign has erroneously marked your answer incorrect, you should do the
following, in this order:
1. Make sure you are using all the correct variables and symbols. For example, note that: Ke ≠ ke
and Θ ≠ θ.
2. Make sure you have simplified your answer completely. For example, note that: 2 * x / 2 should
simply be x.
3. Make sure that you have only entered numerical values at the absolute LAST step. All problems
must be solved symbolically until the very end, at which time you enter the numbers, with units,
and pull out your calculator. Doing otherwise – carrying forward intermediate numerical
answers – is a bad habit and leads to both careless mistakes and compounding round-off error,
which WebAssign will correctly mark wrong.
4. If and only if you have successfully applied steps 1-3 and WebAssign has still marked incorrect a
solution that you believe to be correct, then you may formally appeal the WebAssign grade.
(Note: Statistically, this happens about 1% of the time. If it seems to be happening to you more
often than that, repeat steps 1-3.)
To formally appeal a WebAssign grade, you must do BOTH of the following:
1. Print out a hardcopy of your WebAssign submission that you believe was graded incorrectly.
2. Very neatly, write out your complete solution on a piece of paper, showing ALL work and
indicating exactly HOW you arrived at your solution.
3. Staple 1 and 2 together and give to me, in person, at the beginning of the next class.
If this procedure is followed, I will be happy to grade your appeal by hand and override the WebAssign
grade in my gradebook.
All appeals must be submitted in person. Appeals submitted via email will NOT be considered.
Tentative Schedule:
WEEK
LECTURE
Aug 31
READING
Due Prior
to Lecture
Ch 16, 17
Sept 7
Ch 18
Superposition and Standing
Waves
Sept 14
Ch 23
Sept 21
Ch 24
Electric Fields
No Class on Tues
(W is M, Th is T)
Gauss’s Law
Sept 28
Ch 25
Electric Potential
Oct 5
Ch 26
Capacitance and Dipoles
Midterm Review
Oct 12
Ch 27, 28
Current and Resistance
Direct Current Circuits
Oct 19
Ch 29, 30
Magnetic Fields
Oct 26
Ch 31
Faraday’s Law
Nov 2
Ch 32
Inductance
Midterm Review
Nov 9
Ch 33, 34
AC Circuits
Electromagnetic Waves
Nov 16
Ch 35, 36
Geometric Optics
Nov 23
Ch 37
Nov 30
Ch 38
Interference
No Class on Thurs or Fri
Diffraction
Dec 7
Dec 14
Wave Motion and Sound
No Class on Tues
Final Review
No Class on Fri
HOMEWORK
Due Online by Friday
at 9:00am
HW0: Getting Started
with WebAssign
Due Tues 9/8 at 9am
HW1
16: TBA
17: TBA
HW2
17: TBA
18: TBA
HW3
23: TBA
HW4
24: TBA
No HW
HW5
25: TBA
26: TBA
HW6
27: TBA
28: TBA
HW7
29: TBA
30: TBA
No HW
EXAMS
Midterm Exam #1
Fri Oct 9
Ch: 16-18, 23, 24
Midterm Exam #2
Fri Nov 6
Ch: 25-30
HW8
31: TBA
32: TBA
HW9
33: TBA
34: TBA
No HW
Happy Thanksgiving!!!
HW10
35: TBA
36: TBA
HW11
37: TBA
38: TBA
Due Thurs at 9am
Final Exam
Date TBA