Physics 5c: Introduction to Physics III (Winter 2021)
MWF: 4:00-5:05 PM, Zoom
Instructor: Professor Jairo Velasco Jr. (jvelasc5@ucsc.edu)
Office: 249 Interdisciplinary Sciences Building (ISB)
Office hours: Monday 11:00- 12:00 PM, Wednesday 1:00-2:00 PM
Number of course credits: 5
Course page on canvas: https://canvas.ucsc.edu/courses/40332
Physics 5N instructor: Professor George Brown (gsbrown@ucsc.edu)
Discussion sections will be led by Logan Morrison (loanmorr@ucsc.edu).
See the link below for discussion session schedule:
https://www.physics.ucsc.edu/academic-programs/courses/class-schedule.php/course/2210-43172/intro-physicsiii
There will also be weekly sessions scheduled for Modified Supplemental Instruction (MSI) program for smallgroup learning and the Academic Excellence Program (ACE). The MSI Learning Assistant is Mason Woodford
(mwoodfor@ucsc.edu). The ACE learning skills advisor is Monique Windju (mwindju@ucsc.edu).
Course Description:
This course is the third of three quarters of introductory physics for science and engineering majors. In this quarter
we will focus on electricity and magnetism, Maxwell’s equations, and electromagnetic radiation. This includes
vectors, Gauss' law, inverse square force laws, circuits, Ampere’s law, and radiation. Physics 5N is the corequisite laboratory course for Physics 5c.
Physics 5c Schedule (Winter 2021)
Week
Date
1
Jan. 4
Electric charge, insulators and conductors, Coulomb’s law 21.1-21.5
Jan. 6
Electric field, motion of charged particles, electric dipoles
21.6-21.11
Jan. 8
Electric flux and Gauss’ law
22.1-22.4
Jan. 11
Electric potential and its relation to electric field
23.1-23.4
Jan. 13
Equipotential surfaces, Electric dipole potential, 𝐸"⃗ 23.5-23.8
determined from 𝑉
Jan. 15
Capacitors
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Topics
Reading
24.1-24.3
1
3
4
5
Jan. 18
No class
Jan. 20
Electric energy storage
24.4-24.5
Jan. 22
Electric battery, current, and Ohm’s law
25.1-25.3
Jan. 25
Resistivity, electric power
25.4-25.5
Jan. 27
Alternating current, microscopic view of electric current
25.6-25.8
Jan. 29
EMF, Resistors, Kirchhoff’s rules
26.1-26.3
Feb. 1
More EMF and RC circuits
26.4-26.6
Feb. 3
6
7
8
9
11
Midterm Exam
Feb. 5
Magnets, magnetic fields, electric currents produce 27.1-27.3
magnetic fields, force on an electric current in a magnetic
field
Feb. 8
Force on an electric charge in a magnetic field, torque on a 27.4-27.5
current loop, magnetic dipole moment
Feb. 10
Magnetic field due to a straight wire, force between two 28.1-28.4
parallel wires, Ampere’s law
Feb. 12
Magnetic field of a solenoid, Biot-Savart law, magnetic 28.5-28.7
materials
Feb. 15
NO CLASS
Feb. 17
Induced EMF, Faraday’s law of induction, Lenz’s law, 29.1-29.3
EMF induced in a moving conductor
Feb. 19
Transformers and transmission of power, changing 29.6-29.7
magnetic flux produces an electric field
Feb. 22
Inductance and energy stored in a magnetic field
Feb. 24
LR and LC circuits, LRC circuits, and electromagnetic 30.4-30.6
oscillations
Feb. 26
AC circuits
Mar. 1
Changing electric fields produce magnetic fields, Gauss’s 31.1-31.2
law for magnetism
Mar. 3
Maxwell’s equations, electromagnetic waves
31.3-31.5
Mar. 5
Light
31.6-31.7
Mar. 8
Poynting vector, radiation
31.8-31.9
Mar. 10
Radio and Television; Wireless communication
31.10
Mar. 12
Makeup day if behind, otherwise review for Final Exam
30.1-30.3
30.7-30.9
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Required Materials:
Course textbook:
The textbook for the course is Physics for Scientists and Engineers, 4th edition, by Douglas Giancoli. This book
can be found at Bay Tree Bookstore on campus. We will cover chapters 21-31 this quarter.
iclicker:
We will also use the response devices called “iclicker” in class during lecture to gauge everyone’s
comprehension of topics as they are presented.
Instructions for REEF Polling by iclicker:
To create a REEF-Polling-by-iclicker account, visit app.reef-education.com or download the app for iOS or
Android (e.g. from the Google Play Store). Creating an account automatically starts a free 14-day trial
subscription. Please use this trial period to make sure REEF Polling will work for all of your iclicker classes
before purchasing a subscription, as it is not possible to receive a refund after you purchase a subscription.
Once you create your REEF Polling account, be sure that you’ve added your AIS student ID (the name that
appears before @ucsc.edu in your campus email, not your numerical ID) to your profile to complete the
registration process.
At the end of your trial, should you decide to purchase REEF Polling, you can purchase access to REEF Polling
in a variety of subscription lengths using your credit card online or through in-app purchase with your smartphone.
The subscription will include an unlimited number of courses. In the system, this course is “Physics 5c,
Introduction to Physics III” and the Course ID is “Physics5c”.
Homework Exercises:
Physics is not a spectator sport! It is important to practice problem-solving with homework exercises to master
comprehension of the physical concepts introduced in lectures. For Physics 5c there will be nine assignments
based on exercises from the lectures and textbook. These homework assignments will be posted on the canvas
course webpage and announced during lecture. The homework can be submitted through canvas and is due
Monday by 10pm. Late homework will not be graded.
I encourage you to seek help from your fellow classmates and instructional staff if you are struggling with a
problem. But be aware that it is your problem-solving ability that will be tested on the exam.
Exams:
The midterm exam will be held during class time on Wednesday February 3rd. The final exam will be on Thursday
March 18th from 12-3PM. The exams will be comprised of qualitative questions and numerical exercises
similar to the homework. During the exam you may use your notes. No collaboration with other students
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is permitted. If you miss an exam because of an unavoidable catastrophe, then collect the appropriate
documentation and come to see me so that we can determine how to proceed.
Course grading criteria:
I have revamped this course for remote learning to give students more of a chance to practice problem solving
and applying concepts in a variety of settings. To this end, this course will incorporate weekly homework
assignments, reading quizzes, and activities that require active participation such as iclicker questions and team
problem solving during discussion sessions. High-stake exams such as the midterm and final will make up a
smaller portion of the course compared to the previous offering of Physics 5c. Please do your part in this shift by
upholding academic integrity and honoring the UCSC Code of Student Conduct.
Course grade will be based on the homework, iclicker questions, reading quizzes, and exams.
The grade breakdown is as follows: 25% homework; 5% iclicker questions; 5% reading Quiz; 5% discussion
session; 25% midterm exam; 35% final exam.
For the iclicker questions you will be awarded three points for attempting the questions and one point for
providing the correct answer.
Advice for success in Physics 5c:
It is crucial that you stay current with the material discussed during lectures. In this class everything builds on
previous material, thus you will need to keep up with the pace every week. I strongly advise against last minute
cramming!
We are here to help you, but you have to take primary responsibility for making sure you learn the material. There
are a lot of tools available to you, and the homework is probably the most important. We strongly encourage you
to discuss the problems with other students when you get stuck, but you must sit down to work out and enter your
final answers without anyone else's work in front of you. Submitting identical or near identical solutions with
another student will be considered plagiarism (see Academic Dishonesty Policy below). Everyone who has made
it to this classroom has the potential to succeed in this class. But there is no quick and easy way to do well in a
physics course.
You should expect spending 10-12 hours a week outside the classroom on homework, reading, and other problemsolving to pass this class. Please take advantage of the TA’s discussion sections and my office hours for help.
Come to us early if you're getting worried: your grade is determined entirely by your numerical scores, so there's
nothing we can do to change it after the fact – we can only work with you so that you'll do better on the final. Feel
free to ask me to schedule an extra office hour with you if you can't make the posted ones or feel you are in
particular trouble; I may not always be available but I'll do it if I can.
Physics consists of applying basic principles in new and unfamiliar situations. Thus, you will be facing problems
on the exams that might look unfamiliar to you, even if often their solutions are similar to homework problems.
This is the essence of a physics course, and why other departments generally want you to take one. It can be
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unfamiliar when compared to other courses where memorization and drilling simple tasks is enough. Don't get
caught unawares by it, and come to us for help if you find it frustrating.
Inclusive academic environment:
UC Santa Cruz is committed to creating an academic environment that supports its diverse student body. If you
are a student with a disability who requires accommodations to achieve equal access in this course, please submit
your Accommodation Authorization Letter from the Disability Resource Center (DRC) to me through email,
preferably within the first two weeks of the quarter. We can also discuss ways we can ensure your full participation
in the course, please do not hesitate to contact me regarding this matter. We encourage all students who may
benefit from learning more about DRC services to contact DRC by phone at 831-459-2089 or by email at
drc@ucsc.edu.
The UCSC Department of Physics and Department of Astronomy Astrophysics are fully committed to and
supportive of the University of California’ s Diversity Statement. If you witness any improper or disrespectful
treatment of any of our undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty, postdocs, and staff, we encourage you
to report it to one of the following entities:
•
Report Hate: https://reporthate.ucsc.edu
•
Title IX Office, https://titleix.ucsc.edu/
•
Office for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, https://diversity.ucsc.edu/
Academic dishonesty policy:
I expect everyone to approach the class in a spirit of honesty and most of your classmates do. If anyone is caught
cheating, that person will be failed in the course and reported to their college provost, without exception.
So that you know what the rules are, please read this carefully:
(i)
In the midterm and final exams, use of any aid not specifically allowed, any copying from another
student, or any help from another person by any mechanism, will result in a grade of F in the entire
course.
(ii)
You are encouraged to work in groups while discussing how to do the homework, however you must
work without anyone else's work in front of you when writing up your final answers. Violation of this
rule will be considered academic dishonesty.
(iii)
Using someone else's device during class to get attendance or quiz credit for them as well as yourself
will result in an F grade in the course for both parties involved.
All cases of academic dishonesty will be reported to the provost of your college. In addition to the academic
penalties above, your provost may order other penalties such as suspension or expulsion from the university.
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Additional information on MSI:
At Learning Support Services Tutors, Learning Assistants, and staff work with campus partners to support
students and advance educational equity by designing inclusive learning environments in Modified Supplemental
Instruction, Small Group Tutoring, and Writing Support. Modified Supplemental Instruction (MSI) support is
offered for this course. In MSI, you can expect the MSI leader to facilitate cooperative group activities designed
to have students work together on the course content. MSI is offered at least three times each week for the entire
quarter. The MSI leader is an undergraduate student who took the class, did well, and is trained to facilitate group
sessions to focus on you, the students, and what you need to succeed in the course. LSS provides continuous
training for MSI leaders to create inclusive spaces for students and facilitate group work effectively. MSI is for
everyone and open to all students in class to get extra practice on the things you already know or the things you
want to know better. Attendance voluntary; however, students who attend MSI sessions weekly earn a higher
final grade than students who do not participate in MSI.
Want MSI to be successful for you? Bring your books, lecture notes, questions, and be open to working
collaboratively with your peers. You can access the MSI schedule online or check out Learning Support Services’
website for more information on MSI and other programs LSS offers to support student success.
Academic Excellence Program (ACE)
ACE is an academic success and retention program with a mission of increasing the diversity of students earning
undergraduate degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) at UC Santa Cruz, and ACE
has been running at UC Santa Cruz for over thirty years. At ACE, students develop a sense of belongingness and
STEM identity by building relationships with their colleagues, engaging in collaborative, interactive problemsolving sessions led by professional staff, and receiving advice and advocacy through peer mentorship with
student staff members who have been through the program themselves.
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