SCI 113 PHYSICS – THEORY AND EXPERIMENT
Course web page: http://home.aubg.bg/faculty/ostoytchev/SCI113/SCI113nature.html
Fall semester 2007
Lectures: MW 12:15-13:30, room 004 NAB (New Academic Building)
The course includes 9 two-hour-long laboratory exercises which will be scheduled individually(see below)
Instructor: Orlin Stoytchev, Associate Professor
Office room 309, NAB
Office hours: Monday and Friday, 10:00-12:00
COURSE GOALS AND OUTCOMES
SCI 113 will give you an opportunity to learn what scientific investigation means on the example of a rigorous exact science, such as Physics. It will train you to think in a specific, logical and rigorous way, which can be useful in many areas. It will take you through the process of research, typical for any exact natural (or social, for that matter) science – observation, measurement, modeling of the phenomenon, using mathematics to investigate the consequences of the model, making predictions and comparing them with experiment to test your model. At the end, it is hoped, you will acquire not only a better understanding of our physical world as well as appreciation for the achievements of science and mathematics as part of the intellectual heritage of our civilization, but you will be better prepared to tackle any task involving quantitative arguments.
Performing in small groups a set of rather advanced laboratory exercises, you will get a realistic sense of experimental physics. Additionally you will get a chance to show your creativity in a course experimental project (optional).
COURSE CONTENT
SCI 113 is designed as a one-semester physics course for students who are not majoring in science. Some level of familiarity with classical physics is assumed and the emphasis will be on more advanced topics. Chapters covered will include Newtonian Mechanics, Waves and Wave Optics,
Electricity and Magnetism, Special Relativity , Quantum Physics and Nuclear Physics.
The course carries 4 credit hours and fulfils the AUBG General educational requirements for scientific investigation. Prerequisite: Math SAT score of 570 or higher, or MAT 100.
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE

Week 1, 2 and 3 – Newtonian Mechanics. Galileo and Newton

Week 4, 5 and 6 – Vibrations (Solving Differential Equations) and waves. Wave optics

Week 7 and 8 – Electricity and Magnetism. Midterm exam (Week 8)

Week 9 – Electricity and Magnetism. Maxwell’s Equations.

Week 10 and 11 – Einstein’s Special relativity. Elements of General Relativity.

Week 12 and 13 – Quantum Physics

Week 14 – Nuclear Physics. Presentation of Course projects.

LIST OF LABORATORY EXERCISES
1. The value of the gravitational acceleration g . (Week 3)
2. Natural and induced vibrations. (Week 4)
3. Properties of sound waves. Determining the speed, frequency and spectral composition of a sound
wave. (Week 5)
4. Diffraction of light. Refraction. Using a diffraction grating to observe spectral lines of hydrogen
(Balmer series) and determine their wavelengths. (Week 6)
5. Holography. (Week 7)
6. Determining the charge e of the electron (Millikan’s experiment). (Week 9)
7. Determining the ratio e/m of the electron with a cathode tube. (Week 10)
8. Measuring Planck’s constant h using photoelectric effect. (Week 11)
9. Gamma spectroscopy with a scintillation detector and multichannel analizer. (Week 12)
COURSE FORMAT
There will be two 75-minute lectures each week and, starting from the third week each one of you will have an (almost) weekly two-hour laboratory exercise. Normally I will try to relate the lecture material to the upcoming laboratory exercise. Your active participation in class is highly appreciated.
With every lab assignment you will be given a number of questions, both on the relevant theory and the experiment. You should submit the answers together with the experimental results in a lab report one week from performing each lab.
TEXTS
The principal texts for the course are:
1) Contemporary College Physics (3rd edition),
E. R. Jones, R. L. Childers
McGraw - Hill
2) All handouts distributed by me, including the laboratory manual.
COURSE POLICIES
Academic honesty You will be held strictly to the standards for academic honesty adopted by the AUBG (see the AUBG Catalog and Student Handbook). Academic dishonesty includes cheating on examinations by reading from hidden texts or other students’ papers and discussing the answers with a classmate. Copying literally a homework from a classmate is a show of bad taste and is not appreciated.
Penalties for violations will vary from a simple warning to launching an official “Procedure for cases of alleged violations of academic honesty” (see the Handbook).
Attendance While there is no particular requirement to attend the lectures, missing them may result in missing some quizzes and the credit that they carry towards the final grade. You must attend a laboratory exercise in order to get credit for it
Missed course work and make-ups Normally I offer a make-up midterm exam if there is demand from the students. The grade that counts is the later grade you receive. Missed lab exercises may be taken in additionally arranged session only in well-justified cases (mostly illness) when supported by enough evidence and if there is a possibility to arrange that.
Use of dotLRN We will be using the instructional managing system dotLRN to facilitate communication among ourselves. In particular the homework assignments will be posted on dotLRN and you will have to submit your homework electronically. I will be posting the correct solutions as

well as other materials. To begin with, you will have to sign for the class on dotLRN. Typing mathematical formulas on “Word” takes some practice. Be prepared for a little struggle at first. You will have to use the “Equation editor” built in “Word”. Go to the menu “Tools” and submenus
“Customize” – “Commands” – “Insert”. Choose “Equation editor” in the right pane (an icon showing square root of alpha) and move the icon to your toolbar. Now you can type math formulas by opening the equation editor bi clicking on the icon.
Homework There will be 4 homework assignments. Normally you will have a week to complete a homework You will have to submit your work electronically through dotLRN. A late submission will lead to 30% penalty if it is no more than 48 hours late. After that no submission will be accepted.
Exams There will be a final exam and a midterm during the eighth week of the semester. The problems assigned will be similar to those given for homework and discussed in class.
Quizzes There will be two 15-minute quizzes roughly at the first and third quarters of the semester.
Lab exercises You will carry out the lab assignments in small groups (3 students) under my supervision or that of a student-assistant. After performing the measurements and calculations you must put the results down in a lab report and hand this report. This together with the answers to the questions will be due in a week. You will be handed a laboratory manual. You must perform a lab and hand me the report in order to receive credit for it. I will grade your performance at each lab between 40 and 100 points according to my judgement of how carefully you performed the measurements, wrote the report and answered the questions.
Experimental course project This is optional and will give you a chance to win up to 5% bonus towards the final grade. You may work with the same team with which you are performing the labs or form a team especially for the project (no more than 3 students in a team). You will have to take the initiative, find an appropriate physics demonstration/experiment that is interesting and/or demonstrates some important physical principle, discuss your project with me and, provided it is feasible, seek my help and support in performing it. The defense of the projects at the end of the semester will include description of the theoretical background and experimental setup and an in-class demonstration or other suitable presentation of the results.
Miscellaneous You are strongly encouraged to participate actively in class. You should stop me at any time if you feel that you are missing a point, the pace is too fast or too slow, or I am failing to clarify something properly. You may ask questions at any time.
GRADING
The final grade will be formed out of the following components:
Homework – 7%
Quizzes – 8%
Laboratory exercises – 20%
Midterm exam – 30%
Final exam –35%
Experimental Course Project (optional) – 5% (Notice that this makes a total of 105% !)
The final grade will be calculated according to the table:
93 pt. or more – A, 86 or more – A
-
, 79 or more – B
+
, 72 or more – B, 65 or more – B
-
, 58 or more –
C
+
, 51 or more – C, 44 or more – C
-
, 37 or more – D
+
, 30 or more – D, below 30 – F

OFFICE HOURS
You are encouraged to discuss any questions at any time with me. This means that you are welcome to my office any time the door is open (and it normally is). A designated interval for office hours will be Monday and Friday, 10:00-12:00
(Office hours may be subject to change, which will be reflected on my door and in my home-page.)