PHYSICS 61 AUTUMN QUARTER 2009
GENERAL INFORMATION
Professor: Kathryn A. Moler (“Kam”)
kmoler@stanford.edu
GLAM McCullough room 356
Administrative Associate: Sybille Katz
sybkatz@stanford.edu
GLAM McCullough room 331
Sections meet weekly and are required. Please enroll on axess.
TA’s
Ahmed Ismail
Kassahun Betre
Fahad Mahmood
Prashant Saraswat
Textbook
An Introduction to Mechanics, Kleppner and Kolenkow
Note: This is a terrific, classic textbook, much loved by many physicists. The authors are
presently working on a 2nd edition. In the meantime, I have received permission from the authors
to provide this book in course reader format at a greatly reduced cost. I will update the syllabus
when the availability of the course readers at the Stanford bookstore is known.
Supplementary texts
Physics, Resnick, Halliday, and Krane, vol. 1, 4th ed.
Quick Calculus, Kleppner and Ramsey
Assigned Work
Problem sets due Thursdays
1st Midterm 10/8 at 9 am
2nd Midterm 11/5 at 9 am
Final 12/6 at 3:30 pm
Bonus Points
Reading Quizzes
Class Participation
Placement in calculus-based freshman physics tracks:
Both the 40 series and 60 series use calculus, although the 60 series uses it as a higher
level. The 60 series is recommended for students with good high-school preparation in physics
and math. Prior or concurrent enrollment in the math 50 series is required. The official
recommendation on the department website is to take the 60 series if you have a 4 or a 5 on the
AP Physics C exam, but many advisors will tell you that if you got a 4 on the AP exam rather
than a 5, you should think carefully before taking the 60 series.
Most of the students in the 60 series intend to major in physics, math, the more
quantitative branches of engineering, earth sciences, or chemistry. If you are not yet ready to take
the 60 series, don’t worry: the 40 series (plus 70) is a great track and many of its students have
gone on to be excellent quantitative scientists. But if you are ready to take the 60 series,
welcome! I’m excited to be teaching this class again, after seven years teaching more advanced
classes, and I’m looking forward to an awesome quarter.
I’ll be available throughout the first week for consultations about which track is right for
you this year.
-Kam
LECTURE SCHEDULE
9/22 Tuesday
Welcome to Physics 61
Polar Coordinates
Kinematics in Polar Coordinates
9/24 Thursday
Newton’s Laws of Motion
Applications of Force Diagrams
9/29 Tuesday
Central Forces, Including Gravitational and Electrostatic
Contact Forces, Including Tension, Normal, Frictional, and Viscous
10/1 Thursday
Linear Restoring Force (Springs) and Harmonic Motion
Momentum of Particles and Systems
10/6 Tuesday
Momentum Transport: Rockets and Hoses
Preview of Fluids and Gases
10/8 Thursday
1st Midterm: Kinematics, Newton’s Laws, Momentum
10/13 Tuesday
Introduction to Work and Energy
Conservative Forces and Conservation of Energy
10/15 Thursday
Many Things are Springs
Elastic and Inelastic Collisions
10/20 Tuesday
Introduction to Angular Momentum and Torque
Moment of Inertia and Fixed Axis Rotation
10/22 Thursday
Kinetic Energy, Translation Plus Rotation
Angular Momentum is a Vector and Moments of Inertia are Tensors
10/27 Tuesday
Precession and Gyroscopic Motion
Precession, Gyroscopic Motion, and Tippy-Tops
10/29 Thursday
Harmonic Oscillators
Damped Harmonic Oscillators
11/3 Tuesday
Damped Forced Harmonic Oscillators
Small Oscillations and Fourier Series
11/5 Thursday
2nd Midterm: Energy, Angular Momentum, Harmonic Oscillators
11/10 Tuesday
Two-Body Problems with Central Forces
Constants of Central Force Motion
11/12 Thursday
Effective Potentials
Planetary Motion
11/17 Tuesday
Physical Interpretation and Applications of the Gradient Operator
Fun with Vector Derivatives
11/19 Thursday
Special Relativity
11/30 Tuesday
Special Relativity
12/2 Thursday
Special Relativity
12/7-11
Final Exam Week
PHYSICS 61 AUTUMN QUARTER 2009
WORK EXPECTATIONS AND GRADING POLICY
Assignment weights:
30% Problem Sets
10% 1st Midterm Exam
20% 2nd Midterm Exam
40% Final Exam (weight may be reduced by bonus points)
Letter Grades: To foster a collaborative atmosphere, and to allow you to keep track of your
progress, Physics 61 will not be graded on a curve. The following letter-point scale will be used:
95-100 A+
85-95 A
80-85 A-
75-80
65-75
60-65
B+
B
B-
57-60
53-58
50-53
C+
C
C-
40-50
D
0-40
NC
Exams will include both problems to be solved and conceptual questions to be answered.
Problem sets in this class have a certain reputation for being difficult. You are allowed and
encouraged to discuss problems with each other, but work on the problems by yourself first, and
limit your collaborations to discussions that improve your understanding. The problem sets
have been made the single most time-consuming part of this course because they are an
extremely valuable learning tool.
Bonus points, up to 10% of your final grade, may be earned from the reading assignments and
from class participation. The bonus points will be used to reduce the weight of the final exam.
After your final exam score has been normalized to 40, if you have X out of the 10 possible
bonus points, your effective score on your final exam will be (your exam score) * (40-X)/40+X).
To earn up to 5 bonus points from the reading assignments, take the on-line quizzes anytime up
to 8:45 am on the day of the lecture. These quizzes should be easy if you have done the reading.
Note that the Honor Code does not allow take-home closed-book exams, so you may consult
your textbook during the quiz.
To earn up to 5 bonus points from class participation, show up for class. Each lecture will
include several multiple-choice conceptual questions. Make an honest effort to answer the
questions correctly and to explain your reasoning. Whether or not your answer is correct, you
will get credit for participating.
Regrade requests must be submitted in writing within one week after assignment is returned to
you.