PHYS101 Introduction to Physics
Fall 2014
th
Text: Hewitt, Conceptual Physics, 12 edition
Boise State's Foundational Studies Program provides undergraduates with a broad-based
education that spans the entire university experience. Phys 101: Introduction to Physics
satisfies four credits of the Foundational Studies Program's Disciplinary Lens requirement. It
supports the following University Learning Outcome, along with a variety of other coursespecific goals:
8. Apply knowledge and the methods characteristic of scientific inquiry to think critically about and
solve theoretical and practical problems about physical structures and processes.
Phys 101: Introduction to Physics is designed to develop an understanding of the nature
of basic physics principles.
This course helps to achieve the goals of the Foundational Studies Program by focusing
on the following course learning outcomes. After successful completion of this course,
you will be able to:
 Understand and apply basic principles to motion, energy, electricity, magnetism, light, atoms,
fission and fusion.
 Apply laboratory procedures to formulate and assess physical problems.
 Use a historical framework to understand the physical and technological processes
surrounding us and how these ideas might relate to social responsibility
 Critically assess physical concepts and their relation to real world applications.
Instructor: Tiffany Watkins Voice: 559-3649 Office : MP312
Office Hours: Tu, Th and F: 7:30am- 8:45am AND Wed, Th 10:30am –1:00 OR by appointment.
PLEASE ASK…I am here to help you succeed.
Email: tiffanywatkins@boisestate.edu
Please make sure you can access Blackboard (blackboard.boisestate.edu). I will post
announcements, power points, and grades on this site. Also, please make sure you check your
Bronco email account, or have it forward to your most used email. You are responsible for knowing
about any announcements I send out.
PLEASE check the Blackboard grade book periodically and make sure your grades are
correct. It is your responsibility to keep track of your class standing. There is no possibility to makeup
work at the end of the semester (dead and finals week) because you are suddenly aware of a low
class percentage. Do not wait until finals week to determine that you are not passing the course,
because it is too late. If you notice you have a missing score during finals week, it is too late!
Deviations from the following course plan will undoubtedly occur over the semester. In particular, we
may substitute for some of the labs and may take longer to cover certain topics than estimated. We
will also omit certain sections of a chapter so it is important to come to class. Check blackboard for
updates to this schedule.
Wk

Tuesday
Thursday
1
8/26 Introduction; C2: Inertia
8/28 C2 cont.
2
9/2 C3: Linear motion
9/4 C3 continued, Review
3
9/9 C4 Newton's 2nd Law
9/11 Test 1 (C1-4)
4
9/16
5
C5: Newton's 3rd law
Lab
NO LAB
Linear
Motion
Free Fall
9/18 C5 cont.
Force Table
9/23 C9: Gravity
9/25 C9 cont., C36 Relativity
Unbalanced
Forces
6
9/30 C36 cont., Review
10/2 Test 2 (C5, 9, 36)
Gravity
7
10/7 C19: Vibrations and Waves
10/9 C20: Sound
Waves
8
10/14 C20 Continued
10/16 C29: Light Waves
Sound
9
10/21 C29 Cont., C30 Light
Emission
10/23 C30 cont., Review
Resonance
10
10/28 Test 3 (C19, 20, 29, 30)
10/30 C22: Electrostatics
Spectra
11
11/4 C24: Magnetism
11/6 C24 cont., C25: EM Induction
Electrostatics
12
11/11 C25 cont., Review
11/13 Test 4 (C22, 24, 25)
Magnetism
13
11/18 C11: Nature of Matter
11/20 C11 cont.
HOLIDAY
HOLIDAY
NO LAB
14
12/2 C32: The Atom and the Quanta
12/4 C33: Nucleus & Radioactivity
Density
15
12/9 C34: Fission/Fusion
12/11 Review
16
5/16 Final Exam 9:30 – 11:30
No Class
Grading is based on
●


Simple
Motor
Radioactivity
NO LAB
Activity Points scaled to 100 points
13 out of 14 Labs at 20 points each for 260 points
14 out of 15 Homework Assignments (Plus 10 pt. Intro
assignment) at 20 pts each for 290 pts
 Khan Academy Assignment for 100 points
 4 multiple-choice Exams at 100 points each for 400 points
 Final Exam at 200 points
 Extra Credit up to 50 points max
Total possible = 1250 points. The standard +/- grading scale will be utilized.
Activity Points: There will be some homework exercises, quizzes, or in-class activities where
students are asked to perform some calculation, write your interpretation of an image, predict the
outcome of an experiment, or answer a question about the assigned reading, etc. Most of this
material is graded pass/fail (if you made an honest attempt at it you get full credit). Most activities will
require you to work with another student in the course. Full credit will not be given to those that
refuse to work with others. At the end of the semester, the total activity points are re-scaled to
100 points maximum. So if there were 150 activity points, and you received 120 of them, your
activity points score is: 120/150 = 80%= 80 points
Lab guidelines are located in your lab manual and will be discussed in greater detail by your lab
instructor. One take-home lab (Pressure) is available in your manual to ensure that the required 13
can be completed and needs to be turned into your lab instructor no later than your last lab meeting
(during dead week). If you know that you cannot attend your regular lab there is a possibility that you
could attend another section for the week. Please check Broncoweb for other lab times, and contact
the listed instructor. If you attend all of the labs the lowest score will go towards extra credit. It is
your responsibility to keep track of your labs. If you notice a score missing from Blackboard
contact your lab instructor and make sure you have proof of your attendance.
Homework is assigned through Mastering Physics (www.masteringphysics.com). Please check in
your textbook for an access code, or purchase on their website. The course ID is:
MPWATKINS79928. Please check their website for due dates on assignments. Homework
grades will not be transferred to Blackboard. If you complete all of the homework assignments the
lowest score will go towards extra credit.
The Khan Academy Assignment details will be handed out in class and also posted on Blackboard.
The course ID is 5Y5HCQ. If you need help at any time, please contact me. There is also a great
Math Tutoring Center that can help. There is also the possibility of a physics tutor. Details to
follow…This assignment is due October 7th, but can be turned in any time before this date.
Exams are multiple-choice. You may use a calculator. It cannot be on a mobile device. You may
also prepare your own 3” x 5” note card of notes (both sides) to be turned in with the test. It should
be generated by yourself. For the final comprehensive exam you will be given a larger notecard (5” x
8”) to use. You can get notecards from me, in lab, or outside the physics office (MP420). Exams are
in-class on a scantron. Please bring a pencil. No make-up exams or labs are offered without prior
approval. Arrangements can be made if you require, or would be more comfortable, using a paper
bilingual dictionary.
THE LOWEST GRADE FROM YOUR EXAM SCORES OR ACTIVITY POINTS IS DROPPED
Extra Credit can be obtained in a variety of ways. Ultimately, I want you to learn something in the
large realm of physics. Make it something you really want to know about! Some possible sources
of extra credit are listed on Blackboard. Also, completion of all homework’s and/or labs can
potentially be worth 40 extra credit points (your lowest score from each will be applied to extra credit).
Extra credit is due no later than December 4th, 2014.
Blackboard is merely a place for keeping track of your scores. You should not use the
total points column for calculating your grade since items are dropped and/or rescaled.
Please ask if you are having troubles figuring your grade out.
ALL RETURNED PAPERWORK (in-class activities, tests, etc.) will be placed in a folder outside the
MAIN Physics Office located in the 4th floor hallway of the MP Building. Please only take the material
in your folder- not the entire folder.
It is your responsibility to hold onto all assignments and labs at least until you
see your grade posted on Blackboard. It is your proof of completion.
How to study for this course: Stay up-to-date on reading assignments. It may be helpful to read
things twice: once to get a flavor for the topic, and a second time to concentrate on detail. After
lecture, use your class notes, the text, and the results of related lab exercises to review the material.
Write down any questions you have so you can ask them in the next class or during office hours.
Form a study group with other students. Before an exam, look over past exams and homework’s to
get a sense for the types of things asked. These are especially good indicators of the difficulty of
typical questions and the material deemed important in the past.
Phys 101 – Introduction to Physics: All instructors are committed to working with the
university's Disability Resource Center (DRC) to meet the needs of students with documented
disabilities. Students that feel they may need accommodations will be met with privately, and
steered to the DRC for further coordination. Approved accommodations may include (but are
not limited to): checking pdf reading assignments for readability by a screen reader, videos
chosen for use in the course will be those that have been close-captioned by the content
producer to provide access to students with hearing impairment, graphics in PowerPoint
presentations used in class lectures will be verbally described to students on an as-needed
basis, providing textual descriptions accessible by screen readers to images used on the
course web site, extra time on tests and oral examinations, or other accommodations.
*Student Code of Conduct – To view the Boise State University Student Code of Conduct go
to: http://www.boisestate.edu/osrr/. Definitions of cheating, plagiarism, and other forms of academic
dishonesty as well as policies and procedures for handling such cases are included.