General Physics II Syllabus Draft of November 12, 2014 General Physics II
Spring 2015
PHYS-UA 12
Skirball
Dr. Andre Adler
Department of Physics
Office: Meyer Hall, Room 252
Phone: (212)-992-7472
Tuesday, Thursday
9:30 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.
Course Description
This course is an introduction to electricity and magnetism, light, geometrical and wave optics. Many
concepts from General Physics I will be used in this course such as: position, velocity, acceleration,
force, Newton’s laws of motion, work and energy. The course uses high school algebra, geometry and
trigonometry, vectors and vector arithmetic, and some calculus. Calculus will be used in class but
sparingly on exams. The algebra, geometry, and trig are absolutely essential. If some time has elapsed
since your last math course, or you feel a lack of confidence in this area, you are strongly urged to
study math intensively before we get too deeply into the physics course. The course has lecture, online
homework and laboratory portions.
Required Materials
1. Required: An access code for MasteringPhysics - an online homework and tutorial system with
either etext and/or print copy of University Physics, 13th edition, by Young and Freedman. (This is
the same package used for General Physics I, so if you purchased it for General Physics I in Fall 2014,
you do not need to purchase anything else.)
The access code for MasteringPhysics includes an etext version of University Physics, 13th edition, by
Hugh Young and Roger Freedman. If you prefer a print copy, the bookstore does carry the "binderready" version (which also includes an access code for MasteringPhysics.) It comes 3-hole punched,
ready for a looseleaf notebook. It allows you to carry only the chapters you need. This is convenient as
University Physics is one heavy book.
Please note that if you already have a copy of the 13th edition of University Physics, or you purchase a
copy from a third party source, that does not mean you have the access code. You can purchase the
access code by going to www.masteringphysics.com or by going to the NYU Bookstore.
Reading the assigned sections of the text is one of things you should do to learn the material. Doing
the MasteringPhysics homework, the homework problems from book, and the questions posted the
night before each lecture also constitute work designed to increase your understanding of fundamental
concepts. There is more material in each chapter than will be discussed in lecture.
Homework from the textbook will be assigned but it is not to be handed in for grading. The only
homework that will be graded is that on MasteringPhysics. However, I hope you treat the homework
problems from the textbook as required.
2. Required: Laboratory Experiment Descriptions can be found by going to
http://physics.nyu.edu/~physlab/Lab_Main/ and clicking on General Physics I.
3. Optional: E&M TIPERs, E&M TIPERs: Electricity & Magnetism Tasks, 1/E, Hieggelke, Maloney,
-1-
Spring 2015
General Physics II Syllabus Draft of November 12, 2014 O'Kuma & Kanim, ISBN-10: 0131854992 | ISBN-13: 9780131854994
Course Grade
Exam 1
Feb. 20
Exam 2
Mar. 27
Exam 3
May 1
Final Exam
Lab
MasteringPhysics Homework
15%
15%
15%
25%
20%
10%
Your total numerical score, calculated from the components listed above, correspond to the following
letter grades:
If your total percent score is at least:
90 86 82 72 68 64 54 40
then you will receive a grade no lower than: A A- B+ B B- C+ C D
The cutoffs for each letter grade might be lowered but they will not be raised.
Examinations
There will be examinations, three during the semester and one cumulative final examination. The four
exams will be based on the homework, textbook, and lectures. All examinations are multiplie choice
and are written with the assumption you have read the assigned sections of the book, completed the
homework on MasteringPhysics and attended the lectures. Both quantitative and conceptual questions
will appear on the examinations, as this reflects the content of the course.
A formula sheet will be provided with the exam, but you will be able to see the formula sheet online on
NYU classes before the exam. You will need to bring a calculator to all exams. Sharing calculators
with other students during examinations is not allowed. You may not use a cell-phone, or any other
communication device, during the exams. Examination dates are displayed in the weekly schedule of
topics, which is on the last page of this syllabus.
Missed Examination
There will be no make-up exams offered this semester. If you miss an examination it will count as a
zero.
However, if you are absent from an examination due to a medical reason, and you can provide
documentation from a health care professional, indicating the dates to which it applies, and indicating
you were too ill to attend the examination, then
your other examination scores will count for more to compensate for the missed examination
and,
2. if you so choose, you may take the missed exam the next time the class runs; your score will be
used to determine a new letter grade for you.
1.
If you miss the final exam and you provide acceptable documentation, your grade will be an
incomplete (I).
General Physics II Syllabus Draft of November 12, 2014 If you miss an exam due to medical reasons, do not send the documentation to me via email. You must
present it to me in person.
Laboratory Sessions
You will attend laboratory weekly; laboratory sessions will be held in Rooms 222/223 of Meyer Hall.
The schedule of labs is on the last page. The laboratory grade will be based on an average over all
labs, but the lowest lab grade will be dropped before the average is calculated. Any lab missed without
a doctor’s note or prior arrangement with the instructor counts as a zero. There are no make up
sessions for missed laboratories. You may not attend a laboratory that you are not registered for.
It is important to bring a calculator and your laboratory experiment description to the laboratory
sessions. Your laboratory instructor will provide more information regarding the policy for handing in
lab reports.
MasteringPhysics Homework: Online
Homework will be assigned weekly using MasteringPhysics, an online tutorial and homework system.
You will access them on www.masteringphysics.com. The MasteringPhysics course ID for the Spring
2014 semester of General Physics II is GP2SP14. You will not be able to access homework without
this course ID.
Important: When you register for MasteringPhysics,
1. enter your NYU ID (the “N” number) when you are prompted to enter a Student ID and
2. enter your NYU email address.
Failure to do these two steps will result in your homework not counting towards your grade.
Acquaint yourself with the grading policy and due date for each assignment. A penalty for late
assignments may be enforced. Should you require an extension please see me in my office.
There are different types problems you will encounter in MasteringPhysics: not all are found in the
textbook. Some questions will be conceptual, others quantitative, some will be multiple choice and
some not; some will require a numerical answer while others will require a symbolic answer, one
expressed using variables, including subscripts. You must first learn how to use the system properly.
To aid you in this, your first assignment is called “Introduction to MasteringPhysics.” While it will not
contribute to your grade, it is strongly recommended that you complete this assignment. Doing so may
prevent you from losing credit on homework assignments. This assignment will introduce you to the
wide variety of questions you will encounter, such as “sorting questions,” “ranking questions,” and
“graphing questions.” The system also provides hints for many individual problems. You should
familiarize yourself with the grading policy as it pertains to homework, including hints.
A list of the top questions from students can be found by going to the following web page:
http://www.pearsonmylabandmastering.com/northamerica/masteringphysics/students/support/topquestions/index.html
In particular, you should view the following two videos on registration and grading.
http://www.masteringsupport.com/videos/registration_tips/registration_tips.html
http://www.masteringsupport.com/videos/understand_grading/understand_grading.html
-3-
Spring 2015
General Physics II Syllabus Draft of November 12, 2014 You must check that your computer is set up properly to use MasteringPhysics. You will find the
following web page useful in assisting you with this task:
http://www.pearsonmylabandmastering.com/northamerica/masteringphysics/students/support/systemrequirements/index.html
Optional Help
There are two sources of assistance you can look utilize to help you learn the material in General
Physics II.
1. Tutoring sessions staffed by undergraduate students majoring in Physics. These sessions run
Monday through Friday, at many different times during the day. They will be able to help you with the
course concepts and the homework problems assigned out of the textbook. This is a great place to go
for help. You can go to as many sessions as you wish. Ideally, you should go on a weekly basis.
2. Free peer tutoring, Study Slams, group reviews, workshops, and more!!
University Learning Center
www.nyu.edu/ulc
ULC@Academic Resource Center, 18 Washington Place, Lower Level
ULC@UHall, 110 East 14th Street, top of stairs by UHall Commons
Achieve Excellence!
General Physics II Syllabus Draft of November 12, 2014 Date
Lecture Topic
Ch.
Laboratory
T Jan 27
Electric Charge and Electric Field
21
No Lab
R Jan 29
Electric Charge and Electric Field
21
T Feb 3
Electric Potential
23
R Feb 5
Electric Potential
23
T Feb 10
Capacitance and Dielectrics
24
R Feb 12
Capacitance and Dielectrics
24
T Feb 17
Current, Resistance, and Electromotive Force
25
R Feb 19
Current, Resistance, and Electromotive Force
25
T Feb 24
Direct-Current Circuits
26
R Feb 26
Direct-Current Circuits
26
T Mar 3
Direct-Current Circuits
26
R Mar 5
Magnetic Field and Magnetic Forces
27
T Mar 10
Magnetic Field and Magnetic Forces
27
R Mar 12
Sources of Magnetic Field
28
T Mar 24
Sources of Magnetic Field
28
R Mar 26
Sources of Magnetic Field
28
T Mar 31
Electromagnetic Induction
29
R Apr 2
Electromagnetic Induction
29
T Apr 7
Electromagnetic Waves
32
R Apr 9
The Nature and Propagation of Light
33
T Apr 14
The Nature and Propagation of Light
33
R Aug 16
Geometric Optics
34
T Apr 21
Geometric Optics
34
R Apr 23
Geometric Optics
34
T Apr 28
Interference
35
R Apr 30
Interference
35
T May 5
Diffraction
36
R May 7
Diffraction
36
-5-
E Field Mapping
Oscilloscope
No Lab
Voltage, Current and Resistance I
Voltage, Current and Resistance II
RC Circuit
Current Balance
Measurement of e/m
EM Induction
Snell’s Law
The Human Eye
Interference
Spring 2015