Physics 201: General Physics II
Lecture: Christine Broadbridge, Ph. D.
Office: Jennings Hall; Rm. 108
Office phone: 392-6461
E-mail: broadbridge@southernct.edu
Office Hours: Weekly office hours will be established during the first week of classes. You can also make an
appointment to meet if you prefer. For arranging appointments, e-mail is much preferred to voicemail
messages. Please do ask questions during class, but feel free to let me know whenever you need additional
help outside of class.
Course Description: Methods of physics applied to electricity, magnetism, circuits, waves, optics and the
atomic and nuclear structure of matter. This course is a continuation of General Physics I (Phy 200)
Course Objectives:
1. To build a scientific intuition and a conceptual understanding of General Physics concepts
2. To apply problem solving skills to physics problems.
3. To apply physics concepts in the understanding of everyday applications.
Required text and materials: College Physics, 6th edition, by Serway and Faughn. Student study guide and
laboratory manual are optional. Additionally you will need a scientific calculator, rule and protractor.
Assignments: These will consist of readings from the texts as well as selected problems appearing at the end
of each chapter of College Physics. Additional readings and/or problems maybe assigned from other texts.
You will not be required to submit your solutions to all problems for grading, but almost all students find such
practice essential to mastery of the material. Most of the problems on the tests will be extremely similar to the
assigned problems. The lectures will include points not covered in the text; just doing the assignments will not
provide complete preparation for every examination question if you have not studied the material presented in
the lectures.
Grading: Final grades for the course will be based on one in-class mid-course exam, weekly quizzes,
laboratory participation and a cumulative final exam. Determination of the final grade will be based on the
following point system:
Weekly Quizzes
Mid-course exam
Laboratory
Final
Extra Credit
50 pts
50 pts
75 pts
75 pts
25 pts maximum
Unexcused absence from any laboratory, test, or the final exam will result in a zero.
Extra credit will be given to students who are present when attendance is taken , which will happen a few
times during the semester. Days when attendance will be taken will not be announced in advance, so to insure
you receive these extra points, you should attend every class. Several times during the semester, you will also
have the opportunity to submit a written solution to a specific assigned Exercise or Problem for extra credit.
Classes in which solutions will be collected will be announced in advance, but which specific exercise is
eligible to be submitted will be announced just prior to being collected. So, to be sure you have the solution
to the exercise that is eligible for extra credit submission, you will have to write out solutions to all the
exercises assigned for that class. Each complete, logical, and clearly written solution will earn one extra point
towards your final grade. A flawed but reasonable attempt will receive 1/2 point.
Unexcused absence from any test or the final exam will result in a zero.
Cheating of any form, including false excuses for missing tests, is inexcusable dishonesty, so the penalties
will be as severe as possible. Group effort on exercise solutions is permitted, but a single paper should be
submitted with the names of everyone in the group, and the extra points will be divided among the group
members.
Tentative Course Schedule
Tues, July
Mon, July
Mon, July
Mon, July
Mon, Aug
06
07
08
12
13
14
15
19
20
21
22
26
27
28
29
2
3
4
5
Lab:
Electrostatics
Lecture: Coulomb’s Law, Electrostatics and Electric Fields
Lab:
Mapping Electric Field Lines
Lecture: Potential and Direct Current Circuits
Lab:
Electrical Resistance & Ohm’s Law
Lecture: Capacitors and RC circuits
Lab:
Voltmeters & Ammeters
Lecture: Magnetic Field and Forces
Lab:
Tangent Galvanometer and Review
Lecture: Exam I
Lab:
Kirchoff’s Rules
Lecture: Inductance, capacitance and AC circuits
Lab:
RLC AC Circuits
Lecture: Waves – Sound, E&M and Interference
Lab:
Reflection & Refraction
Lecture: Geometric Optics
Lab:
Lenses
Lecture: Modern Physics and Review
Lab:
Final Exam