I n t r o d u c t i i o n t o
P h y s i i c s I
Department of Physics
University of Toronto
PHY131-H1S
Jason Harlow
[no email version]
Welcome! The topics of this first university physics course include motion, force, rotation, momentum, energy, gravity, friction and drag, oscillations, fluids and elasticity. Along the way we will be using motion diagrams, vectors, free-body-diagrams, error analysis and problem solving techniques to deepen our understanding of physics, science and the universe.
says: “I am an astronomer, working in the Physics
Department since 2004 as a Lecturer. I enjoy working with students and hope to choose and develop courseware and materials that enhance the student experience. I dressed up like Mr. Spock for Halloween 2008.”
Phone: ( 416) 946-4071
Email: available on department web site
Web Page: http://www.physics.utoronto.ca/~jharlow/
Office: MP129A (in the “Physics Teaching Group” office of the 1st floor of the North Wing of
McLennan Labs, 60 St. George St.)
Office Hours: Mondays 2-3 p.m., Fridays 9-10 a.m. In addition to these hours, you have are invited to call or email for an appointment, or just drop by my office.
MSN Virtual Office Hour: Fridays 10-11:00 PM
Graduate Student Practical Instructors:
Heather Andres, Travis Bain, Johann Bayer, Wei Cui and Alireza Mashayekhi.
Course Administrator: April Seeley
Office: MP129, Phone 416-946-0531, Email: available on department web site
PHY131/132 Course Coordinator: Pierre Savaria
Office: MP129-E, Phone 416-978-4135, Email: available on department web site
Practicals Technologists:
Larry Avramidis, Lilian Leung, Phil Scolieri, Rob Smidrovskis, Office: MP127.
The practicals documents as well as your marks are available (or will be) at http://portal.utoronto.ca .
Copies of the course documents can also be found at http://www.physics.utoronto.ca/~jharlow/teaching/phy131s09

The language of science is math. The homework, practical activities, tests and exam in this course will require you to perform some mathematical calculations to better understand physical situations. The pre-requisite for this course is the high school course: “Calculus and Vectors” (MCV4U) or “Functions and Calculus” (MCB4U), or equivalent. The co-requisite for this course is MAT135, MAT137 or
MAT157.
What you need to obtain for this course:
•
Required Text: “Physics for Scientists and Engineers” 2nd Edition (©2008) by Randall
Knight.
This course will cover Chapters 1-15, all of which are contained in Volume 1 of the multiple-volume set. (U of T Bookstore charges $142 for this book new, or $70 for Volume 1 only, which only covers PHY131, not PHY132. All new book purchases come with a
MasteringPhysics account which lasts 1 year.)
•
PHY131H1S Spring 2009 Practicals Manual , 105 pages, available shrink-wrapped for $10 in the U of T Bookstore. Also available for download or preview from the course web-site.
•
An account on www.masteringphysics.com
, which comes with the purchase of the new text. If you have a used text, you can purchase an account separately at the U of T Bookstore for $36.
Weekly online homeworks will be assigned using this web-site.
•
An iclicker personal response system (looks like a white remote control), which is available at the U of T bookstore. (New $42 or used $32) You can register your clicker to your at www.iclicker.com using your student number. In-class quizzes and surveys will be given during classes using this device.
•
A calculator . This need not be a graphing calculator but it should have SIN, COS, TAN on it as well as EE or EXP. You should be able to find one for less than $15. A calculator will be an allowed aid during the test and exam.
Final Exam 40%
Mid-Term Test on Feb. 24 evening 30%
Work submitted during Practicals, including the written homework 20%
Online www.masteringphysics.com homework 6%
Online www.masteringphysics.com pre-class quizzes 2%
In-class clicker questions 2%
Clickers: Every student should have their own i>clicker, available from the campus bookstore. Please bring the clickers to every MW 11:00 class, for use in-class votes and discussions questions. There are two purposes of clickers: (1) to involve students in the class, survey the class, figure out what the majority of the class knows, and promote discussion, and (2) to monitor student attendance for the 2% lecture participation mark. Full lecture participation points are awarded for clicking any answer (right or wrong) for half or more of the quizzes per lecture for at least 22 out of 26 classes. Any student can miss or fail to participate in up to four classes without penalty. If more than four classes must be missed please let me know the reason why ahead of time and I will reduce your total minimum accordingly. If you Final Exam percentage mark is higher than your total In-class clicker mark, your final exam mark will replace your In-class clicker mark. This would effectively make the final exam worth 42% of your course mark, and clickers worth 0%.
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Classes are from 11:10 AM to 12:00 noon in MP102. Below is an approximate schedule and list of reading assignments, subject to change.
Class Date
1
2
3
4
5
6
Mon,
Jan 5
Wed,
Jan 7
Mon,
Jan 12
Wed,
Jan 14
Mon,
Jan 19
Wed,
Jan 21
Topics
•
Introduction to PHY131: The structure of the course
•
Motion diagrams
•
Position, velocity, and acceleration
•
Problem solving
•
Scaling
•
Units
•
Error Analysis
•
Significant figures
•
Constant Velocity Motion
•
Constant Acceleration Motion
•
Freefall, Motion on an inclined plane
•
Scalars and vectors
•
Coordinate systems, Components
•
Vector Algebra
•
Kinematics in Two Dimensions
•
Projectile Motion
•
Relative Motion
Homework
Required
Reading, to do before class
MasteringPhysics.com Introduction to
MasteringPhysics, recommended by
Wednesday Jan 7
Ch. 1, sections 1.1 to
1.3
MasteringPhysics.com Problem Set 1 –
Chapter 1 due Friday Jan 9
Ch. 1, sections 1.4 to
1.8
MasteringPhysics.com Pre-Class Quiz
1 – Error Analysis due Monday by
10:00a.m.
MasteringPhysics.com Problem Set 2 –
Chapter 2 due Friday Jan 16
Ch. 2
MasteringPhysics.com Pre-Class Quiz
2 – Chapter 3, 4 due Monday by
10:00a.m.
Error Analysis Assignment is due in
Practicals this week
Error Analysis
Assignment Online tutorial
Ch. 3
Ch. 4, sections 4.1 to
4.4
7
Mon,
Jan 26
•
Circular Motion
MasteringPhysics.com Pre-Class Quiz
3 – Chapter 4, 5 due Monday by
10:00a.m.
Ch. 4, sections 4.5 to
4.7
8
9
10
11
12
Wed,
Jan 28
Mon,
Feb 2
Wed,
Feb 4
Mon,
Feb 9
Wed,
Feb 11
•
Forces, Free Body Diagrams
•
Newton’s Second Law
•
Newton’s First Law
•
Equilibrium
•
Mass, Weight, Gravity
•
Friction, Drag
•
Rolling without slipping
•
Examples of Newton’s Second Law
•
Action / Reaction Pairs
•
Newton’s Third Law
•
Ropes and Pulleys
•
Dynamics in Two Dimensions
•
Dynamics of Uniform Circular
Motion
•
Fictitious Forces
Written Team Homework #1 is due in
Practicals this week. Chapters 3, 4, 5
Ch. 5
MasteringPhysics.com Pre-Class Quiz
4 – Chapter 6 due Monday by
10:00a.m.
Ch. 6, sections 6.1 to
6.3
MasteringPhysics.com Problem Set 3 –
Chapter 6 due Friday Feb 6
Ch. 6, sections 6.4 to
6.6
MasteringPhysics.com Pre-Class Quiz
5 – Chapter 7, 8 due Monday by
10:00a.m.
Ch. 7
MasteringPhysics.com Problem Set 4 –
Chapter 7, 8 due Friday Feb 13
Ch. 8
3

13
Mon,
Feb 23
Review
None no new reading
Test
Tue,
Feb 24,
6:00
PM -
7:30
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
Readings, class notes and practicals materials from Jan 5-Feb 23 no new reading
Wed,
Feb 25
Mon,
Mar 2
•
Momentum and Impulse
•
Conservation of Momentum
•
Collisions, Explosions
•
Conservation of Energy
•
Kinetic Energy
•
Gravitational Potential Energy
•
Hooke’s Law
•
Elastic Potential Energy
MasteringPhysics.com Problem Set 5 –
Chapter 9 due Friday Feb 27
Ch. 9
MasteringPhysics.com Pre-Class Quiz
6 – Chapter 10 due Monday by
10:00a.m.
Ch. 10, sections 10.1 to 10.5
Wed,
Mar 4
•
Energy in Collisions
•
Work
MasteringPhysics.com Problem Set 6 –
Chapter 10 due Friday Mar 6
Sections 10.6, 10.7
Ch. 11, sections 11.1 to 11.3
Mon,
Mar 9
Wed,
Mar 11
Mon,
Mar 16
Wed,
Mar 18
Mon,
Mar 23
Wed,
Mar 25
•
Conservation of Energy, Power
•
Kinetic Energy
•
Gravitational Potential Energy
•
Rotational Motion, Rotational Energy
•
Centre of Mass
•
Moment of Inertia
•
Torque, Rotational Dynamics
•
Static Equilibrium
•
Rolling without slipping
•
Rigid Body motion
•
Newton’s Law of Gravity
•
Acceleration due to gravity
•
Satellites
•
Oscillations; Repeating Motion
•
Simple Harmonic Motion
•
Oscillations / Circular Motion
Connection
•
Potential and Kinetic Energy in
Oscillations
•
Hooke’s Law and Oscillation of
Springs
•
Hanging Springs
•
The Pendulum
•
Damped Oscillations; Shock
Absorbers
•
Driven Oscillations; Resonance
MasteringPhysics.com Pre-Class Quiz
7 – Chapter 11 due Monday by
10:00a.m.
Ch. 11, sections 11.4 to 11.9
MasteringPhysics.com Problem Set 7 –
Chapter 11 due Friday Mar 13
Ch. 12, sections 12.1 to 12.4
MasteringPhysics.com Pre-Class Quiz
8 – Chapter 12, 13 due Monday by
10:00a.m.
Ch. 12, sections 12.5 to 12.11
Written Team Homework #2 is due in
Practicals this week. Chapters 12, 13
Ch. 13
MasteringPhysics.com Pre-Class Quiz
9 – Chapter 14 due Monday by
10:00a.m.
Ch. 14, sections 14.1 to 14.3
MasteringPhysics.com Problem Set 8 –
Chapter 14 due Friday Mar 27
Ch. 14, sections 14.4 to 14.8
23
24
Mon,
Mar 30
Wed,
Apr 1
•
Fluids
•
Pressure
•
Buoyancy
•
Introduction to Fluid Dynamics
•
Elasticity
MasteringPhysics.com Pre-Class Quiz
10 – Chapter 15 due Monday by
10:00a.m.
Ch. 15, sections 15.1 to 15.3
MasteringPhysics.com Problem Set 9 –
Chapter 15 due Friday Apr 3
Ch. 15, sections 15.4 to 15.6
4

25
Mon,
Apr 6
•
Chaos (special topic)
None no new reading
26
Wed,
Apr 8
Review None no new reading
Exam
TBA
Apr. 20
– May 8
The 2 hour final exam will cover the entire course, including all of the assigned reading plus practicals materials and what was discussed in class
All of the above
Students will meet once per week on Thursdays or Fridays for two hours in groups of about 36, which are further split into teams of 3 or 4. Times include Thu. 2:00, Fri 10:00 and 2:00.
Each group will be led by two Practical Instructors, who are graduate student teaching assistants. The goal of practicals is to do some hands-on activities, laboratory experiments and working in teams of 3 or
4, and to discuss material from the class in a less formal environment.
Not every Activity from each Module will be performed!! Your Practicals Instructors will assign you a selection of Activities which will be performed each session.
Practical Schedule (subject to change!)
Practical Dates
Jan 8, 9 NO PRACTICALS THIS WEEK
1
2
3
4
Jan 15, 16
Jan 22, 23
Introduction
Mechanics Module 1
Error Analysis Assignment due
Scientific Method Module
Mechanics Module 1 continued
Mechanics Module 2
Jan 29, 30
Feb 5, 6
Written Homework #1 due
Mechanics Modules 2 continued
Mechanics Module 3
Feb 12, 13 NO PRACTICALS THIS WEEK – Extra office hours for test prep.
5
6
7
8
9
10
Feb 26, 27
Scrambling teams
Teamwork module
Numerical Approximation Module
Mar 5, 6 Mechanics Module 4
Mar 12, 13 Mechanics Module 5
Mar 19, 20
Written Homework #2 due
Mechanics Module 6
Mar 26, 27 Oscillations Module
Apr 2, 3 Fluids Module
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The Error Analysis Assignment (found at http://www.upscale.utoronto.ca/PVB/Harrison/ErrorAnalysis/index.html ) is a series of online tutorials which must be viewed with a computer. PHY131 students should please write the answers on a paper print-out of the 3-page “Answer Sheet”, which is linked as a PDF on the first page of the assignment.
The answers, done by individual students, are due in the 2nd practicals session.
Responding to Emails: I will endeavour to respond to email inquiries from students within 2 days. If you do not receive a reply within this period, please resubmit your question(s) and/or phone (leave a message if necessary). Please use the utoronto.ca account for all email – the hotmail account is only for instant messaging, and I will only respond if I am online at that instant.
ASSESSMENT
An 80-minute test will be held on Feb 24 from 18h10 to 19h30. Detailed instructions, including room locations, will be posted on the course web-site about five days before. Both the tests and exam will involve a combination of multiple choice and written questions, which test your understanding of course material and ability to think and apply what you have learned to simple problems. A pocket calculator with no communication ability and a 8.5"×11" double-sided piece of paper with your own hand-written notes will be permitted during the test and exam.
You are expected to take notice of the date and time of the mid-term test (18h-19h30 on February 24) when you enroll in other courses and choose practical sections. It is the responsibility of students to arrange their course schedule accordingly.
An alternate sitting will be scheduled just before the main sitting of the mid-term and will be reserved exclusively for students who can demonstrate an unavoidable conflict with another academic activity at UofT. Once an announcement has been made in class and on the course web-site that registration for the alternate sitting has begun, such students must register with the Course Coordinator's office in MP129 in person, before the registration deadline. By registering, a student makes a commitment to write at the alternate sitting, and not at the main sitting, unless they cancel their registration no later than Feb.
22 (this can be done by email). In the event that you miss the test for medical reasons, you should obtain a doctor's certificate on the official Student Medical Certificate. Please submit your documentation without delay to the Course Coordinator office in MP129.
If you have concerns about your test mark, please bring them to the attention of the Course Coordinator without delay as they will not be considered later than 7 days after the test is handed back.
A 2-hour final examination, administered by the Faculty of Arts & Science, will be held during the April-May examination period at at a time specified by the Faculty and announced by late October. Detailed instructions will be posted on our course website about ten days before the exam. If you miss the exam, or if you have concerns about its marking, you must contact the Faculty of A&S and follow their procedures.
At a test or exam, you will not be allowed to carry on you any phone, pager, personal digital assistant, iPod, iPhone,
Blackberry, or any communication device whatsoever. These must be switched off completely and left in your bag. Please refer to rule 7 in the Rules and Regulations section of the Arts and Science Calendar.
At the end of a test or exam, please stop writing immediately when asked to do so by the invigilators, and remain seated until all papers have been collected. Filling circles on your answer sheet is no longer allowed from that moment.
The exchange of ideas between students is a vital part of the university experience. Many students like to discuss assigned problems with their colleagues, and there is nothing wrong with that. But discussion is one thing, and plagiarism another.
Unsupervised work (homework)
•
Perhaps the best way to avoid plagiarism is, after having discussed how to solve a problem with someone else, to write your own version of the solution without looking at the other person's solution. Thus, although each arrives at the same answer, each has a different way of presenting the solution.
•
It is not so rare for students who collaborate to cross the borderline into plagiarism in good faith, without even noticing. If you suspect this is happening to you, please seek the advice of your tutor, lecturer, or the course coordinator. All of us will be happy to help you keep out of unwitting mischief.
Supervised work (test/exam)
•
It is strongly advised not to engage in any behaviour that might be construed by the invigilators for the test/exam as an attempt to obtain information from another candidate or test/exam paper. Invigilators are authorised to assign candidates whose behaviour they deem suspicious to another seat where they may finish writing the test/exam. The matter will then be referred for further investigation either to the Course Coordinator (for the test), or to the Faculty
(for an exam), as set out in the Code of Behaviour on Academic Matters. To put it more succinctly, candidates may look up for inspiration, down in discouragement, but emphatically not sideways for information.
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