PHYSICS 211 – PHYSICS FOR
SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS II
Syllabus - Spring 2013
“Science is not ‘organized common sense’; at
its most exciting, it reformulates our view of the
world by imposing powerful theories against the
ancient, anthropocentric prejudices that we call
intuition.”
Stephen Jay Gould, in Ever Since Darwin.
Instructor: Luiz Manzoni
M/W/F: 1:20 pm – 2:30 pm
Office: Ivers 134D
T: 1:20 – 3:40
E-mail: manzoni@cord.edu
IVERS 166
Phone: 299 3395
Office hours: M 2:30 pm – 4:30 pm
Th 1:30 pm – 3:30 pm (and by appointment).
REQUIRED MATERIALS
o  Textbook: Physics for Scientists and Engineers: A Strategic Approach, by
R. Knight (3rd ed., Pearson, 2013).
o  Student Workbook
o  Access card for MasteringPhysics
o  You will need a scientific calculator. Models allowed:
Texas Instruments TI-30Xa
Texas Instruments TI-30X IIs
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In this course we will study waves, optics, and electromagnetic
phenomena. These topics are extremely relevant in our daily life.
o  Waves are omnipresent in our life, since sound and light are waves.
o  The study of optics allow us to understand, among other things, how telescopes,
microscopes and our eyes work.
o  Electromagnetic theory is the most successful physical theory (considering its
quantum mechanical version), but its beauty and usefulness transcends physics: it has
applications in several other branches of science such as biology, chemistry,
geophysics and a huge variety of technological applications.
We will start by considering waves and then follow with the study of optics.
Then we will move to electrostatics, where we will study electric charges and the
corresponding electric fields generated by them. After that we will proceed to
consider electric currents and magnetic fields. Finally, we will consider
electrodynamics and the Maxwell’s equations (one of the most brilliant
achievements of human mind) and we will see that light is actually an
electromagnetic wave.
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There is a lot of material and lots of fun ahead, but also lots of hard work.
In particular there will be many abstract concepts that will be introduced
when talking about Electromagnetic phenomena. In the second part of the
course integral calculus will be used regularly, since Maxwell’s equations
are actually integral equations.
Ø  Chapters intended to be covered in textbook: 20 – 34
v  You must read each chapter before the respective class, otherwise you will
be unable to follow the class and to solve the problems and questions posed in
class. I also strongly encourage you to read the material again after the class.
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Max’s
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GOALS
The goals of this course are to acquire a basic working knowledge of the
concepts of waves, optics, electromagnetic theory and the phenomena described
by these theories, while at the same time developing problem solving skills and
techniques (which can be applied both in physics and other sciences).
EVALUATION AND GRADING POLICY
Your grade in this course will be based on homework, workbook assignments,
three midterms, one final comprehensive exam, online reading quizzes and
participation. The relative weight of each of these activities will be
q  Three
midterms: 17 % each
q  Final (comprehensive): 19 %
q  Homework: 15 %
q  Reading Quizzes: 5%
q  Workbook Assignments: 5%
q  Participation: 5%
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Test dates (tentative):
Final:
1st Midterm: Friday, February 8
2nd Midterm: Friday, March 15
3rd Midterm: Friday, April 12
Friday, May 3 (8:30 am – 10:30 am), as determined by the
college.
Ø  The expected median grade for a course like this is C+. But this, of course,
can vary according to the class. (Remember you are not being graded against
each other and it is not a “goal” to have that grade as a median, it is just a
historical value for courses like this and at similar colleges).
Ø  Borderline grades will be decided on the basis of participation in class, at
the instructor’s discretion.
Scale
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ASSIGNMENTS
Ø  Homework will be assigned through Mastering Physics roughly on a weekly
basis. Late homework will not be accepted. Notice that it is of extreme
importance that you do your homework both to strengthen the comprehension of
the material covered in the course and to prepare for the exams. All assignments
will have equal weight and the lowest score will be dropped.
Ø  Workbook problems will be assigned in class according to the convenience.
These are due in the beginning of the next class (after the beginning of the
class, the assignment will not be accepted).
q  Solutions for the workbook assignments, lecture PowerPoints, etc.,
will be posted at:
http://www.cord.edu/faculty/manzoni/teaching.html
Workbook assignments will be graded as follows:
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q  5 points each assignment.
o  3 points for trying everything.
o  2 points: one of the problems will be graded
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Ø  Reading Quizzes will be done through the Mastering Physics site. They
will be available at 7:00 pm the evening before the due date and close 10
min before the class starts.
PARTICIPATION
Ø  The main ingredients that contribute to your participation grade:
Ø  asking questions and/or answering my questions.
Ø  SHOWING your CARDS to answer the multiple choice questions.
Ø  Solving the proposed problems IN GROUP.
Ø  Being ACTIVELY involved in the experiments conducted in class.
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TEACHING STYLE
Ø  The pedagogy used in teaching this class is known as “Studio Physics”,
which is a “hands on” active learning pedagogy. It requires lots of participation
and physics education research indicates that it is one of the most effective
approaches to learn physics.
Ø We will meet 4 times a week and there are no formal labs for this course: the
meetings will be a mixture of lecture, laboratory activities, discussion and group
problem solving.
Ø  Since for the most part you will be working in groups, you are expected to
attend classes and actively participate in it. If you get in the habit of missing
classes, besides certainly getting behind, you would be putting an excessive
burden on your group colleagues. In the same way, if you do not actively
participate in the classroom activities, you will not take advantage of the classes
and, again, your colleagues would end up doing your share of the work. Hence,
attendance and participation will be worth 5% of your grade.
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TEACHING STYLE
Ø  Finally, the reading assignments (to be announced in class) are essential
– the class will build upon the assigned readings and if you don’t read the
material beforehand there is little hope that you will be able to follow the
class. In addition, you may be asked to explain parts of the assigned reading
in your own words or to work on a problem during class. There will be
reading quizzes for each chapter.
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COURSE POLICIES
Ø  Missed exams cannot be made up unless there are very exceptional
circumstances (such as serious illness). Written proof of such circumstances
will be required (signed by your doctor).
Ø  If you miss an exam because your alarm clock didn’t ring, your car didn’t
start, etc., you cannot make-up the exam and you will receive a zero for the
exam.
Ø  If you need to miss an exam due to college related activities, you must
contact me at least two weeks before the exam date in order to make
arrangements for you to take the exam at another time (at the instructor’s
discretion and, in general, it will be earlier).
Ø  The Final exam cannot be taken earlier.
Ø  You can discuss your homework with your colleagues (in fact, I even
encourage it), but you should first try to do it by yourself. Of course, the
homework you submit for grading must reflect your own work.
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COURSE POLICIES
Ø  You are expected to attend class, even though no formal attendance will be
taken. You should also remember that:
q  Five per cent of your grade will be determined by the instructor based on
your attendance and class participation.
q  If you know of an absence due to college related activities in advance, it
is your responsibility to notify me and to turn in all the assignments by the
due date (college related absences do NOT exempt you from turning in the
assignments in time!).
q  If you miss class for any reason, it is your responsibility to find out if
any homework was assigned and to turn in all the assignments by the
due date (“I didn’t know there was an assignment” is NOT a valid
excuse!).
q  Physics is a cumulative science: in every new subject we will make use
of everything we have already studied. So, if you get in the habit of
missing classes there is no chance that you will understand the material.
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COURSE POLICIES
Ø  Cheating will result in a failing grade for the course.
ü  Copying the workbook solutions from colleagues or any online
server is cheating – therefore, it will result in a failing grade.
Ø Laptops, tablets, ipods and other electronic devices must be turned off in
classroom. Cell phones must be off or set to vibrate (no texting!), and if you
need to take a call due to an emergency, you must excuse yourself and take
the call in the hallway.
Ø These are the policies that I intend to follow. If necessary, any policy
changes will be announced in class.
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Mastering Physics
Ø  Mastering Physics is an online tutorial and homework assignment system. It
gives you feedback and hints based on your input, and you get to know your
grade immediately. To register follow the steps below.
Ø  Go to www.masteringphysics.com
o  Click New Students and follow the instructions to create your account.
o  To enroll in this course you will need the Course ID:
MANZONI35797
Ø  You should check the Mastering Physics page for this course regularly, since
any announcements for the course will be posted there.
Ø  There are three basic types of problems in Mastering Physics: Skill Builders
(SB), Self-Tutoring Problems (STP) and End-of-Chapter (EOC) problems. The
EOC problems are just the electronic version of the problems of your textbook.
The SB and STP are tutorial problems that provide you hints and/or feedback
in case you submit a wrong answer.
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Mastering Physics
Ø  Some hints to make the best use of Mastering physics are:
o  Don’t guess on multiple-choice questions, because if you are wrong
you will always lose 100%/(# options -1) points.
o  If you don’t know the answer, keep working and take hints. Don’t ask
for the solution because you will lose all the credit.
o  Always take hints if you don’t know the answer. Although you have
small bonuses for not opening hints, you don’t lose credit for taking
the hints.
•  For next class you
must read Chapter 20
•  Reading quiz will open
Sunday at 7:00 pm
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If you want a hard
copy of the syllabus,
contact me after
class and it will be
provided.
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Academic Integrity
You should remember that Concordia College is committed to the highest standards of
academic integrity. Cheating in any form will not be tolerated. Cheating (stealing answers on an
exam), plagiarism (representing someone else's work as your own), and "drylabbing" (falsification of data on a lab write-up) are very easy to detect. Therefore, cheating is
defined as copying or using any part of another person's work and turning it in as if it were your
own. If you have any questions about whether an action would be considered inappropriate,
please discuss it with the professor in advance. If you are in doubt about what constitutes a
violation, please refer to the handbook, “Academic Integrity” at Concordia College.
Every violation of academic integrity is taken very seriously. Cheating will result in a
failing grade for the course and all violations of academic integrity will be referred to the
Academic Dean for disciplinary action, which may include additional penalties, suspension or
dismissal from the college.
As stated in the Academic Integrity handbook, “When we permit or facilitate the dishonesty
of others, we too are guilty of an equally serious violation.” To this end, you are expected to
behave as a partner in creating and maintaining an honest academic community. Failing to report
integrity violations is itself a violation of academic integrity and will be treated as such. All
concerns about academic integrity are treated confidentially.
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