General Information
Instructor:
TAs:
SI:
R. Michalak,
Coty
Shane
Uppalaiah
Robert
Sareh
Jordan
Office
PS215
E-mail rudim@uwyo.edu
Denver Metropolitan area ctatge@uwyo.edu salliso1@uwyo.edu
PS 105
N/A
Office hours (RM): TR 11-12, 4-5 pm or by email appointment uerugu@uwyo.edu rnielse5@uwyo.edu jturne19@uwyo.edu
This course fulfils university program requirement USP2003 ‘SP’and USP2015 ‘PN’ for 4 credit hours
Lecture:
Laboratory:
Discussion:
MWF 11:00 to 11:50 CR215
W 11 00 W 1 10 W 3 10 W 7 10 R 1 10 R 3 10 R 11 00 PS135
M 2 10 ENG2070 M 3 10 ENG2102 M 12 00 AS210 M 1 10 ENG3110
T 1 20 -2 10 CR105 T 2 45 -3 35 ENG2100
Text: Sears & Zemansky’s University Physics, 13 th edition by
Young&Freedman (older editions may vary substantially!
second hand books often come with expired homework key)
MasteringPhysics : www.masteringphysics.com
use picture link for 13 th ed
Choose University of Wyoming and choose class RMF15Phys1220
Webpage: You will find lecture templates and other course related information on my website www.physics.uwyo.edu/~rudim . Check regularly for updates.
Supplementary Reading Suggestions: On your request I am happy to name some useful texts, which adopt different teaching approaches than Young Friedman. As you progress in your major, reading will become a more and more substantial aspect of learning. At our course level, expect to read at least 20 pages per week in our text. I will clarify reading techniques in an early lecture.
This course fulfils the USP requirement SP.
Course Content and Course Pre-Requisites:
This course is an introduction to the physical phenomena of temperature and electric charge. We will approach the material from theoretical and applied angles. We will make use of concepts previously learned in mechanics, like Newton’s Laws and conservation laws. A major point of physics courses is to understand where an equation comes from and what its range of applicability is. Thus, we will spend time on deriving equations and discussing the related scientific model and its limitations. We use problems to illustrate this and fill it with specific meaning, but problem solving is not a purpose in itself in a physics course.

We will explore how the presence of electric charge causes the phenomena of electricity and magnetism
(chapters 21-23, 27-30). We will integrate these phenomena in a concept known as ‘the field’. As an illustration of applications we will learn about the rules, which govern electric circuitry (chapters 24-26).
And, over a 6 week period, we will discover one by one fundamental laws, called the Maxwell Equations, which allow us to describe all of these phenomena and unite the concepts of magnetism and electricity as two aspects of the same thing: electric charge and its motion. Briefly, we will learn to describe electromagnetic phenomena as the results of the propagation of electromagnetic waves.
We will study a second, independent field of classical physics which deals with phenomena, which occur when temperature changes, e.g. heat transport, specific heat, and the fundamental laws of thermodynamics.
The fundamental physical quantity, which describes the changes, is called temperature. Temperature is much more elusive than the other main physical quantities we have met, mass and charge.
We will explore the law of energy conservation and its extension into thermodynamics and we will see that thermodynamics differs from all other fields of classical physics in that it provides a principle direction to physical processes, given by the Second Law of Thermodynamics, a fact absent in mechanics and electromagnetism. We are used to such situations being governed by conservation laws, but the second law is entirely different: entropy is a quantity which can either remain unchanged or must increase in any process that occurs in reality. Thus, the laws of thermodynamics set conditions on the outcomes that are possible in mechanics and E&M in ways, which are not foreseen in the Newton and Maxwell laws. In addition to this complication, thermodynamics can only be studied for real systems, if one chooses a statistical approach. We will study a very basic introduction to this aspect of nature that is also known as
Statistical Mechanics: the kinetic gas theory.
A working knowledge of calculus is required. Calculus II is a pre-requisite for this course, Calculus-III is a co-requisite! If your co-req has been waived it is your responsibility to make sure you stay on par with the math in lecture. Some basic explanations will be given, but this is not a math course. Note, that the systematic of the science of physics does not follow the systematic of mathematics! We will have to use concepts like differentiation, integration, and vector calculus. Also, good success in this course is unlikely without a solid grasp of algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and mechanics. If you lack in any of these I am willing to help you, but it is ultimately your responsibility to put in the work it takes to catch up.
All of the following information is tentative, and I reserve the right to change any of it as seems necessary to keep the class average on course. If such changes are made, they will be announced in lecture. It is your responsibility to keep yourself informed about any such changes:
Lecture
Our course consists of a large amount of information and a complex logical network of reasoned argument.
To make this more accessible and to help point out cross connections, I have arranged the content into six major sections:
Electrostatics - nature of charge the phenomenon of electrical charge, field, and force,
Electrostatics – circuitry including basic and time dependent phenomena in circuitry,
Magnetostatics - surprising effects due to moving charges, right hand rule frenzy to keep track,
Magnetism - inductors in circuits, various effects and devices.
Thermal Physics and Kinetic Theory- temperature and heat, heat transport, specific heat, state laws and state functions
Thermodynamics - laws of thermodynamics, heat engines, more thermodynamic state functions.
My interactive teaching is sometimes improvised and ad hoc because I try to respond to questions and follow student ideas that may emerge in a classroom in real time. Under such circumstances, making a few mistakes is human. When I catch such errors early, I correct them as I go. When I catch them late, I may

send a class email out to address the situation. I will use your UW email address to convey such corrections.
Some technical notes:
The lecture will in part be presented in power point and in part on the white board. Demonstrations, videos, and web-applets will be used wherever helpful and when it fits into the time schedule. They help illustrate a complex or new phenomenon or principle and break up an otherwise overbearing lecture block.
You need to write down the information on the white board as your lecture notes, or it will be lost. You are expected to take notes about videos and demonstrations etc. The content of both may be part of exam questions.
I employ group work techniques during lecture. Our department’s record has shown that the use of modern teaching techniques deepens understanding and reliably improves the outcome on standardized tests of knowledge retention. You can only expect to benefit from these when you actively participate.
Discussion Sessions and Laboratory
Participation in discussions is mandatory up to shortly after the first exam. Missing a discussion means losing points toward your final grade. After that, participation in discussion means earning bonus points toward the final exam grade.
Participation in all laboratories is mandatory for the successful completion of this course. There is time for one makeup lab at the end of term. If you miss a lab you cannot submit a lab report and all points for that lab are lost.
Each lab consists of a pre-lab, the main lab work, and a post-lab. The post-lab reports are due at the beginning of the next lab and we do our best to have them graded and handed back at the lab in the week after that. Note though, that TAs do also have exam weeks when some delay is likely. The pre-labs have the character of predictions and are not graded. Each post-lab is of equal value (16 pts) for your final lab grade. In the post-lab there is a follow up question about your prelab predictions that is graded.
Consequently, you have to include your prelab when you hand in your postlab. Your TA assesses your personal performance during lab (4 pts), including early departure, incomplete data, wrong data, etc. In general, the expectations start low and end high over the course of the term. All lab group members contribute in equal share to each postlab every week (see section on academic honesty below).
Preliminary character of TA grades. At the end of term I will check whether there was any grading bias by
TAs. In order to warrant fair grades across different TA grading habits, I may then decide to change final lab grades. I evaluate this by taking the average grade of each lab section and compare it to the average grade the students in these sections have got otherwise in the course. If there happens to be a notable difference between TAs, I will remove that difference for the lab section’s average grade. Some students may see their lab grade go down.
As the term progresses, our expectations for your competence in lab will increase: During the first few labs, it is mainly your active participation that is assessed. By the week of exam 1, we will operate near full expectation level. At that time, thoughtful work will include the anticipation and correction of systematic errors, your decision to adapt the experiment plan to the factual situation in the lab, and other such proactive contributions. The competence of your contribution will include such factors as the correct use of measurement equipment and the identification and timely correction of obviously wrong results. Think of this as a skill you need to master for future job performance.
Students shall not resort to specialize in definite roles during lab because this diminishes the learning experience. A good lab group consists of three or four students, who share in all aspects of the experimental work, the note taking, and who are all reasonably prepared for the tasks. The latter requires coming to lab

prepared. Plan to work through the lab manual for about half an hour before lab. Before the pre-lab in week
1, work through the data and error treatment section of the manual.
Exams
The exams will contain both quantitative and conceptual problems. The exams will be closed book and closed notes . I will provide you, however, with the formula sheet taken from the Phys 1220 master formulas in the lab manual.
All exams are mandatory and none of the grades will be dropped or replaced. The exams will be held at the following times and cover the following chapters in Young & Freedman :
Exam 1, CR 314
Exam 2, CR 314
Exam 3, CR 215
R Oct 8 5 00 – 7 00 pm
R Nov 12 5 00 – 7 00 pm
F Dec 18 10:15-12:15
Chapter 21-25 tentative
Chapter 26-30 tentative
Cumulative
If you have a university excuse or other acceptable reason – judged at my discretion - to ask for a makeup exam, I will consider that request, if it has been sent to me by email not later than the Monday before the exam. You will only be able to participate in the makeup exam, if I have accepted your request in writing
(by email). Based on the details you will provide in the emails I will set a single makeup time. Makeup exams may differ significantly from the main exam and tend to be a little bit more difficult.
Homework
We use the Mastering Physics online homework system. The online homework must be submitted by each student individually but you are allowed to work together on the solution method (not on each individual numerical solution!) as long as everyone contributes an equal share and contributes to all problems . You will find that, if you try to take a free ride on these, you will fail the exams by a wide margin.
The deadline for each online homework is indicated in the tentative schedule below and in MP, but is subject to change as announced during lecture . Be advised not to work last minute on the online submissions. The system tends to be busy at times and the internet connection could be down . It is your responsibility to submit before the deadline. I set the online hw system up to accept post deadline submissions for a grade penalty. This grade penalty builds up gradually, so submitting five minutes late is not a big deal. The system will close for late submission at the last day of classes.
The MP syntax requires some experience. I provide a no-penalty training hw called HW0. Some problems in it can earn you a performance based bonus toward your first exam grade. It also gives you opportunity to learn the language syntax to avoid grade penalties in the actual hw.
A short list of common sources of grade loss in MP:
Wrong spacer between multiple entries
Wrong rounding of final or intermediate results (note also: MP has a 2% answer tolerance criterion for grading)
Multiple attempts used up for the same wrong answer
-
Student fails to press the final ‘submit’ button of a problem
Some problems have hint boxes. You can earn partial credit for a problem in a hint box, but you can also suffer partial point penalties.
You find further information here:
An instruction video http://www.masteringsupport.com/videos/intro_video/intro_video.html
FAQ page http://www.masteringphysics.com/site/support/faq-students.html
PC requirements http://www.masteringphysics.com/site/support/system-requirements.html
General info http://www.masteringphysics.com/site/product/for-students.html

In addition to MP hw I may set a few written hw, which are due at the beginning of lecture on the due day. These written hw are used to provide some bonus toward the overall hw grade and you may choose to skip them without penalty, but then you won’t get the bonus. Late submissions of written hw will be accepted on the same calendar day before 5pm and will be subject to a 20% grade penalty. This written hw is group work! These groups must consist of three or four students. Students, who do not contribute about equally to any such hw assignment are not allowed to add their names to the assignment.
A good general guideline to approach written hw is this: If you respect your own work, chances are I will respect it too.
Late submissions, illegible handwriting, last minute write ups, and confused writing are all tell-tale signs of a student not putting his/her best foot forward.
A typical written hw question is a conceptual question. The answer will require proper reasoning, most likely some formula or derivation of a formula, and a time- or vector- diagram.
Academic honesty
In short: Don’t cheat. In the long run you are only hurting your chances of succeeding in college because courses build onto each other and the gap keeps widening as you transfer a lack in a subject to the next level. Not being proficient at solving the offered problem types also makes your exams more difficult than they otherwise would have to be. Finally, cheating is, of course, dishonourable behaviour.
The actual university rules:
Academic dishonesty is defined in University Regulation 802, Revision 2 as “an act attempted or
performed which misrepresents one’s involvement in an academic task in any way, or permits another
student to misrepresent the latter’s involvement in an academic task by assisting the misrepresentation.” and there is a well-defined procedure to judge such cases and serious penalties may be assessed. A shorter common sense interpretation could sound something like this: If it’s not your work, don’t pretend that it is.
For our work the following is of particular relevance:
The general solutions to online homework (i.e. NOT with your own set of numbers but ONLY the principle ways of answering a question of a certain type) may be discussed in groups but must be worked out and submitted to the MP grading by each student separately . In particular, it is not allowed to use one student’s account to test an answer and then use it for submissions in other accounts. It is also not allowed to work parallel to each other on adjacent computers effectively copying what the neighbour does. If you get caught breaking the rules (or if you admit to having done it), all involved parties will receive a ‘zero grade’ for the overall grade of that hw, regardless of the actual score you achieved.
Using solution DVDs or online sources for the online hw problems is fraud and will be treated accordingly.
Lab reports are not group work.
Exams are not group work, must be entirely your own work, and must be performed without consulting any help (no books, notes, electronic media, etc. other than what is being handed out to you).
If you get caught cheating in an exam you will receive an F grade in the course and a report will be filed with the Dean of Students.
Academic honesty is important beyond school, and, in school it has many purposes, for instance to develop respect between faculty and students, to ensure fair and effective grading, and to help to create an environment that fosters learning.

Special accommodations
If you have a physical, learning, or psychological disability and require accommodations, please let me know as soon as possible. I will try to accommodate your condition as best as circumstances allow. You will need to register with
University Disability Support Services (UDSS) in SEO, room 330 Knight Hall, 766-6189, TTY: 766-3073. If you choose to notify me late about such circumstances you forfeit your right for special accommodation for that instance.
Additional help
"Physics at Night" tutoring sessions are held six hours each week in PS 234 or PS 239, generally on Monday-Wednesday evenings from 7-9. The sessions are led by experienced TAs, but they do get their business from students, who take all kinds of physics courses at UW. Be courteous to them and give them some time to come up with a solution for your problem that matches your course level. Apart from that, your TAs, the SI, and I myself have office hours. I encourage you to come to any of these to clarify any issues you may have with understanding the material. These opportunities are also ideal for addressing any remedial knowledge issue you may be struggling with.
New Tutor Center!
The STEP Tutor Center in Coe Library offers free evening tutoring for nearly 40 courses. Visit Coe Library between 6:00-10:00pm
(Sun. – Thurs.) and visit the STEP website for full details about tutoring opportunities and other UW resources: www.uwyo.edu/STEP .
How to be successful in physics and in our course:

Work both independently and in groups of your peers. You can help each other understand the course material. The person who explains learns, and the person who asks learns too. If you need help finding a group of classmates to work with, let me know and I will help to match you up.

Read the text. The text can be lengthy and you may struggle to make the time to read it all. Identify the core text of a chapter (usually where the main definitions are introduced) and at least one core example (usually not the short and easy one) and read those. Reading physics texts means working through them and going back and forth as signposts in the text may indicate (e.g. see figure 1; or: according to equation 2.3 means: go there and study it in context). Consult the course webpage for a reading guide.

Plan to spend approximately 1-2 hours outside of class doing homework, reading the text, etc. for each hour you spend in class. For a 4-credit class this amounts to something like 7-14 hours per week outside of class. If you are spending routinely much more time than this, please come to see me so that we can ensure that you spend your time efficiently. If you are already very familiar with a topic you may be successful when you spend as little as 6-7 hours per week out of class on the material. Do not underestimate this load: 7 hours out of class means on average one hour every night. If you take four difficult courses that’s 4 hours every night!

Work many problems beyond the assigned homework. As with everything one wants to gain proficiency in, the only thing that really helps is practice.

Lecture time is sparse and should be reserved for the difficult aspects of a topic. Come prepared and it will be much easier to follow the difficult material.
Attend every lecture, discussion, and lab. Getting material that you missed is your responsibility.

Do refrain from unrelated activities that interrupt class. Typical such activities are arriving late, leaving early (if you absolutely have to leave, plan ahead and sit in an aisle seat), watching videos, texting, receiving cell phone calls, chit chatting. Such behaviour is rude and it affects your peers’ opportunity to learn.

Read your university email account at least once daily. I do contact students through their Wyoweb registered primary email address when an issue cannot wait till the next class meeting.

Do not record the lecture without my written permission. If I should give such permission I am likely to attach conditions to it. In particular, the UW lawyer does not permit recordings in which class mates appear on screen or in sound.

Grading
The average final grade in the course has historically been a B
-
(~ GPA 2.6). This is right on target for the ten year average of freshman and sophomore classes in both, the College of Arts and Sciences and the
College of Engineering.
Details of grading (tentative and subject to revision at my discretion):
Exams: 3 (70%)
of this, exam 1 and 2 20% each, the final exam 30%.
Homework:
Bonus hw
12 online, no grade skipped (15%)
to be announced as needed (grade bonus to be determined)
Labs: 11 no grade skipped
Miscellaneous: discussion bonus
(15%)
(up to 2% on final exam)
(up to 2% on first exam) HW0 bonus
_____
100%
Scale:
A > 90.0%
B > 80.0%
C > 70.0%
D > 60.0%
F < 60%
GPA 4.0
3.0
2.0
1.0
0.0
I reserve the right to curve the final grade and each exam. Curving can be helpful to keep class morale up, but is detrimental to group work and prevents students from getting realistic feedback on the quality of their work. It may also contribute to unrealistic expectations for upper level courses. I strive to minimize curving and, ideally, I would avoid it altogether.
I will discuss grades for hw, labs, exams, and all other grades only for up to one week after the work has been handed back to class (not one week after you may have collected it).

Tentative Class Schedule Fall 2015 – 1220
Week
1 Aug 31 – Sep 4 Intro
2 Sep 7 – Sep 11
3 Sep 14 – Sep 18
4 Sep 21 – Sep 25
5 Sep 28 – Oct 2
6 Oct 5 – Oct 9
7 Oct 12 – Oct 16
8 Oct 19 – Oct 23
9 Oct 26 – Oct 30
10 Nov 2– Nov 6
11 Nov 9 – Nov 13
12 Nov 16 – Nov20
13 Nov23 – Nov27
14 Nov30 – Dec 4
15 Dec 7 – Dec 11
Dec 14 – Dec 18
M
--
E6
Ch22
EC1
Ch25
EC4
Ch26
EC7
Ch24
MS3
Ch27/28
MS6
Ch29
M1
Ch30
M4
Ch31
T1
Ch17
T4
Ch18
T7
Ch19
T8
Ch19
T11
Ch20
W
E1
Ch21
E4
Ch22
E7
Ch23
EC2
Ch25
EC5
Ch24
MS1
Ch27
MS4
Ch28
MS7
Ch29
M2
Ch30
M5
Ch31/32
T2
Ch17
T5
Ch18
--
T9
Ch19
T12
Ch20
F
E2
Ch21
E5
Ch22
E8
Ch23
EC3
Ch26
EC6
Ch24
MS2
Ch27
MS5
Ch28
MS8
Ch29
M3
Ch30
M6
Ch32
T3
Ch17
T6
Ch18
--
T10
Ch19/20
T13
Ch20
10:15-12:15
Discussion no discussion
D1, req.
D2, req.
D3, req.
D4,.req.
D5, req.
Lab
No lab
Pre lab- Lab 0
Safety advice
Sign-off
(mandatory)
Lab 1
Field Lines,
Equipot.. lines
Lab 2
Ohm’s Law
Report 1 due
Lab 3
Ohm’s Law
Report 2 due
Lab 4
Par/Ser Circuits
Kirchhoff.
Report 3 due
Lab 5
Capacitor Network
Charging Cap
Report 4 due
Lab 6
Field in a coil
Report 5 due
Notes
Deadlines tentative
HW0 (bonus) due 1/30, 11pm
Homework #1: due 9/6 ch 21
Homework #2: due 9/13 ch 21/22
Homework #3: due 9/20 ch 23
Homework #4: due 9/27 ch 24
Homework #5: due 10/4 ch 25/26
Exam 1 Oct 8 tentative
Homework #6: due 10/11 ch 27
D6, bonus
D7, bonus Lab 7
Field b/w wires
Report 6 due
D8, bonus Lab 8
Magn. Induction
Report 7 due
D9, bonus Lab 9
Heat Conduction
Radiation
Report 8 due
Homework #7: due 10/18 ch 28
mid semester: Oct 23
Homework #8: due 10/25 ch 29 midterm grades due on Oct 28
Homework #9: due 11/1 ch 30 advising week, get your PERC
Nov 13 last day to withdraw
Exam 2 Nov 12 tentative
D10, bonus Lab 10 Homework #10: due 11/15 ch 17
Thermal Expansion
Report 9 due Part of lab9 modified, see hand-out
Makeup lab
M/T by apt.
Homework #11: due 11/22 ch 18
Thanksgiving break 25 th -27 th
11/25 last day to withdraw from school
Homework #12: due F 12/4 ch 18/19 D11, bonus Lab 11
Specific Heat
Report 10 due
D12, bonus
Report 11 due on lab day
Bonus Homework #13: due F 12/11 ch 19/20
Final exam
All final exams are in the regular class rooms unless arranged otherwise. final grades due 1/4/2016
E – Electrostatics (ch. 21-23): 8
MS – Magnetostatics (ch. 27-30): 8
EC – Electric Circuits (ch. 24-26): 7
M – Magnetism (ch.30-32): 6
T – Thermal Physics (ch. 17-20): 13 no. lectures = 43
Consult the deadline calendar on the Office of The Registrar webpage to double check my deadline dates.