PHYSICS 100 LECTURE SYLLABUS
AFTER Summer 2012
Instructor.................Dr. Robert Buschauer
Office.......................PST 131
Office Hours............Tues 3:15 – 4:00 PM; Wed 3:15 – 3:40 PM
Office Phone...........(562)860-2451x2664
Email.......................rbuschauer@cerritos.edu
Prerequisite............ One course of Trigonometry with a "C" grade or higher
Text........................"COLLEGE PHYSICS", 9th Edition, by Serway and Vuille.
ISBN: 9780840062062
Course Coverage...The reading and problem assignments for this course will be given in
another handout.
HOMEWORK
Problems shall be assigned from the text on a chapter by chapter basis. They shall not be
collected. However, class and office hour time shall be available to discuss them. Your success
in this course will be directly related to how well you understand and can apply the techniques
and concepts that are illustrated in the homework problems, lecture problems and worked out
text book examples. To a great extent, these problems are practice for the exams.
EVALUATION
Your course grade will be determined by a combination of lecture test and lab scores. Here is
the formula that will be used to determine your grade:
Your Percent Score = 75(T/Tt) + 25(L/Lt)
T = total number of points that you have earned on tests till now
L = total number of points that you have earned in lab till now
Tt = total number of points that have been available on tests till now
Lt = total number of points that have been available in lab till now
Your percent score and letter grade shall be related as follows.
A.....88 - 100
B.....75 - 87.9
C.....65 - 74.9
D.....55 - 64.9
These standards are NOT negotiable because you will have received many breaks during the
semester. For example: We drop the lowest of the first three test scores; Each test score is
rounded up--7/8 is recorded as 88%, 3/9 is recorded as 34%, etc; The final exam is usually not
comprehensive; My labs are easy and you get lots of explanation on how to do them so the lab
grade is a gift; The 15 point Quiz at the beginning of the lab sessions is a free gift to all students
who are conscientious and responsible enough to be in attendance; There is no lab final exam.
So, NO negotiating at the end.
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EXAMS
Four equally weighted tests shall be offered throughout the session. They shall be announced
well in advance and the first three shall be offered during regularly scheduled lab times. Each of
the first three tests shall cover the material studied since the previous test. The last test shall be
offered during the final exam time. We drop the lowest of your first three test scores in
computing your final grade. However, you must take the last test and you cannot drop that
score. Also, there are NO makeup tests, so please do NOT squander a test--you may need that
score later on. Test problems--Some test problems may be like homework problems, lecture
problems and/or example problems that are worked out in the book. Other test problems may
be somewhat different--sort of like new HW problems that you have not seen before. Therefore,
it is important that you understand the theory and techniques presented in the book, lectures
and problems well enough so that you can apply them quickly and easily to new problems as
well as to familiar ones. Tests shall be of the multiple choice type, and there will be about 8 or 9
problems on each test. There is no partial credit--the problem is either right or wrong.
LABORATORY WORK
The lab is being taught by Mr. Carlos Mera, and he will give you all the information you need
about the lab in the lab.
MISCELLANEOUS COMMENTS
If you come in late then please enter through the back door and be seated QUIETLY to avoid
disrupting the class more than necessary.
Please shut off the ring on your cell phone before coming to class. To have it ring during class is
rude and disruptive.
I regret having to mention this, but if anyone is caught cheating (even a little bit!), then that
person may be disciplined to the full extent allowed by the Academic Dishonesty Policies of
Cerritos College including action by the Office of Judicial Affairs.
EQUIPMENT NEEDED FOR THIS COURSE
The equipment requirements for P100 lecture are very simple: book, pencils, eraser, paper,
scientific or graphing calculator. There will be other (simple) equipment requirements for the lab
and Mr. Mera will discuss them.
A WORD TO THE WISE
This will be a rather intense course because you are taking an 18 week course in just 8 weeks.
You will spend nearly 7 hours per week in lecture alone. Also, the material builds on itself
strongly, This means that in order for you to understand later chapters, you must first
understand earlier ones. SO PLEASE DO NOT LET YOURSELF GET BEHIND. Keep up with
your studying and homework problems. Finally, you MUST attend all lecture and lab classes this
first week or you will be dropped because there may be other people who want to get into this
class.
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