Physics 1010: The Physics of Everyday Life

Fall 2003

  You will need:

Ø     Text: How things work; the physics of everyday life, L. Bloomfield 2nd edition

Ø     Calculator: Bring this to class

Ø     A Clicker for use in class, available in bookstore.  

!!  EVERYONE MUST REGISTER THEIR CLICKER !!!!!

To register your clicker, please email Krista Beck with your name, student ID (social security number) and clicker number.

 
Prerequisites:  High-school algebra.

Ø     The class will not use trigonometry, but will use algebra frequently. We will also be working with graphs and scientific notation.

 Course Homepage with all course information:

http://www.colorado.edu/physics/phys1010/ 

Important Times and Dates:

Computer Resources:

There is a computer lab available in Duane G116 M-F 8AM - 5:30 PM (next to the Math/Physics Library). You will need the Student Identikey you received during orientation in order to make use of this lab.

 Useful websites:

Ø     http://www.colorado.edu/physics/phys1010/ has all the important course information.

Ø     http://rabi.phys.virginia.edu/HTW/  has many questions and answers by Bloomfield about the physics of how things work.

Ø     http://www.colorado.edu/physics/2000/index.pl has interactive material on electromagnetic waves and various other topics.

Ø     http://www.colorado.edu/physics/phet/ has many of the interactive applets used in class.

Ø  http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/hframe.html is a useful reference for finding additional explanations of topics covered in class.

Overall Course Goals:

1. To see how much of everyday life is governed by physics principles.

2. To understand that the universe is predictable rather than incomprehensible.

3. To appreciate how scientific understanding (particularly physics) is based on careful experiments.

4. To learn to think logically in order to solve problems.

Guiding principles:

1. People understand concepts better by seeing them in action and thinking about them than by hearing them explained.

2. Understanding physics (and solving problems that test that understanding) is a learned skill, like cooking, or playing basketball or the violin.  It takes time, effort, and practice.

3. People learn best by thinking about topics and discussing them with others.

4. Students learn most when they take the responsibility for what is learned. 

In keeping with these principles, there will be a substantial number of homework problems each week.  You will have considerable difficulty completing them if you follow non-expert problem solving approaches and/or you work alone.  However, if you work with other students and develop an “expert” approach to problem solving, the homework problems should take you relatively little time and effort, and you will learn a lot from doing them.  Although you are encouraged to work out the solutions to problems together with other students, you are required to write up the answer in your own words. So each student's wording should be unique to them. 

There will be a number of things done to help you develop good problem solving skills.  First, you have a handout “A logical approach to problem solving” which you should read carefully and use (also available on this website).  Second, many of the problems will be designed to help you learn good techniques, and finally, there will be several problem-solving sessions Thursdays and Fridays where you will be able to conveniently get together with other students to work on homework.  Carl Wieman, Kathy Perkins, Zachary Walters, Jeff Evans, Dan Forrester, or Stephanie Miller will be present at these sessions to provide “coaching” on problem solving methods. You are encouraged to come to these to work with other students and get coaching in problem solving as necessary. The times and room numbers are listed above. The physics help room is also open 40 hours per week, and there are always students and TAs there, although they are not necessarily from 1010. 

Although the problems may be challenging at first, as your problem solving skills develop over the term, you will find the problems easier, and they will take less time to solve. 

Students begin this class with a wide range of backgrounds in physics and math.  As a result, it is impossible for each class to be perfectly matched to everyone’s background.  The primary purpose of office hours is to provide individual help to students that need it.  We are anxious to provide whatever help is necessary for every student, regardless of their background, to do well in the course and achieve all of the learning goals.  However, it is your responsibility to recognize that you need that help, and to take advantage of its availability.

1010 Specific Learning Goals:

On a separate page, you will find a list of very specific items you are to learn during this course.  These will give you a very clear idea of what material will be covered in the course, on the homework problems, and on the exams. 

 Official course details 

 Change of registration:

ADD: The add deadline is 5:00 PM, Wednesday, September 3 without instructor approval and Friday, September 12 with approval.  Approval will only be given at this date if you have attended all classes and done all assignments up to that time.

DROP: The deadline to drop a course without the instructor's signature, without being assessed tuition and fees for that course, and without a W grade appearing on your transcript is 5:00 PM, Wednesday, September 10.  To drop a course after September 10 and through October 8 you must be passing the course, and a special action form (available from Valerie Melendez in the Physics Department office, Duane E1B32) must be signed by your instructor and turned in to the registrar by 5:00 PM, Wednesday, October 8. After October 8, you must be passing the course and have your dean's signature, as well as that of your instructor, on the special action form.

GRADES:

Ø     Grading philosophy: the amount you will learn depends on how much thought and practice you put in distributed sensibly over the term.  Everyone who makes an honest attempt to do all the assigned work on time will pass, normally with a grade of A or B.

Ø     Your grade in the course will be determined from your total number of points earned.  The general point breakdown is as follows.  Additional information is provided below.   

Ø     Letter grades will be assigned to your point total according to combination of absolute scale and modified curve.  To pass the course you must receive at least half of the total number of points possible to be earned.  With this system, the most important requirement for getting a good grade is to do all the assignments!  Missing several weeks of class and homework will likely put you in danger of failing, no matter how well you do on the exams!  Your lowest weekly homework score and your lowest in-class score will be thrown out, so you can miss one week’s homework and one class without penalty. (The exams count for a relatively small amount in your grade, but we reserve the right to adjust the grades for special cases whose exam scores are a great deal lower than their homework grades.)

Weekly checklist for best learning (and grade):

1) Was there reading due this week?  Did I do it?

2) Did I come to class and bring my clicker?

3) Did I submit my homework online by midnight Friday?

4) Is there an evening exam this week?

5) Did I turn in extra credit question or comment by 4 PM Monday?

 More details on how points are earned in the class:

1. Homework:

Ø     New Homework Assignments will be posted on the course webpage every Monday by noon.

Ø     Each Homework will be worth ~15 pts.

Ø     Homework is due the following Friday by midnight.  Homework is submitted  by filling out the online form and submitting.  You login to your workspace and click the homework link for that week.  Then you fill out the form and submit/save.  Your submission saves all your inputs.  If you want to change an answer or add more answers to your homework, you can reload your saved homework simply by returning to your learning workspace and clicking again on the homework link.  Changes may be made up until the homework deadline (Friday at midnight).  After this time, the computer will no longer accept submissions.

Ø     The grades on homework will typically be very high, so failing to turn in more than one assignment, and thereby getting a 0 will have a big impact on your grade. Talk to Carl, Kathy, or Krista NOW, if you will have a scheduling problem during the term so that you will be unable to complete any of the assignments.  Permission for exceptions from the normal class work schedule must be requested in advance.

Ø     It is best if you print out the assignment on Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning, so you see the problems before class.

Ø     Homework solutions will be posted and available to you from your workspace and from the main 1010 homepage.  The answers and solutions will normally be available at noon on the Monday following the Friday deadline.  The solutions to the last homework set before the hour exams will usually be available on the Saturday morning before the exam.

Ø     Grading of the homeworks will be done in part by the computer (numeric and multiple choice) and in part by Zachary Walters (essay questions).

Ø     Essay Questions & Learning Teams:  In 1010, we will be dividing the class into working groups of roughly 4 students per group.  Each group will form a Learning Team.  As part of your weekly homework you will be assigned several essay / short answer questions.  Each student will submit an individual response to these questions during the first week.  During the following week, you will be asked to work with your Learning Team to come to a consensus best answer for approximately ½ of the essay questions.  These consensus answers will be submitted with the following weeks homework.  These essays will be graded by Zachary Walters and your group will receive a grade for these essays.  All group members are expected to participate in developing a consensus answer.  At 3 times during the semester we will ask you to rate your fellow group members on how active they have been in contributing to this process.  The group's total points earned for the essays will be distributed accordingly.

Ø     The lowest weekly homework will be dropped.  Thus, if you have some personal crisis and miss one week, but do all the others, missing one will not hurt your grade.   

Criteria for grading non-mathematical, short-essay questions.  Many of the homework questions ask you to use physical principles discussed in class to analyze a situation and reason an outcome.  For each of the questions or parts of questions, the answer will be graded for correctness on a scale of 0 to 7 based on the following rubric:   

Ø     1. Identifies physical principle or principles that are relevant to answering the question: (2 if correct, 0 if irrelevant principle, 1 if have both some relevant and some irrelevant principles.)

 Ø     2. Explains how the principle(s) apply to the situation described in the problem: (1 if correct, 0 if not)

 Ø     3. Employs proper reasoning to explain the logic in going from how principle applies to the situation to the answer to the question. (2, 1, 0 according to level of correctness.  If #1 or #2 are 0, this should automatically be 0.)

Ø     4. Clarity of writing. (2 if good, 1 if difficult but can be figured out, 0 if incomprehensible.  If 0 here, all the others will be left blank.)

 So if your answer is scored as 5/7 and the question (part) is worth 1 pt, you will receive 0.71 pts for that part.

2. In-class questions and quizzes on reading:

Ø     Clickers: You will need to buy transmitters (usually referred to as “clickers”) from the bookstore for answering questions in class.  At the end of the term you can return them for a credit of 50% of the cost.

Ø     Attendance Points: At the beginning of each class you should immediately answer the first question.  This will record that you are present, which gets you 2 points, and checks that your clicker is working.

Ø     Reading Quizzes: After each reading assignment there will be a very short quiz covering the material in class worth 3 points.

Ø     In-class Graded questions: During class there will be many questions on which you enter your response using clickers.  Your answers will be recorded but not graded for all but one question per class.  This question will be chosen at random, and will usually be a question late in the class that most students get correct if they are paying attention.

Ø     The lowest in-class participation grade will be dropped.

 3. Hour exams:

Ø     Hour exams will be given in Duane G1B20 on Tuesday evenings September 16, October 14 and November 11 from 7:30 to 9:00 PM.

Ø     Each exam is worth 30 points.

Ø     There will be no early or late exams given and no make-up exams.

Ø     Be sure to bring formula card(s) and calculator. All exams will be closed book. You may make up a single 3 x 5 formula card for each exam and bring your previous cards with you to subsequent exams so you will have one card for first exam, two for the second and four for the final.  You can write anything you want on your formula card, but you must write it by hand - no photocopying or printing allowed. You should bring a calculator to class and exam. Sharing of calculators during exams and quizzes will not be allowed. 

Ø     Important: Only one excused absence from an exam for medical or family emergencies is allowed.  To be excused you must notify Carl Wieman or Kathy Perkins by email or telephone before the exam (Carl at 492-6963 or Kathy at 492-4367 will always go to an answering machine if you let it ring long enough), and you must provide a physician's note or other documentation to one of us within two weeks of the exam.  If you failed to call before the exam, you must provide documentation why a medical condition made this impossible.

Ø     Exam grades and solutions will be posted after the exam on the course website. 

4. Final exam:

Ø     The final examination will be on Tuesday, December 16, 7:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. If you have three final exams that day, the deadline for making arrangements for rescheduling is October 6.

Ø     The final is worth 60 points.

 5. Extra Credit Points:

Ø     You can receive up to one point per week of extra credit by sending in a question or comment using the online submission form found on the course website.

Ø     To get credit, you can either submit a question or comment about what you found most confusing about the previous week’s material along with some specific information about why that part was confusing, a comment on what you found particularly interesting and why you found it interesting, or a specific comment on something that you find particularly effective or particularly problematic about how the course is being run along with a comment as to why it is particularly effective or with a suggestion of how to improve the particular problem.

Ø     All extra credit submissions are due by 4 PM on Monday afternoon.

General rules:

The rules in this list may seem rather harsh and arbitrary, but they are essential to maintaining the integrity of the course. There is a painful story behind every one of them.  Although most of you will never come up against any of the rules, there are a handful of students each semester that just cannot seem to avoid them. These rules are primarily to prevent these students from obtaining an unfair advantage over the others in the class. If these rules are going to cramp your style, then this class is probably not for you.

1. Only one excused absence from an exam for medical or family emergencies is allowed.  To be excused you must notify Carl Wieman or Kathy Perkins by email or telephone before the exam (492-6963 for Carl or 492-4367 for Kathy will always go to answering machine if you let it ring long enough), and you must provide a physician's note or other documentation to Carl Wieman within two weeks of the exam.  If you failed to call before the exam, you must provide documentation why a medical condition made this impossible.

2. Any exam submitted for re-grading will be entirely re-graded and the final score can go up or down.

3. There will be no extra credit work other than the one point per week question listed above.

4. Permission for exceptions from the normal class work schedule must be requested in advance.  There will be no exceptions after the fact, and no late assignments accepted without prior arrangements.

5. No student will fail who makes a serious effort at all the assigned work. If you miss a homework assignment, in-class question, or do not take an exam, it becomes possible for you to fail the course.

6. We will immediately fail any student who submits for a grade work that is not their own or permits another student to do so.

7. We will immediately fail any student who submits for a re-grade any work that was modified after it was graded.

8.  We will immediately fail any student who lies in an effort to improve their grade or to obtain any special consideration or exception from the normal class work schedule.

Students with Disabilities: If you have specific physical, psychiatric, or learning disabilities and require accommodations, please let me know by Thursday, January 9 so that your learning needs may be appropriately met. Students should notify the Counselor for Students with Disabilities, Disability Services Office, located in Willard 322 (phone303-492-8671). All recommendations for accommodations must be in writing from Disability Services.  

Religious Obligations – Conflicts with Scheduled Exams, Assignments or Class Attendance: I will make every effort to accommodate all students who, because of religious obligations, have conflicts with scheduled exams, assignments, or other required attendance, provided you notify me at least two weeks in advance of the scheduled conflict. The campus policy can be viewed at http://www.colorado.edu/policies/index.html
 

Student Classroom and Course-Related Behavior: As a result of extensive discussions with and recommendations from faculty and students, a new classroom behavior policy and associated new procedures have been adopted. You may view this information at http://www.colorado.edu/policies/classbehavior.html

Honor Code: The purpose of an Honor Code at the University of Colorado at Boulder is to secure an environment where academic integrity, and the resulting behavior, can flourish. The Honor Code recognizes the importance of honesty, trust, fairness, respect, and responsibility and wishes these principles to be a defining part of the CU-Boulder campus. The Honor Code allows all students to have responsibility for, and the ability to attain, appropriate recognition for their academic and personal achievements. You can view the honor code information at http://www.colorado.edu/academics/honorcode/