Physics 142E, Spring 2003

GENERAL PHYSICS I

 

 

Physics 142E is a calculus-based introductory physics course covering mechanics and thermodynamics. It is part of the required Engineering School curriculum.

Times: MWF 9:00 - 9:50 am (H. Weber) and 10:00 – 10:50 am (P. Fishbane)

Locations: Physics Room 203 -- overflow in Room 205

Instructors: Paul Fishbane: 321 Physics Building, (434) 924-6578, e-mail: pmf2r@virginia.edu, Office hour 12 noon – 1 pm on Wednesdays.

Hans Weber: 106C Physics Building, (434) 924-6810, e-mail: hw@virginia.edu, Office hour 2 – 3pm on Mondays.

Required text: Physics, vol 1, Fishbane, Gasiorowicz, and Thornton, 2nd edition (Prentice Hall); The Princeton Learning Guide, 2nd edition (Prentice Hall)

 

This web page will contains the syllabus, homework assignments, and (optionally) solutions to the homework and tests. Note that it would be a violation of the honor code to share homework solutions with a student taking the course in subsequent semesters!

 

 

                    The aim of this course is to teach you to understand the physical world and to solve problems about that world. Both elements are important to you. Your grade in the course will depend on your ability to solve problems, but an understanding of the material is crucial to your ability in problem solving, as is the acquisition of a set of skills about problem solving. The lectures are oriented towards helping you understand why and how we understand what we do about physics, not simply towards helping you learn how to plug in formulas in order to solve problems, and not simply towards helping you pass tests. Understanding the material is the best long-term way for you to be able to solve the problems that an engineer faces. Read each assignment before the lecture and again as soon as possible after the lecture.

 

 

Course Structure:

How your grade is determined:

Homework: 30%

Exams: 20% for each of two evening midterms and 30% for the final exam

Two midterm tests:

Wednesday, 19 Feb. and Wednesday, 26 March

Two exam periods will be held on each date: from 5:30-7:00 pm, and from 7:30-9pm

You may attend either period.

Note: No make-up exams are given, so you must attend one of the exam periods on each date! With a valid excuse before the exam, the remaining elements of the course will be appropriately averaged. Without a valid excuse before the exam, the exam grade will be a zero.

 

Solutions to second mid-term

 

Two final exam periods:

Tuesday, May 6th 2003, 1400 – 1700 (for the 9–9:50am Section)

Monday, May 5th 2003, 0900 – 1200 (for the 10 – 10:50am Section)

You may attend either period.

 

 

Workshops: The workshops (PHYS 142W) are labs, which will be completed in groups. All students should register for a workshop section. You must attend the first meeting on time, or your name will be dropped from that section. You must also buy the booklet, which is available in the UVA bookstore. We believe the workshops are an enjoyable way to work with your peers and increase your understanding of physics.

 

Homework: Homework for 142E is due each week at 5 am Friday morning. You will answer the questions electronically, via http://www.webassign.net/student.html. (The homework assignments are listed below.) Online instructions for webassign are available here. Your username is your UVA user ID, for instance, "pmf2r" or "hw". Our institution is "virginia". Your initial password is your 9-digit social security number, and should be changed once you log in.

Getting help on the homeworks:

- The TA’s for PHYS 142E will have the office hours listed below, and they will be available for help with the homework or lecture material.

- Your instructors will hold office hours as posted above. Students are welcome to come by during these office hours, but with over 200 students in each section, we are unfortunately unable to give much personal attention to any individual. We suggest that the TA's be your first resource for help with the material, and that you contact the instructors only with larger issues that the TA's cannot resolve. For the same reason, we will be unable to give help on the problems over the phone or by email.

 

 

®Attendance policy: Attendance is not taken, but you are responsible for all assigned material, whether it is presented in lecture or not. You are also responsible for knowing the problem assignments and for any announcements that may be made in lecture of changes in the assignments, schedule, etc.

session      date                    Chapter(s)                    Section(s)             topic

                                                                        Description of motion

#1.               Jan. 15 Wed.          1                    1-5                    Physical quantities and their description

#2.               Jan. 17 Fri.              1                    6                    Vectors

#3.               Jan. 20 Mon.          2                    1-5                    One-dimensional kinematics and free fall

#4.               Jan. 22 Wed.          3                    1-2                    Two-dimensional kinematics

#5.               Jan. 24 Fri.              3                    3-4                    Projectile motion

#6.               Jan. 27 Mon.          3                    5-6                    Circular motion and relative motion

                                                                        Newton's Laws

#7.               Jan. 29 Wed.          4                    1-3                    Newton's Laws

#8.               Jan. 31 Fri.              4                    5-6                    Using Newton's laws

#9.               Feb. 3 Mon.          5                    1-2                    Applications of Newton's laws

#10.             Feb. 5 Wed.          5                    3-4          "

                                                                        Work and Energy (add one)

#11.             Feb. 7 Fri.              6                    1-3                    The work-energy theorem

#12.             Feb. 10 Mon.     6                    4-5                    Work and power

#13.             Feb. 12 Wed.     7                    1-2                    Conservative forces & energy conservation

#14.             Feb. 14 Fri.         7                    3-4           "

                                                                        Linear momentum

#15.             Feb. 17 Mon.     8                    1-2                    Momentum and its conservation

#16.             Feb. 19 Wed.     8                    3-5                    Collisions

Exam I  (Mon Evening) covers through session #12

#17.             Feb. 21 Fri.         8                    3-5           "

#18.             Feb. 24 Mon.     8                    6-7                    Center of mass and rocket motion

                                                                        Rotations

#19.             Feb. 26 Wed.     9                    1-2                    Rotational kinematics

#20.             Feb. 28 Fri.         9                    3-4                    Rotational inertia

March 1-March 9, spring recess

#21.             Mar. 10 Mon.     9                    5-7                    Torque and angular momentum

#22.             Mar. 12 Wed.     10                    1-3                    More on angular momentum

#23.             Mar. 14 Fri.         10                    4                    Conservation of angular momentum

#24.             Mar. 17 Mon.     10                    6                    Work and energy

#25.             Mar. 19 Wed.     10                    7                    Precession

                                                                        More applications of Newton's Laws

#26.             Mar. 21 Fri.         11                    1-4                    Statics

#30.             Mar. 24 Mon.     11        “                      “

#31.             Mar. 26 Wed.     12                    1-4                    Gravitation

Exam II  (Wed evening) covers primarily sessions #13-#25

#32.             Mar. 28 Fri.         12                    5-7          "

#33.             Mar. 31 Mon.     13                    1-3                    Simple harmonic motion

#34.             Apr. 2 Wed.          13                    4-6                    Applications of harmonic motion

#35.             Apr. 4 Fri.              13                    7-8                    Damped and driven harmonic motion

                                                                        Thermal physics

#36.             Apr. 7 Mon.          17                    1-4                    Temperature and ideal gases

#37.             Apr. 9 Wed.          21                    4                    thermal expansion

#38.             Apr. 11 Fri.         18                    1-2                    Thermal transformations & heat flow

#39.             Apr. 14 Mon.     18                    3-5                    The first law of thermodynamics

#40.             Apr. 16 Wed.     18                    6-7                    Internal energy & ideal gases

#41.             Apr. 18 Fri.         19                    1-3                    kinetic theory of pressure & temperature

#42.             Apr. 21 Mon.     19                    4-6                    distributions in gases

#43.             Apr. 23 Wed.     20                    1-3                    Engines and the second law of thermo

#44.             Apr. 25 Fri.         20                    4-6                    Entropy and the second law of thermo

#45.             Apr. 28 Mon.     20                    7                    Entropy and disorder

 

 

 

Homework assignments. All problem sets are due at 5 AM Friday

 

date                                problems

Friday, 24 Jan                                1-3, 19, 64; 2-15, 26, 58, 72

Friday, 31 Jan                                3-6, 12, 31, 53, 60; 4-2, 18

Friday, 7 Feb                                4-27, 50; 5-8, 28, 42, 49, 79

Friday, 14 Feb                                6-1, 31, 36, 48, 62, 86

Friday, 21 Feb                                7-13, 23, 35, 43, 65; 8-7, 22, 28

Friday, 28 Feb                                8-49, 58, 67, 80; 9-10, 18

Friday, 14 March                                9-23, 44, 49, 62

Friday, 21 March                                10-8, 17, 25, 32, 38, 45, 50

Friday, 28 March                                11-7, 10, 16, 40, 41, 46

Friday, 4 April                                12-8, 39, 55, 56, 58; 13-9, 14

Friday, 11 April                                13-43, 49, 64, 73; more to be added

Friday, 18 April                                to be added

Friday, 25 April                                to be added

 

 

Teaching Assistants:

Saeed Ahmad, e-mail sa8y

Tamaz Brelidze, e-mail tib7x

Jeremy Murray-Krezan, e-mail jjk7n

Swadhin Taneja, e-mail skt6c

 

Office hours will be held in room 220 of the physics bldg at the following times:

Monday and Wednesday, from 3:30-5:30 PM

Tuesday and Thursday, from 2:00-4:00 PM

Tuesday and Thursday, from 6:30-8:30 PM