Physics 142E, Spring 2004

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 and 10:00 – 10:50 AM

Locations: Physics Room 203

Instructors: Paul Fishbane: 321 Physics Building, (434) 924-6578, e-mail: pmf2r@virginia.edu, Office hour 12 noon – 2 pm on Wednesdays.

Required text: Physics, vol 1, Fishbane, Gasiorowicz, and Thornton, 3rd edition (Prentice Hall)

 

This web page will contains the syllabus, homework assignments, and solutions to the tests.

 

 

                    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. Problem solving skills are honed by doing problems. You should do many more problems than the ones assigned on Webassign—the more you do the better you will get at it. Feel free to consult with each other on how to do problems; there is no better way to learn. But don’t put yourself in the position of copying answers from others. There will be regular hours for consultation with TA’s to demonstrate problem solving and to help you on this aspect of the course.

                    Just as the lectures will not necessarily tell you explicitly how to do the problems, so the problems that you do for homework are not necessarily a perfect model for the types of problems that you will see on tests. First, the tests will contain some purely qualitative questions that are designed to see how well you have understood things. You can find good models for these types of questions in the “Understanding the Concepts” section at the back of each chapter of the text. Second, the problems posed on on tests are designed to be done within a limited time, unlike the homework problems. All the different parts of the course work together to help you to learn the material.

 

 

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, 18 Feb. and Wednesday, 24 March

Two exam periods will be held on each date: from 5:30-7:00 PM for the 9 AM class, and from 7:30-9 PM for the 10AM class. You must take the exam that corresponds to your enrolled section.

 

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.

 

Final exams:

Saturday, 1 May 2004, 1400 – 1700 (for the 9–9:50 AM Section)

Friday, 30 April 2004, 0900 – 1200 (for the 10 – 10:50 AM Section)

 

 

 

Workshops: The workshops (PHYS 142W), which consist of a series of labs, are a formally separate course, and my answers to questions you may have about things going on in 142W will be generally unsatisfactory. You must be registered for a 142W section independent of your registration for this course. You must attend the section’s 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 Sunday morning. You will access and answer the questions electronically, via https://www.webassign.net/uva/login.html. 

(The homework assignments are listed below.) Online instructions for webassign are available here. Your username is your UVA user ID; mine, for instance, would be “pmf2r”. Your password is your standard Uva computing password. You have more time for the first homework set and you can have as many as 10 submissions for this set alone. All subsequent sets will allow you only 5 submissions. Make sure that you pay attention to the specific requirements of webassign when algebraic or other symbolic information is required.

 

 

Getting help on the homeworks:

- The TA’s for PHYS 142E will have the hours listed below, and they will be available for help with the homework or lecture material. During these periods, which will last 50 min each, you can go see problems done for 30 minutes, and the TA’s will address specific issues associated with the homework assignments for the remaining 20 min.

- The engineering school also provides tutoring assistance. Consult the Dean’s office for specific hours.

- I have office hours as posted above. Students are welcome to come by during these office hours, or at other times by appointment, but with over 200 students in each section, I will unfortunately not be able to give much personal attention to any individual. The TA’s should be your first resource for help with the material, and I should be your resource for larger issues that the TA’s cannot resolve. For the same reason, I cannot 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. 14 Wed.             1                              1-5                   Physical quantities and their description

#2.               Jan. 16 Fri.                 1                              6                      Vectors

#3.               Jan. 19 Mon.             2                              1-6                   One-dimensional kinematics and free fall

#4.               Jan. 21 Wed.             3                              1-2                   Two-dimensional kinematics

#5.               Jan. 22 Fri.                 3                              3-4                   Projectile motion

#6.               Jan. 26 Mon.             3                              5-6                   Circular motion and relative motion

                                                                                                                Newton's Laws

#7.               Jan. 28 Wed.             4                              1-3                   Newton's Laws

#8.               Jan. 30 Fri.                 4                              4-6                   Using Newton's laws

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

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

                                                                                                                Work and Energy

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

#12.             Feb. 9 Mon.               6                              4-5                   Work and power

#13.             Feb. 11 Wed.             7                              1                      Conservative forces & potential energy

#14.             Feb. 13 Fri.                 7                              2                      The conservation of energy

#15.             Feb. 16 Mon.             7                              3-4                   Energy and allowed motion

                                                                                                                Linear momentum

#16.             Feb. 18 Wed.             8                              1-2                   Momentum and its conservation

Exam I  (Wed Evening 18 Feb) covers through session #12 [Section 1 Scores, Section 2 Scores] [Section 1 Solutions, Section 2 Solutions]

#17.             Feb. 20 Fri.                 8                              3-5                   Collisions

#18.             Feb. 23 Mon.             8                              3-5                        "

#19.             Feb. 25 Wed.             8                              6-7                   Center of mass and rocket motion

                                                                                                                Rotations

#20.             Feb. 27 Fri.                 9                              1-2                   Rotational kinematics

#21.             Mar. 1 Mon.              9                              3-4                   Rotational inertia

#22.             Mar. 3 Wed.              9                              5-6                   Torque and angular momentum

#23.             Mar. 5 Fri.                  10                            1-3                   angular momentum & rotational dynamics

March 6-March 14, spring recess

#24.             Mar. 15 Mon.            10                            4                      Conservation of angular momentum

#25.             Mar. 17 Wed.            10                            5-6; 8              Work and energy; precession

                                                                                                                More applications of Newton's Laws

#26.             Mar. 19 Fri.                11                            1-4                   Statics

#27.             Mar. 22 Mon.            11                            “                         “

#28.             Mar. 24 Wed.            12                            1-4                   Gravitation

Exam II  (Wed evening 24 March) covers primarily sessions #13-# 12 [Section 1 Scores, Section 2 Scores] [Section 1 Solutions, Section 2 Solutions]

#29.             Mar. 26 Fri.                12                            5-7                       "

#30.             Mar. 29 Mon.            13                            1-3                   Simple harmonic motion

#31.             Mar. 31 Wed.            13                            4-6                   Applications of harmonic motion

#32.             Apr. 2 Fri.                  13                            7-8                   Damped and driven harmonic motion

                                                                                        Thermal physics

#33.             Apr. 5 Mon.              17                            1-4                   Temperature and ideal gases

#34.             Apr. 7 Wed.              21                            4                      thermal expansion

#35.             Apr. 9 Fri.                  18                            1-2                   Thermal transformations & heat flow

#36.             Apr. 12 Mon.            18                            3-5                   The first law of thermodynamics

#37.             Apr. 14 Wed.            18                            6-7                   Internal energy & ideal gases

#38.             Apr. 16 Fri.                19                            1-3                   kinetic theory of pressure & temperature

#39.             Apr. 19 Mon.            19                            4-6                   distributions in gases

#40.             Apr. 21 Wed.            20                            1-3                   Engines and the second law of thermo

#41.             Apr. 23 Fri.                20                            4-6                   Entropy and the second law of thermo

#42.             Apr. 26 Mon.            20                            7                      Entropy and disorder

 

 

 

Homework assignments. All problem sets are due at 5 AM Sunday. Once the deadline for one week’s worth is passed, the next assignment will become available to you.

 

HW #                     date                                                        problems

1                              Sunday, 25 Jan                                     1-5, 21, 70; 2-15, 26, 60, 80

2                              Sunday, 1 Feb                                       3-6, 12, 33, 59, 61; 4-12, 22

3                              Sunday, 8 Feb                                       4-33, 58; 5-8, 28, 44, 51, 87

4                              Sunday, 15 Feb                                     6-1, 37, 40, 54, 68, 92

5                              Sunday, 22 Feb                                     7-13, 27, 39, 47, 56, 69

6                              Sunday, 29 Feb                                     8-7, 24, 32, 53, 62, 73, 88

7                              Sunday, 14 March                                9-10, 20, 25, 46, 51, 70

8                              Sunday, 21 March                                10-8, 17, 25, 32, 40, 47, 54

9                              Sunday, 28 March                                TBA

10                            Sunday, 4 April                                    TBA

11                            Sunday, 11 April                                  TBA

12                            Sunday, 18 April                                  TBA

13                            Sunday, 25 April                                  TBA

 

 

Teaching Assistants:

Brandon Craver, e-mail bjc2j

Kai Shen, e-mail ks4mf

Charles Miller, e-mail cam9j

Xiaodong Zhang, e-mail xz4a

Brent Vandevender, e-mail bav9s

Max Bychkov, e-mail mab3ed

 

The problem session hours will be as follows:

Monday 3:30 and 4:30, room 205 physics bldg

Tuesday 3:30, 4:30, 5:30, 6:30, room 203 physics bldg

Wednesday 5:00, 6:00, 7:00, 8:00, room 203

Thursday 3:30, room 203, and 7:00, room 205