Physics
2425-A3
Physics for Engineers I
Blinn College – Bryan
Campus
Spring
2008
Course Information Sheet
Course Description:
A course primarily
designed for students majoring in engineering and physical sciences. Topics
covered include classical mechanics, heat and waves.
Prerequisite:
MATH
2413 or continuing enrollment therein.
Core Curriculum Course:
This is a
course in the 42-hour Core Curriculum of Blinn College. As such, students will
develop proficiency in appropriate intellectual competencies, exemplary
educational objectives and general perspectives. The URL of the Blinn College
core curriculum web site is: http://www.blinn.edu/corecurriculum.htm
Textbooks
and other materials:
- Required Textbook: Young and Freedman, University Physics,
12th edition.
- Required Homework
System: Students must purchase an access key to
Mastering Physics, the textbook publisher’s online homework system. This is bundled with the textbook at the
Blinn bookstore. Alternatively, the
access key can be purchased online at http://www.masteringphysics.com/. Be sure to select the textbook above
(with proper edition) to pair with the Mastering Physics. The Mastering Physics Course ID for this
section is: BLINN2425A3SP08
.
- Required Laboratory Manual: Each student
must print out a copy of the labs for the semester. It is in the form of a single pdf file and can be found here.
- Scientific Calculator: Students
must have a proper scientific calculator with them for every class.
- Web resources:
Lecture
notes, problems
with solutions, labs,
the exam
formula list and previous
exams with answers.
Course
Objectives and Student Learning Outcomes:
Upon
completing this course students should have a grasp of the listed concepts and
be able to solve problems using calculus and these physics concepts. Lecture and laboratory work will focus on the
following learning outcomes:
- Be able to define displacement,
velocity and acceleration in words, symbols (using calculus) and
graphically. From the definitions of velocity and acceleration, be able to
derive the equations which describe the motion of a particle with constant
acceleration in one and two dimensions.
- Understand and be able to use
vector analysis in solving problems in physics
- Be able to define work and
mechanical energy. Understand the
work energy theorem, the definition of potential energy and the principle
of conservation of mechanical energy.
- Understand and be able to
describe both uniform and non-uniform circular motion.
- Understand the concepts of
impulse and momentum, the principle of conservation of linear momentum and
the distinction between elastic and inelastic collisions
- Understand and be able to
describe the bulk motion of a system of particles and the definition of
the center of mass.
- Understand the concepts of
rotational kinematics.
- Understand rotational dynamics,
specifically torque, angular momentum and its conservation, and the
rotational form of the second law of motion.
- Understand the conditions for
static equilibrium.
- Understand the zeroth law of thermodynamics, temperature and
temperature scales.
- Understand heat, thermodynamic
work, first and second laws of thermodynamics and entropy.
- Understand the basics of wave
motion, including a description of harmonic waves.
- Understand the basics of wave
motion, including a description of harmonic waves. Understand the examples of waves on a
string, sound waves and standing waves. Overall objectives for the course
include the following:
By
the end of the course the student will maintain a minimum grade of D
(60%) for completion of the course. This grade will include both lecture and
laboratory components.
Laboratory
work will be chosen to reinforce the above lecture topics. The student will
demonstrate in the laboratory an understanding of the experiment through
writing a report that analyzes the data and interprets the results.
Class Policies:
- Attendance:
The
College District believes that class attendance is essential for student
success; therefore, students are required to promptly and regularly attend
all their classes. Each class meeting
builds the foundation for subsequent class meetings. Without full participation and regular
class attendance, students shall find themselves at a severe disadvantage
for achieving success in college.
Class participation shall constitute at least ten percent of the
final course grade. It is the reponsibility of each faculty member, in consultation
with the division chair, to determine how participation is achieved in his
or her class. Faculty will require
students to attend class regulary and will keep
a record of attendance from the first day of class or the first day the
student’s name appears on the roster through final examinations. If a student accumulates one week’s
worth of unexcused absences during the semester, he or she will be sent an
e-mail by the College requiring the student to contact his or her
instructor and schedule a conference immediately to discuss his or her
attendance issues. Should the student accumulate two
weeks’ worth of unexcused absences he or she will be administratively
withdrawn from class.
There are three forms of excused absence
officially designated by Blinn College:
(1) observance of religious holy days:
The student should notify his or her instructor not later than the 15th
day of the semester concerning the specific date(s) that the student will be
absent for any religious holy day(s); (2) representing Blinn College at an
official institutional function and (3) official involvement in a high school
activity for “dual credit” students.
Other excuses will be considered and may be considered excused at the
instructor’s discretion, with documentation.
Missing lecture
or lab counts as one absence. If a student misses both
lecture and lab periods for a given day, this counts as only one
absence.
On a Monday/Wednesday or Tuesday/Thursday
class, two weeks represents four classes.
Four or more unexcused absences spread throughout the semester will
result in the student being administratively withdrawn from class.
- Dropping: If a student chooses to drop the course,
it is that student’s responsibility to complete a drop order at the Office
of Enrollment Services. Failure to
do so could result in a grade of F in the course.
- Student E-mails:
Students are assigned an E-mail address that must be checked regularly for
official Blinn communications and course information. The address is of the form: Firstname.LastnameLast2digitsBlinnID@buc.blinn.edu .
Information about accessing this account can be found at: www.blinn.edu/acadtech/studentemail/
.
- Eating and drinking are not allowed during class or
laboratory work.
- Cell phones and Electronic Devices:
Cell phones and all
electronic devices are to be turned off when in the classroom.
- Dishonesty Statement:
Blinn
College does not
tolerate cheating, plagiarism or other acts of dishonesty. Definitions of these acts and procedures
for dealing with them are described in “Scholastic Dishonesty” in the Blinn
College Student Handbook, copies of which are available at the
information desk in the administration building.
- Civility Statement:
Members of the Blinn
College community,
which includes faculty, staff and students, are expected to act honestly
and responsibly in all aspects of campus life. Blinn College
holds all members accountable for their actions and words. Therefore, all
members should commit themselves to behave in a manner that recognizes
personal respect and demonstrates concern for the personal dignity,
rights, and freedoms of every member of the College community, including
respect for College property and the physical and intellectual property of
others. Civility applies to attire
as well as language and behavior.
Please dress appropriately for the academic classroom and
laboratory.
If
a student is asked to leave the classroom because of uncivil behavior, the
student may not return to that class until he or she arranges a conference with
the instructor. It is the student’s responsibility to arrange for this
conference.
- ADA Policy:
Students with physical or learning disabilities must contact the
Office of Disability Services (Room 165, Science Bldg.) to receive
accommodation on exams and assignments.
The Office of Disability Services will provide the student with an
accommodation letter specifying the accommodations that are to be provided
to the student. The student must
present this letter to the instructor in order to receive
accommodation. Accommodation is not
retroactive.The above requirements and policies
are discussed more fully in the Blinn College Student Handbook
which, by reference, is incorporated into this information. Please obtain and read.
Course
Requirements and Criteria for Grading:
There
will be three major exams, several unannounced quizzes, labs, online homework and
a cumulative final.
- Major Exams and Final: The three
major exams and final will be closed book/closed note tests. A formula
list will be provided; the exam
formula list can be found at the web site.
- In-class: The in-class grade will consist of 10
point engagement exercises (usually involving Mathematica)
and 30 point quizzes. There will be
no make-up quizzes or engagement exercises, for any reason. At least 1/4
of the quiz grades and 1/4 of the exercises will be dropped. Quizzes will
typically be open book / open note.
After dropping, all the remaining quiz and engagement grades will
be added and rescaled to 100 points.
- Credit for Work: On the major exams, final and all
quizzes, all work must be shown and clearly documented for any
show-your-work problem. The
starting point in problem solving must
be some expression on the official exam
formula list for the class.
Memorized intermediate expressions will receive no credit unless
their derivation is included.
- Labs: Labs will be held without being
previously scheduled. There will be no make-up labs, for any reason. Only
students who attend laboratory may get credit for the lab. At least 1/4 of the lab grades will be
dropped.
- Online Homework: We will use the textbook publisher’s
online homework system. Each
assignment will have a due date.
One assignment will be dropped, the one that gives the student the
maximum benefit. The final point
total for the semester will be rescaled to 100 points.
- Calculation of Final Grade:
|
Three Major Exams
|
15
% each
|
|
A
|
90
– 100 %
|
|
In-class
|
10
%
|
|
B
|
80
– 89 %
|
|
Labs
|
10
%
|
|
C
|
70
– 79 %
|
|
Online Homework
|
10
%
|
|
D
|
60
– 69 %
|
|
Final Exam
|
25
%
|
|
F
|
≤
59 %
|
·
There will be a curve given for each major exam
and the final. The curve will be based
on the performance of the class relative to the expectations of the instructor. The curve will be a simple function that
converts the raw grade to the standard scale.
·
The grade for a particular student will be
calculated as follows: All of the grades
(after curving exams) for that student will be combined using the weights given
above and then compared with the standard curve also given above. Some additional consideration will be given
to partially relieve a poor on one of the exams including the final; this will
be done with a formula that is equivalent to dropping half of a student’s worst
exam grade. For example: Suppose a
student is below an 80 for their final average and their worst exam grade is a
54 (26 points below the B-line); half of that difference (13 points) will be
added to that test for purposes of calculating the final grade.
- Class Schedule: The order of the chapters is shown
at the web site under the Lecture notes section. The test dates, shown below, will be
rigidly held to.
|
Test 1
|
Tuesday,
February 12
|
|
Test 2
|
Tuesday,
March 18
|
|
Last day to drop with a W
|
Thursday,
April 10
|
|
Test 3
|
Tuesday,
April 15
|
|
Final
|
3:15 PM,
G233, Thursday, May 1
|