Home,Syllabus, Access Homework, Sample midterm from PHYS
Dr. Marcus Alfred
Thirkield Hall, room 202
202-806-6258
bisonphysics@yahoo.com
Office Hours: 5-6pm, M,T,W,R
COURSE DESCRIPTION
The topics we will cover include much of introductory electrostatics, magnetostatics, electrodynamics, simple AC and DC circuits, some geometrical optics and some wave phenomena. The class will include lecture and discussion.
COURSE GOALS
Students should experience phenomena describing and/or motivating the laws of physics or physics models
Students will understand the motivation and quantification of the laws of physics
Students will master the construction of simple physics models from fundamental laws, standard techniques and standard methods
Students will understand physics as a science
Students will understand research process
Students will connect science class work to research on campus
Students will become aware of research opportunities
Students will connect the science & engineering work of African Americans to a broader African American cultural experience
COURSE OBJECTIVES
Students will define physics terms
Students will derive common physics expressions
Students will recognize common physics methods and techniques
Students will list example phenomena of physics concepts
Students will apply concepts to simple models
Students will construct simple theoretical models and potential experiments
Students will describe applications, phenomena, and models in terms of physics
Students will describe problems in terms of scientific method – obs, question, theory & model, experiment, pub)
Students will list African American HU researchers, topics, and potential internship choices
Students will attend several physics seminars
Students will participate in weekly peer questions
Students will attend weekly HU research lecture (10mins on Wednesdays)
Students will attend weekly ethics discussion in lecture
COURSE OUTLINE
Electric Force and Electric Charge
The Electric Field
Gauss's Law
Electrostatic Potential and Energy
Capacitors and Dielectrics
Currents and Ohm's law
DC circuits
Magnetic Force and field
Charges and currents in magnetic field
electromagnetic induction
AC circuits
EM waves
Reflection, refraction, and optics
Interference and diffraction
INSTRUCTIONAL METHODS
Challenging questions
Short answer exercises
Conceptual peer to peer exercises
Guest Researcher seminars & mini-lectures
Demonstrations
COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND POLICIES
Course prerequisite or corequisite: Math 156, Math 157, PHYS 013, PHYS 024
Attendance: Attendance is not mandatory but highly recommended. Many quiz and homework problems will be based on work and examples done in class.
Homework: Homework will be assigned each week on a Friday. It will be due in recitation. Each assignment will be approximately 10 problems. Each homework assignment will be approximately 10 points. THERE IS NO LATE HOMEWORK!
Quizzes: There will be quizzes every Friday during the semester. Quizzes will be based on basic (plug in) and sample problems.
Exams: The midterm exam is worth 20% of your grade. The final exam is worth 30% of your grade. The midterm is on Friday, 10/13/17 in class. The final is on Friday, 12/8/17 from 11am - 1pm in room 300. All exams are closed book and no electronic devices are allowed. Bring only a pen and pencil.
Grades: A student’s grades in the class are based on a composition of 20% quizzes, 30% homework, and 50% for the exams.
Cheating: Cheating of any kind will not be tolerated. Please refer to the Howard University Handbook (H - book) for university guidelines on cheating. No talking under any circumstances is permitted during an exam. If help is needed simply contact the instructor. In addition, only a pencil is required for all exams; notebooks, calculators, and scratch paper will not be needed.
Good news: your textbook for this class is available for free online, in web view and PDF format! You can also purchase a print version, if you prefer, via the campus bookstore or from OpenStax on Amazon.com.
You can use whichever formats you want. Web view is recommended -- the responsive design works seamlessly on any device. If you buy on Amazon, make sure you use the link on your book page on openstax.org so you get the official OpenStax print version. (Simple printouts sold by third parties on Amazon are not verifiable and not as high-quality.)
University Physics Volume 2 from OpenStax, ISBN 193816816X, www.openstax.org/details/university-physics-volume-2
University Physics Volume 3 from OpenStax, ISBN 1938168186, www.openstax.org/details/university-physics-volume-3
General Policies: All lectures and recitations may be videotaped and NOT made available to the general public. Also, turn off your cell phones in recitation. It is a distraction to your instructors and your fellow students.
Howard University is committed to providing an educational environment that is accessible to all students. In accordance with this commitment, students in need of accommodations due to a disability should contact the Office of the Dean for Special Student Services for verification and determination of reasonable accommodations as soon as possible after admission to the University, or at the beginning of each academic semester.
TENTATIVE COURSE SCHEDULE
WEEK 1: Welcome, Electric Force and Charge
WEEK 2: Electric Fields
WEEK 3: Gauss's Law
WEEK 4: Electrostatic Potential and Energy
WEEK 5: Capacitors and Dielectrics
WEEK 6: Currents and Ohms's law, circuits
WEEK 7: Magnetic Force and Fields
WEEK 8: Charges and Currents in Magnetic Fields
WEEK 9: Induction
WEEK 10: AC circuits, EM waves
WEEK 11: Reflection, Refraction, and Optics
WEEK 12: Interference
WEEK 13: Diffraction
HOMEWORK HELP
Help with homework is available most days in room 207 in the physics building from 5-7pm.