Website for PHYS232 - University Physics II

Electricity, Magnetism and Optics (Instructor: S. Kuhn)

Content of this Site:

• Announcements
• Syllabus
• Schedule
• Solutions to previous Homework problems, Midterms and Quiz 12
• Lecture notes
• Collection of Equations for Exams

Some really neat Physics Web sites to look at if you want to find out where all the excitement is:

• Companion Site for the new edition of our textbook
• 100 years of American Society of Physics
• and their celebration last spring in Atlanta
• The Internet Pilot to Physics
• Physics Success Stories and other public information
• Martindale's Physics
• ... and a whole bunch more

Announcements

FINAL Exam

Have a relaxing Hannukah/Christmas/Ramadan break, and good luck for your next semester!

Need a Tutor?

Common WebAssign. problems and woes:

• If you still have problems with logging in or submitting homework: See our Webassign manager, Chris Behre, in room 124 (ground floor hallway in the Physics building) and/or send him an email  (cbehre@physics.odu.edu) describing your problem and giving him all your login information. He will be available every weekday from 8:30 a.m. till 1:00 p.m.
• Important rules one can easily forget: NEVER use the "back" button on your browser; there are (nearly) always appropriate links on the WebAssign pages themselves. For instance, after reviewing your last submission, click on "Return to Assignments Summary" to leave it unchanged. You must have cookies and Javascript enabled on your browser. Quit the browser once you're done with Webassign.
• If you have a problem with the homework assignments, you may click on the "helpdesk" link to describe it. However, you must send me an email to make sure I am aware of your problem - otherwise I cannot guarantee a timely response.
• How to get the answer right: You should always derive the final answer algebraically, in terms of all the input variables and parameters (give them descriptive names/letters if the problem doesn't do that already). Then look at the Webassign version of the problem and write down the actual values of all those variables and parameters. Then, all you have to do is enter them into your calculator for the correct answer. Check your math! Note that you need to carry along AT LEAST 3 digits of each input and intermediate result to get a <1% final accuracy; better use 4 digits. It is VASTLY simpler if your calculator has some memory locations where you can STORE intermediate results instead of jotting them down and re-entering them. Even better, use a calculator which displays all intermediate results, or one where you can enter the whole formula, or use a spreadsheet or a numerical program like MathCad etc. If you are absolutely sure that you got the right formula, but Webassign still doesn't accept your numerical answer, check one more time for common mistakes (wrong sign - remember that a "magnitude" is always positive, wrong units, wrong exponent or wrong format) and then send me an email describing your problem. I can look at your submission and give you a hint if needed. It is useless to try and submit the same answer twice - if Webassign rejected it the first time, it will not change its mind!

Change in office hour locations

1) Bookmarks

2) Suggestions for Homework

• Typically, HW problems are keyed towards new "tools" covered in the chapter they are attached to. If a problem in Chapter 23 asks you to calculate the electric field in some spherical arrangement of charges, chances are you must use "Gauss' law" to solve this problem (which is the chapter title).
• If you don't have enough time to thoroughly study the book, at least make sure you go over several of the examples treated in detail for each chapter. Try to "think ahead", by covering up the "solution" and first trying your own hand at it. If you are really pressed for time (HW deadline), try to find examples that look similar to the problem at hand and see which tools are applied how (and why).
• Use the Recitation Sections to your advantage. Stop the instructor if there is a step that you didn't understand - he is there to help you where your difficulties are. Of course, this works best if you come prepared with specific questions and/or sample problems.
• Try to do some additional problems over the weekend. You can assume that the first 1-2 "exercises" after each section heading are simple applications of the main result(s) of that section, so those are good training tools. Choose one which has an answer in the back of the book (so you can check yourself), then try to do it as far as you get, and then ask the recitation instructor for help where you need it.
• I can not do more than a few sample problems in class. However, make sure you benefit at least from the ones I do by interrupting me (yell at my back if necessary) if I'm doing something you can't follow. I'd rather have you understand ONE worked-out example than getting only a glimpse of several.
• If you don't remember which "tools" you really have, take a look at the formula sheet handed out for the exams. This is a very condensed collection of all the really important formulae. Of course, you still need to figure out which one is the right one to apply (sometimes, there is more than 1 possibility).
• Doing problems is not easy, but you will get better at it with practice. Unfortunately, there is no shortcut or a simple collection of "recipies" - that's why Physics is a fundamtental science.
• Often it helps to work with other people and/or in the Learning Center. Bouncing ideas and questions of each other may clear things up - and there's often someone experienced around to ask if you really get stuck.

3) Suggestions on how to prepare for exams

• When you study the book, focus on the "important concepts" at the beginning and the summary at the end of each chapter. Make sure you understand the methods and concepts listed there (read the relevant part of the chapter in the book or my lecture notes if in doubt) and find at least one example in the text that illustrates each concept/technique.
• Go over past homework problems. Often an exam problem is just a variation of a previous homework problem (e.g., Gausses law applied to a cylindrical charge distribution instead of a spherical one). Try to remember (or reconstruct) which concepts where used and how you could tell those were the relevant ones.
• Again, take a look at the formula sheet handed out for the exams. It contains practically all equations and formulae that you might need during the exam (and a few more general, "upper level" ones). Try to recollect where and how each of these equations were introduced, and what situations they apply to (again, look for examples in the book).
• Remember, midterm exams will cover the chapters in the book covered in class up to the day before the exam, beginning with the first chapter treated after the previous midterm (for the second). However, some "background knowledge" from all of 232 (and, indeed, 231) may be needed to answer a given question. The final exam covers all material equally.

Click here for the Syllabus.

Solutions to previous Homework Problem Sets

Transparencies (Lecture Notes)