Website for PHYS101 - Elementary Physics I - TR
Content of this Site:
If you need help, I highly recommend you go to the Physics
Learning Center
If you think you might need a tutor
for more in-depth help with this
class, check out this
web page.
... and
here
are 8 important nuggets of wisdom for all of you
Some really neat and useful Physics Web sites to look at - highly
recommended:
This site will be continuously updated
during the semester - come back often.
Dec-14: Your
grades have been posted on LEO online - go check them out! If
you want to know how I graded the exams, here
is my guide which I followed faithfully... ;-)
Dec-12: This
is it - we're done! Here is the solution
to our Final Exam. Have wonderful holidays!
Dec-7: Our
last class today was a review of the whole
semester in the form of one "monster-quiz". Here
it is for your review. All postings should now be up-to-date.
Don't forget to bring paper, pen/pencil, calculator and the formula
sheet Part 1 and Part 2 for the Final next Tuesday at
8:30.
Dec-1: I
updated our formula sheet and posted Part 2 which contains all the
important information from electromagnetism (chapters 22-25).
Nov-30: I
have posted this week's lecture notes to help with your last HW
problem. Yup, the last one... it's getting time to start thinking about
the...
FINAL: Tuesday, December 12,
8:30 - 11:30 in our regular class room OCNPS200 (so you can sleep in
1/2 hour longer than usual). It'll be the same as the Midterm exams (no
books, notes etc. but my formula sheet Part
1 and Part 2), only a bit
longer (but you
have 3 times as much time!) The exam is cumulative - it will cover ALL
of the material for the WHOLE semester (chapters 1-10 and 22 -25).
How should you study? Go over
lecture notes, previous HW sets and their solutions, midterms and their
solutions, and each chapter
in the book. Pay especially attention to the "Check yourself" boxes
(try to solve all of them) and try to answer the "Review Questions" at
the end of each chapter (if you get stuck, try to find the answer in
the text). Also, make use of the online material at Physics
Place - especially the tutorials (but also the interactive
figures and quizzes). If you realize that you didn't understand a key
concept, ask for help (fellow class mates, TAs, Learning Center staff,
myself). Use the Formula Sheet (Part 1 and Part 2) and the "final quiz" for a
concise summary of what's important.
Nov-21: IMPORTANT
ANNOUNCEMENT:
Course Evaluations are submitted on-line. According to University records,
this course will end soon, and therefore is available for students
to evaluate. The information gathered through the Course Evaluation System
is used as part of the evaluation of instruction at Old Dominion
University. Students are notified via email that they can evaluate your course,
however, I would also like to remind you to participate in helping improve
academics at the University. Students can log into the Course Evaluation
System by using their University email account-id and password. The link is
available from the University Home Page:
www.odu.edu -> Current Students -> Course Evaluation System (under Academic Resources)
ALL EVALUATIONS ARE ANONYMOUS.
Please take part in this very important feedback (especially if you have something nice to say ;-)
Nov-13: Here is my solution for
our 2nd
midterm exam (test).
Nov-2: I created a little SELF-QUIZ
where you can check whether
you are well prepared for the 2nd midterm exam - have fun!
Oct-31: WOW!
Our three PHYS101 teams did a (NOT-)smashing job catching pumpkins at
the great annual pumpkin drop!
All 3 entries looked real good, and 2 of the 3 actually caught the
pumpkins unharmed! The first catcher to go was built by Janay Sullivan,
Anwar Alzalzalah and Miranda Felton - see their happy smiles on
the picture at left. (Teams, don't forget to turn in your answers to
the "pumpkin catcher quiz" to get full credit).
Finally, to get into the proper Halloween mood, watch a horror flick tonight on
PBS at 8:00 p.m. Happy Halloween!
MIDTERM SOLUTION: Click here to see the solution for our first
midterm exam (test)
Oct-12: Look at an article in Physics Today for a discussion
of what was really behind the controversy between Leipnitz, Descarte,
Newton and others about the "vis viva".
Sep-20: NOVA on PBS - If
you missed "Einstein's Big Idea"
on PBS (WHRO) last night, here
is the schedule for additional screenings. Also, check out "Newton's Dark Secrets"
- gives you a different slant on the 3 laws and the man himself!
Sep-19: Use the "Physics Place" to learn
more about forces and vectors, and practice your understanding!
Sep-14: Test your
mastery of
the concepts of force and gravity. Practice the "Lunar
Lander"!
Aug-31: Please note:
when it says on our Schedule that you
should solve "Ex. 1.2" for next Tuesday, you
are supposed to read this as "End-of-Chapter Exercise 2
in Chapter 1 of our
textbook
(Hewitt)" and so on. "Pr. 3.4" means "Problem 4 in Chapter 3". Et cetera...
1) Is this course for me?
The purpose of this course is to gain a fundamental understanding how
Physics
can describe the world around us with an amazingly small collection of
concepts and models.
We will develop some very abstract ideas (energy, momentum, force) that
have precise meanings (as opposed to the loose everyday meanings we
associate
with some of these words). We will also have to "unlearn" some of the
"obvious"
things we thought we knew about the physical world and how it works.
Finally,
to demonstrate the relationship between the abstract concepts and
models
and everyday phenomena or technical applications, we will have to study
a variety of examples and observations and solve problems.
It helps if you have some knowledge of math (high school geometry) and
had some science courses in high school as well. Even more importantly,
you should have some curiosity about science and how it can explain the
natural world.
If you are fairly well prepared and ready to commit
substantial
time and effort to this course, you should be rewarded with a deeper
understanding
of the world around you (not to mention a reasonable grade). In that
case,
this course is definitely for you!
2) Suggestions for Homework
Homework will be posted on the schedule.
Some general suggestions:
- Typically, HW problems are keyed towards new "tools" covered in
the
chapter
they are attached to. If a problem in Chapter 7 asks you to calculate
the
speed of an object after falling in Earth's gravitational field,
chances
are you should use "Energy" 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 and "check yourself" questions
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).
- For extra practice,
you should do additional problems/exercises (and the "Review
Questions"). Pick challenging ones, try to get as far
as possible on your own,
and then ask me or a Learning Center staffer (or a fellow student) for
help where you need it.
- I can not do more than one sample problem every now and then 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.
- 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.
Get involved: Tell
me
(via email, office hour, note, in the learning center) what you would
like
me (or the TA) to do or change to make the
learning easier for you. However, don't expect miracles: We can't
simply
reduce the material to be covered by a large fraction, so be prepared
to
give us trade-off options ("do more of this and less of that").
Remember,
if you never go to office hours, the Learning Center, etc.,
we can't help you.
3) Suggestions on
how to prepare for exams
Many of the suggestions above for the homework also apply for the
preparation
for a midterm or final exam (e.g., doing sample problems, following the
examples in the text very carefully, etc.).
In particular, the best
preparation
for exams is to do both your regular homework and maybe a couple extra
"exercises" every week. But to get anything out of that, you really
have
to work hard at getting the answer on your own. Don't expect your
fellow classmates or the learning center to "just do
the
problems for you". Not only is this against my intentions, but it also
deprives you of the learning process. Even if you don't get the final
answer
(right), if you at least have made a serious attempt, you will
understand
the correct solution better and be able to see where you may have
troubles
or weak areas.
And now some other "good advice":
- When you study the book, focus on the summaries at the end
of each
chapter and the "Review Questions". Make sure you understand
the terms listed (read the relevant part of the
chapter
in the book if in doubt) and find at least one
example
in the text that illustrates each concept.
- Go over past homework problems. Often an exam problem is just a
variation
of a previous homework problem. Try to remember (or reconstruct) which
concepts where used and how you could tell those were the relevant ones.
- Take a look at the formula
sheet (Part 1 and Part 2)
handed out for the exams. It contains equations and formulae that
you might need during the exam.
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 101 may be needed to answer a given question.
The
final exam covers all material equally.
Finally, don't wait until the last moment. Spend a couple hours each
week
reviewing material and maybe 1-2 hours each day before the exam to
prepare
yourself. This is more efficient than cramming for one night (not only
will you be tired, you will also forget everything more quickly again).
Recent research shows that you learn more if you make sure you sleep
enough during the night!
Click here for the Syllabus.
Solutions to
previous Homework Problem Sets and Quizzes
Lecture Notes
- Week 1
- plus the two URLs I used during the lecture: Powers of 10 and
The Universe Adventure
- Week 2
- Week 3
- Week 4
- Week 5
- Week 6 - no slides, but remember (and study) the examples we did
in class: MAGLEV train at rest and in motion; Ball falling down (with
and without parachute), bouncing on floor and moving back up; why do we
have airbags in cars?; How do a (tent) pole under compression and a
rope under tension work together to balance sideway forces?; and the "Week 5 in-class quiz".
- "Week 6" - really what we did in class on
October 12 (we are 1 class period behind).
- "Week 7" - really covered October 17.
- Week 8
- Week 9, also here is the
website I showed in lecture about the tidal force due to a black
hole
- Week 10
- Week 11
- Week 12-13
- Week 14
- and last: Week 15
Return to S. Kuhn Homepage.