PHYSICS 211-01 COURSE DESCRIPTION FOR SPRING QUARTER, 2009

INSTRUCTOR: Dr. John E. Poling, Science E38, voice mail (ext 61583), e-mail (jpoling@calpoly.edu), web page (http://www.calpoly.edu/~jpoling).

TEXT: Modern Physics, J. Taylor, C. Zafiratos, and M. Dubson, 2nd Ed.

OFFICE HOURS: I encourage you to come to my office hours for help with the course whenever you are having difficulty.

EXAMS: I will give you three midterm exams (approximately 60 points each), and a final exam (approximately 90 points), for a total of approximately 270 possible exam points. The midterm exams will probably be given on 4/17, 5/8, and 6/1. The final exam will be given at the time listed in the final exam schedule. Each midterm exam will have questions similar to the homework that was assigned, and similar to the example problems in the chapters. There will be a few conceptual questions in addition to the problems. If you are able to work most of the assigned homework problems and text examples by the time an exam is given, you should do reasonably well on the exam. The final exam will have a small amount of new material, but most of the final exam will be a review the three midterm exams, providing an strong incentive for you to go over those exams carefully to figure out questions and problems which you got wrong.

You should bring your calculator to each exam. You should also bring a single three inch by five inch card of notes and equations to each midterm, and four cards to the final exam (the three cards you made for the midterms and a card for the midterm part of the final). I provide constants but I do not provide equations during an exam. The cards must be no larger than three by five inches (I may bring a scissors) and must be hand written (you may use both sides). I do not allow photocopied or computer printed cards. Space will be provided on the exam papers for you to answer the questions and work the problems. Forgetting your calculator or you note card/s will cause you a very serious handicap. Try not to put yourself into that position, and if you do please let me know about it before you begin writing the exam. I will probably allow you to get your materials and begin the exam late. Once you begin writing an exam you will need to finish the exam.

If you must miss an exam for some good reason, you must notify me before the scheduled exam time. You may notify me in person, by a call to my office voice mail, or by e-mail. You must also communicate with me before the next meeting of the class so that we can decide when and where you will take the makeup exam. I will offer you a makeup exam only if you follow these rules, and I will offer you only one makeup exam during the quarter.

If you are having significant health or personal problems which may interfere with your work this quarter, please communicate with me early in the quarter. I may be able to help you in some way with respect to successfully completing the work for this class.

HOMEWORK: I will not collect or grade the assigned homework. Answers to all odd exercises and problems are provided in the back of the text. I will provide brief solutions for all assigned exercises and problems on the web page I make for this course, and these solutions will be available while you are working on the homework. However, if you don’t actually try to work the assigned homework first on your own you are unlikely to be successful in this class. If you are having difficulty with a problem you can take a quick look at my solution on the web as a hint to get you going again - then try to finish the problem on your own. Just reading through my solutions will not do you much good - you need to struggle through these problems as much on your own as possible. If you are having difficulty with many of the homework problems, you should visit me during my office hours or you should go to the learning center for help. You can view the learning center schedule and other useful information on the Physics Department home page.

A few students each quarter tell me the reason they are receiving a low grade is that they did not put a real effort into doing the homework. They usually say something like, “You warned me but I didn’t do the work - this is my fault.” Please try not to let that happen to you.

(over)

If you are having serious difficulty with this course you should consider getting a tutor. The Physics Department office keeps a list of Physics Majors who tutor.

ATTENDANCE: I will take attendance and I will give you 12 extra credit points if you miss no more than three lectures. These extra credit points are a gift from me for good attendance. Each class missed beyond three will cost you 4 of the extra credit points. These are true extra credit points. If you plan to earn all 12 points I suggest that you mentally add 4 points to each of your three midterm exam scores.

The first three lectures you miss will not be excused for any reason, even if you have a documented reason for missing. If you miss more than three lectures and can provide formal written documentation of an acceptable reason (doctor appointment, class field trip, athletic team travel, etc.) I will excuse the absence.

YOUR GRADE: Grading scales (without +/-) for the midterm exams will be announced in class to give you a reasonably good idea of how well you are doing as the quarter progresses. I will use +/- grading for your course grades at the end of the quarter.