Physics 161.008

 

Spring 2004                                                                                                        Cy Hoffman

T, Th - 5:30 – 6:45 PM                                                                   Regener Hall Room 114

Telephone:  822-0849 (h); 505-690-5535 (cell)               Email:  choffman9@comcast.net

 

Office Hours:  Tuesday and Thursday 4:30 PM in Instructor Room (109) Regener Hall; after class, and by appointment.

 

Grader:            Birk Reichenbach                                     Email:  birk@unm.edu

 

Textbook:        Fundamentals of Physics (6th Edition) by Halliday, Resnick and Walker (RH&W).  The course will cover chapters 19-32.  Electricity & Magnetism, and Thermodynamics.

 

Prerequisites: You should have taken (and passed) Physics 160, and have a solid foundation in algebra, geometry, trigonometry and calculus (differential and integral).  Math 163 should either have been taken or being taken now.

 

Syllabus:         The class syllabus is given separately.  I will do my best to keep to this schedule, but unforeseen circumstances may force minor changes.

 

Reading:          The reading for each week is given in the syllabus.  It is STRONGLY recommended that you read the material BEFORE lecture and then read it again after the lecture.

 

Homework:     There will be one homework assignment per week, generally due at the start of the Thursday lecture.  Much of the homework will use WebAssign – these parts of the assignments will be due at 5:30 PM, local time.  As some of you may have start-up problems with Webassign, the first assignment will also be available on the homework link: the first assignment is due at the start of lecture on Jan. 29. Each week, the solutions to the problems will be posted at Regener and be available at the homework link shortly after they are due.

 

Exams:            Exams will consist of problems and perhaps short essays.  There will be NO MULTIPLE CHOICE questions – in my experience, students do more poorly on multiple choice questions and do not accurately show what they know.

 

                        There will be three midterm exams during the semester (as listed in the syllabus).  Because of the grading policy of dropping the lowest midterm grade, there will be no makeup exams under any circumstances.  Each midterm exam will take the entire class period.  Answers to completed exams are available at Exams.

 

                        The final exam will be Thursday May 13th  5:30-7:30 PM.  It will cover the material from the entire course.

                       

Grading:          The final grade will be computed from the following elements:

·       An average score for the homework (both WebAssign and those turned in on paper).

·       The 3 mid-term exams.  The lowest score from these exams will be dropped in computing the course grade. Adding the two highest midterm grades yields Midterms.

·       The final exam.

 

To determine your final grade, the following equation will be used:

 

Grade = (0.25 x Homework) + (0.2 x Midterms) + (0.35 x Final)

 

The final grade will curved so that the class average is ~ B- - C+.

 

Problem Session: Physics 168-002 (call # 20695) will be given Tuesday evenings at 7:00 PM (after lecture) in Regener 114.  Everyone is welcome to attend, whether registered or not.  

 

Comments:      Physics is a difficult subject.  It has concepts that are new and foreign to you. A deep understanding of these concepts is required to apply them to problems.  It takes a lot of work on your part (and on my part) to master the subject.  You have successfully taken Physics 160 so you know generally what is required. 

 

                        I view you as adults, capable of making your own decisions regarding your school work – I will not coddle you or force you to do your work.  On the other hand, I am prepared to spend as much time as you request to help you understand the material (or to discuss almost anything else, for that matter).

 

                        I love physics and am constantly fascinated by what it has revealed.  I hope to be able to impart some of this wonder to you.