Physics 141, Fall 2009.

Instructor:

Professor F. L. H. Wolfs
Department of Physics and Astronomy, B&L 203A
Telephone: (585) 275 - 4937
Email: wolfs@pas.rochester.edu
URL: http://teacher.pas.rochester.edu/

Teaching Assistants:

• Fred Moolekamp (fmooleka@pas.rochester.edu)
• Michael Zhong (Shijie.Zhong@rochester.edu)

• Adi Robinson (arobin10@mail.rochester.edu)
• Dan Gresh (daniel.gresh@rochester.edu)
• Frank Wolfs (franciscus.wolfs@rochester.edu)

Text:

R. Chabay and B. Sherwood, Matter & Interactions, Volume 1, Modern Mechanics, Second Edition (required)
P. Bevington and D. Robinson, Data Reduction and Error Analysis( strongly recommended).

PRS:

PRS transmitters are required to be able to participate in the quizzes and Q&A during lecture. These transmitters can be rented from the bookstore.

Course Homepage:

http://teacher.pas.rochester.edu/Phy141/Phy141HomePage.shtml

Lectures:

Tuesdays and Thursdays: 9.40 am - 10.55 am (Hoyt).

Recitations:

Tuesdays: 2.00 pm - 3.15 pm (Morey 501) - .
Tuesdays: 3.25 pm - 4.40 pm (B&L 315).
Wednesdays: 2.00 pm - 3.15 pm (B&L 269).
Wednesdays: 6.15 pm - 7.30 pm (Gavett 310).
Recitations will start on Tuesday September 8.

Laboratories:

During the semester you will complete 5 laboratory experiments (roughly one experiment every two weeks). The schedule of these experiments is as follows:

Experiment 1: September 14
Experiment 2: September 28
Experiment 3: October 12
Experiment 4: November 9 (data) and November 16 (analysis)
Experiment 5: November 30

Office Hours:

Wolfs:

Starting September 9 on Wednesdays between 9 am and 10 am, on Thursdays between 11.30 am and 12.30 pm , and by appointment.

Teaching Assistants:

Fred Moolekamp: Thursdays 2 pm - 4 pm (B&L 373)
Michael Zhong: Thursdays 7 pm - 8 pm (POA Library)

Homework:

Homework will be assigned each Friday. The homework is due the following Friday at 8.30 am. A fraction of the homework assignments are distributed and completed electronically, using WebWork, while the rest have to be dropped of in the Physics 141 homework locker, across from B&L 106.
Each homework set will consist of a number of quantitative problems that are based on the material discussed the previous week. The problem sets will reinforce the course material and it is critical for your survival in this course to complete the assignments and understand any mistakes you may have made while working on these problems.
Extra credit can be earned by completing various programming problems using the VPython programming language. The extra credit problems will be part of the regular homework assignments.

Final Grade:

The final grade will be the weighted average of:
1. Final exam (20 - 25%)
2. 3 Mid-term exams (15 - 20% each)
3. Homework (15%)
4. Lab (15%)
5. Quizzes (5%)

Pre- and post-tests:

Thursday September 3, 8.45 am - 9.30 am (Hoyt).
Thursday December 10, 8.45 am - 9.30 am (Hoyt).

Midterm exams:

Thursday October 8, 8.00 am - 9.30 am (Hoyt).
Tuesday November 17, 8.00 am - 9.30 am (Hoyt).
Tuesday December 8, 8.00 am - 9.30 am (Hoyt).

Final exam:

Friday December 18, 4 pm - 7 pm (Hoyt).

Exam policy:

As part of each exam you will receive a sheet of useful equations that cover the material that is covered on the exam.  You will be able to view/download the equation sheet before the exam so that you will be able to determine what information will be provided on the exam.  Do not spend your time memorizing formulas; it is more important that you understand how to use them!

Quizzes:

Quizzes will be given during lecture. Short questions, related to the material being discussed, will be given. The answers will be submitted electronically using your Personal Response System (PRS) transmitter. It is thus very important that you stay up-to-date with the material that is covered in class.