general information

The class will be held in room HELDENFELS 105 every Tuesday and Thursday at the following times Sections 501 - 504 09:35 - 10:50 MasteringPhysics ID HGK202FS09AMCLASS Sections 505 - 508 14:20 - 15:35 MasteringPhysics ID HGK202FS09PMCLASS The lab schedule can be found by clicking here. The help desk is in Heldenfelds 211 (Monday - Thursday from 09:00 to 16:00h, Friday 09:00 to 12:00h). Instructor:  Helmut Katzgraber   Office:  ENPH 514 (starting Nov. 16 in MPHYS 409) Phone: (+1) 979 845 8532 E-mail: click here   Hours:  Thursdays 5:30 - 6:30 pm or by appointment via email Before coming to my office please call to check if I am there!   Text:  College Physics by Young & Geller (8th edition)   Mastering Physics [instructions click here]   Physics 202 Lab Manual   Grading:  3 Midterms (45%)   Comprehensive Final (25%)   Laboratory (10%)   Recitation (5%)   Homework (via Mastering Physics; 15%)     Note: You must score 70% or higher in the Lab work to pass the course. Although homework and recitation combined only count 20%, I highly encourage you to do the homework sets regularly. This will prevent surprises in the exams. If your grade in the final exam is higher than your lowest grade on the three exams during the semester, the grade on the final will replace that one lowest exam grade in computing the course grade. The final exam grade does not replace a missed exam. September 04 is the last day to drop with no record. November 06 is the last day to Q-drop. In an effort to save some trees, there will be as few printed handouts as possible. All necessary information can be obtained online.

announcements

Specific information and class announcements will be made here (sorted chronologically). Please be sure to check this page on a regular basis. If you must miss a recitation and lab for a valid reason, the best thing to do is to attend another section that same week. It is best to attend one of the sections that belongs to your lecture, sections 501 - 504 or 505 - 508. All the section times are listed on the lab schedule [click here]. Tell the lab TA where you attend which section you belong to. For the homework, please only use Mastering Physics (course ID listed above). If you had an account from last term from, e.g., PHYS 201, that account should still be active and you can use it. Let me know if you have any problems with access to Mastering Physics. The Week 1 etc. assignments are there and consist of most of the problems (including the Multiple Choice Problems) that are listed for week 1, etc. on the syllabus. The homework should be done and entered on Mastering Physics weekly. The final due date for the homework covered on each exam is due at 09:00 a.m. on the day of the exam. After the homework final due date you can't enter any answers for those assignments. I encourage you to use email as a means of communicating with my about any problems concerning the course: questions about the material from lecture, about the homework problems, or about the course administration.

syllabus & slides

Schedule The lecture slides for each class can be accessed by clicking on the 'day'. Note that these are being prepared 'on the fly' meaning that the page will be updated periodically. week date day topic chapters in book 01 Sep. 01 Tue Coulomb's law [extra problems, summary sheet] 17.1 - 17.4   Sep. 03 Thu electric fields, field lines [extra problems, summary sheet] 17.5 - 17.7 02 Sep. 08 Tue Gauss' law; examples [extra problems, summary sheet] 17.8 - 17.9   Sep. 10 Thu potential; capacitors [extra problems, summary sheet] 18.1 - 18.5 03 Sep. 15 Tue capacitors; review [extra problems, summary sheet] 18.6 - 18.9   Sep. 17 Thu Ohm's law; resistor networks [extra problems, summary sheet] 19.1 - 19.5 04 Sep. 22 Tue Kirchhoff's rules; RC circuits [extra problems, summary sheet] 19.6 - 19.8   Sep. 24 Thu midterm 1 [formula sheet, solutions, curve] 17, 18, 19 05 Sep. 29 Tue magnetic forces [extra problems, summary sheet] 20.1 - 20.6   Oct. 01 Thu sources of magnetic field [extra problems, summary sheet] 20.7 - 20.10 06 Oct. 06 Tue Faraday's law; Lenz's law [extra problems, summary sheet] 21.1 - 21.6   Oct. 08 Thu inductance [extra problems, summary sheet] 21.7 - 21.12 07 Oct. 13 Tue AC circuits; resonance [summary sheet, extra problems] 22.1 - 22.5   Oct. 15 Thu examples; review [sample problems]   08 Oct. 20 Tue midterm 2 [formula sheet, solutions, curve] 20, 21, 22   Oct. 22 Thu EM waves [summary sheet, extra problems] 23.1 - 23.8 09 Oct. 27 Tue polarization; mirrors [summary sheet, extra problems] 23.10, 24.1 - 24.3   Oct. 29 Thu refraction; thin lens [summary sheet, extra problems] 24.4 - 24.6 10 Nov. 03 Tue optical instruments [summary sheet, extra problems] 25.1 - 25.6   Nov. 05 Thu interference [summary sheet, extra problems] 26.1 - 26.3 11 Nov. 10 Tue diffraction [summary sheet, extra problems, review] 26.4 - 26.8   Nov. 12 Thu midterm 3 [formula sheet, solutions, curve] 23, 24, 25, 26 12 Nov. 17 Tue atoms and photons [summary sheet, extra problems] 28.1 - 28.5   Nov. 19 Thu waves-particles; atoms [summary sheet, extra problems] 28.6 - 28.8 13 Nov. 24 Tue atomic structure [summary sheet, extra problems] 29.1 - 29.2   Nov. 26 Thu thanksgiving 14 Dec. 01 Tue nuclei; radioactivity [summary sheet, extra problems] 30.1 - 30.4   Dec. 03 Thu nuclear reactions [summary sheet, extra problems] 30.5 - 30.7 15 Dec 08 Tue final exam review     Dec. 11 Fri final 501 - 504 (12:30 - 14:30h) [formula sheet, curve]   16 Dec. 16 Wed final 505 - 508 (13:00 - 15:00h) [formula sheet, curve]   A detailed breakup of the exercises in the homework sets for each week/class can be found in the Mastering Physics course. The website of Dr. Ford [click here] has a list of many exams from previous years. I recommend you look at these before each exam. Furthermore, there is a list of solutions of the even-numbered problems [click here] (might be incomplete). If you would like to access the lectures slides (pdf) please send an email to the instructor and you might receive the username and password. Students can find the username and password on the slides in the first class.

legal

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Policy Statement: The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal antidiscrimination statute that provides comprehensive civil rights protection for persons with disabilities. Among other things, this legislation requires that all students with disabilities be guaranteed a learning environment that provides for reasonable accommodation of their disabilities. If you believe you have a disability requiring an accommodation, please contact the Department of Student Life, Services for Students with Disabilities in Room B118 of Cain Hall or call 845-1637. Academic Integrity Statement: An Aggie does not lie, cheat, or steal or tolerate those who do. For more information see the Honor Council Rules and Procedures.