general information

The class will be held in room HELD 105 every Monday and Wednesday from 16:10 to 17:25h. 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 Phone: (+1) 979 845 8532 E-mail: click here   Hours:  right after class (by appointment via email only)   Text:  College Physics by Young & Geller (8th edition)   Mastering Physics - course ID HGK202SS09 [instructions click here]   Physics 202 Lab Manual   Grading:  4 Exams (60%)   Comprehensive Final (20%)   Laboratory (10%)   Recitation (5%)   Homework (via Mastering Physics; 5%)     Note: You must score 70% or higher in the Lab work to pass the course. Although the homework only counts 5%, 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 four 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. January 26 is the last day to drop with no record. April 6 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. 01/11 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 our lecture, sections 525 - 527. All the section times are listed on the lab schedule [click here]. Tell the lab TA where you attend which section you belong to. 01/11 For the homework, please only use Mastering Physics (course ID above). If you had an account for PHYS 201 this past fall that account should still be active and you can use it. Let me know if you have any problems with access to Mastering Physics. There is an introductory assignment about using Mastering Physics and then assignments will appear for each week. 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 10:20 a.m. on the day of the exam. After the homework final due date you can't enter any answers for those assignments. The homework for week 14 (chapter 30) is due at 8:00 a.m. on Friday, May 08. Let me know if there are any problems with Mastering Physics, especially if you think there are errors. 01/11 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. At the end of the semester I will produce a file with all slides. week date day topic chapters in book 1 Jan. 19 Mon No class   Jan. 21 Wed Coulomb's law; electric fields [extra problems, summary sheet] 17.7 - 17.9 2 Jan. 26 Mon Gauss' law; examples [extra problems, summary sheet]     Jan. 28 Wed potential; capacitors [extra problems, summary sheet] 18.1 - 18.5 3 Feb. 02 Mon capacitors; review [extra problems, summary sheet] 18.6 - 18.9   Feb. 04 Wed exam 1 [formula sheet, solutions, curve] 17, 18 4 Feb. 09 Mon Ohm's law; resistor networks [summary sheet] 19.1 - 19.5   Feb. 11 Wed Kirchhoff's rules; RC circuits [summary sheet] 19.6 - 19.8 5 Feb. 16 Mon magnetic forces [summary sheet] 20.1 - 20.6   Feb. 18 Wed sources of magnetic field [summary sheet] 20.7 - 20.10 6 Feb. 23 Mon Faraday's law; Lenz's law [summary sheet] 21.1 - 21.6   Feb. 25 Wed inductance [summary sheet] 21.7 - 21.12 7 Mar. 02 Mon examples; review [sample problems]     Mar. 04 Wed exam 2 [formula sheet, solutions, curve] 19, 20, 21 8 Mar. 09 Mon AC circuits; resonance [summary sheet, extra problems] 22.1 - 22.5   Mar. 11 Wed EM waves [summary sheet, extra problems] 23.1 - 23.8 9 Mar. 23 Mon polarization; mirrors [summary sheet, extra problems] 23.10, 24.1 - 24.3   Mar. 25 Wed refraction; thin lens [summary sheet, extra problems] 24.4 - 24.6 10 Mar. 30 Mon optical instruments [summary sheet] 25.1 - 25.6   Apr. 01 Wed exam 3 [formula sheet, solutions, curve] 22, 23, 24, 25 11 Apr. 06 Mon interference [summary sheet, extra problems] 26.1 - 26.3   Apr. 08 Wed diffraction [summary sheet, extra problems] 26.4 - 26.8 12 Apr. 13 Mon atoms and photons [summary sheet, extra problems] 28.1 - 28.5   Apr. 15 Wed waves-particles; atoms [summary sheet, extra problems] 28.6 - 28.8 13 Apr. 20 Mon atomic structure; review [summary sheet, midterm review] 29.1 - 29.2   Apr. 22 Wed exam 4 [formula sheet, solutions, curve] 26, 28, 29 14 Apr. 27 Mon nuclei; radioactivity [summary sheet, extra problems] 30.1 - 30.3   Apr. 29 Wed nuclear reactions [summary sheet, extra problems] 30.4 - 30.7 15 May 04 Mon final exam review   16 May 11 Mon final exam (15:30 - 17:30h) [formula sheet, solutions, curve]   A detailed breakup of the exercises in the homework sets for each week/class can be found in the pdf version of the syllabus [click here] or in the Mastering Physics course. The website of the Dr. Ford (course coordinator) [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]. 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. All material on this website is copyrighted by H. G. Katzgraber. No material shall be used for commercial purposes (e.g., A+ Tutoring and similar) without prior written consent from the owner of the material. Failure to do so will result in legal prosecution.

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.