Elements of Physics I (Fall 2006)

Instructor: Professor Cowley
  Office: BSB 410, email: cowley@camden.rutgers.edu
  Office hours: Mon, Wed, 11:00-12:00, Th 12:30-1:30

 
Required Texts: Halliday, Resnick & Walker, Fundamentals of Physics (Seventh Edition), volume 1,
Student's Solution Manual

 
Grading: 24% homework, 25% final exam, 45% for 3 tests
  3% attendance, 3% for participation in reading questions (see below)

 
Homework: Two hand-in problems assigned per class, answers only (5 significant figures) to be submitted in Sakai .




 

While this is an introductory course in Physics, many of the students in the class will already have taken a High School course. If you have not, you must be prepared to put in extra time getting familiar with the introductory concepts. What makes a physics course difficult to many students is that the material is highly structured. Each idea builds on the previous ones. If you miss a week's ideas, you will not be able to make sense of the next week. Attendance at class is very important. Also, you must remember that learning is an active process. Coming to class and reading the solutions in the Student Solution Manual will not fix the ideas in your head. You need to work actively at the material. A time-honored way to do this is to try to answer as many as possible of the problems and questions at the ends of the chapters. You have to develop a logical approach, and to practice your math skills - some calculus, but mainly the application of algebra to problem solving. Do all this systematically and conscientiously, and you will enjoy the course and learn an enormous amount in it. Have fun!


Pre-class reading

The schedule given below includes the pages from the text-book dealing with the material. These should be read BEFORE the class. Each class, I shall assign a question from the text that is related to the reading for the next class. You are required to submit your answer to the question by 10:00 a.m. on the morning of the class, using the Sakai drop box. There is no penalty for giving the wrong answer. I want to know what you really think.




Syllabus
 
Date Subject Chapter in text Pre-Class Reading
September 6 Measurement and units Chapter 1 Pages 1-8
September 11 Kinematics in One Dimension Chapter 2 Pages 13-23
September 13 Free Fall Chapter 2 Pages 24-29
September 18 Vectors Chapter 3 Pages 38-52
September 20 Velocity as a vector, Projectile motion Chapter 4 Pages 58-69
September 25 Circular motion, Relative motion Chapter 4 Pages 70-75
September 27 Newton's Laws of Motion I Chapter 5 Pages 87-100
October 2 Composite systems, friction Chapter 5 Pages 100-106,117-121
October 4 Centripetal force Chapter 6 Pages 122-130
October 9 Test 1 (1 3x5 formula card) Chapters 1 - 6
October 11 Work Chapter 7 Pages 140-152
October 16 Kinetic Energy and power Chapter 7 Pages 153-158
October 18 Potential Energy and Conservation of Energy Chapter 8 Pages 166-186
October 23 Systems of Particles Chapter 9 Pages 201-210
October 25 Collisions Chapter 9 Pages 211-227
October 30 Rotation Chapter 10 Pages 241-255
November 1 Torque Chapter 10 Pages 256-263
November 6 Rolling and angular momentum Chapter 11 Pages 275-295
November 8 Equilibrium Chapter 12 Pages 305-314
November 13 Test 2( 2 3x5 formula cards) Chapters 7 - 12
November 15 Oscillations Chapter 15 Pages 386-394
November 20 Types of pendulum Chapter 15 Pages 395-403
November 27 Wave speed and Superposition Chapter 16 Pages 413-436
November 29 Sound and the Doppler Effect Chapter 17 Pages 445-466
December 4 Temperature Chapter 18 Pages 476-483
December 6 Mainly Heat Capacity Chapter 18 Pages 484-490
December 11 Kinetic Theory of Gases Chapter 19 Pages 507-519
December 13 Test 3 (3 3x5 formula cards) Chapters 15 - 19
December 19 Final Exam (3 3x5 formula cards) (2:00-5:00 pm)

 

Last Modified: August 17, 2006