Syllabus

Personnel

Course Coordinator:	Edwin Kashy, Carlo Piermarocchi, Tibor F Nagy, Felicia V Berryman
specialTA:	Edward Morrison
Teaching Assistant:	Edward Morrison

Instructor Information

Professor Edwin Kashy (section 001)
Office: Room W105 NSCL
Phone: (517) 333-6318
Email: phy183@nscl.msu.edu

Professor Carlo Piermarocchi (section 002)
Office: Room 4263 BPS
Phone: (517) 355-9200 x 2231
Email: phy183@nscl.msu.edu

Dr. Tibor Nagy
Office: Room 1253 BPS
Phone: (517) 355-9200 x 2515
Email: phy183@nscl.msu.edu

Teaching Assistants:
Ivan Brida
Matt Amthor

You are encouraged to ask questions in class and in the helproom to better understand the concepts and get assistance with problem solving. Questions about solving homework problems can also be discussed using the "feedback" feature of LON-CAPA. See the feedback (FDBK) button. Postings are visible to everyone in the course and other students in the course can respond to questions. Posts can be made anonymously but the instructors, however, can see the names. The URL for LON-CAPA is: http://msu.loncapa.org

Course Description

The topics are: Mechanics, Newton's laws, momentum, energy, conservation laws, rotational motion, oscillation, gravity, fluids, and waves.

Prerequisites

MTH 132 or MTH 152H or LBS 118.

Class Hours

Section 001: Mon, Tues, Wed, Fri, from 4:10 to 5:00 PM, room 1410 BPS,
Section 002: Mon, Tues, Wed, Thu, from 6:00 to 6:50 PM, room 1410 BPS.

Helproom Hours

There will be numerous hours scheduled in the Physics Learning Center (1248 BPS) where students can get assistance and individual attention. Members of the teaching team will be available for help on any physics topic covered in the course. You may attend any and as many of the sessions as you wish. The Physics Learning Center can also be useful as a place for groups to meet for studying and problem solving. Interacting with fellow students is a good strategy for learning physics.

Exam Information

Exams

There will be four 50-min midterm exams with optional 30% partial credit for corrections (PCC) and one 2-hour final exam. The midterms and exams will be based on the material covered in lectures, the textbook, quizzes and homework.

Dates and locations of the midterm exams are:

Tue Feb 03 2004 4:30pm-5:30 PM Room BCC130
Tue Feb 24 2004 4:30pm-5:30 PM Room BCC130
Tue Mar 23 2004 4:30pm-5:30 PM Room BCC130
Tue Apr 20 2004 4:30pm-5:30 PM Room BCC130

You are responsible for bringing the following to the midterm and final exams:
(i) A calculator: All exams will require the use of a calculator. Make sure that your calculator's batteries are fresh, as sharing of calculators will not be allowed. All other electronic devices (PDA, Phone, CD-Player, etc) are not allowed.
(ii) Two "Number 2" pencils to be used for filling out the computer scoring sheet.
(iii) Midterms: You may bring one 8.5"x11" study sheet. Only one side of this study sheet may contain hand-written formulas, notes, etc.
(iv) Final exam: Your 8.5"x11" study sheet may be filled on both sides.

All exams are closed book. No makeup will be given.

Partial credit for corrections (PCC) works as follows: After the exam, the same set of problems is assigned as homework (the PCC set). Answers can be entered through LON-CAPA, as for any other homework until the respective due date. If your PCC score is higher than your exam score, 30% of the difference will be credited to your exam.

Quizzes

Quizzes will be given frequently in class. Quizzes will be based on current lecture materials, textbook, and previous homework. Quizzes are not announced and at least one quiz per week should be anticipated. You will need a pocket calculator to solve them and a "Number 2" pencil to fill out the computer scoring sheet. No makeup for quizzes will be given, but 90% score on quizzes will earn the full 10% credit towards the course grade.

Homework

There will be 15 homework assignments for which solutions are entered through MSU's LON-CAPA system. The homework due dates are Saturday's at 11:00 AM. Note that homework assignments are individualized, and that for a few problems, correct/incorrect will only show up after the due date of the assignment.

Optional homework problems can be found in the "Supplementary Problems" folder. The problems here are organized into sets the same way as the homework sets and the due dates are also identical. However only the points from the "Homework Assignments" folder will be counted toward your grade. Why to bother to solve the optional problems? If you think you need to, or if you'd like extra practice, or if you just like solving some interesting and challenging problems, the "Supplementary Problems" folder is one place to go. Question: Is solving the optional problems needed to get a 4.0? Answer: No. Will it help? Probably yes.

Excuse policy

There will be make up for missed in-class tests, quizzes, or homework assignments. In order for a missed in-class test to be excused, you must present to the instructor within one week a written excuse, dated and signed by you, stating the circumstances that caused you to miss the exam. This excuse should be accompanied by supporting material, for example a written document from a doctor, dean, etc. Excused absences from the in-class tests will result in your grade being calculated on the basis of your performance on the other in-class tests.

No adjustments will be made to quiz scores unless more than four quizzes are missed due to excused absences. For homework only an extended absence or illness will be considered a valid excuse. In case of a significant network outage, we will extend the dealine.

The Michigan State University Code of Teaching Responsibilities states that any student missing the Final Exam may not be allowed to pass the course.

Please familiarize yourself with University policies concerning academic integrity http://www.vps.msu.edu/SpLife/rule32.htm as they will be applied.

Grading Information

Grades are based on the following formula: Homework: 20%; Four midterm exams: 40%; Quizzes: 10%; Final exam: 30%. This course in not "graded on a curve". The guaranteed scale below is based on the total percentage of points. It may be slightly lowered but will not raised (adjusted 03/30/2004) :

4.0 > 90%
3.5 > 84%
3.0 > 78%
2.5 > 72%
2.0 > 66%
1.5 > 60%
1.0 > 52%
0.0 < 52%

Honors option: students interested in participating in the 'Honors' option should contact the instructor at the end of the first class.

Web Links

The homepage of the Physics Department is: http://www.pa.msu.edu

Textbook

Halliday, Resnick, and Walker, Fundamentals of Physics, John Wiley and Sons, Inc. (2000), 6th edition, volume 1 (Part 1-2).