Professor: Scott M. LaBrake, Ph.D. Course: Physics 123
Email: labrakes@union.edu Phone: 388-6053
Office Hours: M,W,F 10:30am – 12:00pm Office: S&E N331 & N008B
By Appointment
Web: http://minerva.union.edu/labrakes
Text: Six Ideas That Shaped Physics, Unit T, by Thomas Moore
Six Ideas That Shaped Physics, Unit O, by Paul DeYoung
Suggested Texts/References:
Six Ideas That Shaped Physics, Units C,N,R,E,Q, by Thomas Moore
Fluid Mechanics 4th Ed., by J. Douglas, J. Gasiorek, and J. Swaffield
Intro. To Fluid Mechanics, by R. Fox, A. McDonald, & P. Pritchard
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/hframe.html
Statistical and Thermal Physics, F. Reif
Thermodynamics and an Introduction to Thermostatistics, H. Callen
Thermal Physics, 2nd Ed., C. Kittel and H. Kroemer.
Course:
Calculus based introduction to optics, thermodynamics, and fluid dynamics. This is a capstone class that is designed to expose you to some topics that you rarely see in physics 120, 121 or 122.
Attendance:
While attendance is not mandatory, it is expected that you will attend class on a regular basis. Material will be covered in a rapid fashion over the fall term. Past experience dictates that your success in this class is directly proportional to your attending. Attendance at all scheduled exams and labs is mandatory.
Course Grade:
Your course grade will be determined based on a professional judgment of your work on the following scale:
Quizzes 10%
Collected Homework 10%
Two in Class Exams 30%
Final Exam 30%
Lab 20%
The overall class average at the end of the term will be set to a B- letter grade. No letter grades will be assigned to any individual work. An attempt will be made after every quiz or exam to give you a rough idea of an overall grade based on all work completed to date if a grade were to be assigned at that time.
Homework:
Homework will be assigned regularly. I will not collect most homework, but I will circulate during class on the due date to check that you have made sufficient progress. I will be collecting and grading some random problems. I will let you know which I will be collecting as the term progresses. It is strongly advised that you do the suggested homework as noted in class as well as other relevant problems, of your choosing, on the covered topics from the text. Variations of the assigned and unassigned homework are highly probable candidates for the quizzes and the exams. The solutions to the homework will be available on my website. I would advise you talk to me, your classmates, or just ponder the question for a day or so. Too often students’ confuse reading the solution to the problem with their actual understanding of the problem, thus the worked out solutions will not be posted.
Quizzes:
Several times throughout the term, announced and unannounced quizzes will be given. These quizzes will have a maximum length of ten (10) minutes, and no make up quizzes will be allowed for any reason. Time remaining will be announced and at the end of ten minutes I will leave the room. Quizzes need to be handed in before I leave the room or the quiz will not be accepted.
Exams:
There will be two (2) in class exams, approximately one (1) hour each, and a cumulative two (2) hour final exam. Each hour exam will not be cumulative; however they will be based on your prior knowledge. Emphasis will be placed on demonstration of the ability to apply the concepts and techniques learned to new situations. If you cannot make a scheduled exam, then it is your responsibility to contact the instructor in person a minimum of at least 24 hours in advance of the exam and make other arrangements for a make-up exam. Make-up exams will be granted only in exceptional circumstances, as determined by the instructor, and may be oral and will be given at the discretion and convenience of the instructor. The final exam will be cumulative and no make up exam will be given for any reason. The date and time of the final is set by the Registrar and will be announced in class. This is the only time that the final exam will be given. Please do not make other plans before you know when the final exam is scheduled. Time remaining will be announced throughout the exam period and I will leave the room at the completion of the exam period. Exams need to be handed in before I leave the room or the exam will not be accepted.
Labs:
Labs will consist of short exercises or longer experiments. For shorter exercises, you will hand in an exercise sheet and a short discussion paragraph. There will be several lab reports in the formal write-up style. (Instructions will be provided.) There is no time in the term for you to turn in any formal report late; before writing each report, you’ll need to see the comments on the previous reports. Therefore, to ensure that you turn in the reports on time, there is a very stringent policy regarding late formal reports: you will lose 10% per day that a report is late, which includes weekends. Reports later than one week will receive grades of 0, but will be credited as turned in so that the requirement of turning in all reports can be satisfied.
Notes:
1. Academic Honesty Issues: You will work in groups on labs, and you are strongly encouraged to study together and work together on the homework assignments. However, all write-ups must be independent and in your own words. Your talk must also be written by you in your own words. If you use another source, cite it. This includes web sources! I am required to report all cases of cheating and plagiarism (between students or from library or internet sources) directly to the Dean’s Office. Cases of cheating or plagiarism normally result in failure of the course.
2. You will need to bring your textbook and a calculator (one that does basic mathematics, like trigonometry and logarithms, is fine) to class everyday. You will not be allowed to share calculators during quizzes or exams.
3. Please realize that the instructor is human, just as you the student. I will make mistakes. To that end, on exams, quizzes, etc., if I have made a mistake, please bring it to my attention and I will correct it. However, if you are just seeking to get more points back without any substantive argument as to why you disserve the points, I will be happy to re-grade the entire quiz/exam. This may result in raising or lowering the present grade on the quiz/exam.
4. All grading must be contested within twenty-four (24) hours after the original assignment was returned. Contestations must be accompanied by a full written explanation of how your solution was incorrectly penalized.
5. This course is going to be very demanding on you. It will be one of the most challenging courses you will take at Union College. You cannot sit idly by and assume that you know or will learn the material the night before the quiz/exam. It will require a lot of work on your part, as well as mine. If we work together, I hope, by the end of the term the beauty and applicability of physics will be evident in your everyday lives.
6. I realize that in this technological age people without computers, high-definition TV, beepers and cell phones are in the minority. For those of you that have any of these sorts of devices and bring them to class with you, please turn them off (or at lease put them on vibrate.)
Week Topic
1 Geometric Optics
2 Physical Optics
3 Thermal Energy, Temperature and the Ideal Gas Laws
4 The Ideal Gas Laws, Gas Processes, Macro & Microstates
5 Macro & Microstates, the Second Law and Temperature
6 Temperature and Entropy and Calculating Entropy changes
7 Calculating Entropy changes and Heat engines
8 Fluids properties and the idea of pressure
9 Motion of fluid particles, momentum and energy equation for fluids
10 The atmosphere and the motion of aircraft and submarines
Exams are tentatively scheduled for weeks 4 and 7. The exact dates will be announced in class. Readings and homework will be assigned the day before the class on which the topic will be covered.