Physics 2, Basic Physics 8AM Section

Spring - 2009

http://www.iqcd.ucsb.edu/~sjallen/Physics_2_2009/

8AM Midterm and solutions 7 May 2009, 8AM Final exam and solutions 11 June 2009

Course Description - see below.

Text: University Physics, Young and Freedman, 12th Edition

Lectures: Broida 1610, 8-9:15 AM Tuesdays and Thursdays, i>Clickers are required and need to be registered on the website.

Homework: Mastering Physics Course ID: PHYS2S09. (http://www.masteringphysics.com/)

Prof. S. James Allen
    allen@iqcd.ucsb.edu (Put Physics 2 in the subject line please)
    Broida 4105
    Office Hours: Tuesday and Thursday 5-6:00 PM, or by appointment.

TA's:
    Dan Malinow     dmalinow@physics.ucsb.edu
    Shawn Pfeil        shawn@physics.ucsb.edu
   Charles Riedel     criedel@physics.ucsb.edu
   Yinbo Shi                yshi@physics.ucsb.edu
   Aaron McLeran     amcleran@gmail.com
          Office hours at the physics study room.

Faculty Assistant: Barbara Merlo
Office: Broida Hall 4118 (805) 893-2627 bam@physics.ucsb.edu
Office Hours: 8:00 am - 12:00 noon, 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Lecture Schedule
31 Mar, 2 Apr. Chap. 10 Dynamics of Rotational Motion

7, 9 Apr Chap. 11 Equilibrium and Elasticity

14, 16 Apr Chap. 12 Gravitation

21, 23 Apr Chap. 13 Periodic Motion

28, 30Apr Chap. 14 Fluid Mechanics

5 May Chap. 17 Temperature and Heat

7 May Mid term exam
8AM Midterm and solutions
Draft of the formula sheet that will be provided

12 May Chap. 17 Temperature and Heat

14, 19 May Chap. 18 Thermal Properties of Matter

21, 26 May Chap. 19 First Law of Thremodynamics

28 May, 2 Jun Chap. 20 Second Law of Thermodynamics

4 Jun Review

11 Jun. 8-11 AM Final
Formula sheet that will be provided for the final

Course grading: 97.5% or better A+
                           92.5 - 97.5 A
                           90 - 92.5 - A-
                           87.5 - 90   - B+
                           82.5 - 87.5 - B
                           80 - 82.5    - B-
                           77.5 - 80    - C+
                           72.5 - 77.5 - C
                           70 - 72.5 -    C-
                           60 - 70     -   D
                            < 60         F

Course weighting: Class participation 5%, Homework 25%, Midterm, 25%, Final 50%

If you inform me before the mid-term that you cannot or will not take the mid-term exam for the 8AM class, I will excuse you and base your grade on the rest of the course. If you do not inform me before hand you will receive a 0.

If you inform me before the final that you cannot or will not take the final exam for the 8AM class, I will excuse you and give you an incomplete. The incomplete can be completed by taking the final when Physics 2 is next offered, during the academic year or summer if you are able. The final will be melded with your work this quarter and your incomplete transformed into a grade. If you do not take the makeup final the incomplete reverts to an F. If you do not inform me before hand you will receive a 0.

Course Description (From Physics 2 Basic Physics, Claudio Campagnari)

Welcome to Physics 2. This is the second quarter of the introductory Physics sequence intended for engineering and physical science majors.
The prerequisite for Physics 2 are succesful completion of Physics 1 (or 21) and of Math 3A-B.
In Physics 2 we will study rotational and periodic motion, gravitation, fluid mechanics, temperature and heat, the thermal properties of matter, and the laws of thermodynamics.
The textbook is University Physics, 12th edition, Young and Freedman.

How to succeed in this class

Physics should be approached differently than other discipline. You will find that the emphasis is on problem solving. You may read the book and listen to the lectures and think that you understand, but the proof of whether you have really understood the material rests in your ability to do the problems. The problems is where you are supposed to apply the concepts that you have supposedly learnt.

That is why the homeworks are so important. Only if you can do the homeworks you will do well on the exams.
You are welcome, even encouraged, to do the homeworks with your friends. But be very careful. Working with your friends on the homeworks may result in a perfect homework, but if you end up not doing the problems yourself, you will pay a heavy price at exam time. It is much like learning to ride a bicycle. You can watch other people ride, and think that you know how to ride also -- after all it looks so easy! But the reality is that you have to do it yourself if you really want to learn.

Beginning physics students are often obsessed by formulas. When presented with a problem, they frantically search the book for the right formula to plug in. This is not the way to do it! In the majority of cases you cannot take a formula from some example in the book and expect it to work for the problem that you have to solve. Instead, you must use logical reasoning. You should attack the problem methodically. Draw a diagram; make sure you have identified what you know and what you do not know about the problem; organize your thoughts; figure out what concepts you need to apply; go one step-at-a-time. Hopefully this will become clear as I will show how to solve problems during the quarter.

Memorization in physics is pretty much useless. It is useful to memorize a few basic formulas, but do not waste your time memorizing all of the steps in solved problems.

The best way to prepare for the exams is to do problems, do problems, do problems. There are many problems, beyond those assigned to you in the homework, at the end of every chapter in the book.

The weekly lecture schedule is listed on this web page. You should try to read the book ahead, that is to say if you know that on a given week the lectures will cover Chapter X, read Chapter X the week-end before. If you do this you will get a lot more out of the lectures. In some cases I will assume that you have read the book before class. This will allow me to skip some of the material in the book and spend more time teaching you how to do the problems.

There is no such thing as a stupid question in physics. Do not be afraid to interrupt my lectures to ask questions. Do not be afraid to come to my (or the TAs) office hours. We are here to help you.

Finally, there is a tremendous amount of material to cover in this class, and the schedule is tight. The pace is going to be fast, and most new concepts build on the material from the previous chapters. Be careful not to fall behind, because catching up is going to be extremely difficult.

Homework

Homework will be assigned through Mastering Physics.