Welcome and Course Objectives

We are happy to have you with us this semester. Our goal this semester is to give you the opportunity to understand the basic concepts of physics relating to electricity and magnetism, optics and modern physics. We promise to explain physics in an interesting and stimulating way; physics can actually be fun!

The lectures will concentrate on the critical issues and you are expected to study the text to obtain a better understanding of the underlying physics concepts. The subject matter discussed in class will generally follow the text, with additional material presented from information not yet in the textbooks. We (your instructors) are hoping to share some of our enthusiasm with you this semester!

Textbook   College Physics - Reasoning and Relationships   by Nicholas J. Giordano   Brooks/Cole Cengage   ISBN-13: 978-0-534-46244-4 (Volume 2) WebAssign You should have received a WebAssign access code when you bought the textbook in one of the campus bookstores. We will use WebAssign this semester for the weekly homework assignments. If you already have a book but no WebAssign access code, please contact Melissa Adams in the Physics Department.

Class Meetings

Each student is registered for four class meetings every week:

• Two lectures each week: Monday and Wednesday in UPL 101 (Richards Building) from 11:15 AM - 12:05 PM.
• One recitation session: Friday (see below)
• One laboratory session: One day per week for three hours, can be Monday - Thursday depending on the section you are registered for. The lab room is 105 Richards Building (UPL) or 114 UPL (for the Tuesday evening section).

Note that the registration process for this class requires that every student must be registered separately for both a lecture/recitation section and a lab section.

Generally, I will use two lectures per week to outline the course material, for which the student is responsible, to present new concepts along with experimental demonstrations, to discuss examples of problems, and to administer the monthly mini-exams. Lecture highlights and my lecture notes will be posted on the course web page under Course Material and Schedule. These highlights will indicate the topics covered during the lectures and which textbook sections they were drawn from. However, these highlights and my notes may not contain all the information and explanations which will be presented during the lectures.

Friday Recitations

We are offering several recitation sections on Friday mornings. Recitations serve as a way for students to develop a better understanding of physics concepts and to develop problem solving skills.

Section	Day	Time	Room	Instructor
1	Friday	08:00 - 08:50 AM	UPL 107	Shaheen
2	Friday	08:00 - 08:50 AM	UPL 112	Eugenio
3	Friday	09:05 - 09:55 AM	UPL 107	Shaheen
4	Friday	09:05 - 09:55 AM	UPL 112	Eugenio
5	Friday	10:10 - 11:00 AM	UPL 107	Eugenio
6	Friday	11:15 - 12:05 PM	UPL 107	Shaheen

Laboratory Experiments

The purpose of the laboratory sessions is to gain hands-on experience with experimental devices, to develop skills in performing experiments, to learn methods for analyzing scientific data, and to relate the physics concepts covered in class to real experimental situations. The lab experiments count as 15% of your overall grade. Each student must complete a lab report for each experiment, following the format prescribed by the lab instructor, before leaving at the end of the lab session.

Any missed lab should be made up by arranging to attend another lab section that same week! Lab manuals can be downloaded from the course web site at Lab Material. If you have any questions or problems with your lab section, or if you miss a lab and must make it up, please contact me or Dr. Shaheen. Laboratory classes will meet based on the schedule listed below:

Section	Day	Time	Room	Instructor
1	Monday	12:30 - 03:30 PM	Room 105	Thomas Ott
2	Monday	03:45 - 06:45 PM	Room 105	Thomas Ott
3	Tuesday	12:30 - 03:30 PM	Room 105	Hussein Al Ghoul
4	Tuesday	03:45 - 06:45 PM	Room 105	Joseph Belarge
5	Wednesday	12:30 - 03:30 PM	Room 105	Joseph Belarge
6	Thursday	12:30 - 03:30 PM	Room 105	Hussein Al Ghoul
7	Thursday	03:45 - 06:45 PM	Room 105	David Nicholus
8	Tuesday	07:00 - 10:00 PM	Room 114	David Nicholus

Homework Assignments

There will be one web-based homework assignment each week (due every Sunday night/early Monday morning at 1:00 AM). The homeworks will be conducted using WebAssign, where you need to have an active account. Please make sure that you can login and access our course; the course name is PHY2054C-Fall2010 and the class key is fsu 4474 8656. All homeworks will have due dates and will be graded automatically upon completion.

WebAssign is set up such that it allows students to enroll themselves in the WebAssign course. The course will be available from August 2nd, 2010 to December 17th, 2010.

i>clickers: Audience Response System

You are required to purchase an i>clicker remote for in-class participation. i>clicker is a response system that allows you to respond to questions I pose during class, and you will be graded on that feedback and participation. Each clicker has a unique serial number on the back of the remote. Place a piece of scotch tape over that bar code and ID to preserve it. In order to receive credit for your votes, you will need to register your i>clicker remote online within the first week of class. You must have come to class at least once and voted on at least one question, in order to complete this registration properly. Please proceed to www.iclicker.com/registration Complete the fields with your first name, last name, student ID, and remote ID. Your student ID must be the one that is also used for your FSU email address. The remote ID is the series of numbers and sometimes letters found on the bottom of the back of your i>clicker remote. The i>clicker response system will be used every time in class, and you are responsible for bringing your remote.

In every class, you will receive one point for participation and further points depending on whether you submit the correct answers.

Mini-Exams

Three mini-exams will be given during the semester. The examination problems will be based on the subjects covered in both the WebAssign and the textbook problem sets. Remember to try the "Blank Paper Test" when you prepare for the examination: try to solve the problems yourself first without looking at the solutions. If you need to use the solutions for help (which many times you might), go back and try the same problem again later to see if you have learned how to do it on your own. Memorizing a sequence of steps will not help you since the goal of this course is to teach you the physics concepts and how to apply them in different situations. The problem-solving strategies will be discussed during each Friday's recitation session. Below are a few rules and common questions about the exams and their grading:

• The mini-exams will be given on the designated Monday or Wednesday lecture times (see the course schedule) and each will take the full 50 minutes of the lecture time in UPL101.
• The material covered in each exam will be that specified in the syllabus (see the course schedule) and based closely on concepts related to the recent WebAssign assignments and recommended textbook questions and problems. You should note, however, that you are responsible for all the material covered in the lectures.
• You cannot miss a mini-exam in this course! If you do so, you must arrange a make-up exam with your instructor.
• Students arriving late will be required to submit their exams by the same deadline as the rest of the class.
• Each student is responsible for bringing a working calculator to each exam; no sharing is allowed. You will also not be allowed to use your cell phone as a calculator, because your cell phone is not allowed to be with you turned on in the test room.
• Do not program formulae into your calculator - this is cheating and will be treated as such.
• Don't cheat! The first instance of cheating on an exam results in a grade of zero points for that exam, the second results in an "F" for the course. Remember you are responsible to follow the FSU Honor Code.
• Any questions you have with the grading of the exams must be resolved within 2 weeks of the hand-back date.

Final Exam

The final exam will be held on Xday December ..., 2010, from ... The location will be announced later. The final exam is cumulative and you must take the exam to pass the course. There will be no exceptions!

Grades

You can only complete the course and receive a grade better than "F" if you attempt all mini-exams and the final exam. You also must attend all laboratory sessions and submit satisfactory lab reports to the lab instructor for each session.

Your point total for the course will be determined by a combination of the laboratories (15%), class mini-exams (30%), the final exam (20%), in-class questions based on a personal response system (5%), recitations + hand-in problems (10%), and homework assignments (20%). If you do miss an exam for a valid reason, you must make it up! It is your responsibility to arrange the make-up exam with your instructor. You may earn a maximum of 100 points in the course. All individual grades (for homework assignments, mini-exams, etc.) will be posted regularly to your Blackboard grade book. Please check your grade book frequently and report any mistakes you may find as soon as possible!

Your total course average will be converted into a letter grade. The table below gives you an estimate of the breakpoints for the grades. These breakpoints may change, but only in your favor!

Breakpoints  (Fall 2010)	Grade
90.50	A/A-
88.50	A-/B+
85.00	B+/B
81.50	B/B-
79.00	B-/C+
77.00	C+/C
72.00	C/C-
68.00	C-/D+
66.00	D+/D
63.00	D/D-
50.00	D-/F

Resources for Students

We want you all to do well in this course. Several resources are available to help you:

1. Textbook: An excellent source of information. Read it and work the problems at the end of each chapter!


2. Classes: Attend lectures and recitations! Ask questions and get involved in the discussions.


3. Office Hours: Make use of the scheduled office hours for help with homework problems and other matters that arise during the course.


4. Physics Department Consultation Sessions: A graduate student is available to assist you with homework problems and exam preparations. As of this writing, I don't know the times for these sessions. Please ask me if you are interested!

Academic Honor Code

Students are expected to uphold the Academic Honor Code published in The Florida State University Bulletin and the Student Handbook. The first paragraph is:

The Academic Honor System of Florida State University is based on the premise that each student has the responsibility

1. to uphold the highest standards of academic integrity in the student's own work,


2. to refuse to tolerate violations of academic integrity in the University community,


3. to foster a high sense of integrity and social responsibility on the part of the University community.

(Florida State University Academic Honor Policy, found at http://dof.fsu.edu/honorpolicy.htm)

Academic Accommodation

Students with disabilities needing academic accommodations should:

• Register with and provide documentation to the Student Disability Resource Center (SDRC).


• Bring a letter to the instructor from SDRC indicating you need academic accommodations and what they are.

Please do this within the first week of class! We will work with you for any special needs that you may require. For more information about services available to FSU students with disabilities, contact the:

Student Disability Resource Center: http://www.disabilitycenter.fsu.edu/
874 Traditions Way
108 Student Services Building
Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL 32306-4167
(850) 644-9566 (voice)
(850) 644-8504 (TDD)
sdrc@admin.fsu.edu

Some Sensible Advice

It will be great if everyone passes this course. Unfortunately, some people find doing physics rather difficult. Below are a few tips to help make your adventures in physics fun.

• This course is no pushover. Physics is based on understanding, not remembering. We will do all we can to help you, but only you know whether you really understand something or not! Test yourself on additional problems. If, after reading additional problems, you have no idea how to solve them, then you have not understood the concepts. Do not just memorize the answers to selected problems!
• To gain confidence on physics concepts, practice the easier problems first.
• When you work on a problem, always ask yourself if the answer or the solution is reasonable. Remember to use units!
• When you prepare for the exams, make sure you understand and can do all the homework problems. You are strongly encouraged to do extra problems. Again, do not just memorize the solutions.
• Attend all classes and the recitation sessions! There happens to be a strong correlation between lecture attendance and student performance.
• Use the textbook! You paid good money for it! Try to find the time to look over a chapter before it is covered in class. You may not understand the material after the first reading, but it will be clear after a while. Learning is a repetitive process.
• Find a study partner. We strongly encourage students to study and learn together.
• Finally, don't give up or sit for hours trying to understand the homework! Come and discuss your solution with me. Often you will be much closer than you think to being able to solve a problem.