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Course title and description: General University Physics I-II (5 credits each semester). Teaches principles of classical and modern Physics. Includes mechanics, wave properties, heat, electricity, magnetism, and relativity and nuclear physics. Prerequisite for PHY 241: MTH 173 or MTH 273 or divisional approval. Prerequisite for PHY 232: MTH 174 or MTH 274 or divisional approval. Lecture 4 hours per week, laboratory 2 hours per week. Total 6 hours per week.
Prerequisite knowledge required:
Mathematical knowledge:
Basic algebra, including ability to solve linear equations and solve basic formulas for specified variables using the rules of algebra, ability to multiply and divide fractional expressions and ability to simplify results.
Basic plane and analytic geometry, including the Pythagorean Theorem, properties of circles, areas and volumes of basic shapes, finding the slope between two points in the plane, graphing y vs. x data, graphs of straight lines.
Familiarity with functions, graphing of functions and interpretation of graphs.
Knowledge of differential and basic integral calculus, including rules of differentiation, interpretation of derivatives and integrals, graphing and interpretation of graphs.
- Calculation of rates of change and application of the concept of rate of change, relationship with integral and derivative.
- Ability to sketch graphs of derivatives or antiderivatives, given the graph of a function.
- Much of physics is understood and expressed in mathematical form. General proficiency with basic algebra and geometry is important. You don't want the mathematics to get in the way of learning the physics. Significant mathematical sophistication tends to be very beneficial.
Knowledge of first-semester physics, including the following topics at the level of University Physics I.
- Analysis of uniformly accelerated and non-uniformly accelerated motion of particles and extended objects
- Newton's Laws
- Analysis of forces
- Conservation of energy
- Conservation of momentum
- Impulse-momentum theorem
- Conservation of angular momentum
- Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation
- Simple harmonic motion
This course is offered via the Internet, distributed DVD's and lab materials in an asynchronous mode. The student will receive instructional information and assignments via these modes and will respond to assignments by submitting work through web forms.
The student must have standard access to the Internet and must have the ability to access the content on the DVD's. The material on the DVD's is accessible using a variety of media players (e.g., Windows Media Player).
The instructor is available via web forms (to which students will be introduced at the very beginning of the course), and will normally respond by the end of the day following your submission (and more typically on the same day) with answers to properly posed questions, feedback on your efforts, and other information. Exceptions may occur in the event of Internet problems or other technical events.
Students with Disabilities
Students with documented disabilities may be eligible for assistance and various accommodations. Please check the Student Support Services link on your Blackboard page.
Note that the course videos as distributed on DVD's do not currently have transcripts, though a version can be provided in which videos are embedded within screen-readable documents. If you require this version of the videos, or transcripts, due to a documented disability, please notify the instructor immediately.
Student Interaction
Students have the opportunity to develop a dialog with the instructor, in the process of submitting assignments.
Students will participate in two series of collaborative lab investigations, serving different functions in various four-member teams.
Other means of student interaction, such as discussion boards, wikis and other standard techniques are not currently a fixed part of the course design, but will be implemented as the need arises.
The broad goals to be achieved by students in the course include the following:
1. Understanding through direct experience, experiment, syntax and mathematical formulation
2. Understanding what it means to validate a hypothesis by an experiment, and specify the precision to which the hypothesis is validated
3. Development of the ability to analyze and solve complex problems
4. In addition to these course-specific goals, the following General Education Goals will be accomplished:
Students will develop and demonstrate proficiency with cooperative investigations, written communication of scientific concepts and procedures, and the practice of the scientific method.
The course-level objectives are summarized in terms of these goals. The most general verb used in specifying objectives is the verb "Relate", as it is defined at the link Relate. This link is repeated frequently in the definition of goals and objectives, and in order to understand the broad and specific objectives of this course it is necessary to review the meaning of the word as used in this course.
Achievement of these goals will be evaluated by the student's performance of the following tasks:
1. Explain, conduct and design experiments to test the consistency of standard formulations of, solve problems related to, and in general Relate the details of the theory pertaining to and connecting the definitions and formulations of:
2. Explain what it means to validate a hypothesis by an experiment, and specify the precision to which the hypothesis of a given experiment is validated by the design of the experiment and the data obtained.
3. Demonstrate, by constructing and presenting solutions, the ability to analyze and solve given problems.
4. Participate in the design, implementation, analysis and interpretation of four different cooperative experiments. Specifically:
Specific, assignment-level objectives are found in the Assignments Table and on the Due Dates Page Due Dates .
Specific objectives for each assignment are included in the Assignments Table, accessed through the homepage for the course.
The current section describes the goals and content of the course, and does not constitute a listing of objectives.
Specific objectives for each assignment are included in the Assignments Grid, on the homepage for the course. A module-by-module list of the same objectives is provided at Objectives List.
To achieve the goals of the course, the primary method of learning is to
In addition to the above, the following content will be mastered in relation to the specified activities, or to equivalent activities. This content comprises approximately 80% of the course.
A. Mathematical Operations
Conceptualize and analyze numerically, graphically and symbolically the behavior of the following, generalize your understanding and analysis as much as possible, and solve problems utilizing this knowledge, within the context of the following situations, relations, problems and tasks:
A.1. The proportionalities governing linear dimensions, areas and volumes of geometrically similar objects, and fixed quantities distributed over areas and/or volumes.
A.2. The behavior of sine and cosine functions as dictated by the motion of a point moving with constant angular velocity around a reference circle.
A.3. Relate approximate flow rates to volume or mass quantities observed with respect to time, and the related use of derivatives to obtain precise results.
A.4. The process of obtaining approximate changes in volume or mass quantities from flow rates observed with respect to time, and the related use of integrals of flow rate functions.
A.5. The processes of determining approximate rates from amount vs. time data and approximate changes in amount from rate vs. time data, and the related application of the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus.
B. Waves
B1. Relationships among wave velocity, frequency, wavelength, density of medium, tension of medium, amplitude, energy and period.
B2. Superposition of waves
B3. Nature of reflection at boundaries of various types and the formation of standing waves between two points.
B4. Determining wavelengths of the harmonics of a standing wave given boundary conditions.
B5. Determining frequencies of harmonics from wavelengths and propagation velocity.
B6. Energy in standing and traveling waves
C. Thermal Energy and Thermodynamics
C1. Specific heat, calorimetry, latent heat, energy conservation.
C2. Kinetic theory of gases, ideal gas laws.
C3. First and second laws of thermodynamics.
C4. Analysis of multi-cycle heat engines.
D. Fluids
D1. Density, pressure, energy relationships and Bernoulli’s Equation.
D2. Viscosity and surface tension.
E. Electrostatics
E1. Coulomb’s Law, electric fields, superposition of fields.
E2. Gaussian surfaces
E3. Energy, potential difference, potential functions.
F. Electrical Circuits
F1. Ohm’s Law, Series and Parallel Circuits, Kirchoff’s Laws, Energy Relationships
G. Magnetism
G1. Magnetic fields.
G2. Interaction between magnetic fields and moving electric charges.
G3. Magnetic fields as the result of moving charges.
G4 . Magnetic flux, EMF resulting from changing magnetic flux.
H. Modern Physics
H1. Time dilation, length contraction, mass-energy.
H2. Photoelectric effect, quantization of energy.
H3. Uncertainty principle.
H4. Atomic spectra, quantization of angular momentum, atomic structure.
H5. Modes of nuclear decay, energy conservation.
All materials for the course are specified at the link Course Materials.
The text for the course is
University Physics by Young. ISBN of the current edition is 978-0321675460. Previous editions can also be supported.
It is possible to use previous editions of the text. If you wish to do so, contact the instructor with information about the edition you are considering to be sure it can be supported.
There is also a Supplementary FREE text:
Starting this term a supplementary free text is available. This text is written for a College Physics course and is not calculus-based. However the overlap between a good algebra-trig-based text and a University Physics text is at least 75%, and this text is very well-written and available at an attractive price (it's free). You should take a look to see what is available here.
The student will be required to purchase the DVD's, which are sold at low cost through the VHCC bookstore.
Text material will be supplemented by problem sets, directions for experiments and other information through the course homepage.
Lab materials will be purchased through the VHCC Bookstore. Students will, according to previous instructions, have submitted the Lab Materials Form prior to accessing this page.
Problem sets in the text are divided into Exercises, Problems and Challenge Problems, with Problems being the intermediate level. The level at which the course is taught is consistent with the level of the Problems in the text.
The course will include coverage of text Chapters 14-36, with supplementary experiments, problem sets and other materials.
Topics will include:
- Fluids
- Gas laws
- Thermal energy, kinetic theory and thermodynamics
- Waves and optics
- Electricity and Magnetism
- Modern Physics
Students will learn to do the problems in the introductory problem sets, work assigned text problems and complete the experiments.
The level at which the course is taught is consistent with the level of the intermediate problems in the text (indicated as level II in the problem sets).
Instructional methodsStudents will complete and submit the assignments specified on the homepage.
The instructor will respond in a timely fashion to any work submitted, making suggestions where improvement is needed and posing questions designed to enhance the student's learning experience. The student will be required to respond to all critiques, except those designated otherwise.
Questions posed by students and the instructor's responses will be posted to a site, specified in at the beginning of the course, for the student's review.
Students may on occasion be asked to critique work done by other students. Full student anonymity will be preserved, with no reference to the identity of any party in this exchange.
The instructor is available via web forms (to which you will be introduced at the very beginning of the course), and will normally respond by the end of the day following your submission (and more typically on the same day) with answers to properly posed questions, feedback on your efforts, and other information. Exceptions may occur in the event of Internet problems or other technical events.
Use of email: Prior to registration and receipt of initial instructions students my use Email to communicate with the instructor. However email is much less reliable than web forms, and after registration and receipt of initial instructions anything sent through email should first be sent using the appropriate form.
Finding Assignments
Assignments are listed in the Assignments Table. However you are advised to delay viewing the Assignments Table until you have completed the Initial Activities.
Due dates for the various assignments are posted a the Due Dates Page.
A Major Quiz, two regular tests and a final exam will be administered, each receiving a score between 0 and 100%. The lab portion of the course will be graded, and the student's portfolio will be graded, each receiving a score between 0 and 100%. The final grade will be determined by a weighted average of these scores.
Weighting of grades will be spelled out in more detail below, but the algorithm can be stated as follows:
Portfolio and Portfolio Grade
A student's portfolio, consisting of instructor responses to assigned work and/or daily quizzes, will at the end of the term be assigned a grade on a 100-point scale. Each portfolio document is worth 1 point toward the portfolio grade, which will be awarded if the document meets acceptable standards. If the document does not meet acceptable standards, the instructor will request a revision. The total score on the 100-point scale will be equal to the number of points awarded as a percent of the total number of documents assigned. Documents counted toward the portfolio grade include qa's, queries and randomized problems. If this score is higher than the average on the other contributions to the final grade, it will be counted as 1/2 of a test grade (typically around 10% of the final grade); if not it will be counted as 1/4 of a test grade (typically around 5% of the final grade). The actual proportion of the final grade determined by the portfolio depends on weighting contingencies as defined previously and a further explained below.
Grading of Tests
Tests are graded as follows: Each test problem will be graded on a 10-point scale, where 10 points is awarded for a completely correct solution. Partial credit is given for partial solutions. Raw test scores will be normalized to the following scale, according to the difficulty of the test, as specified in advance of each test by the instructor:
A: 90 - 100
B: 80 - 90
C: 70 - 80
D: 60 - 70
F: Less than 60.
Grading of Labs
The body of each student's lab work will be graded and will be assigned a grade on a 100-point scale. This grade will be given a weight equal to 1 test grade. Every lab counts toward the final grade.
Each lab activity is worth a certain number of points, with point values specified in the Assignments Table.
A typical lab activity includes setup, obtaining and reporting data, analysis of data and interpretation of results. Some activities include only some of these aspects. In any case results are to be reported in a valid format, often a format specified by lab instructions. The weighting of the various aspects of a lab report will include only those aspects relevant to the activity, and those present are weighted as follows:
Each aspect will typically be awarded a value of 0, 1 or 2, with 2 representing acceptable work, 1 representing marginal work and 0 representing unacceptable work. For exceptional work a value of 3 might be awarded.
To determine full-credit score for a lab the 'acceptable' value 2 will be multiplied by the weight of each aspect present, and the products added to obtain the full-credit score.
Earned credit is obtained multiplying the value awarded for each aspect present by the weight of that aspect, and the products added to obtain the earned-credit value.
The score on the lab will be the earned credit as a percent of full credit.
The contribution to the total lab grade will be the resulting percent of the point value of the lab.
The lab grade for the course will be the sum of the contributions of the labs as a percent of the total point value of all labs.
Ungraded Assignments
Assignments not included in the above categories are not graded. However information obtained from those assignments is often necessary in order to understand various lab situations and assigned problems, and to prepare for tests. Information in ungraded assignments may necessary to answer questions in Query documents.
Requirement of Passing Lab Average
Furthermore, in order to earn at least a C in the course a student must have a passing lab grade (i.e., a lab grade greater than 60 on the 100-point scale). A student whose lab grade is not passing will receive no higher than a grade of D for the course.
Final Grade
The final grade will be a weighted average according to the above guidelines. An alternative summary of the weighting is as follows:
Major Quiz: Weight .5 or 1.0, to the advantage of the student
Test #1: Weight 1.0
Test #2: Weight 1.0
Comprehensive Final Exam: Weight 1.0 or 2.0, to the advantage of the student
Portfolio Average: Weight .25 or .50, to the advantage of the student.
Lab grade: weight 1.0 or 20% of final grade, to the advantage of the student, and lab grade must be passing to earn a grade of C or better.
The table below summarized the calculation of course grades:
assessment weighting contribution to total score major quiz 1/2 <= m_weigh <= 1 test score * m_weight test 2 1 test score * 1 test 3 1 test score * 1 final exam 1 <= f_weight <= 2 final exam score * f_weight lab grade L_weight = 1 lab grade * L_weight portfolio 1/4 <= p_weight <= 1/2 portfolio score * p_weight total of weightings total of contributions Final average = total of contributions / total of weightings
Final grade will be determined by final average, subject to the condition that the lab grade must be passing in order to receive a grade of C or better. A failing lab grade will result in a grade not better than D for the course.
Expanded Explanation of Weighting
The above is the simplest way to specify the grading scale for this course. However some students are uncomfortable with fractions, proportional representations and weighted averages and prefer to see the contributions of various components of the course expressed in terms of point values. Given the contingencies defined above, in which the major quiz, portfolio and final exam grades can each have two separate weightings, there are eight possible ways the algorithm defined above could be applied.
Each column under 'points' defines a possible way of calculating the student's final grade. The number of points for a given assessment will be multiplied by the student's percent score on that assessment to get the points earned on that assessment. These points will be added to get the student's final percent score for the course.
The student's final grade will be based on the weighting is most advantageous to the student. The student does not need to select one weighting or another. The instructor will examine all possible weightings to determine the highest possible final grade for each individual student, and this will be the course grade given to that student.
Assessment wt wt wt wt wt wt wt wt major quiz 1 1 1 1 .5 .5 .5 .5 portfolio .5 .5 .25 .25 .5 .5 .25 .25 final exam 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 pts pts pts pts pts pts pts pts major quiz 18.18182 15.38462 19.04762 16 10 8.333333 10.52632 8.695652 test 2 18.18182 15.38462 19.04762 16 20 16.66667 21.05263 17.3913 test 3 18.18182 15.38462 19.04762 16 20 16.66667 21.05263 17.3913 final exam 18.18182 30.76923 19.04762 32 20 33.33333 21.05263 34.78261 portfolio 9.090909 7.692308 4.761905 4 10 8.333333 5.263158 4.347826 lab 18.18182 15.38462 19.04762 16 20 16.66667 21.05263 17.3913 total points 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 Final average = total of contributions / total of weightings
Final grade will be determined by final average, subject to the condition that the lab grade must be passing in order to receive a grade of C or better. A failing lab grade will result in a grade not better than D for the course.
Some students will undoubtedly object that the lab average should not vary with other choices. A final option would be to count the lab average as 20% in all cases, in which event the weightings would be as follows:
Assessment wt wt wt wt wt wt wt wt major quiz 1 1 1 1 .5 .5 .5 .5 portfolio .5 .5 .25 .25 .5 .5 .25 .25 final exam 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 pts pts pts pts pts pts pts pts major quiz 14.54545 12.30769 15.2381 12.8 10 6.666667 8.421053 6.956522 test 2 14.54545 12.30769 15.2381 12.8 20 13.33333 16.84211 13.91304 test 3 14.54545 12.30769 15.2381 12.8 20 13.33333 16.84211 13.91304 final exam 14.54545 24.61538 15.2381 25.6 20 26.66667 16.84211 27.82609 portfolio 7.272727 6.153846 3.809524 3.2 10 6.666667 4.210526 3.478261 lab 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 total points 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 Final average = total of contributions / total of weightings
Final grade will be determined by final average, subject to the condition that the lab grade must be passing in order to receive a grade of C or better. A failing lab grade will result in a grade not better than D for the course.
In the event of a college-wide emergency
In the event of a College-wide emergency, course requirements, classes, deadlines, and grading schemes are subject to changes that may include alternative delivery methods, alternative methods of interaction with the instructor, class materials, and/or classmates, a revised attendance policy, and a revised semester calendar and/or grading scheme.
In the case of a College-wide emergency, please refer to the following about changes in this course:
· Course web page http://vhmthphy.vhcc.edu/ (click on your course)
· Instructor’s email dsmith@vhcc.edu (however, you should use your access page for the most reliable responses)
For more general information about the emergency situation, please refer to:
· Web site - www.vhcc.edu
· Telephone Number - 276-739-2400
· Emergency Text Messaging or Phone System- Virginia Highlands Community College uses VHCC Alert to immediately contact you during a major crisis or emergency. VHCC Alert delivers important emergency alerts, notifications and updates to you on your E-mail account (work, home, other), cell phone, pager or smartphone/PDA (BlackBerry, Treo & other handhelds). VHCC Alert is a free service offered by VHCC. Your wireless carrier may charge you a fee to receive messages on your wireless device. VHCC will test the alert system each semester. Register online at alert.vhcc.edu or by sending a text message to 411911 keyword: VHCC
In the event of an emergency just regarding this class, the instructor will contact all students via email, and may post information to your access site. You should check both email and your access site.