Physics For Scientists and Engineers 1

PHY 2014

Section 10097

MTWF  8:00 to 8:50 am  HOH101

Text:

University Physics with Modern Physics, 12th Edition
Young & Freedman
Pearson - Addison Wesley

On-line help: Lot's of resources on line - try Googling "physics help" and "physics tutorial"

Dr. Charles Hughes
webpage: http://www.physics.ucok.edu/~chughes/ 
email: chughes@ucok.edu
Office: Howell Hall, Room 208
Office Hours: 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm M-F
I sometimes have meetings that overlap into my office hours, so call if you are not on campus.

Overall course grades generally follow: A:90-100, B:80-89, C: 70-79, etc.
although final grades may be curved slightly.

For those interested, a do-it-yourself template course grade calculator is available at:
http://www.physics.ucok.edu/~chughes/Courses/PSE1/GradeCalculator.html

Class periods are a combination of lectures and interactive problem solving.  For this reason, you will need to bring a scientific calculator to class each day.  Students in all Physics and Engineering courses will be required to use one of the following calculators on exams:

Note that the use of graphing calculators is not allowed during exams. Moreover, you may not use translators, cell phones, pagers, palms, computers, or any other device that can store formulas or communicate with other electronic devices while you are taking your exam.

Please turn of cell phones and pagers before the start of each class period.

The in-class interactive problem solving will require you and the other members of the class to compute and compare answers with one another and, if a discrepency exists, to help each other find the correct solution. 

Students are expected to participate fully in classroom activities.  The instructor will respect each student’s questions and ideas, just as each student is expected to respect the questions and ideas of his or her fellow classmates. 

We may, from time to time, have in-class quizzes or worksheets.  Grades from these will be averaged into your overall homework grade.

All exams and homework should be done neatly and in pencil.

You must be enrolled in one of the accompanying laboratory sections for this course:
PHY 2014L Phy Sci & Eng I Lab
Section 10098 which meets W 12:00 pm-2:50 pm in HOH 163
Section 14751which meets W 7:30 pm-10:50 pm in HOH 163.

Students that have not enrolled in the lab section will be dropped from the course. If you are having difficulties enrolling in a laboratory section, see the Engineering & Physics Department Chair immediately. Laboratories will begin the first week of class with an introductory lab. Lab manuals are available from Broncho Books [321 E. 2nd St --on 2nd Street just west of University Drive] but won't be available until Friday.

You must be enrolled in the accompanying drill section for this course:
PHY 2014D Physics for Sci & Engr I Drill
Section 15168
Note: the drill session will usually meet on Tuesdays but may swap with other class days depending on scheduling. You must attend the drill session that accompanies this class (i.e. the one that meets in HOH101). If you are having difficulties enrolling in the appropriate section, see the Engineering & Physics Department Chair immediately.

You should expect to spend anywhere from two to three hours of work outside of class for each hour of in-class time. This outside work may involve reading the text, using the computer tutorials, and completing the problem assignments assigned each day. Homework problem assignments are where you develop the problem solving skills necessary to understand any area of physics. All assigned problems in this course must be completed and turned in on time.

Homework format:

• Homework problem assignment sheets will be handed out daily. These assignment sheets must be stapled as a cover sheet to the assignment being handed in.
• Unless instructed otherwise on the assignment sheet, all work should be done on separate paper.
• Each assigned problem should be done neatly and completely in pencil. The details of all work must be shown neatly and completely for full credit.

More about homework:

• Unless otherwise indicated, homework problems are due in my office by 5:00 pm two school days after they are assigned in class. For example, Monday homework is due on Wednesday, Tuesday homework on Thursday, Wednesday homework on Friday, Friday Homework on Tuesday.
  
• While homework is not due until 5:00 pm, you may turn in your assignment at the start of class period. DO NOT work on assignments during classroom lectures, however.
• Each assigned problem will be scored with a total of 5 points.  Late homework will not be graded but may still be turned in for 1/5 credit (1 point per problem).
  
• You are strongly encouraged to work together on your homework assignments. You will find that you learn the material more quickly while developing a deeper understanding by working with two or three colleagues.  This does not mean that you copy someone else's work, however.  Since the place where you demonstrate how well you can set up and solve introductory physics problems is on your exams, you should work toward being able to do the problems independently.  Your study partners (and your instructor) are there to help you get through those points that you do not understand. 
• Check your answers and method of solution with as many of your classmates as you can.  If there is a discrepancy between your solution and theirs, see if you can figure out where the problem is.  If you cannot figure out who is right and who is wrong, or if you still don’t feel comfortable with your approach to the problem, see your instructor right away.
• Solving physics problems, like everything else, takes a lot of practice.  Make sure you can spend the time necessary to do well in the course. 

The best advice for students taking this (or any other) course: Keep up with the material on a day-to-day basis. If there is something that you do not understand, ask your study partners or your instructor immediately. Letting a topic slide for a few days is a prescription for failure. DON'T GET BEHIND.

I expect you to be in class. Excessive absences will result in your grade being lowered.   If you do happen to miss a day, you are responsible for getting the notes and assignments from someone else in the class.

I will replace one in-class hour exam grade with your final exam grade if your final exam score is higher than one of your in-class hour exam scores. This is primarily designed for those students that miss an exam for some reason or have an unrepresentative performance on one exam score.

The UCO student information sheet and attachment can be found at:
http://www.busn.ucok.edu/academicaffairs/StudentInfoSheet.pdf
This document contains information about withdrawing from courses, too many finals on the same day, incompletes, and a lot of other information pertaining to students enrolled in any course at UCO. (PDF file - you'll need Acrobat Reader)