General Physics I - Fall 2005

What every future professional needs to know about Physics!
- also known as, "PHY 1114" and (more affectionately) as "GP 1"

taught by

Weldon J. Wilson

Department of Physics & Engineering
University of Central Oklahoma
Edmond, Oklahoma 73034-5209
Announcements Official Syllabus
 Contact Instructor
Prerequisites Material Covered Homework
Lecture Schedule Material Covered Extras
Textbook Exams and Grades Survey due Aug 29
HW Solutions
 Homework Scores
 Grade for Course

Announcements

Aug 24
 Classroom Change -  Beginning Wednesday August 24, we change classrooms from HOH 101 to HOH 100 (right next door).  We will meet in a new classroom for the duration of the semester.
Aug 22
 Welcome to the PHY 1114 Fall 2005 Web Site.  Look here for future updates and announcements. There aren't any yet unless you count this welcome message.


Welcome

Welcome to PHY 1114, or (as I prefer to call it) "Physics for Future Professionals." I am not kidding. If I do my job, after every class you should come away with the feeling that what was just covered could be important for you to know to you in your future profession whether that profession is in business, teaching, law, or health care.
 

Introduction

This is a course in Physics for Future Professionals. It is the first semester of a two-semester course sequence that tries to cover everything of importance in physics for students who plan to go into teaching, business, law, health care, or any profession where some knowledge of the most fundamental science is required. That is impossible of course, but we will make a good start. The general outline of topics will roughly follow the schedule included in the syllabus. In this first semester we will focus on topics from motion, forces, waves and heat. The second semester of this sequence will cover electricity, magnetism, optics, and atomic and nuclear physics.

My approach is to teach physics as much as possible through examples of things that are important, interesting, or that will be important to you later on. I assume that you have a good chance to become an outstanding leader in your field (president or CEO of a corporation, teacher, lawyer, politician, physician, etc.), and that this is my chance to teach you the fundamental physics that you will want and need to know not only for later courses at the university but thoughout your professional career.

Requirements

It is assumed that you have seen at least some physics before in a prior course (typically a high school physical science or physics course).  If you have never had a formal course in physics or physical science, it might be better for you to start with PHY 1003 (Introduction to Physics) or GENSC 1104 (University Physical Science).

You should have completed MATH 1593 (Trigonometry) or MATH 1555 (College Algebra and Trigonometry) or the equivalent course(s) in high school  with a grade of "C" or better.  We won't use trigonometry every day in this class, but I won't hestitate to use it if and when the need arises. I expect everyone to have and be able to use a scientific calculator and to be comfortable with scientific notation. You should also have a working knowledge of the basic metric system (If drug dealers can learn to use it, so can we).  If you have somehow managed to get to this point in your education without learning the following metric prefix abbreviations, now is the time to memorize them once and for all:

Prefix
 Abbrevation
 Power
femto
 f
 10-15
pico
 p
 10-12
nano
 n
 10-9
micro
 ยต
 10-6
deci
 d
 10-3
kilo
 k
 103
mega
 M
 106
giga
 G 109
tera
 T
 1012


HW #0 due by 5:00 PM Monday August 29

We have a lot of material to cover, so we will get off to a running start. The following Homework Assignment is due the by 5:00 PM, Monday August 29.

HW #0 - Go the following link and complete the survey, GP 1 Survey.

Textbook

You will need to get a copy of the textbook:


Physics, 6th Ed., by  John D. Cutnell and Kenneth W. Johnson (John Wiley, New York, 2004).

You will need to get your own copy since there will be regularly assigned readings  as well as homework problems assigned from it.

To Contact Wilson

My email address is wwilson@uco.edu. 

You can telephone me at my office at 974-5470. My telephone has voice mail, but
I am not very good at checking it regularly. It is probably bettter to contact
me by email, which I do check regularly.
My official office hours:
MTRF, 1:00-2:00 PM in my office (Howell Hall 221H).
W, 11:00-12:00 AM in my office (Howell Hall 221H).
Any time by mutual arrangement (email or telephone to arrange).

  
Other Times: I am usually in my office from 9 - 4 whenever I am not teaching
class or at other scheduled meetings.  Take your chances and drop
by unannounced or telephone or email to arrange.

Homework

All homework assignments will be due at the beginning of each class at 9:00 AM sharp.  When you come in the door to class you should put these in a stack on the table at the front of the room before you sit down. We may also have occasional in class homework exercises that we will work together and turn in at the end of the class period.  These will count like regular homework.

Each homework problem will be graded as follows:  0 (if you didn't attempt it), 1 (if you attempted it, but did a poor job), 2 (if you did a good job, but there were a few details that either weren't quite right or were missing), or 3 (if you did an exceptionally good job). After each homework assignment is graded and is returned to you, I will post solutions to the homework on this web site.

Late homeworks are not accepted. 

Exams and Grades

Exams. We will have three, one-hour exams during the semester and a comprehesiive final exam. Each exam will consist of problems similar to those assigned in the homework.


Grades. Your final grade will be based on the following:

Laboratory (20%)
Homework (15%)
Exam #1 (15%)
Exam #2 (15%)
Exam #3 (15%)
Final Exam (20%)

A > 90% >= B > 80% >= C > 70% >= D >= 60% > F

BEWARE: It is easier to earn a low grade than you might think from this. Every semester I have students who earn a low grade, and write me saying that now they can't register in their chosen major, or they will lose their scholarship, and they seek my help. All I can do is cry with them. The easiest way to get a low grade is to miss class, not keep up, and not turn in the homework. So if you don't plan on attending class regularly, putting regular study hours in for this class, and turning in the homework, save yourself some grief (not to mention money) right now and withdraw.