Physics for Scientists and Engineers I
What every future scientist and engineer needs to know about Physics!
- a.k.a., "PHY 2014" and (more affectionately) as "PSE 1"

taught by

Weldon J. Wilson

Department of Physics & Engineering
University of Central Oklahoma
Edmond, Oklahoma 73034-5209

Announcements Official Syllabus
 To Contact Wilson
Requirements Material to be covered Homework
Textbook Exams and Grades Homework #0 due Aug 27
HW & Exam Solutions
 Final Homework Grades
 Final Course Grade

Announcements

Dec 14
 FINAL COURSE GRADES are now available
- click on Final Course Grade above.


Dec 12
 Updated grades now include final lab grades.


Oct 17
 Second exam score and your estimated course grade to date are now available. Click on Estimated Course Grade to Date above to see your result.


Sept 19
 First exam score and your estimated course grade to date are now available. Click on Estimated Course Grade to Date above to see your result.  If you have not given me a secret name and would like to do so, contact me by email with you chosen name.


August 27 Welcome to PHY 2014! This area will contain all course announcements, in reverse chronological order. There aren't any yet unless you count this welcome message.


Welcome

Welcome to PHY 2014, or (as I prefer to call it) "Physics for Future Scientists and Engineers." 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 a future scientist or engineer to know.   My goal is for this to be the best course you have ever taken.

Introduction

This is a course in Physics for Future Scientists and Engineers. It is the first semester of a two-semester course sequence that tries to cover everything of importance in classical physics. That is impossible, but we will make a good start. The general outline of topics will roughly follow the schedule listed in the syllabus. In this semester we will focus on topics from motion, dynamics, and thermodynamics.

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, engineer, research physicist or chemist, computer scientist, 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 some physics before in a prior course (typically a high school physics course).  If you have never had a formal course in physics, it would probably be better for you to start with PHY 1003 (Introduction to Physics).

You should have completed Calculus 1 with a grade of "C" or better and at least be taking Calculus 2 concurrently .  We won't use calculus 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. I expect everyone to have a working knowledge of the basic metric system (If illegal 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
 µ
 10-6
deci
 d
 10-3
kilo
 k
 103
mega
 M
 106
giga
 G 109
tera
 T
 1012

HW #0 due by Friday August 27

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 8:00 AM Wednesday August 20.

HW #0: Go to this link and submit the online web survey you find there.

Textbook

You will need to get a copy of the textbook:


 Fundamentals of Physics, 7th Ed., by David Halliday, Robert Resnick, and Jearl Walker (John Wiley, New York, 2005).

There will be assigned readings from the text and also homework problems  will be assigned from it.

To Contact Wilson

My email address is wwilson@ucok.edu.  You can telephone me at my office at 974-5470.

My official office hours:

MTW F, 1:00-01:50  PM  in my office (Howell Hall 221H).
Thursday, 11:00-11:50 AM in my office (Howell Hall 221H).
Any time that can be mutally arranged (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.

Exams and Grades

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

The first exam is scheduled for Friday September 17, 2004, in class (11:00 AM). I

The second exam is scheduled for Friday October 15, 2003, in classin class (11:00 AM). 

The third exam is scheduled for Friday November 12, in class (11:00 AM).

The Final Exam is comprehensive and scheduled for 1100 AM - 12:50 PM on Monday December 138. If you cannot be present at that time, contact me immediately.

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

Laboratory (20%), Homework (10%), Best of  Three One-hour Exams (25%), Second Best of  Three One-hour Exams (15% each), Third Best of  Three One-hour Exams (10%), 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 at least 90% of the classes, 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.

Homework

Unless a we have a major exam scheduled, a homework assignment will be due at the beginning of each class at 11:00 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. This is my way of encouraging you to attend class on time and checking attendance.

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). I will post solutions to the homework, and if you

Late homeworks are usually not accepted, unless there is an extraordinary excuse. The fact that you had an exam in some other class the next day, or a huge project, is not extraordinary.