Course Syllabus

GENERAL PHYSICS – Fall 2016 SEMESTER

INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Desiré Whitmore, PhD                   OFFICE:        LSB 204/ATEP D108

E-MAIL:     dwhitmore@ivc.edu                                    OFFICE PHONE:     949-282-2704

OFFICE HOURS:

M, W    5:30 PM  –  7:00 PM, IVC     rm LSB 204

TH       3:00 PM  –  4:00 PM, ATEP  rm D108

F       10:00 AM -- 11:00 AM, ATEP  rm D108

MEETING TIMES:     Lecture W 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM B309

          Lab M 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM B318

MATERIALS:

  1. Bound notebook with graph pages for laboratory work (recommended to be correct type from the bookstore).  No other types of lab book will be accepted.  This notebook counts as part of the lab grade. You must enter data from each lab in your lab notebook and have the instructor sign it before you leave.  If labs are missing or not signed by the instructor, you will receive an F Grade for that laboratory.  
  2. Calculator (preferably a graphing calculator such as the TI 83 or better).
  3. Small ruler and protractor with the smallest increment at the millimeter scale.
  4. EMAIL-- YOU MUST USE YOUR IVC E-MAIL!!    All other email will be ignored. E-mail is the best way to contact me. I check my e-mail from Monday through Friday, and will respond to messages within 48 hours. Make sure to type in an appropriate subject heading, which includes the title of the class (i.e., PHYS 4A – Homework #1 Question). At the end of each message include your FULL name.

ONLINE ACCESS:   This class will be using a new online interface called Canvas. It can be accessed from Blackboard, or by going directly to ivc.instructure.com. Many class items will be available on our Canvas site, including lab materials and reference materials. Check the site at least once per week for new information and updates.

TEXTBOOK:   Physics.  Halliday, Resnick, and Krane.  5th Edition.  Volume 1.  2002.

COURSE DESCRIPTION: This is a calculus-based introduction to classical mechanics. Kinematics in one and two dimensions; forces and equilibrium; Newton's laws; particle dynamics; universal gravitation; conservation laws; work and potential energy; collisions; kinematics and dynamics of rigid bodies and oscillations are studied.

PREREQUISITE: MATH 3A

RECOMMENDED PREPARATION: MATH 3B

ATTENDANCE: Attendance will not count towards your grade, but absences can lower your grade. It is your responsibility to find out about any and all announcements that were given during lecture and/or lab. If you decide to “drop the class” it is your responsibility to go online and electronically withdraw from the course before the drop date, September 5th. If you are added into the class late after the first official day of classes, then it is your responsibility to “catch up” on any material that has been missed. If you do not attend class the first week of class, you will be automatically dropped to make room for students on the waitlist who do attend.

HOMEWORK: There will be online homework due every Wednesday at 7:00 PM, starting on August 31ST. You will need to register with WebAssign. Instructions for doing so can be found on Canvas. Homework problems will be assigned after each lecture. You will have 3 attempts to solve each quantitative question before losing points.

QUIZZES: At the start of laboratory on every Monday there will be a 5 - 10 minute quiz. The problems on the quiz will be randomly selected from the Multiple Choice and Discussion questions found at the end of each chapter in the textbook. There will be NO late or make-up quizzes.

LABORATORY: Lab is a required part of the course and will count towards your cumulative grade. Lab notebooks will be mandatory, and can be purchased through the IVC bookstore. These notebooks should be used to take notes during lab as well as to record all data taken during experiments. For each lab experiment you will be combined into a group of three students, and you will all work together to turn in a single lab report with staggered due dates. Specific information about the lab report format are posted on Canvas and will be reviewed by the instructor on the day of the first experiment. Specific information about the individual experiments is also posted on Canvas, and will be reviewed by the instructor on prior to each experiment. However, it is your responsibility to read through these online documents ahead of time and come to lab prepared for each experiment. Labs begin the week of August 22ND.

  • Every lab report submitted needs to have the following information:
    • Full Name
    • Experiment # and Title
    • Class- Physics 4A
    • Date of submission
  • There are several ways to receive a zero on the lab report, they are listed below:
    • If you arrive more than 30 minutes late to an experiment. Your other lab partners will take-over your role for that experiment.
    • If you are absent from a lab, without a written and justified excuse from an appropriate boss, judge, lawyer, police officer, commanding officer, etc.
      • Missed labs, with a written justified excuse, will have that week’s lab report score replaced with the subsequent lab report score.
    • If you don’t contribute to the group lab report. Your lab partners will receive an additional two days to complete and turn in any missing lab report sections.

EXAMS: There will be two semi-cumulative exams during the semester and a cumulative final exam. The first two exams will take the place of a laboratory experiment and the final exam will be at a pre-determined time during finals week. You will have two hours to complete each exam, and you may use only the equations sheets provided with any type of calculator which doesn’t connect to the internet. NO CELL PHONES allowed during the exams. A written excuse will be necessary in order to take a make-up exam; it must be signed by an appropriate boss, judge, lawyer, police officer, commanding officer, etc. The make-up exam will be held at the Testing Center, located on the IVC campus, at your own cost. Unjustified missed exams will be given a score of zero. For the first two exams, exam revisions may be submitted in order to regain a maximum of 50% of the initially deducted points. On scratch paper, completely redo each part of every problem where points were deducted. Staple these behind the original exam and submit everything seven days after initially receiving back the graded exam.

GRADES:

Quizzes 10%

Homework 10%

Laboratory 20% (15% reports, 5% notebook)

Exams 40% (20% each)

Final Exam 20%

Grading is based on a standard, non-curved scale. A curve will be implemented, if necessary, based on the distribution of grades throughout the course.

Total Percentage

Letter Grade

90-100%

A

80-89%

B

70-79%

C

60-69%

D

<60%

F

ADA DISCLAIMER: Students in need of accommodations due to a disability should contact the Disabled Students Center office at 949-451-5630 for verification and determination of reasonable accommodations as soon as possible after admission to the college, or at the beginning of each academic semester.

ACADEMIC CODE: The academic code of conduct is in effect. Refer to the IVC Handbook for specific college guidelines. Also, please silence or turn off your cell phones during lecture, and especially during exams. It is a distraction to the instructor and your fellow students. Cheating on an assignment will result in a grade of zero on the assignment.

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

    1. The student will be able to solve kinematic problems involving scalar and vector physical quantities and interpret their physical meaning.
    2. The student will demonstrate an understanding of the effects of forces on translational and projectile motion, and on equilibrium, through the application of Newton’s Laws of Motion.
    3. The student will learn the relationships between work, energy and power as they relate to mechanical systems and projectile motion.
    4. The student will demonstrate an understanding of the concepts of impulse and momentum and be able to solve simple collision problems.
    5. The student will demonstrate an understanding of gravitation and apply Newton’s Laws of Motion to objects moving in Uniform Circular Motion, Simple Harmonic Motion, and the orbital laws of Kepler.
    6. Students will demonstrate an understanding of the basic properties of mechanical waves in solids and fluids.

TENTATIVE COURSE SCHEDULE

WEEK

DATES

TEXTBOOK SECTIONS

EXPERIMENT

1

2

3

4

8/22, 8/24

8/29, 8/31

9/5, 9/7

9/12, 9/14

1.1 - 1.5, 1.7, 2.2

2.1, 2.3 - 2.5

2.6, 3.1 - 3.8

4.1 - 4.5

GRAPHING

MEASUREMENT

NO LAB – HOLIDAY

FREE-FALL

5

6

7

8

9/19, 9/21

9/26, 9/28

10/3, 10/5

10/10, 10/12

5.1 - 5.6

6.1 - 6.5

7.1 – 7.4

8.1 - 8.6

FORCE VECTORS

PROJECTILE MOTION

NO LAB - MIDTERM 1

CENTRIPETAL FORCE

9

10

11

12

10/17, 10/19

10/24,10/26

10/31, 11/2

11/7, 11/9

9.1 - 9.7

10.1 - 10.5

11. 1 - 11.2, 11.4 - 11.8

11.3, 12.1, 12.2, 13.1

COLLISIONS

MOMENT OF INERTIA

ANGULAR MOMENTUM

NO LAB - MIDTERM 2

13

14

15

16

FINALS

11/14, 11/16

11/21, 11/23

11/28, 11/30

12/5, 12/7

12/14

13.3, 14.1 - 14.7

15.1 - 15.5

16.1 - 16.5

17.1 - 17.5

FINAL STARTS AT 7:30 PM

BALLISTIC PENDULUM

NO LAB - EXTRA LECTURE

BUOYANCY

SPRINGS

NO LAB – FINALS WEEK

NOTE: Any part of the above syllabus may be amended at any time during the semester at the discretion of the instructor.

Preparation: A list of exercises and problems to help prepare for exams and quizzes can be found on Canvas.

Course Summary:

Date Details Due