Lectures:

10:30–11:20    Mondays and Wednesdays in Wean Hall 5409

Recitations A:

8:30–9:20    Tuesdays and Thursdays in Doherty Hall A200

Recitations B:

9:30–10:20    Tuesdays and Thursdays in Doherty Hall A200

Recitations C:

10:30–11:20    Tuesdays and Thursdays in Doherty Hall A200

Help Sessions:

6:30–8:30    Wednesdays and Thursdays in Doherty Hall A200

Instructor:

H. Collins, Wean Hall Room 7414

Office hours:

Feel free to come by at any time (afternoons and evenings are the best)

Assistants:

Husni Almoubayyed, Wean Hall 8419, halmouba
Mao Sheng Liu, Wean Hall 8303, maoshenl

Grader:

Peikai Li

Textbook:

Morton Sternheim and Joseph Kane, General Physics (2nd edition), Wiley, 1991.
ISBN: 978-0-471-52278-2
The course will cover the material in chapters 16–21 and 23–24.

Course Work:

The purpose of this course is to help you to become familiar with some of the basic properties of electromagnetism and light.  It is expected that you are taking this course, as opposed to 142 or 152, because you are more interested in using physics as a tool for your own field; so the emphasis will be a bit less abstract with more examples from chemistry or biology.  The list of topics that you will learn appears on the last page.

Each week when there is not a test you will be given some problems to solve. Individually, they are not meant to be too difficult.  Sometimes the mathematics might seem a bit tedious at first; but the point is to get practice, and with enough you should be able to work more and more quickly.

You are free to consult with your colleagues while you are working on the problem sets, but you must figure out the solutions for yourself and never just copy another student’s work.  You must show all of the necessary steps for each solution.  Just writing down the answer is not enough.

I am very eager for you to learn this subject well.  You are always welcome to visit my office or send me a message if you have any questions or if something is not clear.

Tests:

We shall have three subject examinations.  The first covers the material in chapters 16 and 17 on the basic properties of electricity, while the second covers the material in chapters 19 and 20 about magnetism.  The third examination explores the basics of light and waves.

The tentative dates for these examinations are during weeks V, X, and XIV of the course.  There will not be a separate test for the material on optics, but optics will appear on the final examination.

Grading:

  5%    Recitations
  5%    Little quizzes
35%    Problem Sets
30%    Examinations I–III (10% each)
25%    Final Examination

File:

   (printable version)