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Physics 142E, Spring 2006
GENERAL PHYSICS I

Physics 142E is a calculus-based introductory physics course covering Mechanics and Thermodynamics. It is part of the required Engineering School curriculum.


Times: MWF 10:00 - 10:50 AM

Location: Physics Room 203

Instructor:

S. Conetti, room 217 High Energy Physics building (434) 982-5371, e-mail: conetti@virginia.edu. Office hours 1-2 pm on Mondays and Wednesdays, room 022A in the Physics Building (ground floor) or by appointment.

Required text: Physics for Scientists and Engineers, Giancoli, 3rd Edition (Prentice Hall).


The aim of this course is to teach you to understand the physical world and to solve problems about that world. Both elements are important to you. Your grade in the course will depend on your ability to solve problems, but an understanding of the material is crucial to your ability in problem solving, as is the acquisition of a set of skills in problem solving. The lectures are oriented towards helping you understand why and how we understand what we do about physics, not simply towards helping you learn how to plug in formulas in order to solve problems, and not simply towards helping you pass tests. There are extensive discussion sessions, led by a teaching assistant, where problem examples will be treated more explicitly. Understanding the concepts is the best long-term way for you to be able to solve the problems that an engineer faces. Problem solving skills are honed by doing problems. You should look at more problems than the ones assigned as homework, at least to convince yourself that you would know how to handle them. Feel free to consult with each other on how to do the problems, but don't put yourself in the position of just copying answers from your partner. And, to validate your approach to any given problem, feel free to consult the TA's (or the course instructor during his office hours). But be aware that the TA's will be instructed not to give explicit information on how to solve any given homework problem.

Course Structure

$\Rightarrow$ How your grade is determined:

Homework: 20%

Exams: 50% for the average of three midterms and 30% for the final exam.

$\Rightarrow$ Three midterm tests:

The midterms tests will be held in Physics rooms 203 and 204.

You may take either exam on the given dates, but not both! To do so is an honor violation.

Note: No make-up exams are given! With a valid excuse before the exam, the remaining elements of the course will be appropriately averaged. Without a valid excuse before the exam, the exam grade will be a zero.

The midtem exams will be a mixture of problems (like the ones you do in the homework or in the discussion sessions) and of conceptual, multiple choice questions; the final exams will be multiple choices.

$\Rightarrow$ Final exam :

Tuesday, May 9 2006, 9:00-12:00

$\Rightarrow$ Final exam :

Sample questions for final practice

Final exam equation sheet

Workshops: The workshops ( www.phys.virginia.edu/classes/241w.rmm5a.fall04) are labs, which will be completed in groups. All students should register for a workshop section. You must attend the first meeting on time, or your name will be dropped from that section. You must also buy the manual, which is available in the UVA bookstore. The workshops are an enjoyable way to work with your peers and increase your understanding of physics. Please note that the workshops are not formally part of this course but rather a separate entity and must be signed into or out of separately.

Homework: >Homework problems will be posted on this syllabus and in the toolkit and will be due each week at 12 noon Monday morning. The homework problems have to be worked in full and clearly on paper, and must be returned, before the deadline, in the lockboxes located in the Physics Building ground floor (across from the vending machines). The homework should either be pledged or, if you do it in collaboration with some other student, should contain the statement "this homework was done in collaboration with xxyy". In order to create the overall homework grade, each week 2 of the assigned problems will be graded..

Getting help on the homework:

- The TA's for PHYS 142E will have the hours listed below, and will be available for help with problems or lecture material. During these sessions , which will last 50 minutes each, you will be reminded of the basic concepts you have learned in class and then will be shown how to solve various problems related to the ones assigned as homework.

- The engineering school usually also provides tutoring assistance, relevant information will be given when available.

Attendance policy: Attendance is not taken, but you are responsible for all assigned material, whether it is presented in lecture or not. You are also responsible for knowing the problem assignments and for any announcements that may be made in lecture of changes in the assignments, schedule, etc..


Lectures

Session Date Topic Chapter
#1 Jan. 18 Wed. Physical quantities and their description 1
#2. Jan. 20 Fri. Kinematics in one dimension 2
#3. Jan. 23 Mon. One-dimensional kinematics and free fall 2
#4. Jan. 25 Wed. Vectors, Two-dimensional kinematics 3
#5. Jan. 27 Fri. Projectile motion 3
#6. Jan. 30 Mon. Circular motion and relative motion 3
#7. Feb. 1 Wed. Dynamics, Newton's Laws 4
#8. Feb. 3 Fri. Using Newton's Laws 4
#9. Feb. 6 Mon. Applications of Newton's Laws 4
#10. Feb. 8 Wed. Further Applications of Newton's Laws 5
#11. Feb. 10 Fri. Further Applications of Newton's Law 5
#12. Feb. 13 Mon. Gravitation 6



Feb. 13 Mon. Exam 1, 17:00-18:30/19:00-20:30 Chapters 1-4

#13. Feb. 15 Wed. Gravitation 6
#14. Feb. 17 Fri. Work and energy 7
#15. Feb. 20 Mon. Work and energy 7
#16. Feb. 22 Wed. Energy conservation 8
#17. Feb. 24 Fri. Energy conservation 8
#18. Feb. 27 Mon. Linear momentum and collisions 9
#19. Mar. 1 Wed. Linear momentum and collisions 9
#20. Mar. 3 Fri. Rotational motion 10



March 4 - March 12: Spring recess

#21. Mar. 13 Mon. Angular momentum & rotational dynamics 10
#22. Mar. 15 Wed. General rotation 11
#23. Mar. 17 Fri. General rotation 11
#24. Mar. 20 Mon. Static Equilibrium 12



Mar. 20 Mon. Exam 2, 17:00-18:30/19:00-20:30 Chapters 5-9

Midterm 2 formula sheet

#25. Mar. 22 Wed. Static equilibrium 12
#26. Mar 24 Fri. Fluids 13
#27. Mar. 27 Mon. Fluids 13
#28. Mar 29 Wed. Oscillations 14
#29. Mar. 31 Fri. Oscillations 14
#30. Apr 3 Mon. Wave motion 15
#31. Apr. 5 Wed. Wave motion 15
#32. Apr. 7 Fri. Sound 16
# 33. Apr. 10 Mon. Sound 16
# 34. Apr. 12 Wed. Temperature 17
#35. Apr. 14 Fri. Ideal gas law 17
#36. Apr. 17 Mon. Kinetic theory of gases 18



Apr. 17 Mon. Exam 3, 17:00-18:30/19:00-20:30 Chapters 10-14

Midterm 3 formula sheet

#37. Apr. 19 Wed. Kinetic theory of gases 18
#38. Apr. 21 Fri. First law of thermodynamics 19
#39. Apr. 24 Mon. First law of thermodynamics 19
#40. Apr. 26 Wed. The second law of thermodynamics 20
#41. Apr. 28 Fri. The second law of thermodynamics 20
#42. May. 1 Mon. Course review 1-20




Homework assignments.
All problem sets are due at 12 noon Monday mornings

Assignment Due Date Problems




Teaching Assistants:

Saeed Ahmad, e-mail sa8y@virginia.edu

Po-Shan Leang, e-mail pl9b@virginia.edu

For any question concerning homework grades: Kangkang Li, e-mail kangkangl@gmail.com, office hour Wednesday 2-3 pm in room 220
Discussion sessions will be held in Room 203 of the Physics bldg. at the following times

Tuesday 5:00-5:50, 6-6:50 PM

Thursday 5-5:50, 6-6:50, 7-7:50 PM




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Simonetta Liuti 2004-09-06