Syllabus - Harvard University Laboratory for Particle Physics and ...

Syllabus for Physics 11b: Spring 2005
Course Personnel
Masahiro Morii Lecturer 5-3279 morii@physics Lyman 239
Carol Davis Staff 5-1041 davis@physics Lyman 237
Kyriakos Papadodimas Head TF papadod@fas
Shiyamala Thambyahpillai TF thamby@physics
Jian Huang TF jhuang@physics
Jihye Seo TF jihyeseo@fas
Kristi Adamson TF adamson@physics
Ali Nayeri TF nayeri@fas
Christine Wang Lab TF wang@fas
Joon Pahk
Lab TF
Course Description
Physics 11b is the second half of a one-year physics sequence. It covers the basic
phenomena of electricity and magnetism, elements of circuits with selected applications,
Maxwell’s equations, and electromagnetic waves and optics. In addition to what is
discussed in the course catalog, at the end we will also discuss selected aspects of
quantum mechanics.
Textbook: Serway and Jewett, Physics for Scientists and Engineers; 6 th ed.
All the material for the course can be purchased in the Coop. Please contact me if there
are any questions.
Prerequisite: Physics 11a; Mathematics 21a or 23a. If you wish to take the course but
have not met the prerequisites, you must obtain permission from Prof. Morii first.
Please note that the mathematical sophistication demanded of you will be higher in
Physics 11b than it was in 11a. Students are expected to be fully comfortable and facile
with one-dimensional calculus, and to understand multivariable calculus, line integrals,
and surface integrals.
1

Logistics
Lecture
The course will meet Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10:00-11:30, in Science Center B.
Lecture is intended to cover the same material as the readings, though not necessarily in
precisely the same style, and with more responsiveness to you personally. Your
questions on the difficult parts of the material are the most important thing for you to
bring to lecture, and you should ask them in lecture as they occur to you. For this reason
it is important to have read the assigned readings before lecture.
Sections
You must sign up for a section between Thursday, Feb. 2, and Wednesday, Feb. 8,
afternoon using the course sectioning software. Section assignments will be distributed
on Friday, Feb. 10. You will need to consult with Prof. Morii if you wish to alter your
section, or sign up for section, after this time. For the week of Feb. 6-10, there will be no
official section meetings. However, section-leading TFs will be holding office hours in
the section rooms. Visit your favorite section to get to know the TF.
Office Hours
Day Time Location
Monday 2-3 PM SC 113, SC 216
Tuesday 2-3 PM SC 113, SC 216
3-4 PM SC 113
7-8 PM SC 216
Wednesday 9-10 AM SC 216
1-2 PM SC 222, Jefferson 267
7-8 PM SC 304
Thursday 9-10 AM SC 216
2-3 PM SC 113
3-4 PM SC 113
Prof. Morii will have office hours Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons (time to be
announced). Please contact him if you would like to set up an appointment for another
time. The TFs will announce their office hours at the sections.
Weekly Homework
Weekly homework will be regularly due on Fridays at 4 PM, in the mailboxes outside
Science Center 109. Solutions will available on the web, beginning at 4 PM. Late
homework will not be accepted. There will not be homework due in weeks with
midterm exams, and of course the first Friday. Homework assignments distributed the
week before a midterm will be due a week after the midterm, covering the extra lecture
the week of the midterm.
2

Laboratory
The course also consists of laboratory work. You will also choose lab sections when you
choose weekly TF sections. Each lab will be set up for two weeks, and you will attend
one section every two weeks. There are five labs overall. First labs start on the week of
Feb. 14. Lab reports are due 1 week after the day of the lab at 8 AM, in the mailbox
outside Science Center 109. (If, for example, you do a lab on a Tuesday, the report is due
next Tuesday at 8 AM.) Late laboratory work will not be accepted, and switching
sections is not allowed except for medical, religious, and similar reasons. If you find,
when signing up for lab sections, that there is no section which you can attend regularly
without unalterable conflicts, please see Prof. Morii. Otherwise, once you have signed up
for a laboratory section it is assumed you can make it to all meetings of the section.
Week Day Hours (PM)
1 Tuesday 12:00-3:00 3:30-6:30 7:00-10:00
Wednesday 12:00-3:00
Thursday 12:00-3:00 3:30-6:30
2 Monday 3:30-6:30 7:00-10:00
Tuesday 12:00-3:00 3:30-6:30 7:00-10:00
Wednesday 3:30-6:30
Weekly Reading
All readings are from the course textbook, Serway and Jewett, available in the Coop.
Each week’s homework assignment will detail the precise sections to be read; the course
outline below gives you an idea what we will be covering each week. Reading the
material before coming to class will allow you to be prepared with your questions and
help you get more out of the course.
Course Website
The course website will contain all the assignments, policies, and handouts. The lecture
slides will also be posted, hopefully in a timely manner. However, none of this should be
taken as a substitute for attending lecture, and we may review website policy if we feel it
has become so.
3

Grading
The course grade will be determined by two midterm exams, weekly homework,
laboratory work, participation, and a final exam. The relative weights are described
below, along with the percentages corresponding to various grades.
The grade for a typical student in the course is expected to be around a B. We are
prepared to curve scores as needed.
Component Points each (x #) Total Points
Homework 30 x 10 300
Midterms 150 x 2 300
Laboratory 30 x 5 150
Final 200 to 525 250
Course total 1000
Score Grade
950-1000 A
900-949 A-
870-899 B+
830-869 B
800-829 B-
770-799 C+
730-769 C
700-729 C-
670-699 D+
630-669 D
600-629 D-

Course Outline
This is a rough course outline so that you will know what we will be covering in the
course. Actual mileage may differ.
Week Lectures Topic Homework
1 2/2 Course Logistics, Coloumb’s Law
2 2/7, 2/9 Electric Field, Flux, Gauss’ Law #1 due 2/10
3 2/14, 2/16 Electric Potential #2 due 2/17
4 2/21, 2/23 Capacitance, Dipoles, Dielectrics
5 2/28, 3/2 Midterm 1, Current, Resistance #3 due 3/3
6 3/7, 3/9 DC Circuits, Magnetic Fields #4 due 3/10
7 3/14, 3/16 Sources of Magnetic Fields #5 due 3/17
8 3/21, 3/23 Faraday’s Law, Inductance #6 due 3/24
Spring Break
9 4/4, 4/6 Midterm 2, LC, RLC and AC Circuits,
10 4/11, 4/13 AC Circuits, Electromagnetic Radiation #7 due 4/14
11 4/18, 4/20 EM Radiation, Optics #8 due 4/21
12 4/25, 4/27 Lenses, Mirrors, Images, Interference #9 due 4/28
13 5/2, 5/4 Diffraction, Polarization #10 due 5/5
14 5/9, 5/11 Towards Quantum Mechanics
Legalese
In a course of this size it is very difficult to maintain fairness to all students without a
clear and firm set of policies which are uniformly adhered to. This syllabus is your
primary source of information concerning the policies we will maintain. Naturally, where
there are applicable University policies (for instance, regarding religious holidays and
family or medical emergencies) those will govern our decisions.
Fair Warning
The Administrative Board is responsible for dealing with all issues of academic
dishonesty, etc. I do not have any say in this. It saddens me that experience has shown
that I need to make this very clear at the outset.
5