PHY 102

More documents

Recommendations

Info

environment requires students’ inquisitive participation in the class. Ask questions; we shall all learn from them! Lab Activities A major component of the course is a collection of 10 lab activities each worth 5 points. The lowest lab grade will be dropped. The activities take place in an open lab. This means that you can walk in and perform the running activity any time during the hours in which the lab is open (see PHY 102 Lab Schedule for details). Since there are over 400 students using the lab, I strongly suggest that you perform the activities early in the week. Because of the constant accessibility of the lab room, there is no make-up for a missed activity! The deletion of the lowest score allows for a week-long emergency per student. With such a large student population of PHY 102, it is possible for your graded lab reports left in the lab rooms to disappear, and with them, the evidence of what your lab grades were. On the Tuesday of the second week after the lab (if the lab is open; otherwise the Tuesday after that), your graded lab reports should be available. Box 1. You have to pick up your graded labs and keep them until the end of the semester. If you have a missing lab grade and you don’t have your graded lab report for that lab, the missing grade will count as zero! Tests To make sure that you are keeping up with the reading assignments, I will periodically give you quizzes of two types: • The Mallard quizzes can be taken several times and they are helpful in preparing you for the in-class quizzes. Each Mallard quiz consists of one question and earns you one point. There will be as many as 20 Mallard quizzes. You can see your scores by clicking on “View Grade” icon in Mallard. The total is also recorded on ReggieNet. The maximum number of times you can submit a quiz and get full credit is 5. After that you lose 10% of the grade for each extra submission. Box 2. Take each Mallard quiz as many times as you wish. It will not affect your score because only the highest score will be recorded as your grade. • There are 6 regular quizzes, all announced in the syllabus. Each quiz consists of 10 multiple-choice questions and is worth 10 points. The lowest of the 6 quiz scores will be dropped. Be prepared at all times! Bring a soft number 2 pencil for the written quizzes and tests! Most tests require a scientific calculator. In addition to the quizzes, there will be four hour exams, three of which consist of 25 multiple-choice questions, each question worth 1 point. The last exam is just the final, and it will consist of 35 questions on topics covered after the third exam. Box 3. Bring your own calculator (live batteries included) to tests and quizzes! phones or sharing of calculators are allowed. No cell 2
Seat Assignment and Attendance On the second day of classes, you will be assigned a seat, and you are expected to sit there for the rest of the semester. You are not required to attend the lectures. However, if you decide to come to the lecture, you are expected to remain seated until the end of the period. If for any reason you need to leave in the middle of the lecture, write your name and the time you have to leave on a piece of paper and give it to me before the class starts. You may leave when I call your name. Prerequisites No science background is required for PHY 102. This does not mean, however, that the course is void of new and unfamiliar concepts. On the contrary, even if you have already had physics in high school, the topics covered here may appear unfamiliar, because the course emphasizes neither memorization nor mere “hands-on” recreation, but rather, true learning experience. When a certain topic is introduced, examples of its application will be analyzed in detail. You are then expected to be able to analyze other new examples. This requires an in-depth comprehension of the topics. Although the process of learning will be slow at the beginning, a little bit of patience and diligence can go a long way. The most important prerequisite for the course is a willingness to learn. As for the mathematics preparation, some very basic algebra skills such as taking square roots, raising to powers, and using power-of-ten notation, will be assumed. As you will see, it is not a good mathematical skill that ensures success in the course but the ability to apply the skill to physical situations. Grades Your total grade is divided into four parts as shown in the following table: In-Class Quizzes Mallard Quizzes Labs Hour Exams Final Total 50 points 20 points 45 points 3 × 25 = 75 points 40 points 230 points The dates of the exams and the announced quizzes as well as the due dates for activities are as given in the following schedule. Changes, if any, will be announced in advance. The final is simply the fourth exam. There will be no make-up quizzes or exams! However, if for some legitimate and documented reason you don’t show up for a test, the score for that test will be the average of all similar tests you took during the entire semester. Your letter grade will be based on a distribution curve. The percentage range of letter grades is approximately as follows: A: 82–100, B: 72–81, C: 57–71, D: 45–56 Box 4. If you are taking this course on a pass/fail basis, you need a C to pass the course. Tips on Studying for Exams and Quizzes • Go over the examples and exercises discussed in the class and in the book. • Here is the best tip: Be able to reproduce examples without looking at your notes. If you cannot do this, you have not learned the material! • When studying for an hour exam, in addition to the previous tip, make sure you can answer—on your own—all the questions in all relevant quizzes taken after the last hour exam. 3
Page 1: PHY 102 Atoms to Galaxies Fall 2012
Page 5: 10 Hour Exam #2 (Motion: Chs. 4, 6,

PHY 102

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?