syllabus - Physics @ CSU Stanislaus

Phys 2100 Basic Physics I
Summer 2012
Introduction and course description
General physics without using calculus. Newtonian mechanics, wave motion, heat, and
thermodynamics. Designed for general students and for students preparing for biology or
medicine.
Course Requirements
• Math skills/level – Algebra and trigonometry are both required for this class. Both
will be used extensively throughout the semester. There is a worksheet attached to
this syllabus which covers the math requirements. If you can answer all of these
problems then you should be prepared for this class.
• Graphical skills - You should be able to interpret data presented in x-y graphs, and be
able to draw such graphs. (We will rarely if ever use any other type of graph or chart,
such as bar charts, pie charts, etc.) For x-y graphs you should know what is meant by
the slope of a plot which is a straight line.
• Reasoning skills - I will expect that, once a physical concept has been introduced, you
will be able to apply the concept to situations that might not have been directly
discussed in class. A systematic approach to tackling problems will serve you very
well. Conversely if you try to remember each step in the solution of every single
problem then you will quickly run into trouble.
• Reading assignments – This semester is going to go by very quickly. If we are to
cover the amount of material that we need to cover (for preparation for Basic Physics
II) then I will need you to read up on the easier sections of the text before coming to
class. That way we can reserve precious class time for the more complex topics and
problems.
Class Information
Meeting time and room: lecture: Monday through Thursday 8 to 8:50 am in N101
discussion: either Monday and Wednesday 9 to 9:50 in N221
or Tuesday and Thursday 9 to 9:50 in N221
laboratory either Monday and Wednesday 9 to 11:40 in N121
or Tuesday and Thursday 9 to 11:40 in N121
Instructor:
Dr Ian M. Littlewood
Office: N 172
Phone: 667-3466 or 667-3467. Fax number 667-3099

Email
ian@physics.csustan.edu
Office Hours MT 10:00 to 12:00 in N 172
Web Site:
http://physics.csustan.edu
Text:
“Physics” by Giancoli
Grading
Grading Percentages
Test Dates
Homework 15% 1 st Midterm June 14 th
Class Tests 50% 2 nd Midterm June 28 th
Final Exam 20% 3 rd Midterm July 12 th
Laboratories 15% Final Exam July 26 th
Total 100%
Exams
Letter grades will be determined from a curve using the final scores. I will not be using a +/-
grading scheme.
There will be three one hour exams on alternate Thursdays, and a 2 hour final exam on
the last Thursday of the semester (dates above). In order to preserve precious class time
the exams will be held during the period 9 am to 10 am (midterms) and 9 am to 11 am
(final). If you have a discussion session on Thursdays at 9 am then you will take the exam
in room N221. If you have a lab section on Thursdays at 9 am then you will take the
exam in room N121. Note: there will not be a laboratory on either the Wednesday or
Thursday for those weeks when there is an exam. A discussion section will be held
instead during the Wednesday lab section.
Tips for success
• Keep up with the reading and problem assignments. Fall behind in this short semester and
you will find it very difficult to catch up.
• Don't memorize the solutions to problems, learn how to solve them. Once you have
mastered the techniques they can be applied to any relevant problem.
• Be methodical. Constantly changing approaches only leads to chaos.
• Study groups. You will learn a lot from each other, providing everyone contributes.
Simply copying from the “brightest” person in the group will do you no good at all. (I
will let you turn in a homework assignment as a group.)

Note on units
In this class we will be using the rationalized SI units (or MKSA units). In this convention
the correct units are
• Base units
• for distance - meter (m). A meter is a little over 3 feet, and there are roughly 1600
m to the mile
• for time - second (s)
• for mass - kilogram (kg). A 1 kg loaf of bread would be about 2.2 lbs. The mass
of an average adult is around 75 kg, and the mass of a car in the range 1000 to
3000 kg.
• for electrical current - ampere (A)
• Derived or composite units, which are combination of the above four base units
• for example the unit of energy is the Joule (J) where 1 J = 1 kg m²/s²
Some numbers are particularly large or small. It is common to use prefixes to units to avoid
writing out long numbers with lots of zeroes. The prefixes we shall be using are
• M = 1,000,000 = 10 6 (pronounced mega)
• k = 1,000 = 10 3 (pronounced kilo)
• m = 0.001 = 10 -3 (pronounced milli)
• μ = 0.000001 = 10 -6 (pronounced micro)
• n = 0.000000001 = 10 -9 (pronounced nano)
Note on Answering Numerical Questions
One of the most important goals of a university education is the ability to communicate. I
interpret that to mean that you can communicate not only the correct answer but that you
know what you are doing. You might for example imagine that you are writing a short report
to your supervisor in a company. He is knowledgeable about the subject, but does not know
the detailed information of the project that you are working on. Your report to him needs to
tell him your conclusion, and enough to know that he can rely on your judgment when
making business decisions.
So, imagine that I ask the question “If I drive at 30 km/h for 20 minutes, how far do I go”
Here are some possible responses

600 km
10 km
10,000 m
Response
time = 20 minutes = ⅓ hour
distance = speed * time
= 30 km/h * ⅓ hour
= 10 km
Comment
On tests it is to your advantage to write out your calculation. If you make a mistake part way
through then I will assign partial credit to the amount that you have correct. To a certain
extent the same applies to homework assignment.
Your final step in answering a numerical question is to ask if the answer looks right. You will
often have a rough idea of the correct answer, and if your answer is outside the range of
expected answers that is a good indication that you have made a mistake.

Mathematics Worksheet
Try answering the following questions. If you can correctly solve all of them then you have the
appropriate mathematical background for this class. You can find the answers by downloading
this syllabus from the Physics Department website – http://physics.csustan.edu
Algebra
• Solve for x: a b x =c 2 Answer: x= b
c−a
• Solve for t: 3.6 t 2 9 t=50.75 Answer: either 2.71 or -5.21
1
• Solve for m:
2 m v2 =2mMV 2 2
m v o Answer: m=
4M V2
v 2 −4V 2 −2v o
2
• Solve for x and y: 2 x5y=9 and 6 x4=5y Answer: x=5/8 y=31/20
Trigonometry
• What is sin(45 o ) Answer: 1/√2 = 0.7071
• What is cos(212 o ) Answer: -0.848
• What is the principle value of tan -1 (0.6) Answer: 30.96 o Are there any other solutions
Yes, you can add or subtract 180 o as many times as you like.
1
• Simplify −sintan Answer: cos(θ)
cos