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PS 15 Physics I

Syllabus
 
Course: PS 15 Physics - Mechanics and Heat

Text: University Physics, Revised Edition, Harris Benson, John Wiley & Sons

Instructor: Dr. James Licari

Phone: (bus.) (203) 386-6276, (home) (203) 255-7569; fax: (203) 386-6708

E-mail: jlicari@sikorsky.com or jjlicari@juno.com

Office Hours: Thursdays, 6:00 p.m.-6:30 p.m., in our classroom. This time is meant for one-on-one discussion of lecture topics or problem solving techniques, i.e., individual assistance. Items of general interest or problems with the exercises should be raised in class so all can benefit from the discussion.

Notice:
If there is a student in this class who has a need for academic accommodations due to a disability, please feel free to come and discuss this with me.

Class Requirements:
The student needs to have taken, or be taking concurrently with this course, MA 25 (Calculus I).

Course Objectives:
The student will develop an understanding of and acquire proficiency in solving problems in the following areas of mechanics and heat:

  • motion in one and two dimensions with constant acceleration;
  • Newton's laws of motion - statics and dynamics
  • work, energy, and momentum
  • rotational motion
  • oscillatory motion
  • fluid mechanics
  • temperature and the kinetic theory of gases
  • heat and the first law of thermodynamics
 

Assignments:
To achieve the objectives indicated above, each student is expected to do the following:

  • Read and study each chapter before its presentation in class. It is strongly recommended that the student read the material with pencil and paper in hand and work out all equations and examples, making notes of concepts and examples that are not clear. Then the student should re-read the chapter and generate a one-page outline of the main principles and equations.
  • Do all assigned Exercises, as a minimum, and as many others as time allows, before class. The importance of doing this cannot be overemphasized. Identify in class the problems you have had with either the concepts or the exercises.
  • Do not attempt to copy down everything the instructor says in class. If you have read the material before class, you will know what information is in the book and what isn't. Instead, pay attention and try to follow the instructor's lesson and ask questions if something is not clear. It is very difficult to write down and grasp what is being said at the same time - and your notes will probably not make much sense later on in any case.
  • Participate in class by responding to the instructor's questions and by identifying concepts or problems not sufficiently understood (do not be embarrassed to ask a question - be assured that other students will likely be just as interested in the answer as yourself).
  • Prepare for exams by studying the assigned material EACH WEEK (cramming just before the exam will NOT work).
  • Take advantage of instructor's office hours for more personal assistance.
  • Tutoring is available outside class (the student may contact the BEI office at 254-4147).

Grading (by percentage of course grade):
Quizzes: 15 A short quiz will be given following the completion of each chapter (the quiz problems will be taken from the set of assigned homework exercises).
Homework: 10% Assigned homework exercises will be inspected each week without exception. It is not expected that each student will be able to solve all problems. Full credit will be given for a reasonable effort to solve each of the problems. Late homework will result in zero credit; missing exercises will result in a proportional loss of credit. The intention is to motivate you to do the homework each week before class. 
Exam 0: 0% An exam will be given at week 2 on Chapters 1 and 2 to test the student's mastery of the introductory material and basic mathematics needed for the remainder of the course. The mathematics used in this course consists of algebra and trigonometry; vectors; and integration/differentiation of powers, trig functions, exponents, and natural logarithms. The results of this exam will indicate to you where you need to brush up.
Exam 1: 25% Given at the start of 5th week's class.
Exam 2: 25% Given at the start of 10th week's class.
Final Exam: 25% Given during the last class. This exam will be comprehensive.

Note: All quizzes and exams will be CLOSED BOOK. The course focuses on understanding how to utilize the key concepts and the equations expressing them. There are relatively few equations to memorize and learning them is an integral part in understanding the physics involved. We will focus on understanding why an equation takes on the form it does, which will makememorization of the equations much easier.

Class Format:
Each class will typically consist of the following components: 1) a discussion of students' questions and selected exercises from the previous chapter that students have had particular trouble with; 2) a short quiz consisting of one problem from the previous chapter's assigned exercise set; 3) and a presentation and discussion of the material of the subject chapter with selected examples and exercises. Students will be expected to go to the board and present the solution to selected exercises during class.