Block 2, 2007-2008

Instructors

Text

The required textbook for the course is How Things Work: The Physics of Everyday Life (Third Edition) by Louis Bloomfield.

Online Course Information

All documents related to the course are on the course web page at http://faculty1.coloradocollege.edu/~kmlang/07-08/PC136/Index.html.   Check this page for the readings, course schedule, and assignments.

Class Schedule

The lecture, demonstration, and discussion portion of the course will meet every weekday from 9 AM until about noon with exceptions noted on the schedule.

Each week (except the first) there will also be a project day.  On this day the project lab will be open and staffed by Jeff Steele during the hours given on the schedule, for students to work on their final projects.  On the first two project days there will also be an exam given on this day from 9-12 PM. 

During the last two days of the course students will give presentations on their final projects during the hours listed on the schedule.  In addition to the student's own presentation, attendance at one of these two sessions is required.

Reading and Problem Assignments

Daily reading and homework assignments are listed in the course schedule.

You should do the assigned reading before class, i.e. the reading assigned for Monday should be read before morning class on Monday.  Embedded in the reading are "Check Your Understanding" questions which you should do as you read along to test your comprehension.   Answers to the questions are found at the end of the chapter.  To reward you for doing these, you may well find some of them as exam problems.  The problems at the ends of the chapters in this book come in two flavors: "Exercises" and "Problems".  We will be doing exclusively the "Exercises".  In addition there are supplementary problems written by the instructor.  For each reading assignment you will find a listing of problems to work. 

The assigned problems will not be collected on a daily basis.  This gives you flexibility in when you choose to work them fully- either before or after the class in which the subject matter pertinent to them is discussed.  You should figure out for yourself what schedule best enhances your learning.  However, in the end you should work all the assigned problems fully and understand them.  A day before each test you will be asked to turn in your homework sets.  The specific assignments due, the due date, and time are listed on the course schedule.  Several randomly chosen homework problems will be graded from each assignment.  Problems will be graded according to the following scale:

0 = 0% = little to no effort or a completely wrong answer indicating a complete lack of understanding.
1 = 70% = answer is explained but substantially wrong, or correct but not explained.  indicates substantial lack of understanding of the material.
2 = 85% = answer is mostly explained and mostly correct, but missing important pieces in the explanation or draws somewhat false conclusions.  indicates good but not full understanding of the material.
3 = 100% = answer is thoroughly explained and correct. indicates a full understanding of the material.

A more complete discussion of how to answer homework and test questions for this course is found in the handout given out and discussed on the first day of class.  Briefly, the answers to your homework problems should be explanations that start with basic principles or observable facts and use those together with logic to give a step by step guide that leads to the answer to the problem.  Simple statements of the answer to the problem, even if correct, do not constitute an explanation and will receive low scores.

The instructor will be happy to discuss homework problems or other questions in or out of class.  Several times a week we will have homework question sessions in class.  If you find the instructor in her office, feel free to come in and ask questions.  In addition, the homework handout has sample solutions available.  Solutions to assigned homework problems will be posted after they are turned in and before the exam covering that material.  Finally, the second day of class the first day's homework will be collected and a few problems graded so you can acquire a better sense of what is expected. 

Your learning will often be enhanced by working with a partner or in a group on the assigned problems.  You are encouraged to do this; however, be sure that at the end of group sessions you understand the problems yourself and that the answers you turn in represent your own work.  Specifically this means that if you discuss the problems to understand them and arrive collectively at an explanation through this discussion, each individual must write his/her own explanation to turn in.  Answers that have substantially similar wording indicating that individuals did not write their own explanations will not be accepted and may be reported as an honor code violation.

Movie Critique

On the last Friday of class we will watch several movie excerpts in order to critique the mostly bad and sometimes good science in movies.  A critique of these movies will be due that Friday afternoon.  This assignment will be more thoroughly discussed in class the day we watch the movies.

Tests

There will be two exams and one quiz during this course.   Please see the course schedule for dates.  All tests will be cumulative.  You will receive a score of zero for any missed tests.  There will be no make-up tests.  Requests to reschedule the time you take a test must be made well in advance and will be considered on a case by case basis.   Generally, if your request to reschedule the test is granted, you will not have access to a professor while you take it.

All tests will be closed book.  The exams are timed and last three hours.   The quiz is timed and will last one hour.  Calculators are permitted and the instructor will provide an equation sheet so that formulas need not be memorized.  The instructor will also provide any numerical values or unit conversions that are required during the exam.  All tests will consist of "explain this" questions and multiple choice questions.  Test questions will emphasize conceptual understanding of the material.  They will mostly be drawn from the topics emphasized in the assigned problems and discussions in class.  So in studying for exams make sure you understand the concepts behind each problem assigned and demo presented.   Memorization of numerical quantities, definitions, etc. is not required.   In fact, if you can clearly ask for a given fact during a exam, I will be happy to provide it to you.  Most working physicists don't remember every known fact about the world.  Rather, they just know a few very important facts and equations, and for the rest they know what kinds of facts are available to them and where to look them up.  This is the operative philosophy in the class.

Final Project

The final project is designed to give you some hands-on experience with real workings things.  For this purpose a collection of old gadgets has been assembled for you to dissect and understand how they work.  Working in groups of two, you will dissect your gadget, and using your knowledge from the class, research you can do on the web or in the library, and by talking to the project director, Jeff Steele, you should acquire a knowledge of how your gadget (or perhaps a part of your gadget in complicated cases) works.  Be sure to use a digital camera to document the pieces of your gadget as you dissect and understand it.

Each student individually is then required to write a report, complete with digital photos, diagrams, sketches, and other aids to explain how their gadget works.   Here's the gimmick that should give you an idea of what should be contained in the report.  Imagine that humanity as we know is about to end (plague, nuclear war etc).  A limited number of people can be saved by holing up in caves.  They wish to preserve as much as possible the technology we have developed, but there isn't space to preserve the actual gadgets.  You have been commissioned to write a report which preserves the knowledge of how your gadget works so that it can be recreated at some future time.  If you have a complicated gadget, then perhaps your report will include detail on only a part of the gadget's innards, but there should at least be a block diagram of the entire gadget.  Jeff, the project director, will help you decide on an appropriate sub-system if required.  There are no specific page limits for the length of the report- however as a rough idea 10 - 20 pages (including pictures, diagrams etc) will probably prove sufficient for most gadgets.  However, students should produce a document that meets the above description and not worry too much about how many pages it will be.  Final project reports will be graded on the quality and clarity of the explanation of the gadget, clarity of written expression, and appropriateness and use of photos and diagrams.  The final report should be the product of a single student and not a joint effort.  Two final reports that are substantially similar (with the exception of included photos) will not be accepted.  Your final written report is due by noon on the last day of the block.

Based on your written report, each student will give a 10 minute presentation based on their report on either of the last two days of the course.   This presentation should be accessible and understandable to anyone who has taken the course and should present the basics of how their gadget works, although there may not be time to present great detail.  Students who have worked together may give sequential presentations, with the first giving the rudiments and the second giving more detail.  Final presentations should be the product of individual students and not a joint effort.  While sequential presentations obviously require coordination among partners, each presentation should nonetheless have been produced by a single student.  We will draw lots to determine the order of the final presentations.

Three project days are provided to give the time and space to dissect and understand the gadgets.  Jeff Steele, the project director, will be available most of the day to answer questions and help with dissections.  Students are encouraged to make use of all three project days in their entirety.  Although exams are given on the same day, the exam will last only three hours with the remainder of the time available for projects.  Students should study for the exams the day before and use project days for projects!

Extra Help

A junior or senior physics major is available to answer questions or give help solving the assigned problems Sunday through Thursday evening in the physics lounge Barnes 213.  In addition there is a special tutor for this course, Justin Henceroth, who will have several question and answer sessions during the block at times listed on the schedule.  There is no charge for either of these services so do not hesitate to use them.  You may also come by your instructor's office to ask questions whenever the door is open.   The quantitative learning center also provides tutoring services and can help with a refresher on math skills that may have become a little rusty.  Contact Mark Morgenstern (mmorgenstern@coloradocollege.edu, 227-8289).

Honor Code

Science is a social enterprise, and we encourage you to work with your peers on homework, projects, studying for quizzes, etc. You should, however, be certain that you have your own understanding of every problem assignment. The final project report and presentation should be your own work.  Your work on exams and quizzes should be your own.  Your homework write ups should be your own.  I’ll ask you to sign the honor pledge stating that these assignments are your own work.

Disability Accommodations

If you have a disability and require accommodations for this course, please speak with the instructor as soon as possible so that your learning needs may be appropriately met.   If you have not already done so, you will need to register with Disability Services (Learning Commons at Tutt Library, Room 152, 227-8285), the office responsible for coordinating accommodations and services for students with disabilities.

Grades

Each of the three homework assignments and the quiz are worth 5% of your grade.  The lowest of these scores will be dropped and the remaining three averaged together to comprise 15 % of your grade.