Welcome to the General Physics I course (PHY 302 K). This syllabus describes the section taught by Professor Allan MacDonald in Spring of 2010 (unique number 57960).
General Physics is a technical course, so expect to see a lot of formulae and to do a lot of algebra. I will also introduce and occassionally use the concepts of derivatives and integrals, but you will not be responsible for using calculus. You can take this class without knowing any calculus, but please make sure your algebra is up to speed; if it's poor or rusty, you will find the class very hard.
The General Physics course is aimed at Nursing, Pharmacy, and other health-related majors,
and it is also recommended for Architecture, Education, and several other majors.
It is acceptable but not recommended for pre-medical students because
this class often skips some subjects which may appear on the MCAT exam.
I advise all premeds to take the
For administrative reasons, General Physics is split into two courses. The first course (PHY 302 K) covers Mechanics, Thermodynamics, and Vibrations and Waves, while the second course (PHY 302 L) covers Electricity and Magnetism, Optics, and Modern Physics. Each course is taught by different professors; I will not teach 302 L next year. If you are interested in Physics, you should take both courses.
The textbook for this class is «Physics: Principles with Applications» by Douglas C. Giancoli, 6th edition, volume 1. (Volume 2 is for the second course, 302 L.).
You do not need to buy any supplementary textbooks, study guides, etc., so save your money. Likewise, you won't need clickers or special classtalk calculators — any scientific calculator will do. But the lab will have its own manual, and you do need to buy it.
In principle, this course should cover everything in the textbook, all 15 chapters of the first volume. But in practice this is too much material for most students to absorb in one 3-unit semester, so I shall focus on the more important subjects and give less coverage to others. And a few minor subjects of lesser importance will be skipped altogether.
When I start a new chapter of the textbook, I'll announce which sections (if any) I am going to skip. The exams will not involve the skipped material.
The Physics Lab 102 M should be taken in the same semester as the 302 K class. You cannot take the class now and postpone the lab until later. (But if you have already taken the lab, you don't have to retake it.) If you have trouble registering for the lab or getting into a section which fits your schedule, go to Pat Morgan (Physics undergraduate secretary), she might be able to help.
If you have taken trigonometry in high school (or in another college), make sure
the registrar knows it:
Take your grade transcripts and go to Pat Morgan (Physics undergraduate secretary),
her office is in RLM 5.216.
If you have never taken trigonometry, you must take a remedial Math class
If you do not register for the lab or do not take care of the math prerequisite by the twelfth class day, the registrar will automatically drop your registration for this class. I have no control over this process.
I will use the College of Natural Science's online homework system.
The homework problems will be similar to the problems in the textbook. To get started with this system please visit quest.cns.utexas.edu
Homeworks will be assgned weekly on Tuesday and will be due at midnight on Mondays. 1/20 and due 1/27.
There will be two in-class mid-term tests and one final exam at the end. Here is the schedule:
All exams are open-book. You may bring any books or notes you like, provided you can manage them at your seat without disturbing other students. But you must do your exam by yourself: Getting help from another person during the exam is not allowed. For this reason, using cellphones or Internet during the exam is not allowed.
Please bring your ID to all tests, especially to the final exam. To prevent cheating, we (the TA and I) will ID all students. If you don't have a UT ID, bring your driver's license or passport.
Bring a calculator. For most of you a calculator can speed up the work.
The mid-term tests will be at the regular class time, in the usual classroom,
and last the usual 75-minute lecture period.
The final exam will be in a different room (TBA) and last 3 full hours (180 minutes).
The subject matter of each mid-term test may include anything studied in class up to the last lecture before the test. It may also involve subjects studied before the previous test, so don't flush your memories after the test is over. And the final exam will cover everything studied in class, from the first lecture to the last.
Only the best of your two mid-term test scores will count toward your final grade. This allows one missed or botched test (because of illness or emergency) without damage to the grade. If you miss or foul up both tests, your grade will suffer.
If you cannot come to class on a test day, let me know in advance so I can give you an appropriate remedy. If you miss the test without my prior permission, I will consider remedies only in cases of documented illness or emergency.
The grades are based on homeworks, mid-term tests, and the final exam with the following weights:
The brackets for the ABCDF letter grades in terms of the adjusted net scores will be set after the final exam.