Physics 171.104
General Physics for Biological Science Majors II

Spring 2008

Course Description

This course is a calculus-based introduction to Physics that has been tailored to biological science majors. Students will learn how to use physical ideas and principles to understand the world around them. Some emphasis will be placed on biological systems. The course will also help students to prepare for the MCAT examinations. The second semester covers electromagnetism and modern physics.

Required Material

1. Physics for Scientists & Engineers with Modern Physics

by Randall D. Knight, Addison Wesley (2004) ISBN-10: 0805389784, ISBN-13: 9780805389784. The textbook, bundled together with the Mastering Physics online homework system is available at the JHU Bookstore. This bundle also includes the optional Student Workbook. This workbook is helpful, but is not required.

The bookstore has the five-volume boxed set version of the textbook. There is also a single-volume version available that is a little cheaper. I'm going with the boxed set, because the single volume version weighs as much as a small car. The multi-volume and single-volume versions are identical as far as I can tell, so you should be ok with either one.

2. Mastering Physics Online Homework System

You need a copy of the MasteringPhysics Student Access Kit for Knight's "Physics for Scientists and Engineers." If you buy the textbook at the JHU Bookstore, you will receive a copy of this bundled with the textbook.

If you choose to get the book from another source than the bookstore, you need to be sure to get the Mastering Physics. This can be purchased separately at MasteringPhysics.com.

Registering your copy of MasteringPhysics:

Follow the instructions in the Student Access Kit. After registering, when you first log in to MasteringPhysics (p. 6 of the Instruction pamphlet) you will be asked for a Course ID and a Student ID. Please enter the following:

Course ID : MPSZALAY74518
Student ID: (enter your JHED ID)

3. Classroom Performance System (CPS) Remote Unit:

This device is like a TV remote control and will be used to respond to questions in class. It is also called an "In-class Voting System." The CPS unit must be purchased at the JHU Bookstore. When you buy it, you will receive a coupon that you will use for payment when you register your CPS unit on-line.

If you already have a CPS remote unit, you can use it for this course. However, you still need a coupon in order to register your remote for the Spring 2008 term. To get a coupon, take a copy of your Course Schedule to the JHU Bookstore to verify that you are enrolled for this class, and you will be given a coupon.

Registering your CPS Unit:

Please register at http://www.einstruction.com/ for the class named General Physics for Biological Science Majors II (171.104).

Use the class key: F38008D618

Note: When registering, please enter your JHED ID in the "Student ID" field. You only need one CPS unit for all your JHU classes!!!

Lectures

Lectures will be held on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9:00-9:50 AM
in Bloomberg 272 (Schafler Auditorium).

Students are responsible for reading the assigned sections of the text before the lectures.

You must bring your CPS remote to class each day. Your responses to the CPS in-class questions will form part of your grade for the course.

Cell phones must be turned off during the class.

Lecturer

Prof. Alexander Szalay

Department of Physics & Astronomy

Office: Bloomberg 515

Phone: (410) 516-7217

Email: szalay@jhu.edu

Office Hours: Monday 10:00-11:00 am,
1:00-3:00 pm and by appointment

Conference

Conference sections are held in several classrooms in Bloomberg and Dunning, on Tuesdays, 8:00-8:50.

*Secn*	*Room*	*TA Name*	*Office*	*Ext*	*Email*
1	361 Bloomberg	Matt McEvoy (Head TA)	437	x6-8037	mmcevoy@pha.jhu.edu
2	205 Dunning	Andrew Whitbeck	409	x6-3472	whitbeck@pha.jhu.edu
3	176 Bloomberg	Rongguang Xu	106D	x6-6027	xrg117@pha.jhu.edu
4	274 Bloomberg	Yin Zhang	423	x6-7680	zhangyin@pha.jhu.edu
5	206 Dunning	Zheng Zhang	409	x6-3472	zhangzh@pha.jhu.edu
6	278 Bloomberg	Zheng Zheng	106D	x6-6027	zz@pha.jhu.edu
7	168 Bloomberg	Thomas Zorawski	106G	x6-4905	tz137@pha.jhu.edu
8	211 Dunning	Guo Xia	341	x6-7386	gqxia@pha.jhu.edu
9	212 Dunning	Mike Salerno	331	x6-5139	ksalerno@pha.jhu.edu

Homework

Homework will be due weekly on Monday evenings at 11:59 PM.

The first homework will be due on February 4.

The homework will be web-based using the Mastering Physics software.

The only way to really understand a new idea is to apply it to a problem. Problems, real and imaginary, have been the physicist's tool to attack new ideas for many years. You will learn everything by doing homework problems.

Remember, if you cannot correctly solve the homework problems (without help from friends or TAs), you are not prepared for the next exam.

Examinations

There will be three "hour" exams during the semester:

Midterm Exam #1, Tuesday, Feb 19, covering Chapters 25-28
Midterm Exam #2, Tuesday, Mar 11, covering Chapters 29-31
Midterm Exam #3, Tuesday, Apr 15, covering Chapters 32-35, 23

Note that since only your best two midterm scores are counted toward your final grade, no makeup exams will be given for the midterms. If you know in advance that you will not be taking one of the midterms, as a courtesy please inform your TA.

The Final Exam is scheduled for Friday, May 9, 9:00-12:00 noon, and will cover Chapters 23, 25-35, 37-38. Please plan your travel accordingly.

There will be an evening review session before each exam.
Exams are closed book but each student will be allowed to use a single sheet (8.5 x 11 inches, double-sided) of notes. The page (with your name) must be turned in with your blue book.
Calculators are allowed. Do not bring laptops, PDAs, cell phones, etc.
Please write all exams in ink. Exams written in pencil cannot be re-graded.
All students must bring their J-card IDs to the exam.
Copies of the examinations from the past two years are available from the Eisenhower Library Reserve Room at this link.

Lecture Plan and Reading Assignments

Please check this regularly for updates

Last update: Jan 27, 2008

Week	Class	Date	Chapter	Topic	Reading
	1	28-Jan		Introduction
1	2	30-Jan	25	Electric Charges and Forces	25.1-25.3
	3	1-Feb		Coulomb's Law	25.4-25.6
	4	4-Feb	26	The Electric Field	26.1-26.5
2	5	6-Feb	27	Motion of Charged Particle	26.6-26.7
	6	8-Feb		The Concept of Flux	27.1-27.3
	7	11-Feb		Gauss' Law	27.4-27.6
3	8	13-Feb	28	Current, Batteries	28.1-28.3
	9	15-Feb		Conductivity	28.4-28.5
	10	18-Feb		Potential Energy	29.1-29.3
		19-Feb		MIDTERM 1 in Section
4	11	20-Feb	29	The Electric Potential	29.4-29.5
	12	22-Feb		Potential of Point Charges	29.6-29.7
	13	25-Feb		Potential and Field	30.1-30.3
5	14	27-Feb	30	Sources of Potential	30.4-30.5
	15	29-Feb		Capacitors	30.6-30.7
	16	3-Mar		Fundamentals of Circuits	31.1-31.3
6	17	5-Mar	31	Energy and Power	31.4-31.6
	18	7-Mar		Resistor and RC Circuits	31.7-31.10
	19	10-Mar		Magnetism, Moving Charges	32.1-32.3
		11-Mar		MIDTERM 2 in Section
7	20	12-Mar	32	Magnetic Field of a Current	32.4-32.6
	21	14-Mar		Magnetic Forces, Torques	32.7-32.10
		17-Mar
8		19-Mar		SPRING BREAK
		21-Mar
	22	24-Mar		Induced Currents	33.1-33.3
9	23	26-Mar	33	Lenz's Law, Faraday's Law	33.4-33.6
	24	28-Mar		Inductors, LC,RC Circuits	33.7-33.10
	25	31-Mar		Electromagnetic Fields	34.1-34.4
10	26	2-Apr	34	Maxwell's Equations	34.5-34.6
	27	4-Apr		Electromagnetic Waves	34.7-34.9
	28	7-Apr	35	AC Circuits	35.1-35.6
11	29	9-Apr	23	Ray Optics	23.1-23.5
	30	11-Apr		Thin Lenses	23.6-23.8
	31	14-Apr	24	Matter Waves	24.1-24.5
		15-Apr		MIDTERM 3 in Section
12	32	16-Apr	37	The End of Classical Physics	37.1-37.8
	33	18-Apr	38	Quantization	38.1-38.4
	34	21-Apr		The Bohr Hydrogen Atom	38.5-38.7
	35	23-Apr	39	Wave Functions and Uncertainty	39.1-39.6
13	36	25-Apr	40	Schrodinger's Equation	40.1-40.4
	37	28-Apr		Quantum Harmonic Oscillator	40.8-40.10
14	38	30-Apr	41	Atomic Physics	41.1-41.8
	39	2-May	42	Nuclear Physics, Radioactivity	42.1-42.7

15				READING PERIOD


16		9-May		FINAL EXAM

Grades

Grades will be calculated from the weighted average of the homework grade, the class participation grade, the best two midterm exams, and the final exam. The weighting is

10% homework,
5% class participation (including CPS and participation in Sections)
45% midterm exams
40% final exam.

Note on CPS class participation: Excluding the first week, during which you are expected to obtain a CPS unit and figure out how to use it reliably, your CPS responses will count toward your grade via the following algorithm: You receive credit for any answer - right or wrong. If you respond to 80% or more of the CPS questions, you will receive full credit for the CPS portion of the grade. A lower response total will receive a proportional deduction.

Please note that all final grades are non-negotiable.

Re-grades: Errors in exam or midterm grades will be repaired by the original grader (contact the Head TA or the instructor to find out who to see) for a one week interval after the exams are returned. Note that exams must be written in ink to be eligible for re-grading.

Student Progress

Many students find that Physics 103/104 is the most difficult course that they've taken in college. A great deal of material is covered in a relatively short time. Memorizing the book and or formulae does not help with either homework or exams. Effort must be made to understand the ideas and to apply them to the problems. Critical thinking skills must be developed and used during the course. A conscientious student who does not have a strong background in physics should plan to spend at least 12 hours a week reading and working problems. As the course progresses, new ideas will be built upon the older ones. DO NOT LET YOURSELF FALL BEHIND, you will have great difficulty in catching up.

If you need additional help, a number of options are available:

Your TA during office hours or by appointment
TA help room, MTF 1-5 pm, W 3-5 pm, and Th 1-3 pm
Your lecturer during office hours or when you can find him
Society of Physics Students help room, Sun and Mon, 6-9 pm, Bloomberg 278
Your academic adviser
JHU Academic Advising 410-516-8216
Counseling and Student Development Center 410-516-8278
Individual tutoring 410-516-4839

Ethics

The strength of the university depends on academic and personal integrity. In this course, you must be honest and truthful. Ethical violations include cheating on exams, plagiarism, reuse of assignments, improper use of the Internet and electronic devices, unauthorized collaboration, alteration of graded assignments, forgery and falsification, lying, facilitating academic dishonesty, and unfair competition. In addition, the specific ethics guidelines for this course are:

Collaboration on homework at the level of discussing strategy and approach is OK. You are expected to write your own solutions. The copying of solutions from another student or any other source is an ethics violation.
Giving your CPS remote to another student so that student can "answer" for you in class when you are not present is an ethics violation on the part of both students involved.

Report any violations you witness to the instructor. You may consult the associate dean of students and/or the chairman of the Ethics Board beforehand. See the guide on "Academic Ethics for Undergraduates" and the Ethics Board web site (http://ethics.jhu.edu/) for more information.

Physics 171.104 General Physics for Biological Science Majors II