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Welcome!
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| Name | Phone | Office | ||
| Course Leader: | Glenn Starkman | gds6 | 368-3660(O) | Roc 213 |
| Laboratory Leader: | Diana Driscol | did2 | 368-8844 | Roc 222A/302 |
| Group Tutor: | Gareth Kafka | gds6 |
II. Introduction
This course, like 123, is aimed at those who wish to be challenged to think rationally and critically, particularly about the physical world in which we live. You will be taught and encouraged to think like a physicist. This means learning to identify the essential in a situation, to convert the properties of physical systems into the language of mathematics, where they can be studied quantitatively, and to interpret the results of the analysis in terms of the original system. The vehicle through which you will acquire these skills is the subject of electricity and magnetism. The study of charges and currents, the electric and magnetic fields they generate, and their responses to such fields. With all the electronic gadgetry around us, it's clear that E\&M is one of the basic building blocks of modern technology. Thus the second aim of the course is to teach you how electromagnetic systems behave. Whereas the basic material in PHYS123 was 300-400 years old, most of what we will learn in PHYS124 is less than 200 years old, and the formalism only about 100 years old -- almost new! You should not let this bother you -- just as in the 123 mechanics, there is much beautiful science and mathematics in basic E&M. Moreover, once again you will be introduced to a number of modern or contemporary subjects, more on relativity, hopefully some quantum mechanics, some particle physics, and some imaging physics. Our plan is that the largest fraction of your learning will happen not by sitting through lectures copying down notes, but through your active participation and cooperation in the learning process, inside and outside the classroom. Unlike 123, where the pace was swift, in 124 we will try to take our time -- more of a slow steady climb through a beautiful landscape than 123's often frenetic pace. .
III. Text
The text for the course is E.M. Purcell, Electricity and Magnetism, Berkely Physics Course Vol. 2, 2nd edition . This is a very clearly written, definite text, and we will progress through it rather methodically. It contains many useful problems.
IV. Websites
There are a number of websites associated with the class:
The course home page http://www.phys.cwru.edu/courses/p124/
The mediavision page http://mediavision.case.edu/2008/SPRING/PHYS124
The class forums http://www.phys.cwru.edu/forums
The 124 lab website.
V. Groups
As in PHYS 123, to encourage participation and to help stimulate active intellectual exchange, much of the course work will be done cooperatively, with a particular focus on groups of three to four that will be formed after the first day of class. The first thing you should do is to find out the addresses and phone numbers of the people in your group. Your group is your first line of defense against getting lost. If there is something that you do not understand, ask your group members. You are strongly encouraged to get together regularly to work on assignments and study for tests with your group. Some of the homework (the really hard stuff) will be turned in as a group. Each group will be assigned an identifying code (A3, B2, 42, . . . ) All assignments and tests must be marked with both your name and your group code.
VI. Class Sessions
Unlike in PHYS123, attendance at class is expected. All the class sessions will be videotaped, and posted at http://mediavision.case.edu/2008/SPRING/PHYS124 . This is an opportunity to use the class time differently -- rather than furiously trying to write down everything that is said, try to spend more time listening, thinking, asking, answering, ... You can always go back after class and fill in your notes. Classes are opportunities to engage with the material, to pose questions, to help answer them. The best questions to ask during class are the ones you think are stupid -- rest assured that at least half of your classmates want to ask the same questions that you do. Attendance in class is mandatory when a quiz or other special event is scheduled -- as noted in the course calendar -- and is strongly encouraged at all other times. Not all material covered in the course will be found in the text. (Yes, to answer the perennial question, you are responsible for all material covered in the course, whether or not it is in the text.) You and your fellow group members should co-operate to make sure that all of you are up on the material. Class-time will also include opportunties for you and your fellow group members to engage in discussions. For this reason, you are expected to sit together as a group in class. YOU ARE EXPECTED TO READ FROM THE TEXT BEFORE COMING TO CLASS. It is important that you understand what it means to read the text. If you merely read through and highlight the ``important points,'' you will get very little out of the reading. You must work through examples and try some problems from the back of the chapter. If you do not complete the reading you will have far less to contribute to the class, and cheat not just yourself out of an opportunity for greater understanding, but your classmates out of your well-informed insights. Also, there is no substitute for going home and reviewing what we did in class at the end of the day -- this is an essential part of the learning process and a habit that you are strongly encouraged to form immediately. Regular homework will help you to do that. At the beginning of each class, the student facilitators responsible for that chapter (see below) will provide a brief (5-10 minute) review of the previous class. At the end of the chapter, they will provide a 1 page synopsis for the class.
VI. Group Tutoring
Gareth Kafka will conduct weekly group tutoring sessions. Time and place tbd.
VII. Office Hours
Prof. Starkman is regularly in his office during normal daytime hours. You are welcome to stop by their offices to ask questions. However, you should always try to first discuss questions about the material with your group, or raise questions during class so that all your fellow students can benefit.
VIII. The Home Page
The physics 124 home page is located at http://www.phys.cwru.edu/courses/p124 . All sorts of things can be found there, including this document, various notes, problems sets, problem set hints, and solutions, tests and solutions and anything else we think might be useful. Check it often. Paper copies of these items will not generally be distributed.
IX. Bulletin Boards
The Physics department maintains a number of bulletin boards which can be used for on-line discussions. The PHYS 124 course bulletin board can be found at http://www.phys.cwru.edu/forums . There you will find a general bulletin board which you can use to post questions and answers. Prof. Starkman will moderate the bulletin board as well as weigh in with answers when it is appropriate. When you have a question to ask that might be relevant to the whole class, you should post it to the bulletin board unless it is a matter that needs to be kept private.
X. Lab
Lab work is an essential part of learning this material. Hands-on experience will help you internalize what you are learning in the the course. The lab is one very good place to gain this hands-on experience. Details of the requirements for the lab portion of the course will be made available by the lab instructor (Dr. Driscoll). However, one important component of the course is that you will be designing and assembling two of the experiments yourselves in your groups. The idea here is to introduce you to the way that research really occurs -- not as a series of well laid-out steps that you follow, but as a directed random walk toward a goal, which if you are honest and open-minded sometimes leads you to a conclusion that is entirely different, and consequently far more surprising and interesting, from the one that you were anticipating.
XI. Individual and Group Problem Sets
There will be almost-weekly individual problem sets as well as almost-weekly group problems. These are designed to improve your understanding of the material by giving you hands-on experience with it. You will notice that not all the problems on a given problem set need to be turned in for grades. This does not mean you want to ignore the others -- they are there to give you more practice in using and developing the skills you are learning. You are encouraged to work together on all problems, particularly with your group. Group problems are to be worked to completion as a group, including writing up the solution; individual problems may be worked together but must be written up individually and not copied from one another. (Copying the solution to an individual question is cheating and will be dealt with severely if caught.) However, you are strongly encouraged to make a concerted effort on individual homework problems before working on them in a group. Problems will be made available on the homepage in a timely fashion. In general, problems will be made available on the Thursday or Friday evening of the preceding week. Problems (both individual and group) will be due at the BEGINNING of class on Friday. Solutions will be posted on the homepage, typically on Mondays. To make life easier for the graders, problem sets may be completed in ink of any color but red; pages must be stapled together. (If you don't own a stapler, buy one.) Individual and group problems should be handed in separately. Before you submit them, you should write your name and group code clearly on the outside. Only one copy of the group problems per group should be handed in, together with a separate sheet of paper on which are written the names and signatures of all group members who are to receive credit for the assignment and the following statement: "Each of the following has participated in the completion of this assignment." The graders are fellow students who will be doing their best to grade the problem sets in a fair and instructive manner. This is a time-consuming task which they must do under tight time pressures, and irrespective of their own academic commitments. Please make their lives easier by following these simple instructions. (They may elect not to grade any set which does not conform to these standards.) All problem sets must be turned in on time, unless you obtained the course instructor's permission in advance, or have a doctor's note. The penalty for turning a problem set in late is -10 points times 2 to the power of the number of days late (with a minimum of 0). (Thus if you hand in a set two days late and get 70 out of 100 points, you will receive only 30 points on the set.) Problem sets will not be accepted once the solutions are posted.
XII. Chapter Facilitators
Each of the groups will be assigned a section of the course for which they will be the facilitators. The jobs of the facilitators are:
1. To provide a 5 minute review of the preceding class at the beginning of the next class.
2. To provide a 1 page synopsis of the highlights of the chapter (bullet form) at the end of the chapter.
3. To communicate to the instructor any points on which they are not clear.
XIII. Projects
Each group will complete a project. There is considerable leeway in the structure of the project, however the following two formats should be considered standard:
1. A design project: students will design and build a simple original system that integrally involves electro-magnetic principles. (E.g. it could involve designing and building a circuit.) Accompanying the finished project, the students will prepare a 4-5 page paper describing quantitatively (i.e. using equations and numbers), the system they have designed and built.
2. A research project: students will write a 15-20 page report on a researh topic of their choosing (but subject to the approval of the course instructor) relating to electro-magnetism. Appropriate subjects do not include reviews of textbook material. More details on report format will be provided later in the term.
Each group (no matter what type of project they do) will also prepare a well-rehearsed oral presentation of 5 minutes duration and a poster describing their work.
XIV. Tests
Two exams will be given during regularly scheduled class time:
Exam I: Fri. Feb 29
Exam II: Fri Apr. 11
Obviously, attendance is mandatory. Tests are designed to allow you to determine your progress in the course. All absences must be discussed and approved in advance by the course instructor, or be justified by a doctor's note. Unexcused absences will be penalized with a zero on the test.
XIV. Final Exam
The final exam for the course will be on Mon, May 5th, 4:00-7:00 p.m. By university regulations, all students must take the final exam.
XV. Course Grading Scheme
Your grade on the course will be based on the Scheme detailed below. The specific cutoffs for each letter grade will be determined by the course instructor. The cutoffs used for interim grades will be announced and the cutoffs used for the final grade will not be higher than those announced values.
Scheme
| Problem Sets: | ||
| Individual | 18% | |
| Group | 7% | |
| Design/Research Project | 7% | |
| Facilitation | 3% | |
| 2 In-class Exams | ||
| best | 12% | |
| 2nd best | 8% | |
| Final Exam | 20% | |
| Lab | 25% | |
| Total | 100% |