Tuesday/Thursday 10:00 - 12:00 pm    120 Olson Hall      Dr. Joseph F. Alward  

Office Telephone:  (209) 946-3129 

Email Address:  JFAlward@aol.com 

Textbooks: 

1. Schaum's Outline: College Physics The Schaum's text contains invaluable summaries of the basic concepts and many example problems.   Click book cover picture at the right to go to Amazon Books web site to order this text, or obtain it from the bookstore. 2. "Physics," by Cutnell and Johnson, 8 th Edition, Volume Two. Note: the last two chapters of Volume One are included in the reading assignment (see below). If you do not have Volume One, the instructor will provide copies of those two chapters.

Old Examinations:

Students are strongly urged to work the previous exam problems that relate to the recent lectures.  The answers to the examination problems are listed at the end of each exam.

Examinations (400 points): There are four two hour examinations; the first exam covers all of the material assigned through the lecture day prior to the day of the exam; subsequent exams are on material covered since the previous examination.  Students may use one side of a sheet of 8 ½ x 11 inch paper containing any type of information to assist them during examinations, as well as a calculator.  Sharing of calculators is strictly forbidden during examinations; the use of any type of electronic communication device is also forbidden.

The final examination score will replace the lowest exam score, provided the final exam score is higher than the lowest exam score.  There are no make-up, late, or early exams; if a student misses an exam, that exam will count as the student's lowest exam score. 

Final Examination (100 points):   As noted above, the final examination score will replace the lowest of the four examination scores, provided that the final exam score is higher.  Whether there is a replacement or not, the final exam score will be recorded; it's the fifth exam. The final examination is three hours long and covers the entire course and must be taken at the assigned time.  Students may use two sheets of 8 ½ x 11 inch paper containing any type of information on both sides to assist them during the exam.

The final exam score is used not only to replace the lowest exam score--if one of the first four exam scores is lower than the final exam score, but also counts as the fifth examination.  Thus, there are five exam scores with a total possible value of 500 points.

Laboratory (120 points):  Students meet 13 times to work in teams of two or three to complete laboratory exercises related to the concepts discussed in the lectures.  There a possible of 10 points possible for each lab meeting.  Bring a calculator to every session.  No laboratory notebook or text is required; no advance work is necessary and all work completed during the lab period is turned in at the end of the period.  There are no make-up labs.  The lowest lab score will be dropped.

Grading. There are 620 points possible; your course grade will be based on following percentage scale:

92-100:  A
90-92:    A-
88-90:    B+
82-88:    B
80-82:    B-
78-80:    C+
72-78:    C
70-72:    C-
68-70:    D+   (See note below)
60-68:    D
0-60:      F

Note:  For those students who otherwise would get a D+ or lower in the course, the lower two exam scores will be replaced by the final exam score, providing the final exam score is higher than both scores.  In such an event, C- is the highest grade that will be awarded. 

Assignments

Students should work the unstarred, odd-numbered problems at the end of the chapters, but only the problems that relate to the material covered in class.  More importantly, students should work the problems appearing on the previous semester's examinations.

Course Schedule

The calendar below shows the dates of examinations, and the approximate page numbers of the material that will be covered each day in lecture.  Students are responsible for all of the assigned material, even if not all of it is covered in lecture.   Pages 473-522 (Chapters 16 and 17) are in Volume One of the 8th Edition.  The same material is also found in Chapters 16 and 17 of the 7th Edition.

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