Physics 232  - Optics and Modern Physics
Course Outline and Format
Dr. Tatiana  Allen          347 Grote Hall
Tel: 425-4520
e-mail: Tatiana-Allen@utc.edu
http://www.utc.edu/Faculty/Tatiana-Allen

 

Fall 2004 schedule
lecture:         TT 10:50 - 12:05, Grote 319

Final Exam:  Thursday, December 9, 11-1

office hours:  according to schedule on my office door or by appointment.


Catalog Description
232 Principles of Physics ­ Optics and Modern Physics (3)
Calculus-based survey of principles of optics, and of the early conceptual advances in 20th-century physics: the Bohr atom, quantum theory, relativity, nuclear physics and elementary particles. For all engineering students. Every semester. Lecture 3 hours. Prerequisites: Engineering 103, 104; or Physics 103, 183, 104 & 184; or Physics 230 & 280; Mathematics 151/152, 161/162, or permission of the head of the department. Corequisites: Physics 282
Course Objectives
As a result of completing Physics 232, you should:
    1. understand the basic concepts of Physics as an essential foundation for comprehending the technological
problems in everyday life.
    2. develop problems solving skills useful in your professional life.
    3. apply the concepts of calculus as well as algebra, trigonometry, and geometry, to actual problems in physics.
    4. be able to integrate the conceptual and qualitative exercises.
    5. realize the significance of conservation principles, such as energy, momentum and angular momentum and
their applications.
    6. understand the origin and evolution of physical principles.
    7. be familiar with the misconceptions prevalent in society and the scientifically correct explanations.

Text: Our text will be PHYSICS, 5th Edition, Extended Version by Paul A. Tipler. We shall concentrate heavily on chapters 31 - 41.

The following texts, which are available at the UTC Lupton Library, may help you in understanding concepts and problems by providing different viewpoints:
Fundamentals of Physics by Halliday and Resnik
University Physics by Hugh D. Young

Attendance in class is required. Your grade will be dropped by one letter grade for every three (3) classes missed. Attendance at all tests and quizzes is required. If you miss a test/quiz, you will get zero for the assignment. I may make exceptions if I am convinced that you were ill, had a death in the family, or were involved in a similar emergency. Students are responsible for all information that is given in class including the material covered, information concerning the execution of the class and the possible changes of schedule and policies.

Grades: the tentative grading plan will be as follows:
 

tests 3 @ 15% 45%
homework on U of Texas Server 10%
quizzes based on HW, reading, and problems discussed in class 15%
class notes 10%
final exam 20%
Total 100%

The grading scale is: A= 90 -100; B= 80 - 89; C= 70 - 79; D= 60 - 69; F= less than 60

Studying

Effective studying consists of attending lectures and taking lecture notes, active reading of the textbook, and solving various exercises on your own. Begin studying your lecture notes by reviewing the lecture outlines. Ask yourself questions about the material; for example, ask yourself to provide definitions, to summarize the purpose, method and results of studies. Active reading involves several steps. First, read the title, topic and subtopic headings, and the summary at the end of each chapter, in order to get an overall sense of what the chapter is about. Read the chapter "in chunks". The size of these chunks should be determined by natural breaks in the text, and by your ability to assimilate the material being read. Make brief notes in the margins of the text as necessary. It is helpful to make one- or two-page summary notes per chapter showing the major headings and key concepts. Try to relate these summaries to various problems that you attempt to solve. In general, study as if you were going to write an examination.

Class notes

Please read all the relevant text material before attending the lectures on a given topic. Much of learning involves discovering how new information relates to knowledge you already possess. The more you know about a particular topic, the more likely it is that you will see how some new information fits other information. If you read the relevant text chapters before you attend the lectures on a particular topic, you will learn more from the lectures and you will be able to take better notes. Your familiarity with the key concepts and major theories in a specific area of electricity, magnetism, optics, and modern physics will help you judge what is important in a lecture. Review your lecture notes soon after each lecture and proceed to read and study the text required.

 

Taking detailed notes in class and taking notes when reading the book allows a student to learn material better.

I expect you to write al least 5 pages for each lecture. All the example problems done in class have to be written in your notes in the format given in class. There will also be reading assignments, when you will need to read the book and take notes. If you have missed a lecture, you will still be responsible for the notes for this lecture and all the example problems done in class.

 

Please take your notes on standard paper and assemble them carefully in a three ring binder. The class/reading notes will be collected after every test. 10% of the course grade is set aside for the notes.

Homework is a vital part of the learning process at this level of physics. Homework is self motivational, like life after school days. We will use an automated homework service  provided by the University of Texas.

With this service each student will get a unique set of problems and work on them with his/her own pace (within the deadline). Then the answers should be entered into the server, and they will be graded instantly. Many problems allow several attempts to submit correct answer. Many problems are divided into smaller questions, which allows to obtain partial credit. After the deadline everybody can download solutions for their problems and learn from them.

A set of homework problems will be posted once a week, before Friday 3 p.m. EST, and will be due the following Thursday, 2 p. m. EST. I expect you to download the homework problems before the weekend and start working on them. If you have any questions, please ask them on Monday, in class, so everybody has the same input for their homework. If you have any problems with your personal computer to access the service, please let me know. You can use computers at the Physics Department, or any university computer to access this service.

Please follow the    Student instructions    to register.  Please submit your valid e-mail address with registration, because some class information will be communicated by e-mail.

Unique class number:  23284

Student Login Page: https://hw.utexas.edu/

The server produces a unique set of problems for every student. You may  consult with other students, but you must not copy their work! Plagiarism is an offense which will be reported to the honor court, and may result in failure and/or expulsion from the course.

 

Schedule (tentative)

Week Date  
1 24-Aug  Ch 31
  26-Aug  Ch 31
2 31-Aug  Ch 32
  2-Sep  Ch 32
3 7-Sep  Ch 32
  9-Sep  Ch 33
4 14-Sep  Ch 33
  16-Sep  Ch 33
5 21-Sep  Test 1, Chapters 31-33
  23-Sep  Ch 34
6 28-Sep  Ch 34
  30-Sep  Ch 34
7 5-Oct  Ch 35
  7-Oct  Ch 35
8 12-Oct  Ch 35
  14-Oct  Ch 36
9 19-Oct  Ch 36
  21-Oct  Test 2, Chapters 34-36
10 28-Oct  Ch 37
11 2-Nov  Ch 38
  4-Nov  Ch 38
12 9-Nov  Ch 38
  11-Nov  Ch 39
13 16-Nov  Ch 39
  18-Nov  Ch 39
14 23-Nov  Ch 40, 41
15 30-Nov  Test 3, Chapters 37-41
  2-Dec  Review

Technology/e-mail

To enhance student services, the University will use your UTC email address (firstname-lastname@utc.edu) for communications. (See http://onenet.utc.edu for your exact address.) Please check your UTC email on a regular basis. If you have problems with accessing your email account, contact the Help Desk at 423/425-2678.

You can forward all of your UTC e-mail to any e-mail address of your choice. To do this you need to:
1. Go to http://onenet.utc.edu and login using your UTCID and password.
2. Log in to My Mail
3. Go to My Mail Options. Located in the top center of the window.
4. In the Options select Mailbox Management.
5. In the middle of the window look for the Forwarding section.
* Select Yes to Forward all new messages
* Select No to Keep Copy
* Enter any valid e-mail address in the Forward to: box
6. Select Save and Close.

Please feel free to contact me by e-mail. I will respond to your message within 48 hours of receiving it during business week. If I get your e-mail on Friday , I will respond by next Tuesday. Usually, I do not read my e-mail on weekends.

If you find that personal problems, career indecision, study and time management difficulties, etc. are adversely affecting your successful progress at UTC, please contact the Counseling and Career Planning Center at 425-4438.

If you are a student with a disability (e.g. physical, learning, psychiatric, vision, hearing, etc.) and think that you might need special assistance or a special accommodations in this class or any other class, call the Office for Students with Disabilities/College Access Program at 425-4006 or come by the office - 110 Frist Hall.

Last updated August 10, 2004