PHYSICS 183                                                          Fall 2000

Physics for Scientists and Engineers I

Course Description:

Physics 183 is the first semester of a two semester course in Physics for Scientists and Engineers.   The prerequisite is MTH 132.  Topics to be covered are mechanics, Newton's laws, momentum, energy conservation laws, rotational motion, oscillation, gravity, and waves.

Teaching Staff:

                Prof. Edwin Kashy
                Room:         122 Cyclotron Building
                Telephone:    355-9672 ext 318
                Email:        kashy@nscl.msu.edu
                Office hours: Thursday 9:10-10:00 am and by appointment

                Prof. Stuart Tessmer
                Room:         126C Physics/Astronomy Building
                Telephone:    353-8744
                Email:        tessmer@pa.msu.edu

                Radu Cojocaru  (Graduate TA)
                Email:        cojocaru@pa.msu.edu

                Paul Nong  (Graduate TA)
                Email:        nong@pa.msu.edu   (Graduate TA)

                Corey Musolff  (Graduate TA)
                Email:        musolffc@pa.msu.edu   (Graduate TA)

Text:

       FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICS
       Halliday, Resnick, and Walker
       John Wiley and Sons, Inc. (2000)
       6th Edition
       (Volume 1)

Class Organization:

The Lecture 1 class meets for lectures on M,T,W, and Th, at 1:50 to 2:40 PM, (118 P/A bldg)
The Lecture 2 class meets for lectures on M,T,W, and Th, at 3:00 to 3:50 PM, (118 P/A bldg)
There will be numerous hours scheduled in the Physics Learning Center (PLC), where students can get assistance and individual attention.  Help can also be obtained through the PHY183 Asynchronous Learning Network (ALN) where students can post questions, provide answers, and also obtain help from a teaching assistant. The discussion forum is accessed via the DISCUSS button at the top of the assignment accessed through thew Web.

Exams:

There will be three 1-hour (evening) Exams with optional 30% partial credit for corrections, and one 2-hour Final.  They will be based on the Lectures, Text, Quizzes and Homework.

Quizzes:

Several un-announced quizzes will be given in lecture each week.  The goal is to promote understanding and to assess progress.

Homework:

There will be 12 assignments.  Students may wish to use MSU's CAPA system to enter their homework solutions on the Internet, for which the standard due dates are Thursdays at 7:00 pm.  Otherwise, solutions and assignment sheets are due at the start of the Thursday lecture.
Grading Procedure:Grades are based on the following formula:
Homework               30%
3 Hour Exams          30%
Quizzes                       7%
Final                         35%
-------------------
                                102%
The guaranteed scale (it may be lowered a little but not raised) is:
90 - 102%             4.0
83 -   90%             3.5
76 -   83%             3.0
70 -   76%             2.5
64 -   70%             2.0
58 -   64%             1.5
52 -   58%             1.0

Honors Option:

Students interested in that option should contact E. Kashy at the end of the first class.

Links:

Last Updated on 1/6/00.
By E. Kashy
http://www.pa.msu.edu/courses/2000fall/PHY183/