Lecturer: Prof. Bernard Pope, 251E Physics-Astronomy Building,

Lectures: 4:10 - 5:00 p.m.. MWThF, room 118, Physics & Astronomy

Office Hours: to be arranged.

Recitations: The recitations have been replaced by numerous help room hours at convenient times where students can get individual attention. (A schedule of help room hours staffed by Physics 184 TAs will be passed out separately.) The help room is B2 North Kedzie.

Textbook: Fundamentals of Physics, by Halliday, Resnick and Walker, 5th edition.

Course Info: Course information will be posted in the PHY184 display case on the first floor of the Physics-Astronomy building and on the web at http://www.pa.msu.edu/courses/PHY184/. Important announcements will also be posted on the login page of the CAPA system (see below).

Homework: There will be 15 INDIVIDUAL homework assignments. That is, each student will have his or her personal set of homework problems. Students pick up their homework papers in class, and answer the problems using the CAPA -- Computer-Assisted Personalized Assignment -- system. Using any one of several hundred terminals on campus, each student enters his or her solution to each problem, which is graded instantaneously. There is no penalty for incorrect answers and each problem may be attempted as often as desired, up to a maximum of 20 tries. Credit is earned for ALL correct answers entered before each week's due date, which is Tuesday at midnight.

Quizzes: There will be occasional quizzes during lecture time. You will need a pocket calculator to solve them and a number 2 pencil to fill out the computer scoring sheet.

Exams: There will be three midterm exams and one final exam. Exam locations and times will be announced in class. After each midterm exam, students will have the opportunity to do the midterm problems again using the CAPA system. Each midterm grade will be calculated as:-

original grade + 0.3 x (second grade - original grade).

Grades: The final grades will be calculated from the homework assignments (25%), the classroom quizzes (5%), the three midterms (15% each) and the final exam (25%). You can calculate your final course grade from the following absolute scale, which may be lowered a little but will not be raised:-

> 90% à 4.0 > 84% à 3.5 > 78% à 3.0 > 72% à 2.5

> 66% à 2.0 > 60% à 1.5 > 54% à 1.0 > 0% à 0.0

More Detail: All exams are closed book. You are, however, allowed one 8.5 x 11 inch sheet of hand-written formulas, notes, etc. at each midterm exam (no photocopies please). You may bring two such sheets to the final. You will also need a calculator and a pencil. You must also bring a picture identification with your signature on it to every exam. All absences from midterm exams require a written excuse from your doctor, Dean, etc. There will be no makeups for missed midterm exams or for missed homeworks. If a valid excuse is provided, your grade will be calculated based on the other exams and homework assignments. Under no circumstances will missed quizzes be ignored. The MSU Code of Teaching Responsibilities states that any student not taking the Final Exam will not be permitted to pass the course.

Additional Texts: In addition to "Halliday, Resnick and Walker" there are a number of other text books suitable for PHY 183-184. You may find that another book is easier to read and/or gives a different perspective on a topic. I have put the following books on reserve in the physics library (south end of the P-A building).

Physics for Scientists and Engineers, Douglas C. Giancoli

University Physics, Ronald L. Reese

Physics for Scientists and Engineers, Raymond A. Serway

Physics for Scientists and Engineers, Paul A. Tipler

I would be grateful for any feedback (positive or negative and not too abusive!) on any or all of the above books.