Course Information for Physics 232 - Spring 2001

Course Outline: Electricity and magnetism; geometric and wave optics; relativity, quantum physics; atomic, nuclear, and subatomic physics.

Lectures: MWF 1:50pm, 3:00pm in 118 PA (Physics & Astronomy). To avoid overcrowding, and because of quizzes, please attend at your scheduled lecture time, or switch officially to 3:00PM.

Lecturer: Prof. Jon Pumplin, Office 127 PA, phone 355-9275, email pumplin@pa.msu.edu.
Office Hours 4:00-5:00pm Wed and by appointment.

Web page: http://www.pa.msu.edu/courses/PHY232 . Important announcements may also appear when you login to the CAPA system to do homework.

Physics Learning Center ("Help Room"): There are no recitation sections. Instead, you can get individual attention, or help in small groups, during many hours in the Physics Learning Center in B2 North Kedzie. It will be staffed by Physics 232 TA's, honors option students, or professors. Hours for Physics 232 will be Wednesday 9am-6pm, Thurs. 9am-6pm, Fri. 9am-6pm.

Textbook: College Physics (5th edition) by R. Serway and J. Faughn. Other editions, or other standard textbooks e.g., those by Cutnell and Johnson, Giancoli, or Hecht, can be used in place of, or in addition to, this book. You will need at least one textbook to study from, but it does not have to be the official one.

Homework: There will be 14 CAPA homework assignments (including 4 Exam Supplements described below). Each student has his/her personal set of homework problems. You pick up your homework papers in lecture and answer the problems using the CAPA (Computer-Assisted Personalized Assignment) system. Using any one of several hundred terminals on campus, or via the internet, you enter your answer to each problem. The answer is accepted or rejected instantaneously. There is no penalty for incorrect answers and each problem may be attempted as often as needed, up to a maximum of (generally) 30 tries (fewer for multiple choice questions). Credit is earned for all correct answers entered before each week's due date, which is SATURDAY at midnight. (You must think of the CAPA deadline as earlier if you depend on a telephone connection to the internet which is not always available!) Details of Using CAPA and the Format for entering answers are described separately.

Exams: Four 1-Hour Exams and final exam (2 hrs). Exams will be on Mondays: Feb 5, Feb 26, Apr 2, Apr 23. The lowest Hour Exam score will be dropped. You may bring one 8.5" x 11" sheet of paper with notes and formulas to each midterm, and two such sheets to the final exam. This sheet must be handwritten -- it cannot include photocopies of CAPA sets or previous exams. You will also need a calculator and a pencil (not pen) for marking the bubble sheet. Absences from exams require a written excuse from your doctor, dean, etc. There will be no makeups for missed hour exams or for missed homework. If a valid written excuse is provided, your grade will be calculated based on your other exams and homework assignments.

Exam Supplements: The homework set following each Hour Exam will have the same questions as the exam, but with different numbers and with multiple choice options removed. All four of these Exam Supplements count toward your grade, even though only three exams count because the lowest exam grade is dropped.

Quizzes: An undetermined number of 10 minute quizzes will be given during lecture, as added incentive to keep up to date in the course. Quiz scores will be treated as bonus points, so excuses for missing a quiz will not be considered.

Grades: Final grades will be calculated from CAPA homework (25%), midterms (50%) and the final exam (25%). After quiz points are added in, your final course grade will be calculated according to the following scale. This is your minimum grade: requirements may be lowered a little at the end of the semester, but will not be raised.