PHYSICS 321 - Classical Mechanics I

Spring 2003

Prof. Norman Birge

E-mail:  birge@pa.msu.edu

Office:  4224 BPS, 355-9200, ext. 2203

 Click here for the homework and exam schedule

Course Information

Office Hours: Monday and Tuesday, 2:00-3:00pm, or by appointment. 
Lectures: MWF, 3:00-3:50pm, Room 1420 Biomedical and Physical Sciences (BPS) 
Required Text: Classical Dynamics, J.B. Marion and S.T. Thornton, 4th edition
Homework: There will be 11 assignments due on Wednesdays at the beginning of class.  The lowest homework score will be dropped when calculating your final grade.  You are welcome to consult with your peers when doing your homework, but you are responsible for completing the problems yourself.  Copying somebody else's homework is neither educational nor acceptable.
Grader: Taejin Hwang, hwang@pa.msu.edu (office hours by appointment)
Exams:  There will be 3 midterm exams and a final.  The dates for the midterm exams are Feb. 10, March 17, and April 14.  The final exam is Wednesday, April 30 at 3:00pm.  All exams are closed book.  The final exam will be cumulative.
Grades: Homework      25%             Maximum grade cut-offs:  >90%  4.0      >66%  2.0
Midterm #1     15%                                                     >84%  3.5      >60%  1.5
Midterm #2     15%                                                     >78%  3.0      >54%  1.0
Midterm #3     15%                                                     >72%  2.5      <54%  0.0
Final Exam      30%       These cut-offs may be lowered, but they won't be raised.
Course Outline: We will cover chapters 1-5, 8, and 9 of Marion and Thornton.  Some of the subjects we cover will be familiar to you from Physics 183 or 193H, but will be treated here at a higher level of mathematical sophistication.  Some topics, such as nonlinear oscillations and chaos, will be completely new to you. 

This page is maintained by N. Birge, email: birge@pa.msu.edu

Last updated 12/30/2002