Syllabus: Optics I, Phy431, Fall 2007
3 credits (2 hr lecture, 3 hr lab)
Prerequisites
PHY 183A or PHY 184 or PHY 184B or PHY 234B or PHY 294H
PHY 192
PHY 215 or PHY 215B
Completion of Tier I writing requirement. Alias: PHY 331
Lenses, mirrors, apertures, and instruments. Diffraction, interferometry, spectroscopy, fiber optics.
INSTRUCTORS:
Lectures: Brage Golding, 4241 Biomedical & Physical Sciences, Telephone: 355-9200 x2204 Email: golding@pa.msu.edu. Office hours: TBA. Call or email to schedule a personal appointment.
Labs: Lisa Lapidus, 4223 Biomedical & Physical Sciences, Telephone: 355-9200 x2211 Email: lapidus@pa.msu.edu. See labs syllabus for more details.
Text:
(Required) Optics, by E. Hecht, 4th Edition (Addison-Wesley)
Course Structure:
2 lectures per week in room 1420 Biomedical & Physical Sciences. Tuesday and Thursday; 3:00pm - 3:50pm. The schedule of the lectures is here.
One lab of about 3 hours every week starting September 17.
Homepage:
http://www.pa.msu.edu/courses/current/PHY431/
Grading:
We will give out homework problems during the semester - 10 in total. There will be credit for the homework - normally problems will be handed out on a Tuesday - problem sets will be available at least a week before they are due. There will be 10 assignments: the best 8 will count at 10 points each towards your final grade. The first homework assignment is due on Tuesday 11 September in class.
Midterm Exams:
There will be two midterm exams. The first is will be held on Tuesday 9 October for one hour. This exam is closed book. You should bring a calculator. The second is in the form of a special project, to be described in class, due in mid-November.
Material covered in class--semester review. UPDATED December 8, 2007.
Final Exam:
The 2 hour final exam will cover everything we have studied. It will be held on Wednesday, December 12, 2007, from 3 to 5 pm in BPS 1420. All answers and calculations should be contained on the exam pages handed out at the beginning of the exam. Final grades will be posted on the door of BPS 4241 by 5 pm Thursday, the following day.
Optics Lab:
The lab will
be run by Lisa Lapidus, with help from TA's, in room 1250 Biomedical &
Physical Sciences. The final grade on this course will be 40% on the lab.
and 60% on the class. The first lab. will be on September 17. There
will be a total of 11 labs. See labs syllabus
for details.
Please familiarize yourself with University policies concerning academic
integrity as they will be applied.
Final Grades:
Grades are based on the following formula:
|
|
% |
|
Project |
15 |
|
Midterms |
15 |
|
Homework |
10 |
|
Final Exam |
20 |
|
Laboratory Total |
40 |
|
TOTAL |
100 |
The guaranteed scale, which may be lowered in your favor but not raised, is:
|
Total point percentage |
Final grade
|
|
>93% |
4.0 |
|
88%-93% |
3.5 |
|
83%-88% |
3.0 |
|
78%-83% |
2.5 |
|
73%-78% |
2.0 |
|
68%-73% |
1.5 |
|
60%-68% |
1.0 |
|
<50% |
0.0 |