Physics 1425 is a calculus-based introductory physics course covering classical (Newtonian) mechanics, gravity, fluid dynamics, oscillations, kinetic theory of gases, and thermodynamics. It is the first part of a two-semester sequence covering classical physics. It satisfies the Physics requirement for the School of Applied Science and Engineering as well as for Bachelor of Science degree programs in the College of Arts and Sciences
The third course in this sequence is PHYS 2620, a modern physics course that is a technical elective for engineering students. You may take PHYS 2620 either during the spring semester or during the summer as a distance learning course. It is also calculus based.
Location: Physics Room 204
Blaine Norum, Room 136 Physics Building
(434) 924-6789, e-mail:ben@virginia.edu.
Office hours: Tuesday 12:30 - 3:25, Room 136 in the Physics Building
or any time I'm not intensely occupied with something; call ahead to be safe.
Teaching Assistant:
Amr Ahmadain
Available in Room 220 Monday and Tuesday 2:00-6:00 PM
E-mail: aaa9aj@virginia.edu
Required text:
Author: Douglas C. Giancoli
Title: Physics for Scientists and Engineers
Publisher: Prentice-Hall
Edition: 4
This textbook comes in several versions:
Chapters 1-37, ISBN 0-13-227559-7. This is the one we recommend. It
will be available in the UVa bookstore. This is the hardback version. If
you plan to lug the text to class, you may want to purchase a paperback
version elsewhere. Paperback versions come in Vol. I and II. We covered
Chapters 1-14 and 17-20 in PHYS 1425 and will cover Chapters 15-16 and
21-35 in 2415. We will not cover Chapters 36-44 in these two courses.
You probably will want the 4th edition.
We are also arranging the bookstore to offer copies of the Student Study Guide & Selected Solutions Manual for this textbook. This guide/manual is authored by Frank L.H. Wolfs. The ISBN number for Vol. II&III for this course is 978-0-13-227325-1. If you expect to have difficulty with this physics course, we recommend you obtain this guide/manual.
Suggested supplement:
The aim of this course
is to teach you to understand the physical world and to solve
problems about that world. Both elements are important to you.
However, there are goals beyond these.
You will also have the opportunity to develop important problem-solving skills
that will be useful beyond the realm of science and engineering.
These include isolating/defining questions; abstraction; idealization;
approximation; assessment of validity of simplifying assumptions; and the
mathematical/conceptual modelling of simple phenomena.
Your grade in
the course will depend on your ability to solve problems. You will achieve
such an ability by understanding the basic concepts and by practicing on a
large variety of problems. The lectures are oriented
towards helping you understand why and how we understand what we do about
physics, not simply towards helping you learn how to plug in formulas in order
to solve rote problems.
Understanding the concepts
is the best long-term way for you to be able to solve the problems
that an engineer faces.
Problem solving skills are honed by doing problems. You should
look at more problems than the ones assigned as homework, at least to convince yourself that
you would know how to handle them. Feel free to consult with each other on how to do the problems.
Information about this course is available through the UVaCollab system from
https://collab.itc.virginia.edu/portal. Search for "PHYS 1425" and you will
reach the course web site.
Your grade in PHYS 2415 will be determined by (subject to change)
Clickers (class participation) | 10% |
Homework | 20% |
2 midterm exams | 35% |
Final exam | 35% |
All exams (midterm and final) will be a mixture of conceptual questions and homework-like numerical problems. All exams will be multiple choice. You will be allowed to bring in one 8 1/2" x 11" size piece of paper for each exam with anything written on one side of it that you choose.
You must have a calculator for the exams, but no other electronic devices will be allowed. This includes, but is not limited to, computers, PDAs, cell phones, smart phones, etc. The calculator you use may not be one that is incorporated into one of these latter devices. Any use of these forbidden devices on an exam will be considered an honor offense.
The workshops (PHYS 2419) ( http://people.virginia.edu/~mab3ed/1429/Fall2015/ ) are a separately administered and graded class. All questions regarding the Workshops should be directed to Mr. Bychkov (mab3ed@virginia.edu, 924-6843, Room 214).
You will have homework due weekly. It will be done using the Internet service WebAssign. The homework will normally be due weekly on WebAssign on Wednesday morning at 5 am. You will both find your homework and submit your homework answers on WebAssign. See the Introduction and General Information for more information.
Link to WebAssign for UVa students and faculty
. Look here for homework. Your username and password are the same as your UVa email account.
Student Guide to WebAssign.
Look here if you need help in using WebAssign. NOTE:
Sections 1, 2, and 3.3 do not apply to UVa students accessing WebAssign via
WebAssign for UVa link
. UVa folks use their CMS username and password to log in.
You typically will receive 10 submissions on WebAssign to obtain the
correct answer. This means the average homework score in the class will
be very high. Many of you will obtain 100%, and the average score is
likely to be near 95%. This means your grade will suffer considerably if
you do not do the homework. We believe it is essential to success in
this class.
We encourage you to try every problem by yourself for the first 3 or so submissions. Then perhaps work with another student or form a study group. The homework is not pledged, but you serve yourself a great disservice if you do not do it yourself. Do not be surprised if you sometimes see a question similar to the homework on a midterm or final exam. WebAssign uses random numbers so that each student has different numbers and answers for your homework.
Click on the following for further information:
Introduction and General Information. It
is very important for you to read this.
Student Response System Transmitters or Clickers
Every student will be required to have an iclicker
in class to personally respond to the lecture opening reading quiz
and to conceptual questions throughout the lecture. A part of your final
grade will be derived from the opening multiple choice quiz that will
be based on the reading assignment for that lecture and from
your satisfactory participation in the 3-6 conceptual questions given
each day. The clickers allow you to respond anonymously. The Student
Advisory Committee for this course has recommended we count the
clickers as 10% of your final grade, and we plan to do so this semester.
You will be able to use the same iclicker that you used last semester, but
you will need to reregister it. You may also use a transmitter that has
been previously used by another student, but you will need to register
it in your name. These transmitters are for sale at the
Newcomb Hall University Bookstore. You may use either the original
iclicker or the new iclicker2 in class.
Click here for further important information.
Attendance at all lectures is strongly recommended. You are responsible for all assigned material, whether it is presented in lecture or not. You are also responsible for knowing the problem assignments and for any announcements that may be made in lecture of changes in the assignments, schedule, etc.
Obviously, if you are not in class you cannot get points for the clicker questions.
Session | Date | Chapter | Sections | Topic |
#1. | Tue, Aug 25 | 1 | 1-7 | Introduction, Measurement, and Estimating |
#2. | Thu, Aug 27 | 2 | 1-8 | Describing Motion: Kinematics in One Dimension |
#3. | Tue, Sep 1 | 3 | 1-9 | Kinematics in Two or Three Dimensions; Vectors |
#4. | Thu, Sep 3 | 4 | 1-5 | Dynamics: Newton's Laws of Motion |
#5. | Tue, Sep 8 | 4 | 6-8 | Weight, Problem Solving |
#6. | Thu, Sep 10 | 5 | 1-4 | Newton's Laws: Friction, Circular Motion |
#7. | Tue, Sep 15 | 5 | 5-6 | Nonuniform Circular Motion, Velocity-Dependent Forces |
6 | 1-2 | Gravitation and Newton's Synthesis | ||
#8. | Thu, Sep 17 | 6 | 3-8 | Gravitation and Newton's Synthesis |
#9. | Tue, Sep 22 | 7 | 1-4 | Work and Energy |
#10. | Thu, Sep 24 | 8 | 1-4 | Conservation of Energy |
#11. | Tue, Sep 29 | 8 | 5-9 | Conservation of Energy |
9 | 1-5 | Linear Momentum | ||
#12. | Thu, Oct 1 | Exam 1 | Chapters 1-7 | |
Tue, Oct 6 | Reading day | |||
#13. | Thu, Oct 8 | 9 | 6-10 | Collisions, Center of Mass, Rocket Propulsion |
#14. | Tue, Oct 13 | 10 | 1-7 | Rotational Motion |
#15. | Thu, Oct 15 | 10 | 8-10 | Rotational Kinetic Energy |
11 | 1-3 | Angular Momentum | ||
#16. | Tue, Oct 20 | 11 | 3-9 | General Rotation, Conservation of Angular Momentum |
#17. | Thu, Oct 22 | 12 | 1-3 | Static Equilibrium, Elasticity |
#18. | Tue, Oct 27 | 12 | 4-7 | Structural Strength, Fracture |
#19. | Thu, Oct 29 | 13 | 1-8 | Fluids; Pascal's and Archimedes's Principles |
#20. | Tue, Nov 3 | 13 | 9-14 | Bernoulli's Equation, Applications |
#21. | Thu, Nov 5 | 14 | 1-4 | Oscillations; Simple Harmonic Motion |
#22. | Tue, Nov 10 | 14 | 5-8 | Pendula; Damped and Forced Oscillations | 17 | 1-3 | Temperature, Thermal Expansion | #23. | Thu, Nov 12 | Exam 2 | Chapters 8-14 | #24. | Tue, Nov 17 | 17 | 4-10 | Ideal Gas Law | 18 | 1-4 | Kinetic Theory of Gases |
#25. | Thu, Nov 19 | 19 | 1-6 | Heat, First Law of Thermodynamics |
#26. | Tue, Nov 24 | 19 | 7-10 | First Law of Thermodynamics |
Thu, Nov 26 | Thanksgiving Day | |||
#27. | Tue, Dec 1 | 20 | 1-4 | Second Law of Thermodynamics; Heat Engines |
#28. | Thu, Dec 3 | 20 | 5-11 | Second Law of Thermodynamics; Entropy |
#29 | Tue, Dec 8 | Catch up; Review; Q and A |
If you are interested in hiring a tutor see the Departmental secretary; she usually has the names of graduate students who are willing to tutor. The Engineering School also provides tutorial assistance.
Remember that the homework is always due on Wednesday morning at 5 am.