wijojwo jhd1601- Syllabus PDF

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Course Syllabus Course Number: PHYS 1601

Semester: Spring, 2021

Course Name: General Physics Text: University Physics, 14th Edition, by Young and Freedman. A subscription to MasteringPhysics is required. Meeting Time: Zoom live sessions on MWF 8:00-8:50 AM and 3:00-3:50 PM

Instructor Information: Name: Dr. Sourish Dutta Office: 6711, Stevenson Center Office hours: MW 4:00 – 5:00 PM, TRF 12:00-1:00 PM E-mail address: [email protected]

Course Description This is the first half of the introductory physics sequence, intended primarily for engineers and pre-med students. We will cover classical mechanics, fluids, waves (including sound), and heat. Serial Number You will be assigned a unique four-digit serial number for this course. It will NOT be the same serial number you had if you took a course with me earlier. You can find your serial number in Brightspace under “Grades”. You will need to put in your serial number the time of signing up for MasteringPhysics (see below). MasteringPhysics and TopHat A MasteringPhysics subscription is required for this course and is essential for HW. We will use TopHat for in-class questions and activities. To purchase your MasteringPhysics subscription or log into the course, please follow the instructions here. To join TopHat, please go to https://tophat.com/sign-up/ . Use the appropriate course ID and join code from the table below: MasteringPhysics Course ID

TopHat Join Code

dutta57178

Join Code: 904127

At the time of signing up for MasteringPhysics,  Please make sure that the name you use exactly matches (if possible) your name on Brightspace (or is as close to it as possible).  Please enter your 4-digit serial number when prompted for an ID as discussed above (please do not use your email address or vu-net id) 1

Course Materials, Lectures and Class Participation Please note that you may not post any of the material in this course (syllabus, tests, PowerPoints etc) to external websites without permission. Lectures: We will have a combination of live and pre-recorded lectures. Most of the chapters will be covered through live lectures, while a few will be covered asynchronously through pre-recorded lectures. The live lectures will be through Zoom during class hours. Zoom lecture sessions will be recorded and made available later in the day. Pre-lecture and supplementary videos: Occasionally I will post pre-lecture videos for you to watch before the lecture. Please make sure to watch these before class and ask me at the beginning of class if you have any questions. Note that if a pre-lecture video is assigned, the lecture will be based on the assumption that you have watched it. I will also occasionally post supplementary videos as necessary. Textbook: Reading the textbook is essential in this course. However, it is not necessary to use the latest edition of the text and you can feel free to purchase an older edition if you wish. Course Materials: All course materials (lecture notes, old tests etc) will be posted at the following link: http://bit.ly/1601-Sp2021 Since lecture PowerPoints are drafts which I keep on changing till right before class, it might not be a good idea to print them till after the lecture. TopHat: During the lecture sessions, I will ask questions and assign mini-exercises through TopHat. While the TopHat questions will NOT count for credit, they are essential to your understanding of the material. PowerPoint problems: In addition to the multiple-choice TopHat questions, the lecture PowerPoint slides contain a number of longer problems. It is extremely important to work these problems out in detail after class. Many of these problems illustrate important ideas or mathematical tools that might be useful on tests. In class, I will work out a few of the example problems on the lecture slides, but the majority are for you to try at home. We do not have enough time to work out every problem in class! Remember that simply watching me solve a problem (or reading the solution to a problem) is only marginally useful - you learn a lot more from figuring the problem out on your own. For the same reason, solutions to HW or test problems will usually not be posted online. I will, of course, be happy to discuss these as necessary in class and/or in office hours. Class participation: I tend to think of lecture sessions as two-way discussions. You are encouraged to listen actively, think critically and ask me as many questions as you need to. When a student catches a mistake I make in class, that totally makes my day! No matter how silly you think your question is, chances are that several other students have 2

exactly the same question. So if a question comes to mind, by all means, please ask either directly or through chat. Communication You will be responsible for any information communicated via your Vanderbilt.edu email, or as an announcement on Brightspace. Not being present in class, or not having checked BrightSpace or your email will not constitute a valid excuse for missing important announcements. Please make sure you have Notifications enabled on Brightspace! Email: Before sending me an email, please keep in mind the volume of emails I have to respond to. If you could first make an effort to find an answer to your question on your own (in the syllabus or by checking with your classmates) that would be highly appreciated. You are welcome to email me if your efforts have not succeeded. Please note that while I am happy to answer a quick conceptual question or briefly clarify a point via email, I will be unable to discuss MasteringPhysics or PowerPoint problems, or review photos of your work, over email. If you need help with problems, please attend the Zoom office hours, or make an appointment with me outside of office hours.

Homework Homework must be submitted online through Mastering Physics. The due date is usually the night before the exam for that unit, unless otherwise mentioned. You can expect between 10-20 MasteringPhysics problems per chapter. You get unlimited attempts for each problem, and a tiny bonus (1%) for not using the hints (if applicable). Late MasteringPhysics homework will incur a 10% grade penalty for each day late. No credit will be given for MasteringPhysics HW done after the final deadline (the last one before the final exam). Please note that the (very highly) recommended timeframe for doing homework is while the chapter is being discussed. For example, if we start discussing a certain chapter on Monday and finish it on Friday, you should complete all the MasteringPhysics HW for that chapter by Sunday of that week. This will go a long way in helping you grasp the material and also reduce stress at the time of exams. Also note that no extensions will be provided to students who attempt to do an entire unit’s worth of HW the week before it is due and then run into unforeseen mishaps. Tests and Final Exam There will be three midterm exams and a comprehensive final on the dates shown on the calendar. The dates of the tests might change, and you will be given adequate notice of any such changes through announcements in class. The material covered on the tests will usually include everything covered up till the day before the test. All tests will be multiple-choice, unless otherwise mentioned. There will not be any partial credit for picking incorrect answer choices, so please double-check your answers before submitting. You will typically have an extended (18-24 hour) window to take the 3

test, but the test must be completed in one sitting. All tests will be open book and notes, but you may not use the internet. Lecture videos and MasteringPhysics will be unavailable during exam windows, so please plan accordingly. The purpose of an exam is to evaluate the extent of your understanding of the material and your ability to apply your understanding to situations you have not seen before, so you should expect to see problems that have not been solved in class. However, a clear understanding of problems assigned on the homework and discussed in class will be helpful. If you encounter technical issues while taking an exam, please take screenshots and contact Brightspace support ([email protected]) immediately, cc-ing me in the email. Starting an exam earlier in the testing window and well before the deadline is highly recommended. No accommodations will be made for students who run into mishaps after starting at the very last minute. Please note that lying about technical problems (in hopes of securing extra attempts or extra time) will be a violation of the honor code. Oral Exams: I reserve the right to ask any of you meet with me on Zoom after any exam (including the final) to explain how you arrived at the answer for any question on that exam. You will be required to have your camera on for the oral exam. While students occasionally get a question or two correct through guesswork, an unusually large number of “lucky guesses” (i.e. where a student has marked the correct answer but is unable to explain how they obtained it) will be treated as evidence for academic dishonesty and referred to the Honor Council. You will be informed about a potential oral exam within 48 hours of an exam. Failure to participate in the oral exam (with camera on) will lead to a score of zero. Also, oral exams cannot be requested by students as an alternative to regular exams or for the purpose of seeking extra points on an exam. Please note that all of the following actions constitute very serious violations of the Honor Code:  Posting any part of the test on websites such as Chegg. I typically have TA’s monitor Chegg and similar websites during test windows, and if any of the test questions show up, it triggers an Honor code investigation.  Sharing information about the test with students yet to take it.  Receiving information about the test from students who have already taken it.  Receiving help from anyone other than yourself. The midterms will together make up 60% of your grade, and the final exam will account for 25%. One of the midterms will be dropped. If your score on your dropped midterm is at least a C (70-79%) you will be able to add an extra 0.50% to your overall grade (1.00% for a B or higher). The final will be cumulative, but with emphasis on the topics covered since the last midterm.

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Cheating on Exams I take academic honesty very seriously. Over the years I have never ceased to be amazed by how hardworking and sincere most Vanderbilt students are, and I consider it my responsibility to protect the fairness and integrity of examinations in my courses. During the Spring 2020 semester, I was extremely disappointed by the extent of cheating that happened after the switch to online classes, a fact that was quite obvious from the pattern of test grades. After thoroughly analyzing test data from my classes, I identified several cases with clear proof of cheating, and passed this information on to the Honor Council. Once the students involved were contacted by the Honor Council, all of them ended up revealing the names of the other students they had worked with, more than doubling the number of students under investigation. So please remember the following:  Do not cheat - you might get caught in ways that you had not anticipated.  Do not help anyone cheat - they will turn on you the moment they are in trouble.  While a poor test grade is undesirable, getting caught cheating is infinitely worse.  If I suspect any academic dishonesty, I will spare no effort in investigating the matter. Missed Tests: A missed test gets a score of zero, unless you have an excused absence in the form of a letter from a designated University official (usually on account of illness or other hardship). Arrangements for a replacement test will normally be made for excused absences, only if I am informed beforehand. Grading Class Component Syllabus Quiz, Introduction and other online activities MasteringPhysics Midterms (drop lowest score) Final

Weight 0.25% 14.75% 60% 25%

The course letter grade is determined according to the following point ranges: 0-59 = F, 60-69 = D, 70-79 = C, 80-89 = B, and 90-100+ = A. Plusses and minuses are determined by the standard 3-point scale used at Vanderbilt (i.e 80-82 = B-, 83-86 = B, 87-89 = B+ etc). Fractional percentages of 0.50% or higher are rounded up, and 0.49% or lower are rounded down. Please note that:  I do not curve. The grade that your numbers add up to will be the grade that you get.  I determine grades STRICTLY by the numbers. Since grading criteria must be the same for all students, they cannot account for individual personal goals or needs to maintain academic standing or scholarship status. Therefore, I do not use any extraneous considerations to modify students’ grades on an individual basis.  I apply the same grading policies to ALL students. Often at the end of the term students propose a variety of alternative grading schemes to boost their own grades (for example, “Can you give more weight to my HW and less to my final”, 5

etc). My policy is to be fair to the entire class and apply the same grading calculation to everyone. Classroom Behavior During our Zoom sessions I expect you to behave professionally at all times, and to engage fully in the learning process. While on Zoom please keep the following in mind:  Make sure your audio is muted except for when you want to speak. This is to prevent extraneous noises (such as your dog barking) from coming through.  You are not required to keep your webcam on, but it is HIGHLY recommended that you do so, just so we have a sense of community and it feels more like an actual classroom. Seeing a few students makes teaching infinitely more enjoyable for me, so keeping your camera on would help me a lot!  Feel free to use the chat to participate and ask questions. If a question is asked on the chat which I seem to have not noticed, feel free to bring it to my attention. Note that I have a zero-tolerance policy towards tardiness. Any kind of unprofessional behavior during zoom sessions (including but not restricted to disruptive conduct, disrespectful treatment of classmates and the instructor, and unprofessional zoom backgrounds) might lead to instant removal from the classroom, and a penalty of one (or more) points applied to your overall course grade.

Suggestions for Studying Physics  Problem-solving is an essential element of this course. Tests will consist of problems similar to the ones assigned on the homework and discussed in class. The only way to improve your problem-solving skills is through regular study and systematic practice. To do well on tests, at the very least you should be comfortable solving o all the assigned HW problems o all problems discussed in my PowerPoint lectures, including the ones skipped in class. o all worked out problems in the text  It is essential that you understand the basic physical concepts and principles as thoroughly as possible before attempting to solve problems. Several readings of the text and multiple reviews of class notes are often necessary to clarify concepts and theories.  Remember that each chapter builds on the ones preceding it. For example, the material in Chapter 6 uses ALL the material in chapters 1-5. So falling behind is not a good idea.  I would suggest the following sequence of activities (which you might need to tweak depending on your learning style): o Read (or at least skim) the chapter before class o After class, review the PowerPoint lecture slides, and read through the relevant sections of the text. Work through the PowerPoint problems discussed in class as well as the ones omitted. Don’t worry if you can’t do some of them – you can always come back to them later. o Once you have a feel for the material, start the MasteringPhysics homework. Your goal should be to work out each problem on your own. o If necessary, for additional practice, work through the solved examples in the text, or pick random chapter-end problems from the text. 6

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I would highly recommend neatly writing up the solutions to all HW problems, as well as problems in the PowerPoint slides, for easy reference while preparing for tests. If you get stuck on a problem, don’t give up easily! Remember that all students get stuck on one problem or another. Try re-reading the relevant section from your text or class notes to see if you are missing a concept. Taking a break and coming back to that problem later often helps. If you are certain you have tried your best on a problem, only then should you seek help on it. After viewing the solution to the problem, make sure you work it out again without looking at the solution! Try to complete all the assigned HW problems while the chapter is being discussed in class and the concepts are fresh in your mind. Do not attempt to do all the HW the evening that it is due – you will not get anything out of it. Please note that the majority of your learning in this course comes from working through problems. If you excessively rely on online solutions, you will not build your own critical thinking/problem solving skills. The assigned HW is the minimum amount of practice that one would require to internalize the concepts in each chapter. Many students do additional practice problems from the textbook. You can feel free to attempt odd-numbered problems (which have answers provided) from the relevant sections of the text for extra practice. Working in groups can be extremely useful.

Honor Code The Vanderbilt Honor Code applies to all work in this course.

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