PHYS 211 :: Physics Illinois :: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Course Description

Introduction to Classical Mechanics

Credit: Credit is not given for both PHYS 211 and PHYS 101.

Prerequisite: Credit or concurrent registration in MATH 231.

Physics 211 is a calculus-based approach to classical mechanics. Classical mechanics is the study of the laws describing forces and motion. These topics are important because they form the foundation upon which most physics and engineering is built.

Course Goals

By the end of this course the student will be able to:

• understand the main concepts of mechanics.
• develop the mathematical framework to explore force and motion in detail.
• be able to apply them quantitatively for solving relevant problems.
• appreciate qualitatively how they play a role in many aspects of daily life.

Course Components

All students are required to participate in all course components. Credit is granted in each course component. All course components are subject to the Academic Integrity Policy.

Learning Strategy

To effectively learn new material, students need a wide array of experiences. Our learning philosophy is tailored to help students efficiently process problems in physics by providing the necessary experiences.

In introductory physics, the learning philosophy of the Department of Physics can be summarized as follows:

1. Think About It! (pre-lectures and checkpoints)
2. Untangle It! (lectures)
3. Challenge! (homework)
4. Experience It! (labs)
5. Close the Loop! (discussion)

This course covers a large amount of new material. Each concept builds on previous course concepts. Mastery of previous material is essential. This is the student's responsibility. In order to succeed the student must not fall behind!

Component Description

Think About It: Prelecture and Checkpoints

Due before each lecture, these research-based multimedia presentations and assessments are designed to introduce the key ideas/concepts of the lecture.

Prelecture

• Each question may be attempted several times.
• Each question must be answered correctly complete the activity.
• No late credit.

Checkpoints

• Available after prelecture is complete.
• Answer all questions for full credit.
• No late credit.

Untangle It: Lecture

Participation is required.

The notes from each lecture will be posted on the course website.

Participation will occur as follows:

• Viewing and studying the lecture posted to the Media Space playlist.
• The play list is available through the On-line Lectures tab.

Each lecture will focus on a topic of the day as described in the course schedule. 

Lectures will be posted to the Media Space channel on or before the scheduled lecture time.

Challenge: Homework

The web-based homework is typically due every other lecture day, according to the schedule on the course website and in flipitPhysics.

Homework is assigned and distributed through smart.physics.  The homework is due according to the course schedule.

Homework problems are designed to:

• Evaluate conceptual understanding.
• Develop problem-solving skills.

Background for the homework is provided by:

• working through the pre-lectures and bridge sets
• attending the lectures.

To start work on a homework assignment:

• Go to smart.physics
• Select the assignment for the week.
• Each problem, or part thereof, may be worked 10 times.
• Full credit for each correct problem will be awarded when an assignment is completed before the deadline.
• Up to 80% credit will be awarded for finishing a problem up to one week after the deadline.

Experience It: Laboratory

Students must be on time for lab. No credit will be granted to students arriving more than 10 minutes late for lab.

The laboratory portion of this course will consist of six (6) 2-hour laboratories. Students are expected to:

1. Arrive on time with the required laboratory manual.
2. Execute the laboratory exercises by:
   1. setting up simple experiments to investigate topics studied in class
   2. making predictions about the outcome of an experiment
   3. performing measurements of different phenomena studied in lecture
   4. analyzing experimental results
   5. answering questions concerning the results and predictions.
3. A laboratory write-up which will be completed during the session and turned in at the end of the lab session.

The lab cycle (see course schedule) is designed to provide the opportunity to experience the concepts developed in lecture.

Close the Loop: Discussion

Students must be on time for discussion. Students arriving more than 10 minutes late for discussion will receive a grade of 0% on their group assignment for the day.

Each discussion session will consist of the following:

• A pre-discussion activity on Piazza.
• A synchronous discussion acivity on Zoom.
• A written group problem submitted at the end of the synchronous discussion.

Supplemental

Also there will be open office hours every week to give students one-on-one assistance if they need more help. Do not be bashful about taking advantage of these!

Academic Integrity

All activities in this course are subject to the Academic Integrity rules as described in Article 1, Part 4, Academic Integrity, of the Student Code.

Infractions include, but are not limited to:

• cheating
• plagiarism
• fabrication
• academic interference
• computer-related infractions
• unauthorized use of university resources
• sale of class materials or notes
• facilitating infractions of academic integrity.

Violations of any of these rules will be prosecuted and reported to the student's home college.

All aspects of the course are covered by these rules, including:

• quizzes
• homework
• exams
• labs
• documentation submitted for petition for an excused absence

© 1999-2024 Department of Physics :: Grainger College of Engineering :: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
If you have questions about this page, please e-mail the Undergraduate Office (undergrad@physics.illinois.edu).