Physics 214
Course
Description
Goals
The goals of this course are to help you
learn some of the basic ideas of waves and quantum mechanics and how they
relate to modern applications. The approaches used to achieve these goals
involve 1) lectures to interactively discuss and demonstrate the principles, 2)
interaction with instructors in discussion sections to provide one-on-one help
with concepts and problem solving, 3) laboratory experiments allowing you to
actively explore these principles, and 4) computerized homework on the World
Wide Web using the TYCHO system.
Background Needed
Credit for Physics 212 (and therefore
Physics 211) and credit or concurrent registration in Math 242 are
prerequisites for Physics 214. We expect you to have a good understanding of
classical mechanics, electric potential, ray optics, to be able to
differentiate and integrate simple functions, and to be familiar with partial
derivatives and basic complex number algebra.
Lectures
Three 50-minute lectures will be given each
week, on Monday, Wednesdays, and Friday (Wednesday and Friday the first week in
Spring semester). In addition to the traditional presentation of lecture and
demonstration material, each lecture will involve a few interactive learning
sessions (we call them ACTs). During these sessions students will work in
groups on a specific assigned question and will discuss the results with other
students and with the instructors. This will allow the instructor to pinpoint
problems in understanding and deal with them before moving on. The purpose is
to help you understand; your participation is necessary for this to occur.
In order to provide an environment more
conducive to participation and interaction, each student should have an "I-clicker" with which to answer various questions
during lecture. Some minor credit will be assigned for each lecture in which
the clickers are used (but only one lecture per day per student).
Come to the lecture! We will go through
examples and ACTs which are not available in the published lecture notes, and
the lecture discussion will elaborate on the material published in the lecture
notes, using a number of nice demonstrations.
Although we do not have Preflights in 214,
we still want to retain the feature that you can ask questions or make comments
on confusing issues from the previous lecture. This is now enabled via the
"Ask the Professor" link off the course homepage. There are normally
no 'points' for submitting a question (it's for your own benefit!); however, a
bonus will be given for completing the survey due before the second lecture.
The Lecture notes will be available at TIS,
Follett's and University Bookstores. Note that the lecture slides may be
modified somewhat from the published notes due to the necessity for making
corrections, correcting typographical errors, etc. The most updated version of
the lectures (including answers to ACTs) will be available on the 214 syllabus after all lectures on a given day are given.
Do not let yourself get behind! This course
covers a large amount of material. The understanding of new topics will
frequently require knowledge of previous material.
Discussion Sessions
Each week (starting the first) you will
attend a two-hour discussion section conducted by a TA. These sections will be
active learning sessions in which you will work in small groups solving
problems presented to you by your TA. Discussion problems are designed to aid
and test you in the understanding of the course material; you should find them
beneficial in preparation for the hour exams. The solutions to these problems
will be posted online (see link off the course homepage) at the end of each
week.
During each discussion session (except the
first week), your TA will administer a short quiz (usually about 15-20 minutes
in length) based on the material covered in the previous week's lectures and
homeworks, including homework due at the beginning of the current week. The
quiz will be graded and recorded in the gradebook.
If you cannot attend your regular discussion
section on a particular week due to a conflict, contact your discussion TA at
least a week before your conflict. It is usually possible to attend an
alternate section on these occasions.
Lab Sessions
Each of the four 2-hour laboratories will
involve a series of activities, including (i) setting up simple experiments to
study topics studied in class, (ii) making predictions about the outcome of
your experiments, (iii) performing measurements of different phenomena you have
studied, (iv) analyzing your results, and (v) answering questions concerning
your results and predictions. In addition, at the beginning of each lab, you
are expected to turn in your Prelab, a short set of questions designed to
address the main topics of the lab. The Prelab will be graded and will count
for 1/4 of your lab grade.
If you need to miss a lab experiment,
consult your laboratory instructor as soon as possible. It may be possible to
make up a laboratory experiment later in the week, if there is space and if the
equipment has not yet been dismantled. Laboratory experiments are set up on
Monday morning and are taken down after section L4Z on Thursday evening. For a
listing of all of the sections, go here. If
a make-up laboratory is not possible, an EX grade will be assigned for excused
absences. Missed and unexcused labs will be assigned a grade of zero. This
penalty can have severe consequences.
TYCHO (our WWW homework
and gradebook system)
Each week you will be responsible for
completing a computer-based homework assignment. These assigments are graded
and are an important part of the course. NOTE: Students are expected to solve
the homework problems, not copy them from someone else, or some other resource.
Much of the learning of any new
topic comes from struggling to figure out problems.
LOG-IN and LOG-OUT: Some of the on-line
activities (homework, gradebook, etc.) for this course run on a secure server
and must be logged into. Students enrolled in (and staff associated with) the
course must log in using their UIUC NetID and their ph password (this is the
same id and password used to access the U of I Direct registration system and
the CCSO dial-up system). If you are enrolled in the course and are having
trouble logging in, send email to dkane@uiuc.edu. If you are not enrolled, you
can log into many of the secure activities using guest/phyug as your NetID and
guest as your password. (Enrolled students should avoid using the guest login
since credit is not recorded for guest.) You should always log out of the
secure server at the end of your work session.
Many homework pages use symbol font for
mathematical equations. Without symbol font equations will be difficult to
read, e.g. you will see "p" instead of "pi". Symbol font is
usually available on Macs and PCs without any special effort. Unix systems must
be correctly configured. The
To start work on a homework assignment,
click on "Homework Assignments" on the Physics 214 homepage. Then
click on the assignment you wish to work on. To receive full credit, the
homework must be completed by the date indicated on the assignments page
(usually 8 am on the Tuesday, on Thursday the week of the midterm, and on
Saturday the last week of the course -- look at the syllabus).
Homework completed during the week immediately following the due date will be
accepted but will earn only a maximum of 90% of the original grade. [This
partial credit does not apply to the final homework set, due the last
Saturday of the course.] Homework submitted more than 7 days after the original
due date (i.e., after 8AM on the next Tuesday) will not receive any credit.
Although all of the homework problems appear on the Homework index page,
homework problems for all but the current week are generally not available. The
homework problems will be made available at least one week before they are due.
You may work a problem as many times as you
like and only the highest grade is recorded in the gradebook. You can never
lower your score by reworking a problem.
Exams
Exams are machine graded and consist of
multiple-choice questions scored as follows:
- Three-Choice Multiple Choice (3 points each, no partial credit)
- Five-Choice Multiple Choice (6 points each, partial credit option)
On five-choice multiple
choice questions there is a partial credit option. If you are unable to do the
calculation which will result in the correct answer, you may elect to accept
partial credit for successfully eliminating unphysical answers. If you mark two
answers, one of which is the correct answer to the question, you will receive 3
points for the question. If you mark three answers, one of which is the correct
answer to the question, you will receive 2 points for the question.
In order to reduce the
incidence of inappropriate conduct during exams, we reserve the right to employ
a variety of methods, including photographing the exam rooms, performing
statistical analyses on exams, controlling the seating arrangements during the
exams, etc. In fairness to the entire class, students found guilty of
inappropriate conduct will incur consequences according to the infraction,
including receiving a zero on the exam, an F in the course, etc.
Midterm Exam
The midterm is a 90 minute exam, given at 7
PM on the Monday after the fourth week of the course. See the syllabus for the exact date. You will be assigned a
room for the exam based on your discussion section, and attendance will be taken
by your discussion TA. Bring a calculator and pencils to the exams. In
addition, bring your official university identification card to show upon
request.
A conflict exam will be given at 5:15 PM on
the same evening as the regular exam. We will announce procedures for signing
up for the conflict exam.
A midterm exam review session will be held
the day before the midterm. See the syllabus for
time and place.
Final Exam
The final is a two-hour exam, given at 7 PM
on the Monday after the completion of the course. See the syllabus for the exact date. It will cover material
from the entire course. You will be assigned a room for the exam based on your
discussion section, and attendance will be taken by your discussion TA. Bring a
calculator and pencils to the exams. In addition, bring your official
university identification card to show upon request. All questions about
grading policy or any of your grades should be directed to the Exam Master
(phys214-exams@physics.illinois.edu).
Grading
Your final grade for Physics 214 will be
based your total score on all the components of the course. The total score is
the sum of your scores on the final exam (350 pts), the midterm exam (200 pts),
four labs (145 pts total), six TYCHO homework sets (145 pts total), quizzes
(145 pts total), and i-clicker participation (15 pts total). Rough guidelines
for letter grade ranges are: A+(960), A(935), A-(910), B+(885), B(855),
B-(830), C+(800), C(770), C-(740), D+(700), D(660), D-(620), and F(<620),
where the number in parentheses is the lowest score for that grade.
There will be 6 Discussion quizzes; your
quiz grade will be the sum of your 5 highest individual quiz scores, adjusted
to compensate for grading differences among discussion section instructors.
All 4 lab scores will be used in calculating
your lab total at the end of the semester. (No lab scores will be dropped.)
Scores used in this calculation will be adjusted to compensate for grading
differences among lab section instructors.
Since most students in this course work
conscientiously, scores on TYCHO homework assignments will be very high. For
example, last semester most Physics 214 students had homework-quiz and lab
scores greater than 160 pts (80%). Consequently, high homework and lab grades
will not compensate for low examination grades. On the other hand, you can
seriously lower your grade if you have low homework and lab grades. The
real payoff for struggling with and doing well on the homeworks and the labs is
a better understanding of the physics and, consequently, higher examination
scores.
To give you an indication of your standing
during the semester, you will be given renormalized (curved) scores for the
midterm exam. Recently, Physics 214 students who received final grades of (A,
B, C, D) had average exam scores of (91%, 82%, 70%, 61%).
You will be able to view your grades on all
components of the course using the course gradebook accessable from the
homepage. During the semester, you should check that your lab and quiz grades
are correctly entered in the gradebook; any problems here should be brought to
the attention of your section instructor immediately.
Unexcused Absences,
Excused Absences, and Course Credit
As discussed above, the course grade is
determined by performance on several graded course components (lecture,
homework, quiz, lab, midterm and final exams). Absence from a graded course
component is defined to be the receipt of zero in the gradebook (due to non-attendance
or non-participation, e.g., skipping a quiz).
Unexcused absences from any graded course component will be assigned an
AB score (= 0), and the course grade will be computed using that score. An
unexcused absence from the final exam will result in a course grade of
AB, which will become an F without a Dean's intervention.
Excused absences from graded course components will receive an EX
grade. Article 1, part 5 of the Student
Code describes the University's policy on class attendance. There are two
kinds of excuses:
- Unanticipated absences (e.g.,
illness or family emergency). To be excused, the student must present
provide written evidence to the course secretary in 231/233 Loomis within
one week of his/her return to classes. This evidence (usually a
The student should
also bring a filled out Excused Absence form.
- Anticipated absences (e.g.,
official University events or religious observance). To be excused, the
student must inform the course secretary before the event. The
student must also make every attempt to complete the graded course
component at an alternative time (e.g., for quizzes and labs, by
attending another section). It is the student's responsibility to make
this arrangement by discussing his/her schedule with the appropriate
course instructors. An EX will be given only if this proves to be
impossible. NOTE: NO EX's will be given for iClicker participation.
If a student has an excused
absence from a graded course component (except the final exam), his/her score
for that grade component will be determined by the grades on the remainder of
the labs or quizzes, or the final exam. An excused absence from the final exam
can only be handled by a Dean, who can change an AB to an INC, to be made up at
a later date.
Requests for excused absences will not be
considered after Reading Day.
Missing Labs and Quizzes Course credit will only be given if the student
completes enough of the course components to satisfy the course director that
he/she has learned the material. Labs and quizzes are integral to the course.
If a student has *unexcused* absences for more than two labs or more than two
quizzes, the student will receive a grade of F for the course. Only the dean of
students can authorize an extension of time for course completion (i.e., change
the F to an INC). See Article 3, part 1 of the Student Code. Make-up of
unexcused absences is not permitted. If a student already has *excused*
absences for two labs or two quizzes, any subsequent *excused* absence will
still result in a grade of zero for the lab or quiz that week. The student can
make up the work (i.e., receive a grade) by either: 1) Doing the discussion
material and taking the quiz within one week of returning to class. This must
be arranged with the course director. Unfortunately, we have no way to make up
labs after the end of the week in which the lab is offered, or 2) Taking the
lab or quiz in another semester when the course is offered. This will require a
note from the undergraduate office.
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