PHYS 214 :: Physics Illinois :: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Course Description

University Physics: Quantum Physics

Credit: Credit is not given for both PHYS 214 and PHYS 102

Prerequisite: Successful completion of PHYS 212; credit or concurrent registration in MATH 241

Physics 214 is a calculus-based, introductory course in quantum physics. Topics include:

• Interference and diffraction
• photons and matter waves
• the Bohr atom
• uncertainty principle
• wave mechanics.

Students are expected to have a good understanding of:

• classical mechanics
• electric potential
• ray optics

and to:

• be able to differentiate and integrate simple functions
• be familiar with partial derivatives and basic complex number algebra.

PHYS 214 meets only during the first 7 weeks.

Course Goals

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

• understand many of the basic concepts of waves.
• explain fundamental phenomena in quantum mechanics, and discuss our experimental evidence.
• perform simple calculations concerning various quantum system.
• understand qualitatively how quantum mechanics applies to atoms, molecules and crystals.
• relate to modern applications.

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.

i>clicker

Course participation requires the use of i>clickers, an interactive audience response system. Students need to acquire one (new or used) at the bookstore, and bring it to every lecture.

i>clicker Registration

Students' i>clickers must be registered at the beginning of every semester.

Learning Strategy

To effectively learn new material, students need a wide array of perspectives. Our learning strategy 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/Textbook Reading Assignments

Prelecture

Due before some of the lectures (there are only 10 prelectures), according to the course schedule, these research-based multimedia presentations and assessments are designed to introduce the key ideas/concepts of the lecture.

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

Textbook

The textbook was selected to have maximum overlap with the course material and is highly recommended. The class notes are not a textbook.

• Reading assignments for each lecture are listed in the course schedule.

Untangle It: Lecture

Lecture material will be presented as:

• Ask The Professor available through byteShelf if you have questions or comments.
• lecture.
• demonstrations.
• worked examples.
• interACTive learning segments (ACTs).

Participation will occur as follows:

• Answer questions during lecture using the i>clicker response system.
• Credit will be granted for participation in each lecture.
• The notes from each lecture will be posted on the course schedule.

Lectures are formatted into subunits called interACTive learning segments. Each ACT includes conceptual questions and numerical problems which students will answer for participation credit. Students are invited to work in groups, ask questions of and discuss the problem or question with the lecturer during each ACT problem set.

Challenge: Homework

The web-based homework covering each week's material is due the following week. Homework is assigned and distributed within the homework system, byteShelf.

Homework problems are designed to:

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

Background for the homework is provided by working through the prelectures, attending the lectures, and reading the assigned material from the textbook. Students should use this background as a guide to finishing the weekly homework assignments.

Homework sets include the following:

• A web-based homework assignment.
• A web-based quiz.

Please refer to the schedule in byteShelf for due dates.

To start work on a homework assignment:

• Go to byteShelf.
• Select the homework for the week.
• Each problem, or part thereof, may be worked an unlimited number of 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. Note that this 80% post-deadline credit does not apply to the final homework assignment.

To start work on a quiz:

• Go to byteShelf.
• Select the quiz for the week.
• Solve and answer each problem. Each problem may be answered only once.

• Full credit for each correct problem will be awarded when an assignment is completed before the deadline.
• No credit received for quizzes turned in after the deadline.

Experience It: Laboratory

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

The lab cycle is designed to provide the opportunity to experience the concepts developed in lecture. The laboratory portion of this course will consist of four (4) 2-hour laboratories, each involving a series of activities:

1. A prelab exercise due at the start of each laboratory period.
2. The laboratory exercise in which students will:
   1. set up simple experiments to investigate topics studied in class
   2. make predictions about the outcome of an experiment
   3. perform measurements of different phenomena studied in lecture
   4. analyze experimental results
   5. answer questions concerning the results and predictions.
3. A laboratory write-up to be completed during the session and turned in at the end of the lab session.

Close the Loop: Discussion

Weekly 2-hour discussion sections are required. Students select a discussion section during registration. Quizzes will be administered during the discussion section in all but the first week of class. Solutions to discussion questions will be posted on the course schedule at the end of each week.

Each discussion session will consist of the following:

• A tutorial, consisting of several multi-problem exercises to be solved in small groups, facilitated by the section TA.
• A short quiz (approximately 20 minutes in duration) covering the previous week's material.

• This quiz will be graded and recorded in the gradebook.

Each student is expected to:

• Arrive on time. If the student arrives more than 10 minutes late they will get zero on the quiz.
• Come prepared. The required materials for each discussion section are:
  • Discussion Materials for Physics 214.
  • A calculator.
  • A writing implement (pen or pencil) and paper.

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
• i>clickers
• exams
• labs
• documentation submitted for petition for an excused absence

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