Instructor: Seth Major, smajor1, x6887, DuPont 127

Philosophy/Overview: The philosophy underlying this course can be stated in two, simple axioms. The first is that learning occurs, and the seed of understanding is planted, when we think about a subject. The second is that thinking happens when we actively confront a situation or a problem in a new way. Full understanding normally occurs after iterating this process several times.

An active engagement with the material is especially beneficial to learning physics. As much as is possible, this course is structured to foster active and productive learning: the lecture is split to create two, smaller sections and a better environment for discussion; there are hands-on activities in the form of home experiments and labs which emphasize major topics in the course; and there are problem sets which encourage active thinking. All of these will hopefully give you a chance to understand some of the beauties and thrills, as well as the difficulties and frustrations, of working in physics.

Electromagnetism, which forms the center of the course, is more difficult than mechanics because its natural language is vector calculus and because it is less familiar in daily life (yes, we use electric appliances all the time but we don’t "see" the inner workings very often). We’ll build intuition with home experiments, labs, and demos. Understanding will come with all this plus lots of problem solving. Physics is learned by working and creating it yourself.

The semester’s material will be split into four, unequal sections. The heart of the course will be the first 8 weeks (and 8 labs or workshops) which will be devoted to electromagnetism. We will then spend two weeks (and 1 lab) on the closely-related field of geometric optics. The semester will finish with two short courses in modern physics: a little quantum theory and special relativity. More details are in the syllabus.

Goals: • To understand the fundamentals of communicating quantitative results

Lectures: MWF 10:30-11:20 AM in DuPont Lecture hall

Office Hours: Mondays 2-4 PM in DuPont 127 (a drop-in help session) or stop by any time I am in my office. Phys 4 is my main focus this semester, so don’t be afraid to come visit. Feel free to call or send an email about a homework problem, questions on the text, or any other issue related to the course.

Text: Wolfson and Pasachoff, Physics with Modern Physics for Scientists and Engineers, 3^rd edition.

I strongly recommend that you read over the material before class.

Exams: There will be two exams. The mid-term will be held in class, on Friday, the 17^th of March. The final will be during the scheduled finals time. I’ll announce the details as they become available. The exams will cover material discussed in the readings, in lecture, and in the labs.

Problem Sets: There will be 10 homework assignments. Problem Sets will be posted on the server and will be distributed in lecture Monday morning. They will be due on the following Tuesday afternoon at 4:15 PM. They must be handed in to your grader’s "cubby" at the "DuPont Cubbies" just to the left of the Physics and Astronomy Department Office. The cubby assignments are by last name: A-F are ELECTRON, G-P are FLUX CAPACITOR, Q-Z are liGHT CONE. No late problem sets will be accepted. They will be graded out of 10 points. While I encourage you to discuss the problems and methods of solution with fellow students, clinicians, or professors, the written work you hand in must be your own. Swarthmore College policy states that plagiarism can result in loss of credit for the course, suspension, and expulsion. Solutions will be posted on Wednesday on the bulletin board outside my office, on the electronic reserves, and will be included in a folder on reserve in Cornell. They will also be available in lecture Wednesday or Friday.

Labs: The labs are planned so that you will first encounter a concept in your reading and lecture before working with it in lab. In the ideal case, the topic of the workshop or lab will appear the week after it was introduced in the lecture, reading, and problem sets. However, later in the semester there will be a "phase difference" of several weeks. This was done in an effort to spend all the needed time on the most difficult subjects of electromagnetism. The lab sessions are mandatory. They meet in DuPont 133-134 starting at 1:15 PM. We will make an effort to ensure that these labs do not last any later than 4 PM. The lab manual will be available in the Physics office (DuPont 144) after Wednesday of the first week of classes. The pages are free but, if you need a binder, it will cost one dollar. You should also bring a bound composition book to use as your lab notebook. Please read over the lab and complete any of the preliminary work before coming to lab. Starred questions (e.g. *Q2) must be answered before lab. The sessions start the week of January 24. At the end of each lab we’ll ask you to turn in a set of answers to questions, plots, and/or calculations to be graded out of 10 points. 

Mon: Prue Schran (pschran1) Wed: Prue Schran (pschran1)

Tues: Mar Ann Hickman (mhickma1) Thurs: Seth Major (smajor1)

Lab reports: There will be two written lab reports due during the semester. To facilitate this writing, your lab instructors may ask you to turn in short writing assignments such as an example abstract. Further details will be discussed in lecture and your lab sessions.

Extra Credit: There will be an opportunity to earn extra credit during the semester. This will occur once and will call on your inventive, creative, and physics skills…

Reserve: On reserve in Cornell are several texts useful for the course. Included is the fabulous An Introduction to Error Analysis by John Taylor, which contains a wealth of information on uncertainty and related topics. The text by Purcell is a beautifully written, but difficult, introduction (we use it in Phys 8). There is also a binder for solutions and other handouts.

Colloquia: On Tuesday afternoons, several times during the semester, there will be talks by physicists and astronomers from Swarthmore and from other institutions. These talks are a wonderful way to see what physics is done in "the real world." The event begins with free food at 4:15 PM and ends with a meal at an area restaurant. If you are interesting in going out to dinner with the speaker, you will need to express an interest in advance by signing up in the department office. Please join us for any portion of the event!