College Physics I

Instructor: Paulo Acioli

Spring 2008

Course Description

Kinematics and dynamics of particles and rigid bodies: Newton's laws, energy, momentum and angular momentum. Physics of fluids, vibration and sound. Heat and thermodynamics. Students who have had calculus are strongly encouraged to enroll in PHYS-201. Prereq.: MATH-706. Concurrent registration in PHYS-203 strongly recommended. course description. 3.0 Credits.

Textbook

Giancoli, Douglas C., Physics: Principles with Applications, 6th ed., Prentice-Hall, 2005.

Practice questions, practice problems and other textbook resources can be found in the following link: http://wps.prenhall.com/esm_giancoli_physicsppa_6/ .

Other Useful References:

Beiser, Arthur, Physics, 5th ed. Addison Wesley/Benjamin Cummings, 1991.

Cutnell, John D. & Johnson, Kenneth W., Physics, 6th ed. Wiley, 2004.

Giambattista, Richardson & Richardson, College Physics, McGraw-Hill, 2004.

Sears, Francis W., Zemansky Mark W., & Young, Hugh D., College Physics, 7th ed. Addison Wesley/Benjamin Cummings, 1991.

Serway, Raymond A. & Faughn, Jerry S., College Physics, 7th ed. Thompson Brooks/Cole, 2006.

Walker, James S., Physics, 2nd ed. Prentice-Hall, 2004.

Wilson, Jerry & Buffa, Anthony, College Physics, 5th ed. Prentice-Hall, 2003.

Lectures

SEC 01, TR at 10:50 AM - 12:05 PM, in SCI-S233.

SEC 02, TR at 12:15 PM - 1:30 PM, in SCI-S233.

Problem Sets

Weekly problem sets for SEC 01 are assigned here and for SEC 02 are assigned here. Problem Sets should be completed by the following week, but will not be collected. You are expected to be able to work the problems without the aid of the solutions. At times, solutions may be provided so that you can check your work after you have completed the problem sets. Problem set assignments and solutions (if available) for SEC 01 can be found here and for SEC 02 can be found here.

Quizzes

Short quizzes are administered during class. Quizzes will be given every week, with the exception of the first week of class and weeks where there is a midterm. Quizzes are based on the previous week's problem set and material from the previous weeks lecture. The three lowest quiz grades will be dropped. Missed quizzes are counted as zero. There will be no quiz make-ups.

Reading Quizzes

Online reading quizzes are administered before every class, with the exception of the first day of class and on classes where there is a midterm. Reading quizzes are based on the material to be covered in class. They are warm up exercises to prepare the student for the class. They are due at 8pm of the night preceding the class. There will be no reading quiz make-ups. The reading quizzes will be administered through Blackboard. All the students in SEC. 01 must register to the Blackboard course COLLEGE PHYSICS I (SPR-2008-PHYS201-01). All the students in SEC. 02 must register to the Blackboard course COLLEGE PHYSICS I (SPR-2008-PHYS201-02). You can access the Blackboard webpage through the address http://neiu.blackboard.com/webapps/login/.

Exams

This course has two one-hour midterm exams and a two-hour final. The exams are largely based on material from lectures and problems similar to those found in the weekly assignments. Exam policies can be found here.

Grading

The final grade will be based on:
Two midterms (25% each) + Quizzes (15%) + Reading Quizzes (10%) + Final (25%)

Any student who achieves a percentile score of above 90%, 80%, 70%, 60% is guaranteed to receive an A, B, C, or D respectively. These percentile scores may be adjusted downwards based on a class curve and other considerations.

Office Hours

Posted here and by appointment in room 217C SCI.

Academic Integrity

The NEIU policy on academic integrity can be found here.