Understanding
means seeing that the same thing said different ways is the same thing
- Ludwig Wittgenstein
I shot an arrow into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
INFORMATION
This is the first semester of a three-semester,
calculus-based physics sequence. The following semesters are PS
160 - Physics II for Engineers, and PS 250 - Physics III for
Engineers. We will cover Vectors and scalar quantities, geometrical
optics, kinematics, Newton's Laws of Motion, work, work-energy, conservation
of energy, conservation of momentum, center of mass and its motion.
Corequisite:
MA 241
Text: University Physics, 11th edition,
by Young and Freedman.
Chapters 1, 33, 34, 2 - 8
See the syllabus
for more detailed information.
NEWS
(most recent postings at the top)
Tokamaks
The skill to do math on a page
Has declined to the point of outrage
Equations quadratica
Are solved on Math'matica,
And on birthdays we don't know our age
Left-handed
materials (negative index of refraction)
Single
Image Random Dot Stereograms (SIRDS)
"ebaumsworld"
spiral
Aristotle's PHYSICS
Thomas Aquinas
WELCOME!
LINKS
History
of Optics
History
of fiber optics
Basics
of Space Flight
Gravity
& Mechanics
Hyatt
Regency Walkway Collapse
more
Information about tribology (friction)
can be found at Robert
Carpick's web site.
Aristotle's PHYSICS
(or here)
Philosophy of
Nature, by Ian Thompson
Thomas Aquinas
(or here)
The Galileo Project
Tutorials
The Physics Hypertext
Hyperphysics
Active
Physics
ThinkQuest
EXAM SCHEDULE
| Exam # |
Day |
Date |
Chapters |
| 1 |
Fri |
Oct 3 |
33, 34, 2 |
| 2 |
Fri |
Oct 31 |
3, 4, 5 |
| 3 |
Mon |
Dec 1 |
6, 7, 8 |
| Final |
Sat |
Dec 6 |
All |
A NOTE FOR THE STUDENT
Listening to lectures is not enough.
All processes of learning are somehow connected to active participation,
and the learning of physics is no exception. Therefore, it is imperative
that you work diligently at your own desk. However, this does not
mean that you should only work alone. I encourage you to form study
groups and collaborate with your classmates.
LIBRARY
Available at the Jack R. Hunt Library
are the following items:
Understanding
Physics, by Isaac Asimov - a great science fiction writer explains
physics.
Cartoon Guide
to Physics, by Gonick and Huffman - physical principles in a visual format.
3000 Physics
Problems - lots and lots of practice quantitative problems.
HOMEWORK
Practice at problem solving is an important
part of learning physics, especially for engineers. I suggest that
you work as many problems as possible. I have assigned problems from
each chapter, and I will post solutions to certain problems from the text.
Problem solving techniques can be found here.
Last modified - 29 Aug 2003