Physics 131:Classical Physics I

course home page <http://felix.physics.sunysb.edu/~allen/131-06/>

Schedule of Class meetings

A preliminary schedule of lectures is indicated in the table below. An "X" indicates classes are not in session. "Review" indicates that the lecture will be dedicated to a review before a midterm or final exam. The course will cover the chapters 1-20 of the book with the exception of the sections listed in the second table.
A note about Labs.  You should download and read the lab instructions before each lab.  It is best NOT to download everything now, because Prof. Graf is making revisions and improvements in these instructions, which will be posted typically Wednesday in the week before the lab.
 
 

Date
 week
Monday
 Wednesday
Friday
Reading
Assignment
Lab
Homework due in recitation
the following week
 Web homework
1-23-06 1 2.1-3 2.4-6 1.7-9; 3.1
quiz		 Ch 1.1-1.9
Ch 2
Ch 3.1		 No laboratories; recitation sections meet! Ch. 2: problems 2.28; 2.32 Web-HW0
Web-HW1
due 1/30/06
1-30-06 2 3.2-3 3.4-5
quiz		 4.1-3 Ch 3.2-5
Ch 4.1-3		 #1 measuring area:    errors, precision EoC problems 3.12, 3.40, and 4.4 Web-HW2
due 2/06/06
2-6-06 3 4.4-6
quiz		 5.1-2  5.3-4 Ch 4.4-5
Ch5.1-4		 #2 Acceleration EoC problems 4.50
and 5.36, 5.50		 Web-HW3
due 2/13/06
2-13-06 4 6.1-2; 1.10 6.3-4
quiz		 7.1-2 Ch 6
Ch 7.1-2		 #3 Projectile Motion EoC problems 6.30,
6.82, and 7.12		 Web-HW4
due 2/20/06
2-20-06 5 7.3-5 review
Ch 1-7		 midterm
exam I		 Ch 7.3-5 no labs, make-up opportunity
for labs #1-3		 EoC problem 7.66  Web-HW5
due 2/27/06
2-27-06 6 8.1-3 8.4-6
quiz		 9.1-3 Ch 8
Ch 9.1-3		 #4 Energy Conservation EoC problems 8.36
and 8.42		 Web-HW6
due 3/06/06
3-6-06 7 9.4-6
quiz		 10.1-3 10.3-4
quiz		 Ch 9.4-6*
Ch 10**		 #5 Linear Momentum EoC problem
9.86		 Web-HW7
due 3/13/06
3-13-06 8 10.5-6
11.1-2		 11.3-5
quiz		 12.1-4 Ch 11***
Ch 12.1-4		 #6 Angular Momentum EoC problems
10.40, 10.46, 11.50		 Web-HW8
due 3/20/06
3-20-06 9 12.5-7
quiz		 13.1-2
quiz		 13.3-4 Ch 12.5,7
Ch 13.1-4		 #7 Harmonic Motion EoC problems
12.50a,b, 13.24		 Web-HW9
due 3/27/06
3-27-06 10 13.5-8 review
Ch 8-13		 midterm
exam II		 Midterm 2
through Ch 13		 no labs, make-up opportunity
for labs # 4-7		 Enjoy the weekend!
No web HW 
either!
4-3-06 11 14.1-4
quiz		 14.5-6; 15.1 15.2-5 Ch 14.1-5
Ch 15		 #8 Standing waves EoC problems
14.74, 15.44		 Web-HW11
due 4/17/06
4-10-06 break X X X spring break . . .
4-17-06 12 17.1-4
quiz		 17.5-7 18.1-3 Ch 17
Ch 18.1-2		 no lab; recover from spring break EoC problems
17.44, 66; 18.14		 Web-HW12
due 4/24/06
4-24-06 13 18.4-6 19.1-4 19.5-8 Ch 18.3,4,6
Ch 19		 #9 Gas Thermometry EoC problems
18.85, 19.30, 19.32
 Web-HW13
due 5/1/06
5-1-06 14 20.1-4 20.5-7 review Ch 20* no labs, arrange makeup with lab instructor EoC problems
advisory only -- solutions on line
19.59,20.45,20.27		 Web-HW14
due 5/8/06
5-8-06 exam
X
X
X
 . . . .
5-15-06
exam
final
exam
8-10:30
 . . . . . .

 


Section comments
1.1-4; 1.6 students who do not know this should take PHY 125
1.5 uncertainty & precision: important & covered in Lab 1, not in lecture
Ch1 pp 28-30 "vector product": not to be discussed; not needed until PHY 132
Ch9 pp 348-49 *moment of inertia calculations will be required only for 1-d  (p347) or for discrete systems of point masses. 
You should understand carefully what table 9.2 is all about, but don't memorize the particular cases.
The derivations in section 9.6 are an important exercise in multidimensional calculus but will not be required in PHY 131.
Chapter 10
 **The vector nature of torque and angular momentum and angular velocity will not  be used much in this 
course.  We will focus on rotations around a fixed axis where the torque, angular velocity, and angular momentum are one-dimensional vectors -- that is ordinary real numbers with magnitude and sign.
Neutron stars are outstanding examples of angular momentum.  See, for example, problem 10.90, and read Jocelyn Bell Burnell's wonderful account of her discovery on the web.
10.6
 omit -- Gyroscopes and precession are an example of rotations beyond one dimension and will not be emphasized in this course.
11.5
 ***omit plasticity -- the complicated behavior beyond the proportional limit will not be considered in this course.
12.6 omit -- spherical mass distributions look to outside observers like point masses at the origin; students will learn how prove this in PHY 132 using Gauss's Law. 
12.8 omit black holes;  sorry -- no time for fun
14.6 omit viscosity and turbulence -- no time for this either Memorize: 1 atm = 1.03 x 105 Pa, 1 Pa = 1 N/m2, 1 g/cm3 = 103 kg/m3
16 Sound & Hearing -- omit
18.5 Molecular speeds -- omit
20.8 *microscopic interpretation of entropy -- omit








Recitations

Labs

Many weeks a laboratory experiment will be performed. During weeks with an exam, no lab will be held.

The labs themselves are available for free by download in PDF format.

Exams

The course will feature two midterm exams and one final exam. The schedules for these exams are listed in the table below. A calculator will be allowed during the exam.  Formula sheets will NOT be attached to the exam and are forbidden. A set of all necessary formulas will be posted on the web prior to any exam, and the important ones should be memorized.  Exams will include the need to extract information from a graph and/or present it on a graph.  Exams will also include questions related to experiments done in the lab.   Practice problems and their detailed solutions will also be posted.


Exam Date Time & place
Midterm 1 Friday 2-24-06 8:30-9:25 am Harriman 137
Midterm 2 Friday 3-31-06 8:30-9:25 am Harriman 137
Final Monday 5-15-06 8:00-10:30 am  TBA