SYLLABUS As of Mon 29 Oct 01

PHYSICS 100

Physics for Society-London Style!

January 2002--London

Professor: Perry A. Tompkins

Office: Sciencenter Room 19

email: “patompki@Samford.edu”

Office Phone: 726-4121

Home Phone: 822-1322

Office Hours: By Appointment

Class Room: United Kingdom

Class Meeting: MTWRFSS 8:00AM – 10:00PM

Credit: 4 hours

Lecture Textbook: The Sciences, Trefil and Hazen, 3^rd Edition, Quadruled Composition Pad, WebAssign Student Registration.

Prerequisites: A basic understanding of algebra at the high school level is useful.

Grade: The course grade will be based on a comprehensive computer-based reading exam, chapter reading quizzes, a student journal including all laboratories and commentary on visit locations, and participation and attitude. Any cheating or plagiarism on the exams or quizzes will result in a zero score for that activity.

Grading Breakdown: Comprehensive Reading Exam............... 10%

Chapter Reading Quizzes................... 10%

Laboratories & Journal...................... 60%

Participation & Attitude...................... 20%

Grading Scale: Total Percent Grade

92.0-100 A

90.0-91.9 A-

88.0-89.9 B+

82.0-87.9 B

80.0-81.9 B-

78.0-79.9 C+

72.0-77.9 C

70.0-71.9 C-

68.0-69.9 D+

62.0-67.9 D

60.0-61.9 D-

0.0-59.9 F

Miscellaneous Nagging:

Behavior: I plan on enjoying the work that we will accomplish as we explore physics in the London setting. This enjoyment will be enhanced by all of our class following the Codes of Values of Samford University (page 3 student handbook), let alone good sense. This seems blatantly obvious to me and given the maturity of the average Samford student, I expect that I will not need to repeat this in the future.

Handwriting: Since most of the credit for this class will be in your journal, the use of legible handwriting is critical for accurate grading. Please play close attention to your handwriting. If I cannot read your entry, it will not be counted.

Attendance: You are expected to attend every meeting, class and trip. I normally do not take attendance, but in this case, I will give credit for attendance at all future events. Missing one event may adversely affect the rest of the class.

Call before you miss a meeting or a class, and things will be MUCH easier.

WebAssign is an automated way for students to take a quizzes or exams over the web. These assignments will be available from anywhere the student has access to the web. All of the details of this system will be covered in the first class meeting.

Reading Quizzes: Reading quizzes will be held for each chapter that we are going to cover. These quizzes will be completed over the web using WebAssign. Each quiz will consist of 8 questions, covering topics in the chapters. All quizzes must be finished before each student will receive the comprehensive test. The quizzes will be open book, but no collaboration with anyone in or outside the class will be permitted. Any notes or other materials received from other students are additionally forbidden. Each student will be required to type their name to a statement of compliance at the end of each quiz. Most questions will be short answer, but all types of questions are possible. Students can preview and print the questions but will be allowed only one submission of their quiz answers.

Exam: A single comprehensive exam will be given to the students over WebAssign. The rules for the exam will be the same as for the quizzes. The exam will be open book, but no collaboration with anyone in or outside the class, or other student’s notes or printouts will be permitted. Each student will be required to type their name to a statement of compliance at the end of the exam. Most questions will be short answer, but all types of questions are possible. Students can preview and print the questions but will be allowed only two submissions of their exam answers.

Covered Chapters: We will cover chapters 1-6, 8-10, 12, 14, 15 &19 before we leave. This will set the groundwork for us to discuss our visits and other issues. Possible discussion topics include, but are no limited to the following. If you have any ideas of something that you would think interesting, let me know!

Discussion Topics:

1. The ultimate building blocks of matter, when will it stop?

2. Nuclear fusion and fission, are they worth it?

3. Quantum mechanics, the divine calculator, and free will.

4. Should you buy an electric vehicle?

5. What are the proper funding guidelines for US research?

6. How old is the universe?

7. What part does creativity play in the scientific method?

8. What would be the most likely element to base life on if a different element than carbon was used?

9. What are the threats to the global ecosystem?

10. What is the electromagnetic spectrum? How is an x-ray like a microwave?

11. What are black holes and where do they come from?

Final Prayer: My main prayer for this course is to empower you, the student, to develop a working knowledge of Physical Topics. Within a few restrictions, I will do everything within my power to do so. In the same regard I expect my students to work as hard as they can, to achieve this same goal. With this in mind, any decisions made during the course, that are not covered by these policies, will be done in order to maximize the educational benefit to the students.

God’s Speed!

Course Schedule

Not all activity dates and places are finalized!

Class #:	Date:		Time	Topic 1	Topic 2	Comments
Full Meet 1	Tue	18-Sep-01	10:00 AM	Information Meeting		Brock Forum
Pre-Class	Tue	30-Oct-01	10:00 AM	Class Organization		Sciencenter 35, How to do your homework on the web!
Full Meet 2	Thur	15-Nov-01	10:00 AM	Student Orientation		Brock Forum
Pre-Class	Tues	27-Nov-01	10:00 AM	Social		Sciencenter 34, How to do your homework on the web!
Full Meet 3	Thur	6-Dec-01	10:00 AM	Cutural Orientation		Brock Forum
Deadline 1	Mon	24-Dec-01	12:00 PM	Reading Quizes Due		On Web-based Computer, Merry Christmas!!
Deadline 2	Thurs	27-Dec-01	12:00 PM	Take home exam due		On Web-based Computer
Leave	Sat	29-Dec-01		Let's Go!
Day 1	Sun	30-Dec-01		Arrival	London Eye That evening.
Day 2	Mon	31-Dec-01		British Science Museum	Experiments
Day 3	Tue	1-Jan-02		Experiments	More Experiments
Day 4	Wed	2-Jan-02		Oxford Group Trip	Museum of the History of Science	Museum of Oxford-Including Tolkien*
Day 5	Thur	3-Jan-02		Greenwich/Royal Observatory	Cutty Sark
Day 6	Fri	4-Jan-02		Stonehenge*	Castles, Anyone?
Day 7	Tue	8-Jan-02		Tower of London	Tower Bridge Experience
Day 8	Wed	9-Jan-02		British Musuem	BBC Backstage Tours
Day 9	Thur	10-Jan-02		Royal Air-Force Museum
	Fri	11-Jan-02				Time to go Home {:(
*indicates, optional, extra credit, and may include an extra charge.