Elements of Physics 161 (Fall 2011)
xxx

Web Site:  You must regularly check our physics 161 course home page.  Important announcements about homework, laboratory/workshop, exams, etc. will be posted there.

Required Text and Manuals:

1.  Required Text: “College Physics” by Serway/Vuille, ninth edition.
The New Brunswick Rutgers University bookstore stocks this textbook, packaged with WebAssign as a
custom made bundle (loose-leaf) of the selected chapters used in this course (Physics 161), called Serway/Vuille, “College Physics ”, ninth edition + Enhanced WebAssign, ISBN: 1133398448.

2.  E-Book Texts: Some people are very happy with an electronic version of the textbook, others not so. If you go this route WebAssign has an option to buy E-Book (Serway/Vuille ed. 9) + WebAssign for one semester on-line via our course link to WebAssign.

3.  Our WebAssign class-website-link will be ready for access by the end of August 2011.

4.  Recommended but NOT Required Text: “Physics: The First Science” by Lindenfeld/Brahmia.
The New Brunswick Rutgers University bookstore also stocks this textbook,
This little jewel of a textbook is written at the same level as Serway, but it has a more conversational style and does a very good job integrating the various topics of Physics.

5.  Laboratory Manuals for each lab-session ( first weeks of lab will become available on this web site as pdf formatted files.)

Iclickers: starting first lecture
All students need an iclicker. If you don't have one already, they can be purchased at the university bookstore (note the brand name is iClicker - no other clicker will work in this course). You can use an iClicker in more than one class. You cannot share the same iClicker with another student.
You should register your iclicker at http://www.iclicker.com/registration/ .
Enter your first name, last name (NO nick names, NO abbreviations) and your Rutgers 9 digit student ID.
If asked for email address, enter only your Rutgers e-mail address (NO g-mail, hotmail, ... adresses).
Enter your clicker id printed on the tag on the clicker.
Type the verification code on the screen.
You will see an on-screen message confirming that your registration was successful.

Instructors:
Lecturer:
Professor Steve Schnetzer
 office: W328 Serin Physics Laboratory,  phone: 732-445-5500-x5035
 Office hour: Monday 2:00pm-3:30pm or by appointment
 email: steves@physics.rutgers.edu

Tutoring :
Professor William DeBuvitz
 tutoring session: ARC 332 (Alison Road Class Room Building),
 time: Friday 10:00am-12:00noon
 e-mail: joanbill8@nac.net

Course Administrator:
Professor Wim Kloet , office: Serin Physics W211 , phone: 732-445-5500-x2517
  office hour: Thursday 11:30-12:30am or walk-in  
e-mail: kloet@physics.rutgers.edu

Teaching Assistants:
Yuanjun Zhou   phone: 732-331-2453   office: ARC 221    office hour: email for setting up meeting    
e-mail: yjzhou@physics.rutgers.edu
Michael Berry   phone: 732-445-5500-x5881   office: Physics 332W    office hour: Tuesday 2:00-3:00pm     
e-mail: berrymj@physics.rutgers.edu
Michael Keiderling   phone: 732-445-5500-x2252   office: Physics 160E     office hour: Thursday 3:00-5:00pm     
e-mail: mkeider1@physics.rutgers.edu

Lecture: (bring your iClicker)
Two 80-minute lectures per week on Tuesday and Thursday 6th period (5:00-6:20 pm) in the Physics Lecture Hall.
The textbook gives a systematic presentation of the course material. You are expected to carefully read the sections assigned in the syllabus before coming to lecture.  In the lecture, important concepts and their interrelationships will be emphasized.  Applications and problems relevant to the concepts will be discussed.
Demonstrations will be shown to illustrate the physical effects under discussion.
Exam questions will be based on some materials covered in the lecture.

Laboratory/Workshop: (3 hours)
All sections meet in room Serin Physics W232.
 section   time                                 instructor
 07         Mo 6:40pm-9:40pm       Zhou
 01         Tu 8:40am-11:40am       Kloet
 02         Tu 12:00pm-3:00pm       Keiderling
 08         Tu 6:40pm-9:40pm       Zhou
 03         We 8:40am-11:40am       Berry
 04         We 12:00pm-3:00pm       Keiderling
 09         We 6:40pm-9:40pm       Keiderling
 06         Th 12:00pm-3:00pm       Berry

Laboratory/Workshop: The 3-hour period includes problems, quizzes and laboratory and is an important part of the course.  It will consist of activities intended to solidify your understanding of the concepts and to prepare you for the problem-solving required for homework and exams.  The exams may include questions based directly on the laboratory/workshop.   Activities will include discussion of homework, a quiz, performing of an experiment and writing a report. You will work in groups of two; it is important that you and your partner work together and both fully participate in the activities.  If graphs have to be made, each student prints his/her own graph and labels them as such. Then include them in your personal lab report. In preparing your lab report, discussion with your group partner is important; however your responses must be in your own words and not copied from someone else. Being able to convey your scientific results and conclusions in a clearly written report will be a crucial asset in any area of your future career. Identical answers clearly coming from members of another group will not be given credit.

You will need to obtain printouts from Lab/Workshop (pdf format) (before coming to the lab) of
(1) Lab Manual of this week's Experiment
(2) blank Lab Report (to have data sheets to record your data and hand in at the end of the lab session.) 

Laboratory Manuals:
Before coming to the lab session, you will need to read introduction and instructions in the laboratory manual of the scheduled experiment. Beware that paper copies will NOT be available in the lab. 

Homework: WebAssign,
an Internet-based homework delivery system will be used for homework assignments.  For details about how to use WebAssign click here.
To actually see your personal version you have to go online and sign on onto WebAssign Student Login.   Students will submit their answers to about ten back-of-the-chapter homework problems each week using WebAssign. WebAssign changes the numbers for each student, so that your answer will differ numerically from your classmates’ answers.  Upon submission WebAssign will immediately grade your answer and return a detailed summary.  You will be permitted to resubmit your answers five (5) times with only the last submission counting, but you must adhere to the strict deadline.  To utilize WebAssign you will need to enter an individual access code. This code was included if you bought the custom prepared Serway/Vuille ed. 9 textbook in the RU Bookstore.

It is permissible and indeed desirable for you to discuss the problems with your classmates and get/give help if one of you is having difficulty.   You must be sure that you understand the basic concepts behind each problem.  It has happened that several students who had a perfect WebAssign grade still failed the course.

Exams:
There will be two exams during the semester and a final exam.  For exam schedule see syllabus.
The materials covered in the exams are shown on the syllabus.
The three-hour final exam is comprehensive but emphasizes the material after the second exam.
Read Grading and Examinations for further information.