Physics 1b Analytic    (Winter 2009)

General Information

Lecturer

Bob McKeown
202 Kellogg, Ext. 4316, bmck@caltech.edu

Course Secretary

Helen Ticehurst
110 East Bridge, Ext. 4633

Web Page

News and latest information on assignments, quizzes, exams, review sessions, instructors, etc. is available at: http://www.krl.caltech.edu/~bmck/ph1b
We will begin the term by studying the Special Theory of Relativity for 3 weeks. We will then study electricity and magnetism for the remainder of this term and the 3rd term.

Section Changes

You are encouraged to find a recitation section that is both enjoyable and beneficial. If you decide to change sections, first get the signature of the instructor of the new section on your yellow card. Then get the course secretary to sign the drop column of the yellow card. Room assignments are sometimes changed by the instructors: the course secretary and the Ph 1b web page should have the most up-to-date information.

Textbooks

  • There are 2 required textbooks for this course:
    1. Spacetime Physics, by Taylor and Wheeler
    2. Electricity and Magnetism, Berkeley Physics Course Vol. 2, by Edward Purcell (2nd edition).
    There will be highly recommended supplemental reading in div, grad, curl and all that by Schey. A useful alternative text on special relativity is Special Relativity by French. Both Schey and French are available at the bookstore. There are two other texts on electricity and magnetism which you may find useful for supplementary reading: Halliday and Resnick, and Feynman Volume II. Halliday and Resnick is mathematically and conceptually less sophisticated than Purcell. These books are on reserve in the library for your convenience.



    Homework Assignments

    Homework will generally be due Wednesday by 4PM outside of lecture Hall (201 E. Bridge), sorted by problem. You may hand in your homework anytime from the afternoon before it is due until 4PM on the due date. Each problem should be labelled with the student's name and section number. For prompt and accurate grading, please follow the guidelines for writing your homeworks and quizzes. Graded Homework will be returned on the following Thursday in Recitation. Late HW will be accepted up to one week late for 1/2 credit. Please turn late HW in to your TA. Solutions to the homework may be picked up at the section mailboxes (in E. Bridge) or in Recitation.

    The HW that you turn in must be your own and not copied from others or from the blackboard in recitation. You are encouraged to work on the problems with others and to seek additional help if you find that useful, but the write-up must be your own. Also you may not consult any prepared soln. for the problems either this year's or previous year's. As a guideline for the collaboration policy, you should be able to reproduce any solution you hand in without help from anyone else. It is possible to achieve high scores on the homework and still fail the quizzes and final exams. This indicates poor use of the collaboration policy; the object of the homework problems is to help you learn the material.

    There are many problems at the end of the chapters in your texts, of which only a fraction are assigned for homework. You may wish to work additional problems to gain more practice. Your TA can assist you in selecting problems.

    Quizzes

    Quizzes will be due on four Mondays throughout the term (1/26, 2/9, 2/23, 3/9).  The completed problems should be stapled TOGETHER and turned in at the LOCKBOX outside 201 E. Bridge. The quiz should be labelled with the student's name, UID number, and section number. The quizzes will generally cover the material from the previous two weeks. The quizzes will be distributed on the preceding Wednesday at lecture. The quizzes must be worked without collaboration with others.

    Exams

    There will be a final exam covering the entire term, due March 18. There will be no midterm exam.

    Grading

    Your grade for the course will be determined by your performance on the final exam (40%), quizzes (40%), and homework (20%). A combined grade of 50% is required to pass the course.Your attendance and performance in recitation class and general level of effort may be used as a basis for extra credit according to the judgment of your instructor.

    Ombuds. Meeting

    We would like to identify an ombudsperson from each house. Please feel free to volunteer yourself. Those chosen should notify the course secretary of their identities.