Physics 6b: Introductory Physics
Winter 2015

TR 9:30-10:45, Broida 1610


http://hep.ucsb.edu/people/claudio/ph6b-15/

Instructor:
Email:
Office hours:
Office:
Administrative Assistant		 Claudio Campagnari
claudio@physics.ucsb.edu
Monday 2:30-3:30, or by appointment, or whenever you can find me.
Broida 5119. Phone 893-7567.
Debbie Ceder, dla@physics.ucsb.edu. Broida 5014. Phone 893-2058.

Announcements:

Announcements related to Physics 6B will be sent out by email using email lists provided by the UCSB registrar.  They will also be posted here and made in class, on a "best effort" basis (ie: no guarantees).  It is your responsibility to make sure that the UCSB registrar has the right email address for you on file and that your email box is not full.

Course Description:

Welcome to Physics 6b.  This is the second quarter of a three-quarter introductory Physics sequence intended for life science majors. (If you are an engineering or physics major you signed up for the wrong class!). No prior knowledge of Physics is requred, however I will assume that you are comfortable with basic algebra.

This quarter we will study Fluids, Oscillations, Electricity, and Magnetism.

The textbook is College Physics by Freedman, Ruskell, Kesten, and Tauck.  This is the same book that you used for Physics 6A. 


Labs (Physics 6BL):

 Normally you should be concurrently enrolled in Physics 6BL. While Physics 6B is a large lecture class, Physics 6BL is divided into a number of smaller sessions that meet once every two week in Broida 2334.  Some sections meet in "A weeks" and some sections meet in "B weeks". To find out if your section meets in an A or B week, look at the room number associated with your section in Gold.  If it is 2334A, your section meets in an "A week"; if it is 2334B, your section meet in a "B week".
You should have the 3rd edition of the lab reader and the Physics carbon-less spiral notebook.  You should already have these if you took 6AL.
Lab schedule (and definition of A/B weeks) can be found here.
Note that the 6B instructor is only loosely associated with the 6BL labs.  For issues and questions about the labs, you should talk to your TA.

How to suceed in this class:

Physics should be approached differently than other discipline. You will find that the emphasis is on problem solving. You may read the book and listen to the lectures and think that you understand, but the proof of whether you have really understood the material rests in your ability to do the problems. The problems is where you are supposed to apply the concepts that you have supposedly learnt.

That is why the homeworks are so important. Only if you can do the homeworks you will do well on the exams.
You are welcome, even encouraged, to do the homeworks with your friends. But be very careful. Working with your friends on the homeworks may result in a perfect homework, but if you end up not doing the problems yourself, you will pay a heavy price at exam time. It is much like learning to ride a bicycle. You can watch other people ride, and think that you know how to ride also -- after all it looks so easy! But the reality is that you have to do it yourself if you really want to learn.

Note also that your homework grade does not count very much towards your final grade (only xx%).  Chances are that ultimately you will be better off struggling on the homework by yourself (perhaps getting not such great scores in the process) rather than having somebody do it for you (consciously or unconsciously).

Beginning physics students are often obsessed by formulas. When presented with a problem, they frantically search the book for the right formula to plug in. This is not the way to do it! In the majority of cases you cannot take a formula from some example in the book and expect it to work for the problem that you have to solve. Instead, you must use logical reasoning. You should attack the problem methodically. Draw a diagram; make sure you have identified what you know and what you do not know about the problem; organize your thoughts; figure out what concepts you need to apply; go one step-at-a-time. Hopefully this will become clear as I will show how to solve problems during the quarter.

Memorization in physics is pretty much useless. It is useful to memorize a few basic formulas, but do not waste your time memorizing all of the steps in solved problems.

The best way to prepare for the exams is to do problems, do problems, do problems. There are many problems, beyond those assigned to you in the homework, at the end of every chapter in the book.

The weekly lecture schedule is listed on this web page. You should read the book ahead, that is to say if you know that on a given week the lectures will cover Chapter X, read Chapter X the week-end before. If you do this you will get a lot more out of the lectures. In many cases I will assume that you have read the book before class. In fact, I will not cover all of the material in class.  Instead, I will use some of the class time to do examples and have you answer questions with the clickers.

There is no such thing as a stupid question in physics. Do not be afraid to interrupt my lectures to ask questions. Do not be afraid to come to my (or the TAs) office hours. We are here to help you.

Finally, there is a tremendous amount of material to cover this quarter. The pace is going to be quite fast, and most new concepts build on the material from the previous chapters. Be careful not to fall behind, because catching up is going to be extremely difficult.

Additional Material
Homework:

Homework assignments will be posted on the Sapling Learning website.  Here are the instructions.
  1. Go to https://saplinglearning.com and click "US Higher Ed" at the top right.
    • If you already have a Sapling Learning account, log in then skip to step 3.
    • If you have a Facebook account, you can use it quickly create a Sapling account.Click Create an Account, then Create my account through Facebook. You will be prompted to log into Facebook if you aren't already. Choose a username and password, then click Link Account. You can then skip to step 3.
    • Otherwise, click "create account". Supply the requested information and click Create my new account. Check your email (and spam filter) for a message from Sapling Learning and click on the link provided in that email.
  3. Find your course in the expandable list (listed by subject, term, and instructor) and click the title link
  4. Select your payment options and follow the remaining instructions.
  5. Once you have registered and enrolled, you can log in at any time to complete or review your homework assignments.
During signup and throughout the quarter if you have any technical problems or grading issues send an email to support@sapling.com. The Sapling support team is almost always more able (and faster) to resolve the issue.


Quizzes:

There will be a short 15 minute quiz every week, except the first week and the week of the midterm.
The quiz schedule is the following:

Quiz Schedule
 Solutions and score distributions
Quiz 1, Tue Jan 13 Solutions and distribution of scores.
Quiz 2, Tue Jan 20 Solutions and distribution of scores.
Quiz 3, Tue Jan 27
 Solutions and distribution of scores.
Quiz 4, Tue Feb 3
 Solutions and distribution of scores.
Quiz 5, Tue Feb 17
 Solutions and distribution of scores.
Quiz 6, Tue Feb 24 Solutions and distribution of scores.
Quiz 7, Tue Mar 3
 Solutions and distribution of scores.
Quiz 8, Tue Mar 10 Solutions and distribution of scores.

The quizzes will cover the material from the previous week, e.g., the quiz on January 13 will cover the material from the week of Jan 5.  The quizzes will be multiple choice. In order to take the quizzes, you are supposed to bring to class on the day of the quiz the following items
  • a scantron sheet. It should be one of the pink ParSCORE sheets that looks like this
  • a pencil
  • a calculator
Your score on the quizzes will count towards your final grade, see below. The two quizzes with the lowest scores will be dropped from the calculation.  Quiz scores will be individually e-mailed to all registered students typically a couple of days afer the quiz was taken.

What to do if you miss a quiz:
  • If it is the first or second quiz that you miss, do nothing. This quiz will be dropped from the calculation of your final score, since it will be the one of the quizzes with the lowest scores. This applies regardless of whether you missed the quiz because you went surfing or because you enrolled late or you were sick.
  • If you miss a third (or fourth...) quiz and you can provide a physician's note, this quiz will also be dropped from the computation of your score.
What to do if you think that a quiz was scored incorrectly
  1. Look at the solutions that are posted on the web, and compare with your answers. (It would be a good idea to write you answers down on a piece of paper before turning in the scantron at the end of the quiz)
  2. If you think that there was a clerical error made in the scoring, check with Debbie Ceder.  She is the one who keeps copies of the scantrons and can double-check.  Her contat information is at the top of this web page.
  3. If you do not understand the solutions, come see the instructor or one of the TAs during office hours.  Or go to the Physics Study Room for help.

Clickers

We will be using clickers.  Remember to bring them to the lecture.  Make sure to register your clicker.

  • Go to iclicker.com
  • Click on MENU
  • Click on REGISTER YOUR REMOTE.
Important: your Student ID should be your PERM number.

Exams:
There will be one midterm and one final.
You are allowed to bring two sheets of notes to the exams, i.e., no need to memorize formulas.

  • Midterm: Tuesday, February 10, during regular class time.
  • Final: Saturday, March 14, 7:30 pm.
If you miss the midterm, and you can provide a physician's note, the midterm will not count towards your final grade. Otherwise, your midterm score will be zero.
If you miss the final, and you can provide a physician's note, you will receive a grade of Incomplete, and you will have to take the final the next time that Physics 6B is offered. I will then use the score on your final and the rest of the scores for this quarter, to update your Incomplete to a letter grade.
If you miss the final and you cannot provide a physician's note you will fail the class.


 Grading:
The final grade for this class will be calculated on a curve from:
  • Clickers 5%
  • Homework 10%
  • Quizzes: 20%
  • Midterm: 25%
  • Final: 40%
Where to get help:
  • Talk to your instructor.  If you have questions about the homework, please bring a printout of the question(s) to office hours.  Also, be prepared to show the instructor the work that you have done on it (ie: bring your rough copy).
  • See your TA at lab or during his office hours.
  • Physics Study Room (PSR), Broida 1019.  This is where all TAs hold office hours.  The PSR is open Monday to Friday, 10:00-5:00, and TAs are on duty at most times.  Note that ANY TA in the PSR is able to provide assistance with this course, not just the TAs for Physics 6b.
  • Campus Learning Assistance Services (http://www.clas.ucsb.edu/) offers drop-in hours and tutoring.

A word about email:
Email is a great communication tool, but it can be abused. This is my email policy for Physics 6b:
  • I will answer every email with questions about physics or the content of the course. Be aware, however, that unless your question is extremely simple and specific, it would be much better for you to come and talk to me in person. If my office hours conflict with your schedule, you can always ask for an appointment, or drop by my office. If I am in my office, and not on the phone or in a meeting, I will definitely talk to you.
  • If your question is not about physics, I will answer your email only if your question/request is reasonable. If the answer to your question can be found on this website, or was announced in class, I will ignore your email. Examples (from previous years) of questions that I will not answer are
    • When is the final?
    • What book are we using?
    • Do I have lab this week?
    • Where does my lab meet?
    • I got a 50 on the midterm, can I still get an A for the course?
    • I don't have time to pick up the midterm in your secretary's office. Can you look-up my score and email it to me?
    • You gave me a C+ but I really need a B+ to keep my scholarship/get into medical school/not make my parents angry. Can I do some extra work over spring break to bring my grade up?
    Basically, any request for special treatment will be ignored.

Approximate Lecture Schedule:
Week Chapters from book
January 5-9
 Chapter 11 (skip 11.11 and 11.12)
January 12-16
 Chapters 12 (skip 12.6)
January 19-23
 Chapter 13
January 26-30
 Chapter 16 (skip 16.6 and 16.7)
February 2-6
 Chapter 17
February 9-13
 Chapter 18
February 16-20
 Chapter 18
Februaru 23-27
 Chapter 19
March 2-6
 Chapter 20 and 21
March 9-13
 Chapter 21. In class we covered up to and including 21.4.
For the final only cover up and including 21.3