Welcome to PHY 201. This is a first course in college physics. We
will be covering kinematics, Newtonian statics and dynamics,
gravitation, fluids, kinetic theory, waves, and thermodynamics. You are
expected to have had MAT 161 (Calculus I) since this is a summer class
and you will not be able to take both classes at the same time. You will
only need to know a few simple derivatives and integrals as we progress
through the material. You will need a better handle on these things for PHY 202,
which will require Calculus II.
Class begins Thursday, May 14th AM at 10:15. The class meets every day for two
hours and you are expected to attend all classes. Labs meet three days
per week. The first lab will be on Monday! Labs meet for two hours and
you are required to attend all labs. More about that will be covered in
the lab. There is a link to the labs at the course web site.
Course materials are posted at the web site
http://people.uncw.edu/hermanr/phy201/. There you will find
the syllabus, homework problems, a tentative schedule, links to useful
materials, etc. Keep an eye on this site as it will change
periodically as we move through the course. In particular, you should
look at the useful materials on how to study physics on the materials
page. For additional explanations, or materials for any missed class,
visit my PHY 101 physics lectures from my 2005 summer class. (This is
basically the same concepts without the sprinkling of some calculus that
I will add.) Also, there are some professionally produced lectures
at MIT which I recommend you watch as well. See
http://www.learnerstv.com/lectures.php?course=ltv002&cat=Physics&page=1
or
http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Physics/8-01Physics-IFall1999/CourseHome/index.htm
As this class meets two hours a day for lectures, you should plan
to study 4-6 hours a day outside of class. That means you will easily be
spending 35 hours a week on physics. So, you should not be working a
full time job, or working and taking another class. This is your full
time job for the next five weeks! Students in the past have told me that
they should have listened to my advice. So, take it from them - plan to
do all the homework, practice a lot, read the book several times, watch
some ot the physics videos, and Do
Not Miss Class!
The text we are using is shown at
http://bcs.wiley.com/he-bcs/Books?action=index&itemId=0471758019&bcsId=3673
You will find the Student Solutions Manual there. If you do not have the
book already,
you might find it cheaper at places like
half.ebay. We will be covering the first 20 chapters. That is about
one chapter per day! Note also that graphing calculators are not
allowed during quizzes/exams. So, you will need to pick up a cheap
scientific calculator and learn how to use it.
Feel free to wander the course pages, look at my site to see who I
am, and feel free to email me whenever you have questions. Start working
on the homework that is posted!
Good luck, and I will see you soon.