Syllabus - PHYS 40A (Section 001) - Winter 2017

Instructor: Brian Siana

Email: brian.siana@ucr.edu
Phone: 2-5117
Office: Pierce 2144A
Office hours: T, W: 2-3pm

TA Kaveh Vasei Tim Gburek Yi Zhang

Email svase001@ucr.edu jr.gburek@email.ucr.edu yzhan096@ucr.edu

Office Physics 2054B Pierce 2226 Physics 2054B

Office Hours W 9-11 W 3-5 T 1-2

Lectures: TR 012:40am-02:00pm - Physics 2000

Web page: http://ilearn.ucr.edu

Text: Required: Physics for Scientists and Engineers, A Strategic Approach, 4th Edition
by Randall Knight, published by Pearson/Addison Wesley. Looseleaf version of the book
is available for direct purchase from the publisher for $139.99 ($0 for ground [3-8 day]
shipping, $6 for two day shipping). Go to:

http://www.mypearsonstore.com/stores/UCR/Physics

Username: UCR
Password: physics40

This includes the code for Mastering Physics (which is required and is good for 2 years).
This will be all you need to purchase for PHYS 040A, 040B, and 040C.

The book is also available at University Book Exchange for $149 and the campus
bookstore for $174.30. An eText plus homework code is $119 on the publishers
website.

Scope of the course: We will be covering chapters 1-12 in the book.

Chapter Topic
1 Concepts of Motion
2 Kinematics in One Dimension
3 Vectors and Coordinate Systems
 Chapter Topic
4 Kinematics in Two Dimension
5 Force and Motion
6 Dynamics I: Motion Along a Line
7 Newtons Third Law
8 Dynamics II: Motion in a Plane
9 Work and Kinetic Energy
10 Interactions and Potential Energy
11 Impulse and Momentum
12 Rotation of a Rigid Body
We are covering 12 chapters in 10 weeks, so less than one week per chapter.

Math: We will be using algebra, trigonometry, calculus, and vectors. All are critical and
you must be comfortable with these topics in order to do well in the PHYS 40 sequence.

Reading: The text is required reading! I expect that you will come to class prepared.
The lectures will not substitute for reading the textbook. Instead, we will try to explore
the physics in class. Reading quizzes will be given to help motivate you to do the
reading and are part of your grade (see below).

Grading: The two sections will be graded separately, with separate curves.
Reading Quizzes (in Lecture) 5%
Discussion Section Participation 5%
Lab 17%
Homework 18%
Midterm Exam 20%
Final Exam 35%

Reading Quizzes/Clicker Questions: There will be in class questions and you will
answer them with clickers (see clickers below for more info). Each question will be
worth two points. You get 1 point for participating, and another point for getting the
correct answer. Inevitably, you will have one day where you forget your clicker, or the
batteries run out, or you cant be in class due to a family emergency, etc. Because of
this, I will drop the 8 lowest scored questions for every person. This prevents me from
having to put in 200+ exceptions into my spreadsheets for each of these issues. So
please do not ask for grading changes because of clicker malfunctions or attendance
issues. If your clicker does not work in the first few days of lecture, come see me after
class.

Exams: Midterm date will be determined later. The final is on Mar. 20 8-11am in the
Physics 2000 lecture hall. The final is cumulative.
Discussion Sections: Everybody should be enrolled in a discussion section.
Attendance in discussion is mandatory and will count for 5% of your grade. You will be
allowed to drop attendance for one section.

Labs: Labs are required. The labs are run separately and grades are passed to me to
be included in your final grade. A different person (Prof. Gail Hanson,
gail.hanson@ucr.edu) is responsible for the labs so please contact her for lab-specific
questions. There are eight labs and they begin on week 1. Your lab grade may not be
the same as the grade listed in your lab book. We have several TAs and they grade
slightly differently. Therefore, the grades are normalized so that the average grades
from each TA are the same.

Homework: There will be about 1 homework assignment per week. These will use
MasteringPhysics (pearsonmylabandmastering.com). Instructions for registering for
the course can be found in a PDF under Syllabus on iLearn. These homework
assignments should be complete by midnight (i.e. 11:59pm) on the due date. If you do
not already have a MasteringPhysics code, you may purchase one at the
MasteringPhysics web site. If you purchased your textbook at the University Bookstore
or directly from the publisher, the code was included with the book. Once you have an
account, you can enroll in this class. The course ID is siana70197. Note: You are
welcome to work together on the assignments. That is fine as long as you are actually
working together to understand the concepts. Of course the exams comprise the
majority of your grade and you must work alone then. Please be sure to add your
student ID (9 numbers) so that I can match it to the rest of the grades in the class.

Clickers: We will be using the Clicker system. If you dont have a clicker, then you will
have to buy one. They are only available at the campus bookstore. If you already have
one from another course, you dont need a new one. You must register your clicker ID at
http://clickers.ucr.edu, also available at the Clickers link on the left sidebar on iLearn.
You must re-register your clicker every quarter, so please register as soon as the
quarter begins. The clickers will be used for the reading quizzes as well as for
discussion exercises.

Academic Resource Center: Tutoring will be available at the ARC (Surge Building, 1st
floor) on either a drop-in or appointment basis. Tutoring should start in the middle of
week 2.