2-4-6
9:40-10:50
PENGL 167
I'm also generally just around with my door open. Please drop by, or email me if you want to set a time.
This is where we depart from ``everyday'' classical physics to ``modern'' physics. There are two major areas where classical rules break down: at fast speeds and extreme length scales. Classical physics is not ``wrong'': it's the (extremely useful!) limit of the more general rules at ordinary sizes and speeds.
In this course we will attack physics when the speed approaches that of light (Special Relativity) and when the sizes of objects involved is small, often subatomic (Quantum Physics and the wavefunction). There are problems with using classical physics at enormous length scales -- at the Gigalightyear level -- but that is a more advanced topic to be attacked with General Relativity. In both cases, we will be reexamining just what it means to measure something. In Relativity, measurement requires that objects lengths and intervals of time between events actually differ depending upon the speed of the measurer relative to what is being measured. In Quantum Physics, an object may not have a definite property until it is measured, and we deal with the important concept of expectation values to constrain what we could observe once we decide to measure something.
Text: "Concepts of Modern Physics" by Arthur Beiser
There is a hardcover and a paperback edition, which are supposed to have exactly the same page content.
# ISBN-10: 0072448482
# ISBN-13: 978-0072448481
(N American edition)
ISBN: 007115096X
ISBN-13: 9780071150965
(International edition)
Grading:
Anticipated Grade Scale:
Grade Percentage A 93 B 80 C 67 D 50 F < 50Mid-letter grades may not be precisely halfway between letter grades. I may modify the scale, but only in your favor.
Details in the syllabus
Academic Honesty
CSBSJU's academic catalog defines plagiarism as ...the act of appropriating and using the ideas, writings, or works of original expressions of another person as one's own without giving credit to the person who created the work. If suspected, the burden of proof rests with the faculty. If proven, the consequence for a first offense is failure of the course.
Again, please note that it is quite helpful to work in groups at times to solve homework problems, and this collective effort is NOT plagiarism. You may be asked to explain something, however, and you must find a way to say it in your own words.
Any unauthorized use of solution guides (particularly ``Instructor's Guides'') constitutes academic dishonesty. Presenting work assisted by such items is plagiarism.
Test 1 Equation Sheet
Test 2 Equation Sheet
Test 3 Equation Sheet
Final Equation Sheet