You do not have to purchase an additional lab manual. Click on the "Calendar" link at the top of this page, then access the link to view the download page for the labs.

Class Schedule:

Course Instructor:

Woodahl, bwoodahl@iupui.edu

Office: LD 156-S, Phone: 278-9244

Recitation Instructors:

Agarwal, ksagarwa@umail.iu.edu

Laboratory Instructors:

Agarwal, ksagarwa@umail.iu.edu

Yazdani, syazdani@umail.iu.edu

Tavakoli, mtavakol@umail.iu.edu

Tutoring:

For the latest Physics Department free tutoring schedule, click here. Please first contact the physics tutors before seeking help from your recitation instructors.

Prerequisite: MATH 15900 (Algebra and Trigonometry).  Students must have a working knowledge of algebra, geometry, and trigonometry.

Organization: Each week there is a 2 to 2.5 hour lecture, 1 hour recitation, and 1 to 2 hour lab.  Bring your text and calculator to lecture, recitation, and lab.  Missed homework submittals (MasteringPhysics) will count as a zero. Do not forget to submit homework in a timely manner!

Grading: The components of the course are assigned the following points:

There is a single grade for the course determined by your point total.

To pass, per Department policy, you must accumulate at least 250 exam points (50%).

The 500 total exam points are not the simple sum of your exam scores (*).  Your net exam points are based upon the method of derivatives which retains the "time information" of a student's exam scores.  The method of derivatives awards a few additional points to students that maintain a positive exam score slope.  In fact, a student can do relatively poorly on the first exam, continue to improve on the later exams and in the end obtain a score that effectively adds up to 10 points (or more).  For a student that maintains roughly the same exam scores throughout the semester, there is no difference between the "simple sum" and the "method of derivatives".  Conversely, a student that continues to score lower and lower on the exams will be penalized, due to their negative exam slope.  It turns out, that predicting a student's success in P202 (the second-semester course) hinges mostly on how that student improved upon their exam scores in P201 throughout the semester, i.e, did they yield a positive exam slope.  In a nut-shell, the algorithm for the method of derivatives performs the following:  using the method of least squares, a first-order (linear) equation is fitted through the five exam scores (final exam is equal to 2 hourly exams), the fitted line is then evaluated at the independent-variable of 3.3 (10% beyond the median: Exam 3), that score (the dependent-variable of the fit-line) is then multiplied by five and this becomes the student's exam score total.  As an example, consider a student that scores a 50% on Exam 1, 88% on Exam 2, 78% on Exam 3, and 171/200 on the Final Exam.  The conventional "simple sum" exam score would be 387 points.  But by the method of derivatives, the net exam score is 397.  Effectively, 10 points were added to the student's point total because the student continued to improve.  Another more concrete example involves a student that really struggled on the early exams: A few years ago I had a student score the following: 19%, 44%, 97%, and 186/200 on the final.  The simple sum would have been 346 points, but by the method of derivatives, the student obtained 376 exam points and ended up earning a B– in the course (128 on HMK and 137 on Labs). The method of derivatives gives the student who scores poorly on Exam 1, a chance to earn a passing grade in the course.

Questions regarding homework problems should first be addressed to the Physics Tutors in the physics tutoring room (basement of LD). If that proves unsuccessful, then contact your Recitation Instructor. Questions regarding lecture material and concepts should also be addressed to the Physics Tutors in the tutoring room. If that proves unsuccessful, then contact your Course Instructor.

One laboratory may be missed with the accompanying loss of points.  For each successive missed lab, the course grade will drop by one letter.

Lecture notes or recitation notes will not be provided. Attend lecture and recitation, or ask a fellow classmate to provide you copies.

NOTICE  (Read these instructions carefully!)
Students who are repeating the course and successfully passed the lab portion in their previous P201 have the option of using that lab grade for this semester.  The following protocol must be followed:  You must contact your previous Lab TA via email, also cc me in your email, and have those lab scores transmitted to your new Lab TA.  Until the lab scores are received by your new Lab TA, you must continue to attend the lab this semester!  Failure to follow these instructions will result in an administrative withdrawal due to the fact you are not attending lab.

Bonus points, earned after the final exam, based upon discussions among instructor, recitation instructors, and lab instructors, are subjectively awarded to students who maintain good rapport and strive to improve (all facets:  exams, homeworks, labs) throughout the duration of the semester.

The following letter grades are guaranteed based on total points:

WITHDRAWAL DEADLINES:

Poor performance in a course is not considered grounds for a late withdrawal.

Info on University Policy Regarding Sexual Harassment can be found here.