The University of British Columbia

Physics 108

"Physics II"

Calendar description:   PHYSICS II.   3 credits [0,0,0;3,0,0]  
Concepts of Thermal Physics. Electricity and Magnetism up to Maxwell's equations and electromagnetic waves, including interference and diffraction of light. Intended for students planning to take higher-level courses in Physics and Astronomy.   Prerequisites: one of PHYS 107 (with at least a "pass") or PHYS 101 (with an "A" standing).   Corequisites: one of MATH 101, MATH 103, MATH 105 or MATH 121.

Place & Time:   Lectures: Hennings 201 - Mon, Wed & Fri 12:00-12:50 PM.     Tutorials: TBA.

Instructor:   Jess H. Brewer

Office:   Hennings 320A: 822-6455
Lab:   TRIUMF: 222-1047, ext 6471
Office Hours:   TBA.

In addition, the teaching assistant (graduate student Shirin Hadizadeh) who marks the weekly assignments will be available at the Tutorials (time and place to be arranged) to provide general assistance.

Marking:

ITEM MARKS
Best 8 Assignments 20
Best Midterm Exam 30
Final Exam 50
 TOTAL 100

There will be two Midterms. The higher of the two marks will be used in calculating the final mark. It is wise to do your best on both.

Note: Students must obtain at least a 50% overall average in the course and pass the Final Exam in order to receive passing credit for Physics 108. (Faculty responsible for the course reserve the right to override this scheme and/or to adjudicate any or all marks.)

Textbook:   Resnick, Halliday & Krane, "Physics", 5th Ed., Extended (Wiley 2002).

References:

P.A. Tipler, "Physics" (Worth)

J.H. Brewer, "Skeptic's Guide to Physics"

First Year Science HyperTextBook

ASSIGNMENTS   will be handed out at a lecture (usually on Wed.) each week, worked out independently by each student and handed in at the beginning of the lecture 1 week later unless otherwise specified; solutions will be provided at that time. The deadline will be strictly enforced and late assignments will not be marked. There will be approximately 12 assignments per term. The assignment mark will be based on the average of the best 8 assignment marks for each student.

Every assignment will have two parts: in addition to the written solutions of detailed problems involving calculations and/or derivations, described above, there will be an on-line quiz on the WebCT site which is to be completed halfway through each week. The purpose of the quiz is to get you thinking about the reading and the assignment before the last minute, and to show your instructor and TAs which aspects of the current material (if any) are giving you trouble; this should facilitate more helpful lectures. The quiz component will count for 20% of each assignment; in most cases it will be relatively easy (if you have done the reading first).

MY PHILOSOPHY:   Erich Vogt gave you an eloquent explanation of how and why PHYS 107-108-109 are so successful in developing the skills, discipline and imagination of first year science students at UBC. Rather than repeat that explanation, let me discuss the differences between PHYS 107 and PHYS 108. The former dealt primarily with classical mechanics, a discipline of enormous depth and subtlety, but one with which every person has a very direct familiarity and therefore a strong physical intuition.2 Physics 108 deals with thermal physics, electromagnetism and wave optics - all abstract subjects for which your physical intuition will (with a few exceptions) have to be dismantled and reconstructed as we go. It is therefore absolutely essential that you not fall behind in your reading and thinking about these topics, or nothing you hear in class will make any sense to you.

I believe you can read the textbook without my help. In addition, I don't like the way the textbook tells you the answer first, shows you how to solve problems with it, and then finally (sometimes) explains where it comes from. I understand that this may be appropriate if you only want to learn enough Physics to apply to selected practical problems, but I cannot develop any enthusiasm for such "Philistine Physics" and I doubt that you can either. Therefore I will warn you in advance that my lectures will contain far more "derivations" and explanations of why things happen than catalogues of what happens or the formulae describing same. I will try to do lots of problems, too, but it's more important that you do them. That's how you learn.

Speaking of which, here is what I consider the best teaching evaluation I have ever heard:

"You didn't teach us anything; we had to learn it all ourselves!"

You have to do all the work of learning, but there may be things we can do to make it more fun, more efficient, more rewarding or more useful. Let me know if you have any suggestions! This Web site includes several on-line surveys to facilitate such feedback. Please use these tools freely.

MISSED EXAMS:   University policies define clearly what constitute valid excuses for missing exams. Some of these involve giving advance notice to the instructor, others require confirmation in writing by third parties. You should familiarize yourself with these rules. I have several of my own: first, I do accept participation in varsity athletic events as a valid reason to miss an exam, but I expect advance notice in writing specifying all the details. Second, I do not offer written make-up midterms. If you miss a midterm exam for a valid reason, you have the choice of simply omitting it (using the other midterm mark to compute your average) or taking an oral exam instead. (In an oral exam I ask you questions and listen to your anwsers for about an hour; by that time I usually have a good idea of how well you understand the subject.) If you are so unfortunate as to miss both midterms for officially valid reasons, I will calculate your final mark out of 70 (without the midterm) and multiply the result by 100/70. However, if you miss a midterm by (for instance) sleeping late or getting stuck in traffic, only an oral exam will prevent a zero mark on that exam. Plan ahead.

Jess H. Brewer - 2004-10-29