Course Outline

How does the moon orbit and what makes it do this? Is this related to the motion of falling objects? How much useful work can one extract from an engine? What is the nature of light? What is the mechanism by which ultraviolet light causes damage to skin cells? Why are we convinced that atoms exist and from what are they built? What are the fundamental particles from which all matter is built? How is time related to space? Are there limits to our universe and could we learn them?

Physics addresses such questions and provides a scheme by which we can picture and understanding the basic workings of the natural world. Physics emerged as a scientific (rather than philosophical) discipline in the early 17th century and since then physicists have been able to describe much of the natural world in terms of a small number of fundamental principles. Although much of the motivation for this has been curiosity, physics has remarkable practical consequences. For example, the theory of electricity and magnetism is vital to the operation of electrical devices and we are indebted to quantum mechanics for the construction of the components which enable lasers and computers to work.

Phys 111 aims to provide you with an understanding of some of the fundamental ideas from classical physics and to enable you to apply these to understand features of the natural world. Classical physics is that which was developed before 1900 and is good at describing much of the phenomena that you may observe on an everyday basis.

The course will cover the following topics subject to minor modifications.

  1. Classical Mechanics: motion, forces, energy and momentum.
  2. Classical Mechanics: rotational motion.
  3. Classical Mechanics: gravitation.
  4. Classical Mechanics: vibrations, waves and sound.
  5. Thermodynamics: temperature, kinetic theory of gases, heat and entropy.

Course Structure

The Monday, Wednesday and Friday class meetings will usually be in lecture format. You will be expected to study the relevant sections of the text before class meetings.

Most Thursday meetings will consist of a discussion/problem session during which you will work in small groups (with the instructor's help) on pre-assigned problems. You will be expected to attempt these before the Tuesday class meeting. There will be a short quiz covering the material at the end of the discussion session.

Homework Assignments

Apart from the Supplementary Exercises, problem numbers all refer to Knight, College Physics, 4th ed. Supplementary Exercises can be found by clicking this link.

Homework Due date Problems
Homework 1 26 Aug 2019 Supplementary Exercises: 6, 7, 8, 9, Ch 1 Prob.: 23, 25, 61, 67a
Homework 2 2 Sept 2019 Supplementary Exercises: 16, 18, 21, 22, 23, 26, 28, 30
Homework 3 11 Sept 2019 Supplementary Exercises: 44, 45, 46, 47, 53, 54, 55, 56
Homework 4 23 Sept 2019 Supplementary Exercises: 59, 61, 63, 64, 65, 66, Ch 4 Quest.: 12, Ch 4 Prob.: 53
Homework 5 2 Oct 2019 Supplementary Exercises: 74, 77, 81, 82, 83, 84, Ch 5 Quest.: 10, Ch 5 Prob.: 27
Homework 6 7 Oct 2019 Supplementary Exercises: 94, 96, 97, 99, 102, 103, Ch 6 Quest.: 30, Ch 6 Prob.: 38
Homework 7 21 Oct 2019 Supplementary Exercises: 109, 110, 111, 113, 114, 115, Ch 10 Prob.: 8, 72
Homework 8 28 Oct 2019 Supplementary Exercises: 126ab, 128, 129, 131, 132, 133, 134, Ch 10 Quest.: 20
Homework 9 7 Nov 2019 Supplementary Exercises: 145, 146, 147, 148, 152, 153, Ch 7 Prob.: 40, 70
Homework 10 18 Nov 2019 Supplementary Exercises: 171, 172, 173, 174, 175 Ch 12 Quest.: 7, Ch 12 Prob.: 28, 30
Homework 11 2 Dec 2019 Supplementary Exercises: 182a, 183, 184, 185, 186, Ch 13 Quest.: 14, Ch 13 Prob.: 25, Ch 14 Prob.: 1

Homework Solutions

Homework solutions will be posted in the course Desire 2 Learn (D2L) shell.


Quizzes

There will be a short quiz at the end of each of each Thursday discussion session. Quiz solutions will be posted in the course D2L shell.

Warm Up Exercises

There will be warm up exercise, approximately once per week, due by 9:00am. Exact dates will be announced by the instructor closer to the time. Warm up exercises are hosted on D2L.

Exams

There will be three 50 minute exams during class on the following dates: 13 September 2019, 14 October 2019 and 11 November 2019. There will be a comprehensive final exam on 9 December 2019 (section 003) or 11 December 2019 (section 004). Solutions to the exams for this semester will be posted below after the exams have been graded.

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Exams and solutions from previous semesters.

Fall 2015 Class exam 1
Fall 2015 Class exam 1: Solutions
Fall 2015 Class exam 2
Fall 2015 Class exam 2: Solutions
Fall 2015 Class exam 3
Fall 2015 Class exam 3: Solutions
Fall 2015 Final exam
Fall 2015 Final exam: Solutions
Fall 2016 Class exam 1
Fall 2016 Class exam 1: Solutions
Fall 2016 Class exam 2
Fall 2016 Class exam 2: Solutions
Fall 2016 Class exam 3
Fall 2016 Class exam 3: Solutions
Fall 2016 Final exam (version 1)
Fall 2016 Final exam (version 1): Solutions
Fall 2016 Final exam (version 2)
Fall 2016 Final exam (version 2): Solutions

Exams and solutions from this semester.

Solutions will be posted after each exam has been graded.

Fall 2019 Class exam 1
Fall 2019 Class exam 1: Solutions
Fall 2019 Class exam 2
Fall 2019 Class exam 2: Solutions
Fall 2019 Class exam 3
Fall 2019 Class exam 3: Solutions

Links and Animations

  1. Reference Sources
    1. Physlink Reference information and data, including decimal system notation, physical constants, math constants, astro-physical constants, etc,....
    2. Eric Weinstein's World of Physics Encyclopedia of Physics maintained by Wolfram Research. Entries at a variety of technical levels.
    3. Science and Engineering Encyclopedia: Physics Encyclopedia of Physics with a somewhat cumbersome interface. Includes conversion calculators.
    4. Periodic Table of Elements WebElements site.
    5. NIST Databases Administered by the National Institute for Standards and Technology. The final word in physical data. Intended for professionals.
  2. Animations
    1. PhET From the University of Colorado.
    2. oPhysics Physics simulations provided by Tom Walsh.
    3. LTU Applets Collection of simulations provided by Scott Schneider, Lawrence Technological University.
    4. Animations for Physics and Astronomy Collection of simulations from the Penn State University, Schuylkill.
    5. Physclips Collection of simulations from the University of New South Wales, Australia.
  3. Demonstrations
    1. MIT TechTV. Videos of demonstrations provided by MIT.
    2. University of Maryland Demos Lecture demonstrations provided by the University of Maryland.
    3. Wake Forest University Demos. Main website for demonstrations provided by Wake Forest University, North Carolina.
    4. Wake Forest University Demos. Videos of demonstrations provided by Wake Forest University, North Carolina.
    5. University of Iowa Demos. Demonstrations provided by University of Iowa.
  4. Units and Measurement Scales
    1. Mars Climate Orbiter. The greatest unit conversion fiasco ever?
    2. Secret Worlds: The Universe Within. An updated "Powers of Ten" animation from Florida State University.
    3. Powers of Ten. Official site of Charles and Ray Eames.
  5. Atoms and Brownian Motion
    1. Brownian motion. Video of smoke particles undergoing Brownian motion. From University of Virginia.
    2. Brownian motion. Essay on Einstein's description of Brownian motion.
    3. Images of atoms. Images taken using a scanning tunneling microscope at IBM's Almaden lab.
    4. Images of atoms. Images taken at various institutions. Hosted by Purdue University.
    5. Chemical elements. Wikipedia list of elements.
    6. Periodic table. A wooden periodic table from Theodore Gray.
  6. Motion in One Dimension
    1. The moving man. From PhET.
    2. Car in one dimension. From Univ of Toronto.
    3. Motion diagrams. From Andrew Duffy, Boston University.
  7. Freely falling objects
    1. Hammer and feather. Demonstration by Apollo 15 commander David Scott. Provided by NASA.
    2. Guinea and feather. Description of equipment construction and a video. From the Steven Troy, University of Washington.
    3. Ball bearing and feather. From the Teralab.
    4. Free fall applet. From Davidson College.
  8. Vectors
    1. Vector addition. From PhET, University of Colorado. Alternative link here.
  9. Motion in Two Dimensions
    1. Balls dropped and shot. From University of Maryland.
    2. Projectile motion. From PhET, University of Colorado. Alternative link here.
    3. SpaceX Falcon 9 landing. Youtube video from SpaceX.
    4. SpaceX Falcon 9 landing. Youtube video from SciNews. Includes position and velocity information.
    5. Ladybug motion in two dimensions. From PhET, University of Colorado. Alternative link here.
    6. Projectile motion. From University of Toronto.
    7. Monkey and hunter. From University of Toronto.
    8. Funnel cart. From University of Maryland.
    9. Pulled funnel cart. From University of Maryland.
    10. Gravity and orbits. From PhET, University of Colorado. Alternative link here.
    11. Solar system. From PhET, University of Colorado. Alternative link here.
  10. Newton's Laws
    1. Voyager: NASA page. Voyager I is the man made object most distant from the sun and now approximately free from interactions with the sun and solar system.
    2. Pioneer: NASA page. Pioneer 10, launched in 1972, was the first man-made object to leave the solar system. The last signal received from this probe reached the earth in 2003.
    3. Isaac Newton. British one pound banknote. From Jacob Bourjaily's website: Physicists on Money.
    4. Forces in one dimension. From PhET, University of Colorado. Alternative link here.
    5. Forces and motion: basics From PhET, University of Colorado. Alternative link here.
    6. Forces and motion. From PhET, University of Colorado. Alternative link here.
    7. Forces and motion on a ramp. From PhET, University of Colorado. Alternative link here.
    8. Friction. From PhET, University of Colorado. Alternative link here.
    9. Fan cart with sail. From University of Maryland
    10. Dropped slinky. From University of Maryland.
  11. Circular Motion
    1. Ladybug revolution. From PhET, University of Colorado.
    2. Whirlgig. From University of Iowa.
    3. Centrifugal flattening. From University of Iowa.
  12. Energy
    1. Energy Skate Park (Basics). From PhET, University of Colorado. Alternative link here.
    2. Energy Skate Park. From PhET, University of Colorado. Alternative link here.
    3. The Ramp. From PhET, University of Colorado.
    4. Springs and Masses. From PhET, University of Colorado.
    5. Loop the Loop. From the University of Iowa.
    6. Stopped Pendulum. From North Carolina State University.
    7. Stopped Pendulum. From University of Iowa.
    8. Large Pendulum. From University of Iowa.
    9. Racing skiers. From University of Toronto.
    10. Molecular Vibrations. From UCLA.
    11. Ice Vibrations From Visionlearning.
    12. Internal Combustion Engine From How Stuff Works.
    13. Global Energy Balance Animated diagrams from Earthguide at UCSD.
  13. Momentum
    1. Ship Collision Two ships colliding in the Suez canal. From NPR
    2. Particle Collisions. From the LHC at CERN.
    3. Particle Collisions. From the LHC at CERN. Information via Brookhaven National Lab.
    4. Collision Lab. From PhET, University of Colorado.
    5. Impulse Pendulum. From North Carolina State University.
    6. Impulse Pendulum. From University of Iowa.
    7. Camp Nou (Barcelona) crowd moves Earth. From El País.
    8. Goddard vs NY Times. Editorial critique from the NY Times of Robert Goddard's rocketry proposals.
  14. Rotational Motion
    1. Milky Way Galaxy Revolution. Simulation from the University of Zurich.
    2. Ladybug Revolution. From PhET, University of Colorado. Alternative link here.
    3. Torque. From PhET, University of Colorado. Alternative link here.
    4. Center of Mass Motion. YouTube video produced by MIT.
    5. Hoops and Disks. From University of Iowa.
    6. Rolling vs. Sliding From University of Maryland.
    7. "Falling Chimney." From University of Iowa.
    8. Falling Chimney Web Page. From Loyola Marymount University.
    9. Toppling Towers Web Page. From Physics Central, APS.
    10. Conservation of Angular Momentum From University of Iowa.
    11. Precessing Gyroscope. Animation from PSU-Schuykill.
    12. Angular Momentum - Train. From University of Iowa. Another link here.
  15. Gravity
    1. Newton's Cannon. From the University of Virginia.
    2. Neptune. From NASA.
    3. Neptune. From Wikipedia.
    4. Neptune. From nineplanets.org by Bill Arnett.
    5. Plant Nine. From Konstantin Batygin and Mike Brown, Caltech.
    6. Solar System. From PhET, University of Colorado. Alternative link here.
    7. Cavendish Experiment Animation. From Physics-Animations.com.Alternative YouTube animation
    8. Cavendish's Experiment. From Science and Society Picture Library
    9. Stars and Black Hole. Youtube video of unknown origin.
  16. Fluids
    1. Pascal's Vases. From the University of Iowa.
    2. States of Matter. From PhET, University of Colorado. Alternative link here.
    3. Floating in Mercury. From Theodore Gray. You're probably not going to be able to try this.
    4. Fluid Flow. From PhET, University of Colorado. Alternative link here.
  17. Thermal Physics
    1. Gas Properties. PhET simulation from the University of Colorado.
    2. Free Expansion of a Gas. Animation from Pennsylvania State University, Schuylkill.
    3. Smashing Racquet Ball. From North Carolina State University.
    4. Gas Thermometer. From University of Iowa.
    5. Kinetic Theory. From LON-CAPA.
    6. Fire Syringe. From University of Iowa.
  18. Simple Harmonic Motion
    1. Masses and Springs. From PhET, the University of Colorado. Alternative link here.
    2. Normal Modes. From PhET, the University of Colorado. Alternative link here.
    3. Spray Paint Oscillator. From MIT TechTV, MIT.
    4. Spring and Mass. From Walter Fendt.
    5. Spring and Mass. From Michigan State University. Clear and simple to use.
    6. Resonance. From PhET, the University of Colorado. Alternative link here.
    7. Simple Harmonic Motion and Circular Motion. Davidson College and North Carolina A and T University.
    8. Tacoma Narrows Bridge Collapse. From Archive.org.
  19. Waves
    1. Waves Intro. From PhET, the University of Colorado.
    2. Wave on a String. From PhET, the University of Colorado. Alternative link here.
    3. Aircraft Landing. Doppler effect: aircraft landing at Princess Juliana Airport
    4. Aircraft Landing. Yet another landing at Princess Juliana Airport
    5. Extrasolar Planets. From California and Carnegie Planet Search.
    6. Standing Waves. From Paul Falstad.
    7. LIGO. Official LIGO site