Physics 1408 Announcement Page

Dr. Myles' Future Teaching is discussed Here.

1. Grades are submitted! As of about 4:13pm Mon., Aug. 10, I finished grading the Phys. 1408 Final Exam, calculating grades, & submitting them on the web. Sorry that I finished this later than anticipated. You should now be able to see your grade on the student web.

This notice discusses the grades in detail, makes some comments about the Final Exam, & briefly mentions Physics II (Physics 2401). If you look at your grade & think that something is wrong, please then look at the Calculate Your Own Grade page Here & try to calculate your grade using that method. OF COURSE, I will change your grade if I have truly made a mistake. This can't be done on line, but must be done by sending a paper copy of a form to the TTU bureaucracy. This can be done anytime up to 1 year after the end of the Summer II, 2009 session.
The discussion below is long. Of course, you don't have to read any of it of you don't want to. But, I hope that you will because I think that it may answer some questions that you have & I really don't want to answer 40 emails about these topics. To (hopefully) make it easier to read, I have divided it into sections. These are: FINAL EXAM, DISTRIBUTION, & COMMON ERRORS, COURSE GRADE CALCULATIONS & DISTRIBUTION, PHYSICS 2401 (Physics II) & RELATED TOPICS, and MY FUTURE TEACHING ASSIGNMENTS.; In the 5 weeks or so of Summer Session II, I have gotten to know some of you better than others. But, I've enjoyed interactions with each of you & have enjoyed (trying to) teach you physics! If you are ever in my building in the future, please feel free to drop by & say hello & tell me how you are doing. Good luck to each of you in the future!; 2. FINAL EXAM, DISTRIBUTION, & COMMON ERRORS: The grade distribution on the Final was similar to those on the other exams.; Statistics: 36 of the 38 on the roll took it! High Score = 107 (bonuses). Low Score = 30 (excluding those who didn't take it!).; Average = about 67. The results according to the (approximate!) letter grade breakdown (see Syllabus) are::; “A”: 100+ ---> 90 (6 People), “B”: 89 -----> 78 (11 people), “C”: 77 -----> 66 (13 people), “D”: 65 -----> 54 (4 people), “F”: 53 -----> 0 (2 people) .; I could say a lot about what some of you did wrong, but I don't have time to say much & you probably aren't interested anyway. The bottom line is that I'm very disappointed in some of you! I wonder if some of you even bother read a question before answering it. (A related issue is that some of you seem to ignore the "hints" I sometimes give. I simply don't understand the mentality of either of these behaviors on your part!). For example, when I say as part of a question that ZERO credit will be given for something, WHY do some people give the exact answer I said would get ZERO? (like writing sigma(F) = ma as Newton's 2nd Law for rotational motion or saying that the normal force is equal & opposite to the weight when I said that these would be given ZERO credit]. Other comments:; A. Many of you still don't understand Newton's 2nd Law in the form using forces. WHY?? This is very bad, because the Course Theme is Newton's Laws of Motion!; B. Many of you still don't understand either Energy or Momentum. WHY?? This is also very bad, because these are just Newton's Laws in Different Forms!!; C. As on previous exams, many tried to solve problems by blindly copying from a"cheat sheet" the solution to a problem from a previous year's exam which was similar to one on ours. This often fails, because I make up problems uniquely for each exam. I don't (usually) just recycle problems from old exams with different numbers.; D. Many tried to do this exam by copying solutions. People in this category still clearly don't understand a fact that I've said (preached?) over & over in this course & this is that Physics is NOT a bunch of unrelated formulas but it is a set of unifying PHYSICAL PRINCIPLES: NEWTON'S LAWS!
: 3. COURSE GRADES & DISTRIBUTION: I'll answer any reasonable questions about your course grade, by email or in person. If there has really been an error in your grade, OF COURSE, I'll correct it & change your grade! This can't be done on line. It must be done by sending a paper copy of a form into the TTU bureaucracy. This can be done up to 1 year after the end of this session.; Recall that the Lab Grade & the Homework/Quiz Grade count in the grade computation! See Syllabus for details. You may also see many details on my Calculate Your Own Grade page Here. It was apparently a surprise to some of you that neither the Lab Grade nor the Homework/Quiz Grade are dropped, even though the lowest exam grade is dropped. Your Lab Grade is out of my control, but is between you & your TA.; The Course Grade Distribution is similar to the exam distributions: Statistics: 38 are left on the roll! High Score = 100.7. Low Score = 23.2 (including people who didn't take the Final!). Average = about 69. Grades were assigned by following the letter grade breakdown from the (see Syllabus) In a few cases, where someone's grade was very near a cutoff between two different letter grades, but just above or below it, I gave the higher letter grade with a "plus" or a "minus" attached to it, as appropriate. The distribution is:; “A”: 100+ ---> 90 (7 People), “B”: 89 -----> 78 (12 people), “C”: 77 -----> 66 (13 people), “D”: 65 -----> 54 (4 people), “F”: 53 -----> 0 (2 people).; If you made an A or a B in this course, you should be proud of yourself! This is a course which is considered by many (most?) people to be very difficult!; 4. PHYSICS 2401 (Physics II), RELATED TOPICS, & MY FUTURE TEACHING ASSIGNMENTS; Many of you must take Phys. 2401 (Principles of Physics II). Thanks very much to many for asking me to teach this course. But, I'm not doing this anytime soon! In Fall, 2009, I'll teach: Physics 1403, General Physics I (Essentially the same as we just finished, but without calculus, AND Physics 4309-5304, Solid State Physics. I'm also involved in the following activities which count towards my Faculty Work Load ("Teaching Load"): Supervision of 2 Physics PhD students, serving as Physics Graduate Advisor (a new assignment!), serving as co-Director of Engineering Physics, AND serving as Secretary-Treasurer of the Texas Section of the American Physical Society.

NO ONE in the Physics Dept. knows their teaching assignments for Spring & Summer, 2010!!; If you are required to take Physics II, I strongly suggest that you NOT wait to take it, hoping I'll teach it sometime! It's best if you take Physics II ASAP after Physics I, while the Physics I material is fresh in your mind. Those who normally teach Physics II have a different teaching style than mine. However, all are good instructors!In Physics 1408, you've seen most of the ways that we have to describe the dynamics of particles and large masses. This has been mostly the phyiscs of the 1600's & 1700's (done first by Galileo, Newton & others) but it's still obviously useful today. Those who will take Physics II, Physics 2401, will learn about Electricity, Magnetism, Light, & Optics, which is the physics of the 1700's & 1800's (done first by people named Coulomb, Ampere, Farday, Hertz, Maxwell, & others). This also is still obviously useful today.; Unfortunately, Physics II is where most of you will end your education in physics. This means that most of you will never be exposed to the really interesting (to me!) topics, which are the modern topics which are the Physics of the 1900's & the 2000's. These are topics such as Relativity, Quantum Mechanics, Atomic Physics, Condensed Matter Physics, Biophysics, Nuclear Physics, Particle Physics, Cosmology, ... These are covered in more advanced courses, which are taken by Physics majors & (some) Engineering majors. To take these courses also requires a high level of sophistication in math. However, these are not only very interesting topics, but they also are topics which are relevant to an understanding of a large portion of modern technology such as computer chips, lasers, light emitting diodes, MRI imaging, electron microscopes, ..... Since most of you are Engineering or Science majors, I encourage you to consider taking at least Physics III (Physics 2402; "Modern Physics"), which is focussed on an introduction to relativity, quantum mechanics, and statistical physics.; 5. Homework. Looking at homework grades for some of you, it is a mystery why some of you have done ZERO homework all session. Homework is 20% of the lecture portion of your grade & I WILL NOT drop it in calculating the course grade! Based on what some of you have said about difficulties with this website, I have decided that I will drop the lowest homework grade when I calculate your total homework grade.; 6. Exams I, II, III are Here. If you didn't pick yours up, all unclaimed, graded material) are in a box outside of office (Rm 18). Items left there after Aug. 10 will be thrown away!; Statistics:; Exam I: High = 106 (extra points), Low =35. Average = (about) 72 (Very Good!!). 6 scored 100 or above!! Breakdown by approximate Syllabus grade scale.; “A”: 100+ --> 90 (10 People), “B”: 89 --> 78 (8 people), “C”: 77 --> 66 (12 people), “D”: 65 ---> 54 (5 people), “F”: 53 -----> 0 (4 people); Exam II: High = 110 (extra points), Low = 29. Average = (about) 67. 5 scored 100 or above!! Breakdown by approximate Syllabus grade scale.; “A”: 100+ ---> 90 (7 People), “B”: 89 -----> 78 (10 people), “C”: 77 -----> 66 (14 people), “D”: 65 -----> 54 (4 people), “F”: 53 -----> 0 (2 people); Exam III: 35 took it. High = 107 (extra points), Low = 29 (excluding a blank paper!) Ave. = (about) 67. 4 scored 100 or above!! Breakdown by approximate Syllabus scale.; “A”: 100+ ---> 90 (6 People), “B”: 89 -----> 78 (9 people), “C”: 77 -----> 66 (13 people), “D”: 65 -----> 54 (4 people), “F”: 53 -----> 0 (3 people); 7. Homework is on Mastering Physics. Due to the timing of lectures & exams in summer, it is often necessary to have homework submission deadline on a chapter be AFTER we've had an exam on that chapter. Sorry! There have been some questions about the grading tolerance & significant figures on Mastering Physics. These are explained in detail on the "Help" webpages of the website. For your convenience, I have copied that explanation into a Word document. I will hand it out in class tomorrow, Thurs., July 16. I have also posted that document Here, so that you can download it if you wish.; Most problems come from the end of chapter problems in our book. Doing homework is the most effective means of learning physics, which is impossible otherwise! Instructions for accessing Mastering Physics & registering for it are Here. A document on this is Here. Instructions are also in your Student Access Kit. If you didn’t get a Student Access Kit with your book, please purchase one ASAP at Mastering Physics!! Remember that Homework is 20% of your grade in this course!; I'll ATTEMPT to post problem assignments for the chapters shortly after we begin a chapter. They are typically due at 11:30pm about a week later. The scoring is discussed on the website. Click on the "Grading Policy" link at the top of any assignment. I've used this website for a while, but I am NOT an expert & there may be some aspects that I don't know about or fully understand. Thanks for your patience & understanding about this!!! You may be able to find homework solutions on the web or elsewhere. If so, try to solve the problems first, WITHOUT looking at the solutions. Copying solutions will NOT teach you Physics. Also, presenting other's work as your own is PLAGARISM!! This is contrary to TTU policy, & is both unethical & immoral! For copyrighted material, it is also against Federal Law!!; I strongly encourage you to work on the homework problems (& the study for the exams) with friends or others in the class. Forming study groups is more efficient means of learning something than doing it by yourself. Forming collaborative groups is the way that most Professionals work in real life.; 8. EMAIL: All 40 of you in our class are on my distribution list!! If you don't receive my messages, something is wrong. Possibilities are that it went to your junk (spam) box or that your mailbox is full. An announcement Here gives further discussion. I make announcements by email!! It's vital that I have your correct email address, that you tell me if it changes, & that you check your email DAILY! Thank you!!; 9. Attendance: I don't take roll & I have no attendance policy. But, isn't it obvious that (unless you're a genius!) attendance is REQUIRED to get a good grade (or to LEARN SOMETHING!)? Class attendance & grades are correlated! Skipping WASTES the tuition/fees that you (or someone) paid! With tuition & fees for a full-time (Texas) student, each meeting costs about $26.12. So, each time you skip, you're throwing away $26.12. After a while this adds up! My lectures may not be entertaining or brilliant, but I do expose you to the material.; 10. Course Co-Requisites: a. Laboratory: You MUST be enrolled concurrently in in Physics 1408 Laboratory. Exceptions? Ask the Department of Physics office (Science Room 101, 742-3767)! Lab Syllabus. b. Mathematics: You MUST be enrolled concurrently in (or have already taken) Calculus I (TTU's Math 1351, or equivalent elsewhere)! A thorough knowledge of Algebra & Trig. (or Pre- Calculus) is assumed!; This ISN'T a math course! It's is not my job to teach you math & there simply is no time to do so!!; I must assume that you know it! Major problems students have with this course are the fast pace & the math.; 11. How do you learn physics? Coming to class, listening to lectures, & reading the book are all very important & necessary. But, these things alone are usually not sufficient!Unless you are a genius, the ONLY way to learn physics is to DO PHYSICS YOURSELF(or with friends) by WORKING MANY, MANY, MANY PROBLEMS!!

MISCELLANEOUS COURSE INFORMATION is Here.

Items covered are: Attendance, Study Groups, Labs, Email List, My Teaching Philosophy, Tips on Downloading & Printing Course Related Files, Fonts in Course Related Files and Textbook.