PHYS 1030
Concepts of Physics and Lab
 4 Credit Hours

May be taken with ASTR 1030 to form a two semester sequence in physical science.

Course Information

Course Description:
This is a one-semester introductory physics course for non-science and non-engineering majors. Emphasis is placed on understanding the nature of physics and applying basic physics concepts in one's everyday life experience and work. The use of mathematics is limited to basic algebraic manipulations required to understand and apply physics concepts. Topics covered include mechanical motion, energy, temperature and heat, fluids, electricity, magnetism, and wave motion. Four hours lecture and four hours laboratory.

Course Objectives:

This course integrates ideas, data acquisition, problem-solving skills, and computer applications. Such a broad-based course requires the student to integrate physics knowledge with that from other areas, to critically assess any situation confronting him or her, and to develop investigation skills that he or she can use to acquire knowledge for the rest of his or her life.

  • By the end of the term the student should be able to:
  • Describe what physics is and where it fits in the broader scheme of the sciences.
  • Recognize and employ in conversation the terms used in physics to describe motion.
  • Understand how objects move under the influence of gravity near the surface of the earth.
  • Apply each of Newton's three laws of motion to familiar situations.
  • Explain how acceleration is involved in changing the direction of an object's velocity in circular motion (centripetal acceleration).
  • Use the concepts of work, energy, and power; and tell how work done on a system can result in either an increase in kinetic energy or potential energy.
  • Comprehend the principle of conservation of energy and apply it to practical problems.
  • Compare and contrast impulse and momentum. Employ the law of conservation of momentum in analyzing simple collisions.
  • Relate the concept of torque to rotational equilibrium and levers.
  • Understand the concept of pressure and apply Archimedes' Principle and Bernoulli's Principle.
  • Recognize the distinction between temperature and heat and, briefly, describe the methods of heat transfer.
  • Describe the behavior of the electrostatic force, and use the concepts of electric field and electric potential.
  • Explain the concepts of an electric circuit and electric current to a reasonably informed peer.
  • Identify the basic components of the electromagnetic spectrum and tell how different types of electromagnetic radiation interact with the body.
Prerequisites and Corequisites:
The student should have a knowledge of basic algebra to the degree that he/she can solve simple literal equations.
Course Topics:
The course is divided into twelve sequential units.  Each subsequent unit is dependent on the previous units.  The topics covered are An Introduction to Physics; Straight-line Motion; Projectile Motion; Newton's Laws of Motion; Circular Motion, the Planets and Gravity; Energy; Momentum and Impulse; Torque and Rotational Equilibrium; Fluid Behavior; Temperature and Heat; Electrostatics and Electric Circuits; and Wave Phenomena.  
Specific Course Requirements:
To succeed in this course the student must be curious, self-motivated, well-organized and capable of sustained effort.  The student must be computer-literate having the abilities to access and browse the web. to use word processing software, and to send and receive attachments via email.  The ability to use spreadsheet software to create simple line graphs is a plus.
Textbooks, Supplementary Materials, Hardware and Software Requirements
Required Textbooks:

Please visit the Virtual Bookstore to obtain textbook information for this course:

 http://rodp.bkstr.com/
Supplementary Materials:
In order to do the required "homework" the student must purchase access to the homework website, WebAssign.  The access code can be purchased online with a credit card at the following URL http://www.webassign.net/ .    The student must purchase a laboratory kit, a set of materials used in performing the laboratory exercises, from the the virtual bookstore. http://rodp.bkstr.com/
Hardware Requirements:
The minimum requirements can be found at http://www.rodp.org/students/hardware_software.htm. Specific hardware requirements for this course include a personal computer which is linked to the internet via dial-up (modem)  or LAN connection (Ethernet or similar).   Your computer must have a CD-ROM drive.
Software Requirements:
The minimum requirements can be found at http://www.rodp.org/students/hardware_software.htm. Specific software requirements for this course include the Microsoft Internet Explorer explorer.  You must also have access to a word processing package which includes a spreadsheet / graphing functions. Media player software capable of playing MPG4 files is essential.    A useful feature of such software would be frame-by-frame advancement.
Instructor Information
Please see the separate page inside the course to find instructor contact information as well as a statement of virtual office hours and other communication information.
Assessment and Grading
Testing Procedures:
  • Pre-tests are required at the beginning of each unit.  These self-tests are taken online with immediate feedback .  Grades on these tests do not contribute toward the semester grade.
  • Unit tests are required at the conclusion of each unit.  They may be taken one time only during a specified time period.  These grades do count toward the semester grade.  Results, with feedback, will be available immediately to both student and instructor.
  • One proctored mid-term and one proctored final exam, each taken during a specified time period, complete the testing process.  The student is responsible for selecting and obtaining an acceptable proctor.  Instructions for this procedure are found at http://www.tn.regentsdegrees.org/courses/syllabi/www.rodp.org/proctorstudentform.htm
Grading Procedure:
A student's grade is determined based on his/her numerical average achieved through completion of seven items: homework, laboratory reports, class participation (discussion forum usage), unit tests, internet research project, mid-term examination and final examination.  Levels of achievement and weighting for each of these elements is outlined below. 
Grading Scale:
 
Numerical Range Letter Grade
90-100 A
80-89 B
70-79 C

Grades are assigned in conformity with the college-wide grading scale listed above.  The numerical grade is computed from a weighted average of the following items with the indicted weights.  In cases where a student has demonstrated a significant level of improvement, the weight of the final exam may be increased to reflect the then-present level of mastery.  If a unit test is missed the final exam grade will be substituted for it in the computation.

 
Item Weight (%)
Homework 15
Laboratories 20
Report 5
Class Participation 10
Unit Tests 20
Mid-term Exam 10
Final Examination 20
Total 100
Assignments and Participation
Assignments and Projects:
The assignments for this course consist of one homework set per unit, nine laboratory experiments with reports, one vector graphical problem set, and a internet research paper.  Exact due dates for homework are specified on the WebAssign web site.  Laboratory due dates are more flexible and suggested due dates are listed in the course calendar.  The first five laboratory reports must be turned in prior to taking the mid-term examination.  The internet research paper is due one week prior to the final examination.  The time window during which each unit test can be taken is shown in the course calendar.   Please note: performing laboratory experiments requires a lab partner's assistance.  This person may be any willing individual.  It is a good way to involve your friends and family.
Class Participation:
Each student is expected to participate fully in the class discussion bulletin board.  This participation is of two kinds: sending and responding to pleas for help from fellow students and responding to the instructor-posted Discussion Questions.  The instructor will post discussion questions unannounced.  It is the student's responsibility to check the bulletin board daily for open threads and announcements.  Each student is required to respond, in a thoughtful manner, to each discussion question as well as to respond to the comment of at least one fellow student on that same question.  After a suitable time the discussion will be ended by the instructor and student responses noted and graded.  Every comment must observe proper netiquette.  Every comment m ust be labeled with the students name to permit proper evaluation.   Last but not least, learn to email the instructor regularly with questions.  He or she thrives on them.
Punctuality:
To keep yourself on track plan to do the following each week: work through a unit with its pre-test, assigned reading, PowerPoint presentation, homework submission to WebAssign, experiment with laboratory report, and end by taking the unit exam. Planning your week is of vital importance.  You can't do it all on Saturday afternoon.  Anyway, the instructor is not available on Saturday afternoon.
Course Ground Rules

Academic Honesty: Every bit of work you submit must be your own.  Students found to be cheating on any quiz, exam or research paper will receive a non-revocable "0" grade for that item.  In what ways can you collaborate without violating the honesty policy?  You are encouraged to study together for quizzes and exams where possible, but once a person has taken a quiz or exam he/she must not communicate any further with his/her study mates.  You may perform the laboratory experiments together and submit the same data as your lab partner, but you must do your own calculations and answer the lab questions yourself.  On the research paper you may share ideas and websites but each individual must write his/her own paper.  On homework a good deal of collaboration is expected and encouraged.  Students are encouraged to post requests for help with homework on the class bulletin board.  Others are expected to reply by giving help.  Simply giving the answer is not helpful and could be misleading because each student has different data for the same problem and should thus arrive at different answers.

You are encouraged to seek help from the instructor and from each other via email using the internal WebCT email tool and the class discussion forum.  Your instructor expects questions concerning course material, the answering of conceptual questions , the performance of experiments, and the working of WebAssign problems.  If you knew it all already, you wouldn't be in the class and we would be out of a job.  WebAssign homework assignments give you three trials to get the right answer.  If you use two of those and still can't figure what to do, by all means, email the instructor for help early enough so he/she can reply in time to help you before the deadline expires.  Please note: all WebAssign deadline times are in either eastern standard or eastern daylight savings time, depending on the time of year,  whereas course times in WebCT are based on central time.  Use proper netiquette in your communications.  Remember, there is a record of every word you put in an email and you don't want to have to eat any of them.  Introduce yourself to other students as early as practical.  Get started, right away.  Set regular times for your home "class" and guard this time zealously. 

If technical problems arise seek help from WebCT immediately.  You have a course calendar that includes due dates and times for all assignments.  You know when things are due.  Plan ahead and do not expect extensions except under extreme circumstances.  To help with circumstances that may be  beyond your control we drop one homework grade, one lab grade and one unit test grade.  

Check for news and announcements regularly.  Above all, do not procrastinate!
Guidelines for Communications
Email:
  • Always include a subject line.
  • Remember without facial expressions some comments may be taken the wrong way. Be careful in wording your emails. Use of emoticons might be helpful in some cases.
  • Use standard fonts. Do not send large attachments without permission.
  • Special formatting such as centering, audio messages, tables, html, etc. should be avoided unless necessary to complete an assignment or other communication.
  • Respect the privacy of other class members
Discussion Groups:
  • Review the discussion thread s thoroughly before entering the discussion. Be a lurker then a discussant.
  • Try to maintain threads by using the "Reply" button rather starting a new topic.
  • Do not make insulting or inflammatory statements to other members of the discussion group. Be respectful of other's ideas.
  • Be patient and read the comments of other group members thoroughly before entering your remarks.
  • Be cooperative with group leaders in completing assigned tasks.
  • Be positive and constructive in group discussions.
  • Respond in a thoughtful and timely manner.
Chat:
  • Introduce yourself to the other learners in the chat session.
  • Be polite. Choose your words carefully. Do not use derogatory statements.
  • Be concise in responding to others in the chat session.
  • Be prepared to open the chat session at the scheduled time.
  • Be constructive in your comments and suggestion
Web Resources:

Library

The Tennessee Virtual Library is available to all students enrolled in the Regents Degree Program. Links to library materials (such as electronic journals, databases, interlibrary loans, digital reserves, dictionaries, encyclopedias, maps, and librarian support) and Internet resources needed by learners to complete online assignments and as background reading must be included in all courses. 

Students With Disabilities

Qualified students with disabilities will be provided reasonable and necessary academic accommodations if determined eligible by the appropriate disability services staff at their home institution. Prior to granting disability accommodations in this course, the instructor must receive written verification of a student's eligibility for specific accommodations from the disability services staff at the home institution. It is the student's responsibility to initiate contact with their home institution's disability services staff and to follow the established procedures for having the accommodation notice sent to the instructor.  Please note: all students, with and without disabilities, will need someone to help them perform laboratory experiments.  This is a good opportunity to involve friends and family in your studies.

Syllabus Changes

The instructor reserves the right to make changes as necessary to this syllabus. If changes are necessitated during the term of the course, the instructor will immediately notify students of such changes both by individual email communication and posting both notification and nature of change(s) on the course bulletin board.

Technical Support

Telephone Support:
If you are having problems logging into your course,
timing out of your course, using your course web site tools, or other technical problems, please contact the AskRODP Help Desk by calling

1-866-550-7637 (toll free)

or go to the AskRODP website at:

http://help.rodp.org