Physics 1307 : General Physics - Mechanics

Fall 2023 Course Information

• Lecturer: Professor Randall J. Scalise
• Lecture meeting times and place: You should read the assigned chapters in the textbook, watch the assigned videos, and read my lecture notes before lecture.
  • MWF 1:00-1:50pm in room 123 Fondren Science Building
• Office hours: after lecture and by appointment.
• Contact:
  • Send me e-mail: <scalise@smu.edu> or
  • Call or leave a message at 768-2504
  
  
• Graduate Teaching Assistant: Mr. Yingnan Xu
  TA office hours: Thursdays 2-4pm in FOSC 7
• Text: Halliday, Resnick, and Walker Fundamentals of Physics, 12th edition, (HRW12) Volume 1.
  This is the official textbook for the course. We will cover chapters 1-15. The version listed includes Wiley Plus which gives you access to an electronic version of the book and online learning tools. If you are not interested in Wiley Plus, you may use a different edition or a different author; mechanics has not changed in 200 years. Just be sure to READ whatever book you choose.
  • textbook purchase options for PHYS 1303 Introductory Mechanics
  • wileyplus flyer
  • WileyPlus course section ID: B54577
  
  
  
• Objective: Upon completion of this course students will be able to demonstrate basic facility with the methods and approaches of scientific inquiry. In particular, 1) Students will demonstrate basic facility with the problem-solving methods related to mechanics. 2) Students will be able to explain how the concepts and findings of physics shape our world.
  
  
• Syllabus
  
  
• Lecture Notes:
  • Chapter 1
  • Chapter 3 (Note: Chapters 2 and 3 are switched!)
  • Chapter 2
  • Chapter 4
  • Chapters 5,6
  • Chapter 7
  • Chapter 8
  • Chapter 9
  • Chapter 10
  • Chapter 11
  • Chapter 12
  • Chapter 13
  • Chapter 14
  • Chapter 15
  
  
• Practice Exams:
  • Exam 1 - Spring 1996, 14 pages, PDF (125128 bytes), Answers.
  • Exam 2 - Spring 1996, 14 pages, PDF (152428 bytes), Answers.
  • Exam 3 - Spring 1996, 17 pages, PDF (281522 bytes), Answers.
  • Final - Spring 1996, 20 pages, PDF (299075 bytes), Answers.
• Exam Dates: Open book and e-book, notes, homework. You may not collaborate with anyone by any method.
  • Exam 1 - Wednesday 27 September 2023 in lecture
  • Exam 2 - Wednesday 1 November 2023 in lecture
  • Final Exam (Cumulative) - Friday 8 December 2023 11:30 AM - 2:30 PM in room 123 Fondren Science
• Make-up Quizzes and Exams: You must present me with a verifiable excuse in writing. No make-up will be given for the final exam.
• Homework Quizzes: 20 minutes long, at the beginning of lecture, open book, open notes, open homework, based strongly on the homework.
• Reading Quizzes: Unannounced, based on the assigned reading, very short, very easy (if you have done the assigned reading)
• Homework: Due on the day of the quiz at the end of the quiz at 1:20pm. These could be paper copies or scanned to PDF and emailed to me on time, at or before 1:20pm on the quiz day. Homework will not be graded for accuracy, only for completeness. To receive full credit, all the steps in your solution must be shown, not merely the answer.
  
  Due dates are strictly enforced. 50% if late; 0% once the solutions are posted. You may work together, but the work that you turn in should be unique. Identical work will receive a grade that is divided among all parties. It is possible to find answers to some homework solutions on the internet; do not do this. The point, after all, is not to fool me into thinking that you have learned physics, but rather actually to learn some physics.
• Laboratory: If you need the one-credit laboratory course, you must register separately for Physics 1105.
• Grading: (Absolute, not curved) Letter Grade Break Points
  • Exam 1 - 27%
  • Exam 2 - 27%
  • Final - 26%
  • Homework Quizzes - 10% (Drop lowest)
  • Homework - 5% (Drop lowest)
  • Reading Quizzes - 5% (Drop lowest)
  A student who is absent from class without valid reason for two consecutive weeks will be administratively dropped from the class by the instructor.
• Official University Calendar
• Homework Assignments These are from the 10th edition.
  Q=Question, P=Problem
  • Ch1 - Q:NA; P:3,9,12,27;
  • Ch3 - Q:All; P:12,16; (Note: Chapters 2 and 3 are switched!)
  • Ch2 - Q:All; P:2,15,18,19,25,37,44,53;
  • Ch4 - Q:All; P:3,11,22,27,70,72;
  • Ch5 - Q:All; P:7,34,42,57;
  • Ch6 - Q:All; P:13,36,43,49,51;
  • Ch7 - Q:All; P:11,20,39,46;
  • Ch8 - Q:All; P:3,13,42,47;
  • Ch9 - Q:All; P:2,6,9,31,40,49,60,100;
  • Ch10 - Q:All; P:13,22,41,53;
  • Ch11 - Q:All; P:3,11,26,54;
  • Ch12 - Q:All; P:7,14;
  • Ch13 - Q:All; P:8,21,36,54;
  • Ch14 - Q:All; P:2,10,32,64;
  • Ch15 - Q:All; P:11,33,42,58;
• Homework Solutions
  
• Mechanical Universe
• The Feynman Lectures
• MIT Open Courseware (Physics)
• Fundamentals of Physics I Yale, Professor Ravi Shankar
• SMU PHYS 1303 Professor Stephen Sekula, Fall 2018
• Demonstrations by Professor Julius Sumner Miller
  
  
• SMU Required Syllabus Statements

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