Homework schedule¶
All homework is assigned and submitted through WileyPLUS. There are fourteen problem sets over the semester and the two lowest scores are dropped.
Every set is ten problems and worth ten points — the same for all fourteen, so each one counts equally and dropping your two lowest is an even trade. Sets are due at 11:59 PM on the date listed. Nothing is due after the last day of classes, and nothing is due on the reading day.
Start early
The drop-two rule exists so that illness, travel and technology failures are already absorbed — that is its entire purpose. It is not a licence to skip two sets and then ask for an extension on a third, because there are no extensions. Begin each set when it is assigned, so that you still have time to come to office hours if you get stuck.
This is a default, not an absolute: if you are registered with DASS, or have an approved absence, see accommodations and approved absences.
Problem sets¶
| Set | Chapters | Topic | Due |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 21 | Coulomb's law, quantization and conservation of charge | Tue 9/1 |
| 2 | 22 | Electric fields of particles, lines and disks; forces and torques in a field | Tue 9/8 |
| 3 | 23 | Electric flux and Gauss' law in all three symmetries | Tue 9/15 |
| 4 | 24 | Electric potential and potential energy | Sun 9/20 |
| 🖊 Exam 1, Tuesday 9/22 | |||
| 5 | 25 | Capacitance, energy storage, dielectrics | Tue 10/6 |
| 6 | 26 | Current, current density, resistance and resistivity, electric power | Fri 10/16 |
| 7 | 27 + 28 | Kirchhoff's rules, RC circuits, magnetic force and torque | Sun 10/25 |
| 🖊 Exam 2, Tuesday 10/27 | |||
| 8 | 29 | Biot–Savart, Ampère's law, solenoids | Thu 11/5 |
| 9 | 30 | Faraday's law, Lenz's law, induced electric fields | Tue 11/10 |
| 10 | 30 | Inductance, self-induction, RL circuits, magnetic energy | Thu 11/12 |
| 11 | 31 | LC and RLC circuits, AC power | Tue 11/17 |
| 12 | 32 + 33 | Displacement current and Maxwell's equations; electromagnetic waves, polarization, refraction and total internal reflection | Mon 11/23 |
| 🦃 Thanksgiving | |||
| 13 | 34 | Spherical mirrors, refracting surfaces, thin lenses and two-lens systems | Thu 12/3 |
| 14 | 35 + 36 | Light as a wave, Young's double slit and its intensity, single-slit diffraction | Tue 12/8 |
The last topics of chapter 36 — the circular aperture, diffraction by a double slit and diffraction gratings — are covered on the final day of class and have no problem set. They appear on the practice exam handed out that day, and on the final.
Reading checks¶
A short reading check accompanies each lecture — twenty-three in total, one for every class meeting except the first. Each is due at 11:00 AM on the morning of the lecture it covers — the moment class starts — and covers only the sections being taught that day.
These are not meant to be hard. They check that you have met the vocabulary and the main idea before class, so that lecture time can be spent on the parts that are genuinely difficult. Because each one covers a single lecture rather than a whole chapter, they are short. The three lowest are dropped.
Reading checks are adaptive: WileyPLUS keeps giving you items and a progress bar fills as you demonstrate you have the idea. Points are awarded when you reach a benchmark on that bar — 50% earns 60 points, 80% earns 80, and 100% earns 100. Two things follow, and both are in your favour:
- Points you have reached are banked. They are not re-measured at the deadline, so if your progress later dips you keep what you had already earned. You cannot lose ground by attempting more.
- There is no partial credit below halfway. Getting to 50% is therefore the only threshold that really matters — start the check rather than leaving it, even if you only have ten minutes.
Grading¶
Homework is graded automatically by WileyPLUS. Each of the fourteen sets is worth the same ten points, and your score is simply the fraction of those points you earn. That fraction carries the same meaning as everywhere else in the course: A-level work is as well as could reasonably be expected, B-level work has noticeable flaws but is well above the minimum standard, C-level work meets the minimum requirements, and D-level work shows that some aspects have been learned but the minimum has not been met.
Together, homework and reading checks are 30% of the final grade. See the course overview for the full weighting and the letter-grade scale.