General Physics I, Mechanics, Fall 2008

Lecturer: Walter Lambrecht, Office: Rockefeller 104B, phone 368-6120, email: walter.lambrecht@case.edu
Please send questions of general interest to the bulletin board, see below.
Lectures: Strosacker MWF 11:30-12:20
Clickers: You need to buy a clicker in the bookstore to actively participate in the lectures. Here is what it looks like: cricket
Text : Lecture notes by Prof. Robert Brown are available through this website (see below under documents: cycles1-3) and also available for your convenience in the bookstore.
Optional textbook : Randall D. Knight, Physics for scientists and engineers, a strategic approach, Addison Wesley

This is just a suggestion. You do not have to buy the optional textbook. You could use any textbook you like or none at all as additional reading material. It may be useful if you like studying from a textbook and getting multiple points of view or for later reference because it covers topics that we will not cover. The lecture notes by Bob Brown are required reading and also contain the homework problems. The bound lecture notes in the bookstore are handy. They will save you the trouble of printing out the notes and keeping them together.

Schedule: The course will follow Bob's revolutionary three cycle approach. Each cycle consists of 4 weeks + 1 revision + exam week. Each cycle covers the entire list of topics but as we go through successive cycles we'll dig a bit deeper. In the last week of each cycle one lecture will be reserved for a review session (Monday (exam 2,3) or Wednesday (exam1) ) and the exam will be on Wednesday (exam2,3) or Friday (exam 1)

Reading: The lectures are outlined per week in the description of the cycles below. You should read each chapter before lecture time and come prepared to actively participate in class in demonstrations and multiple choice clicker questions.

Homework: homework problems are an integral part of the text. Basically ALL problems in the text should be turned in. Only some will be graded (in order to facilitate a fast enough feedback) but solutions will be posted for all problems. Even if you did a problem correctly, you still want to review these solutions because they may give you additional insight. If you still have questions about a problem after the solutions are posted, talk to the lecturer or post your question on the bulletin board. Hints will be provided for homework problems. Try those out before you fire off your questions on the bulletin board. But first try without looking at the hints!
Homework due dates: each Monday in class, except if there is no class on Monday, in which case the due date is Wednesday, first homework Wednesday, September 3. Turn your homework in at the beginning of class in the box corresponding to your name and meanwhile pick up your old homework.
Feedback: graded homeworks will generally be returned in class by next Monday
Homework policies: late homeworks will NOT be accepted.
Lowest homework grade will be dropped.

Exam dates: Please note the change for exam2 and 3 : Exam 1:Friday September 26, Exam2 Wednesday, October 29 , Exam3: Wednesday December 3
Final Exam: December 15

Grades: 25 % lab%, 10 % homework, 15 % each midterm, 20 % final.
Alternate option: 25 % lab, 10 % homework, 45 % cycle3 exam, 25 % final.
Exam Policies: Exams are closed book. You may bring one 8x11 sheet of equations. No make-up exams. If you need to miss an exam, request an exemption for participating in the exam at least 1 day ahead of time. Missed exams imply that the other midterm exams will count for a higher percentage. The average or your grades or the cycle 3 exam, will count for 45 % of your total grade.

The first time you check your grades on this site, to proceed, you must agree to accept the browser certificate for the secure connection. Login using your case network id (e.g. pjk6) and password. If you are registered for the course you will see your grades. Though these are generated from the spreadsheet from the course they are not "official". Please report any discrepancies you find.

Note: you will have to re-enter your login/password every time you access the site, if you don't like this either set your browser to remember your password or deny cookies from the server. But in general, it is a good idea, for security, to leave this feature enabled.

This contains general information about your lab. For any questions about the laboratory part of the course, see the responsible instructor, Diana Driscoll.

Post questions of a general nature here. Do not email me asking for homework hints or any other issue which is relevant to the entire class, that is what the bulletin board is for. I will notice your post and reply in a timely fashion. You can set notifications on the bulletin board so that you will know if your post has been responded to. For homework hints see cycles!

By following the above link you will directed to videos of the lectures.

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