Cañada College

General Physics I

Instructor

Chuck Iverson
Office:  18-112
Office Phone:  650-306-3253
Web Page:  http://www.civerson.com
Email:  iverson@smccd.edu

Class Location and Meeting Times

Building 22, Room 116
8:10-9:25 am MW (Lecture)
9:45-11:00 am MW (Lab AA)
8:10-11:00 am F (Lab AC)

Prerequisites

Math 130 (Trigonometry) with a grade of C or better.

Materials

• College Physics (1st Edition) by Giordano (ISBN 0-534-42471-6)
  
• WebAssign

Grading

Your grade will be based on:

• Homework (30%)
• Exams (40%)
• Labs (20%)
• Final Project (10%)

Course Description

Study of mechanics (displacement, velocity, acceleration, forces, torques, momentum, energy), sound and heat.

Student Learning Objectives

The following are a few of the Student Learning Objectives (SLOs) for Physics 210:

• Perform an analysis of a physical system in terms of forces, velocities, displacements and accelerations and time using Newton's Laws.
• Analyze the motion of a body (rotational or linear) in terms of momentum, kinetic energy and potential energy.
• Perform an analysis of isobaric, isochoric, isothermal and adiabatic processes in their relation to work, heat transfer and changes in internal energy.

Homework

Reading the textbook and doing the assigned exercises are the most important work students can do between classes to insure understanding of concepts and to develop skill in applying problem solving techniques. Consequently, exercises contribute 30% to the final grade.  All homework is done online through WebAssign:  http://webassign.net/login.html.  The class key is:  canadacollege 7484 5827.

Exams

Frequent quizzes, five midterm exams and a final project will be given during the semester. Each midterm exam will cover three or four chapters. You may have one sheet of notes for each chapter covered. See the tentative schedule below for the dates of the exams.

Make-Up Exams

A make-up exam will be offered to any student who scores less than his or her homework average on a particular exam. Before taking a make-up exam, a student must meet with me to review his or her original exam. A make-up exam score will be limited to a student's current homework average. A make-up exam score will replace an original exam score only if the make-up exam score is higher.
Expectations

I can help you succeed in this class, but I can't succeed for you. In this class you're expected to be responsible for your own academic success.

• That means you are expected to attend class and to arrive on time (2 lates equals 1 absence, 4 absences leads to a drop).
• If you're going to miss class, you should notify me ahead of time, either by phone or email.
• You are expected to contribute to class discussions and to ask questions when something is not clear.
• You are expected to do your homework assignments before the class when they are due and to seek help from me or your classmates or a tutor if you are having difficulty completing them.
• You should check the class notes and assignments link (top right of this page) if you miss class. All class assignments, exam solutions, sample code and special notes will be posted at this web site after class.
• You are expected to see me during office hours for additional help or to take make-up exams.

Instructor's Fall 2009 Class Schedule

My class schedule, below, shows when and where I'm on campus. The best way to contact me if I'm not on campus is via email. I check my email several times a day. I have my email automatically sorted by the first 4 characters in the subject field. For this class, the subject line of the email should begin with P210.

Tentative Topic Schedule