PY106 - Elementary Physics II Summer 2000

Class meets daily in SCI 111 from 9:00 to 10:30 a.m.

NEW! Problems 38 and 64 of the chapter 24 assignment (which is due Wednesday, August 2) will be due at the start of class on Thursday, August 3. The rest of this assignment is still due at the usual time (at the start of discussion section on Wednesday, August 2).

Concerning labs:

• The first lab will take place on Thursday, July 6, from 10:30 to 1:00 in the basement of SCI. Both lab sections, A and B, will meet at this time. Afterward, labs will meet either on Tuesday or Thursday. Look here to find out which lab section you are in.
  
  
• Policy on missed labs: If there are extenuating circumstances (which you must explain) that will cause you to miss your regularly scheduled lab session of the week, you may attend the other lab session that week, provided you obtain my permission by MONDAY of the week of the lab you are missing. You should give me written notice, either by e-mail or on paper. You will be permitted to do this only once.
  
  

Concerning discussion sections:

• The first discussion sections will meet on Friday, July 7, from 10:30 to noon. Both discussion sections will run simultaneously on Wednesdays and Fridays from 10:30 to noon. Look here to find out which discussion section you are in.
  
  
• You are required to attend the discussion and lab sections to which you have been assigned. There will be no changes.
  
  
• Homework is due at the start of discussion section and will only be accepted on (or before) the due date. Homework solutions are available on the web the day after the homework is due. Solutions will also be posted on the bulletin board for PY106 that is outside the classroom. Once the solutions are posted, we can not accept homework for grading.
  
  

• Course information - general policies and marking scheme, includes contact information for the professor and teaching fellows
  
  
• Syllabus - course calendar with assignments and labs, linked to course notes
  
  
• Office hours - a list of all the office hours - please feel free to drop by
  
  
• Assignments to discussion and lab sections.
  
  
• Solutions - solutions to the homework assignments will be posted the day after each assignment is due
  
  
• If you have comments, suggestions, or criticisms about the course, please feel free to contact the professor. Alternatively, you can fill in this web-based suggestion form.

Items on reserve in the Science and Engineering Library

There are a number of items on reserve at the library, including:

• 2 copies of volume 1 of the textbook (author is D.C. Giancoli)
• 2 copies of volume 2 of the textbook (author is D.C. Giancoli)
• 1 copy of the Study Guide for our textbook (author is Joseph Boyle)
• 1 copy of the MCAT Physics Study Guide (author is Joseph Boone)

• Exam 1 covers chapters 16-19.
  
  Here are several exercises available for you online to see if you're prepared for Exam 1:
  • Conceptual exercises on Test 1 material - a set of 9 conceptual questions
  • Problems on Test 1 material - a set of 8 problems
  • Test 1 from Spring 1998 - this is the 90-minute test and here are the solutions to the test.
  • Two versions of Test 1 from Spring 1997 - both were 50-minute tests:
    Section A exam and Section C exam
  
  
• Exam 2 covers chapters 20-23.
  
  Here are several exercises available for you online to see if you're prepared for Exam 2:
  • Conceptual exercises on Test 2 material - a set of 10 conceptual questions
  • Problems on Test 2 material - a set of 7 problems on Test 2 material
  • Test 2 from Spring 1998 - this is the 90-minute test and here are the solutions to the test.
  • Test 2 from Spring 1997 is also available - here is the 50-minute test along with the solutions.
  
  
• The final exam covers chapters 16-30.
  The questions from the 1997 final exam are available here, along with the solutions
  
  
• Here are some hints on studying for quizzes and exams:
  • Fair game for surprise quizzes in class includes any material covered in class up through the day before. Note that at the beginning of this course, the homework due dates lag the coverage of material in class.
    
    
  • Fair game for quizzes in discussion sections includes any material that has been covered up through the homework that will be due at the NEXT discussion section.
    
    
  • For ideas on what exam questions or discussion section quizzes on chapters 16 and 17 might look like, please check out the Physics Simulations created by Andrew Duffy and Ali Loewy (of the BU physics department). The lessons on electric forces and fields, and electric potential and potential energy, will be very helpful in forming a conceptual understanding of the material presented in class on chapters 16 and 17. You may see problems like these on quizzes or exams. Warning: the Java simulations in these lessons are not friendly to some Mac platforms.
    
    
  • In addition to conceptual questions from previous years, the MCAT practice questions on the Giancoli web page also offer more practice answering conceptual questions.
    
    

• To gain a conceptual understanding of electric fields and potentials, try these lessons on E-fields and potentials by Andrew Duffy and Ali Loewy of the BU Physics Department.
  
  
• Electric fields can be tricky things to understand. Try this simulation of electric fields.
  
  
• Here are also a couple of magnetic field simulations. The first focuses on long straight wires and the second deals with coils and solenoids.
  
  
• Here is an explanation of the right-hand rule for determining the directions of the velocity, magnetic field, and force on a charge vectors.
  
  
• There is also a simulation of AC Circuits.
  
  
• Here's an optics simulation using lenses and mirrors, with ray diagrams.
  
  
• Physics Simulations on the web - check out these simulations (presented as Java applets) from various sources on the web.
  
  
• Conceptual exercises - these are the conceptual exercises, with solutions, that were done in PY106 in the Spring 1999 semester
  
  
• Giancoli web page - The book publishers have set up an excellent web page to go with the textbook. For each and every chapter it includes:
  • MCAT-type practice questions
  • simulations of some of the things you'll see in class
  • conceptual questions and problems for you to test your knowledge
  • real-world applications of the physics you're learning about
  • relevant links
  
  

• Formation of an image in a concave mirror
  
  
• Formation of an image by a convex lens
  
  
• Depth of field for a convex lens--images in focus
  
  
• See optics in real life in the Exploratorium's Cow eye dissection web pages

• Boston Museum of Science - a short T (or bike) ride away, and well worth a trip
• Exploratorium - science museum in San Francisco
• The How Things Work web site - the physics of everyday life
• Scientific American
• New Scientist - a weekly science magazine from Britain
• Virtual Laboratory - physics simulations in Java at the University of Oregon
• World Lecture Hall - Physics
• Physics Education resources
• UC Berkeley Physics Demonstrations
• BU Physics Department

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