UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT	Physics 031 Spring 2019 General Information
Department of Physics

Instructor: Jason Pepe, Hills 107

Phone: 656-8865

email: Jason.Pepe@uvm.edu

Office Hours: Wed, Fri 9:30-10:30 or by appointment

Materials:

· Textbook: "Physics for Scientists and Engineers" by Randall D. Knight, Fourth Edition with MasteringPhysics registration code

· Pocket calculator with trigonometric functions, scientific notation and exponential functions.

Course format:

· Three 50-minute lectures per week on Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 1:10 P.M., Rowell 103 for section A and at 8:30 A.M., Given E131 for section B. New topics will be presented at this time.  See Course Outline for details. The lectures are not a substitute for your textbook reading assignments. The purpose of the lecture is to identify the key points and to help clarify some of the more difficult aspects of the reading assignment.

Homework:

Homework problems serve as illustrations of the lecture material and are essential towards consolidation of the students' grasp of physical principles.  The Course Outline shows the homework assignments for each chapter.  Although homework assignments will not be collected, students are expected to have completed all the pertinent homework problems from the textbook according to the outline schedule.

Mastering Physics Quizzes and Pre-lectures:

On most weeks, there will be a Mastering Physics online quiz. This quiz will typically be available starting Tuesday evening and the completed problems will typically be due that same Friday night at 11:59pm. Late Mastering Physics assignments will not be accepted. There will be no make up quizzes. The lowest score will be dropped from the record. In addition to the homework quizzes, a Mastering Physics pre-lecture assignment for each chapter will be given.

Mastering Physics course identification:

Section A (1:10pm lecture): UVMPHYSICS31ASPR19

Section B (8:30am lecture): UVMPHYSICS31BSPR19

Lab:

In your laboratory section, which meets weekly on Wednesday or Thursday, you will perform a number of experiments to investigate the topics that we present in lecture. Your lab section’s BlackBoard page has more detailed information about the structure of the lab component of PHYS 031.

Examinations:

There will be three hourly exams based on lecture, homework and textbook material.  An equation sheet will be provided for each exam. The final examination will be cumulative.

Course Grades:

For each student, a score will be computed based on 100 points to be distributed as follows:

§ Hourly exams: 3 ×12 = 36 points.

§ Mastering Physics pre-lectures: 6 points

§ Mastering Physics homework quizzes: 18 points

§ Lab: 20 points

§ Final examination: 20 points.

Numerical to Letter Grade Conversion:

Letter grades will be assigned as follows:

A range = 90 - 100

B range = 80 - 89

C range = 70 - 79

D range = 60 - 69

F = below 60

Attendance:

A student's attendance record provides additional information for assessing a student's overall attitude in the course.  It will be used for advising, for documentation in a letter of reference, etc.  It is the student's responsibility to keep up with missed material, announcements, etc. 

Excuses:

Circumstances beyond a student's control may warrant an absence.  Valid excuses for such absences are notes from the academic dean, the attending physician, the team coach, the officiating clergyman, the presiding judge, the arresting officer, etc. 

Missing Hourly Exams:

Missing an hourly exam will result in a score of zero unless the student has a valid excuse as defined above.  A student with a valid excuse may be given a make-up exam at a time that is mutually convenient for the student and the instructor.

Missing the Final:

Missing the final examination will result in a final course grade of F unless the student has arranged with the instructor through the appropriate academic dean for an "Incomplete."

Extra Credit: Extra credit work will not be assigned for the course.