Physics 207: General Physics Spring 2013

Lectures:               TTh 12:05 - 12:55 PM in 2103 Chamberlin Hall
Honors Lectures: F 12:05 - 12:55 PM in 2103 Chamberlin Hall, optional except for honors students
Instructor:            Professor Peter Timbie
Discussion:           led by Graduate Student TA, 2 hrs/week; Drop-in Homework available 12 hrs/week
Lab:                       led by Graduate Student TA, 3 hrs/week

Sir Isaac Newton

Ludwig Boltzmann

Caroline Herschel

Sophie Germain

Welcome to Physics 207: General Physics!
Mechanics, Heat, and Sound
The main course website is at Learn@UW

Course Overview

Physics 207 is a calculus-based introduction to physics taken mainly by students majoring in one of the sciences. It is taught as a 'flipped classroom.' Students read the text, listen to an online 'prelecture' and answer 'checkpoint' questions before coming to class. Classtime is devoted to building up problem-solving skills.

* The textbook is called 'SmartPhysics' (by Gladding, Selen and Stelzer) and is *required*. The online portion of this book includes the prelectures and checkpoints. (We are using the online homework portion of the text for extra practice.)

* An 'iClicker' is *required* for answering questions in class. This is the standard clicker for UW and works in other classes too.

* Online homework 'Mastering Physics' is *required*.

* The 'Physics for Scientists/ Engineers: A Strategic Approach with Modern Physics (third edition)' text by Randall. K. Knight is recommended/optional. This is the same text that is used in the next semester of the course, Physics 208. Hardbound copies are on reserve in the Physics Library.

* The Lab Manual is available in the bookstore and online (free!) – there's no need to buy the hardcopy.

Learning Goals

a. Learn basic physical principles (forces, conservation of energy, etc.)

b. Solve problems using both quantitative and qualitative applications of these physical principles

c. Overcome misconceptions about the behavior of the physical world

d. Understand the range of applicability of physical principles, particularly to the each student’s particular field of study

e. Apply physics to topics not explicitly covered by the course

f. Appreciate the excitement of physics

g. Make quantitative measurements of physical phenomena and understand the statistical significance of observations made in the presence of statistical and systematic uncertainties.

inclinedplaneanimation

Image from http://physics-animations.com/