Course Announcements
« PHYS219 Spring 2009
Final Exam Keys posted
Wed 06May2009 9:19PMFinal Exam Keys are now posted. Please be aware that an earlier version posted a couple of hours ago contained an error for one of the problems (the problem about the minimum thickness of a non-reflecting coating). This error has now been corrected and the correct version has been reposted (9 pm). Your final scores will reflect the correct keys, of course.
Final Exam Equation Sheet Posted
Sun 26Apr2009 9:30AMA draft of the equation sheet for the Final Exam has been posted here under Lectures. These sheets will be included in the actual Final Exam.
Exam II Results Posted
Thu 02Apr2009 5:29PMExam II has been graded and the results have been posted. 85 students took it and the average was 95.2, standard deviation 32.3. This means that on average, 6.8 of the 13 questions were answered correctly. The highest score was 168 (12 questions answered correctly) [there were 2 students with this score], and in total 5 students had scores above the nominal maximum of 150. On the other hand the lowest score was 14 (1 student) and the next lowest was 28 (2 students).
Exam II Coming Up
Sun 22Mar2009 9:09AMWelcome back from the Spring Break! I hope you had a good rest or a great time (or both).
Exam II will be given on Tuesday, March 31, 6:30 - 7:30 pm in PHYS Rm.112 (our regular lecture hall and the same place where we had our Exam I). It will cover the material in Chap. 32 - 38 of our text, "Principles of Physics". (This includes all material covered in lectures after Exam I and up to the end of the week of March 23 and all quizzes and homework for the same period.) As in Exam I, there will be a substantial emphasis on the conceptual understanding and mastering all previous quizzes will give you a tremendous edge. There will be 13 5-choice questions, each worth 14 points, for a total of 182 points. This means there will be whopping 32 bonus points.
Equation Sheet for the Exam II is posted under "Lectures" on this site. The actual Exam II will contain the same sheet right in the exam packet. You may only bring to the Exam, pencils, erasers, and a scientific calculator, but no crib sheet. You are required to bring your Purdue ID for identification. The only allowed calcuilators are those that are NOT programmable or graphing and marketed as a calculator (i.e., no smart calculators, PDA's, cell phones or any other electronic gadgets that have a calculator function). If you absolutely cannot secure one for the Exam, please let me know beforehand so that I could find one to lend during the Exam.
The class hour on Monday, March 30 will be considered optional and no quiz will be given on that day. It will concentrate on a review for Exam II (just as I gave a review for Exam I on the day before that exam).
If you think you have a legitmate excuse (such as illness, death in the family, or conflict with a Purdue official activity), please let me know as soon as possible BEFORE the Exam.
Good luck!
Hisao Nakanishi
Polarization problem moved from CHIP#7 to #8
Wed 25Feb2009 2:51PMSince my lecture on Wed., Feb. 25 did not get as far as polarization, I have moved the one problem on polarization (the interactive problem called <i>Polarization I</i>) from CHIP#7 to CHIP#8. All of your records for this problem have also been moved. So if you have already done this problem, those records and points also moved with the problem. Thus, CHIP#7 now has 9 problems and CHIP#8 has 11.
Exam I Results Posted
Thu 19Feb2009 10:42AMExam I had 13 questions, worth 12 points each. The raw average was 67.1 points out of 156 points for 43%. Your scores varied from 12 (1 question correct) to 156 (all 13 correct). Instead, I decided to mark each correct question as 14 points, effectively giving you more than 2 questions worth of bonus points (if you get them correct). This way, the scaled Exam I score had the average of 78.3 points. This is out of 182, but I marked it as nominally out of 150. Please remember that, therefore, your true percentage is lower than you would calculate by dividing your score by 150. The top two scorers now have substantially MORE than 150 points for a slot that is nominally worth 150.
Please realize that fully 9 of the 13 questions were a lot like the quizzes. If you followed my advice and studied the quizzes thoroughly to the point of understanding them completely, you would have had zeo problems in scoring high on this exam.
Exam I coming up
Mon 09Feb2009 10:31AMExam I will be given on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 6:30 - 7:30 pm in PHYS Rm. 112 (the regular lecture hall). It will cover material from Chapter 23 through 31 of the text. You must bring your own pencils and erasers as well as your Purdue ID for identification. You may bring a calculator (not a PDA, or a programmable or graphing calculator, but those marketed simply as a scientific calculator). It is a closed-book exam. No notes, books, or crib sheets are allowed.
Constants and equations are provided on the exam. You may preview the equation sheet that will be included in the exam under Lectures on these course home pages. Though these equations are provided, I would like to emphasize that equation hunting will get you nowhere and, if that is what you are trying to learn in this course, then you are in the wrong course.
There are some past exams available under Practice Exams on these pages. The best strategy to study for the exam is to (1) review all lecture quizzes and recitation quizzes and make sure you understand everything, (2) review all CHIP homework questions and make sure you understand everything. and (3) try some of the past exams as if they are the real one and take it while timing yourself.
The lecture on Monday, Feb. 16 is an optional lecture. There will be no quiz during that lecture and it will be dedicated to some reviews for the upcoming exam.
Best Wishes!!
Homework Deadlines Extended
Thu 05Feb2009 9:28PMAs you know, CHIP was out for hardware failure from around midday on Tuesday, Feb. 3 to late this afternoon, Thursday, Feb. 5. To compensate for this outage, I have extended the partial credit deadlines for CHIP #3, and all deadlines for CHIP #4 exactly by 3 days. The primary (100% credit) deadline for CHIP #4 is now Thursday, Feb. 12 at 10 am. We regret the anguish and inconveniences this may have caused you. However, we could take heart in the fact that we in PHYS 219 were affected relatively little because our primary deadline for CHIP Homework is normally Mondays.
CHIP
Thu 05Feb2009 5:35PMCHIP is up now. HW and CHIP will be extended.
Prelab deadlines extended
Wed 04Feb2009 10:35AMDue to the hardware failure of the CHIP server, the Prelab deadlines this week will be extended by 1 week. So, your prelab deadline for this week will change to exactly the same day/time next week instead.
Office Hours
Wed 21Jan2009 10:11AMProf. Nakanishi has set the office hour to be on Thursdays, 10:30-11:30 am in Rm. 264.
Mr. Wolff has set the office hour to be on Tuesdays, 9:30 - 10:30 am in Rm.137.
iClickers!!
Tue 20Jan2009 4:03PMPlease bring your iClicker beginning with Wednesday, Jan. 21, and have its serial number registered on CHIP by Friday, Jan. 23.
PHYS 21900 Textbook Information
Mon 05Jan2009 4:11PMSpring 2009 Semester
This semester, PHYS 21900 will use an interactive CD textbook called Principles of Physics published by Kinetic Books. This is a highly innovative approach to teaching Physics and I believe your understanding of the basic concepts will improve by using this interactive CD textbook.
For whatever reason, some of the local bookstores may choose not to order copies of this CD for PHYS 21900 students to purchase. If you have trouble finding the CD in local bookstores before the first day of class, the first few chapters are available for free on the Kinetic Book’s web site. Limited access to the contents of the CD can be found at
http://kineticbooks.com/physics/trialpse/online_installer/downloads/install.php
If you have difficulty in finding the CD textbook in local bookstores, you can purchase your own copy of Principles of Physics directly from Kinetic Books. I list below the options along with the web link to each product.
Note if you choose OPTION 1, you will receive an Individual License to install the CD textbook on ONE local computer of your choice. This license is included with the CD and will require the addition of shipping and handling to your order.
Principles of Physics can be purchased in two ways:
- OPTION 1: If you wish to install the CD version of Principles of Physics on your own laptop or home computer, you can purchase an Individual License. If you have a laptop, I think this might be the best option because you can take the laptop with you around campus. The cost is $39.95. (Note: You can install this software on only one computer. If you change your operating system on that computer (for any reason), you may need to buy another CD version of the software).
- OPTION 2: You can purchase Principles of Physics as a 1-year subscription with password access over the internet from any computer. If you are unable to install programs on computer from a CD, this may be the best option for you. You can purchase this option for $34.95. (Note: you must be connected to the internet to use this 1-year subscription. If you have slow or unreliable internet access, this may not be best option for you.)
Either of these two options can be purchased online at:
http://www.kineticbooks.com/products/prod_purchinfo.html
If you are uncomfortable with a strictly computer-based book, you may purchase a paperback copy of Principles of Physics along with your CD for approximately $15.00 plus shipping and handling. Please note that if you purchase the CD textbook (OPTION 1 above), you will be able to print any screen page from the CD textbook for your further study.
At the introductory level that PHYS 21900 course is taught, virtually the same material is covered in many different conventional textbooks. You should feel free to consult these books in the library if you might need the assurance that a conventional textbook brings.