Course Announcements
« PHYS521 Fall 2012
Final Exam
Mon 10Dec2012 1:48PMThe Final Exam of this course will be given in Rm.110, on Tuesday, Dec.11, 3:30 - 5:30 pm. No crib sheets or calculators.
Midterm Exam
Fri 05Oct2012 12:48PM
Our Midterm Exam will be for 7 - 9 pm on Wed., Oct. 17 in Rm. 333.
Please note that the location is different from the usual classroom.
It covers all material assigned and/or discussed up to the week of
Oct. 10. Thursday, Oct. 11 will be our review session for this Exam. The Exam will have 5 problems (not 6 as I may have said in class). So you will have slightly more time per problem than in the real Qualifying Exam.
We will continue to have regular classes during the week of Oct. 15,
starting discussions of statistical mechanics and E&M. The next
homework set (HW#7) will be given on Oct.18, and will be due on
Oct. 25 in class.
Grader Office Hours cancelled
Fri 05Oct2012 12:38PMSince you are not using the office hours of Mr. Xu, It isn't fair to bind him to be available for that hour - thus I am cancelling his office hours for the remainder of the semester. If this is inconvenient and if you wish to reinstate it, please let me and Mr. Xu know. Thanks.
Correction and Hint for Homework 4, Problem 2
Tue 18Sep2012 10:53PMDear PHYS 521 students,
I should mention that the number given for the Earth's rotation
angular velocity omega in HW 4, Problem 2 is wrong. It is about
7.3 x 10^{-5} rad/s and NOT 2.0 x 10^{-4} rad/s as stated in that
Qualifier problem. Please use the correct number in calculating
your answer.
By the way, you may take Bahamas Grand Bank to be due
east of Miami. Because the northerly water flow is deflected
to east by the Coriolis force, it tends to "sweep" water higher
toward east. If there were no flow, then this would be level
instead. The physics of this problem becomes clearer if you
focus on small mass of water at the surface of the sea. The
(real) forces acting on this mass are the gravity and normal
force. Then, as viewed in the Earth frame, there will be the
fictitious forces including the Coriolis force. You will find that
the Coriolis force is the cause of the ocean tilting upward
toward east, or rather, downward toward west (Miami). The
force balance will give you the angle of this tilt.
Homework #3 Correction
Wed 12Sep2012 5:13PMPHYS 521 Students,
One of you found an error in the Problem 7 (Sp.2008, PII-2).
The picture "Top View" has the wrong angle identified as psi.
Psi should be the angle between the radial vector and the
velocity vector of the paint at the point of intersecton (on the
rim of the wheel). I am sorry - but you do need this angle,
and the picture was in the original Exam!
Hisao Nakanishi
Homework #2 Clarification
Sun 02Sep2012 8:33AMIn HW#2, Problem 2, you will have to define the mass of the wedge. Let's say it is "m" (lower case "em").
Grader Office Hour and Tuesday Class Time Shifts
Wed 29Aug2012 9:23AMDear PHYS 521 Students,
1. Our grader, Mr. Yang Xu, will have his office hour on Mondays, 2 - 3 pm in Rm.7 until further notice. Please note that this is a change from the previously announced day/time. We made the change so that it will be more helpful to you since the homework is due on Thursdays most of the time.
2. As announced in class, from now on, Tuesday classes will start 10 minutes later and will run 5 minutes later than scheduled. That is, Tuesdays, we have classes, 10:40 - 11:50 am in Rm.110. On Thursdays, we run classes as scheduled, 10:30 - 11:45 am. The schedule shift on Tuesdays is to accommodate those who must attend the CIE workshops as a required part of their PHYS 605 course. The lost time will account for the planned evening midterm exam.
3. You are welcome to knock on my door any time (even if its closed and locked!). If I am busy then, I will say so, but I will try to accommodate you as much as possible. I also welcome Email inquiries.