PHY 4: University Physics II
(Equation Sheet (PDF))


Class Schedule:
  Section 001: M W 9:30am--12:20pm (PH 209); Section 002: M W 2pm--4:50pm (PH 209)
Professor: Steve Liebling
Email:
Classroom: Section 002: PH 209 Office:  Pell Hall 210
Text: Young and Freedman's University Physics 13th Edition Office Hours: M W 1:00-1:50pm
Web: http://relativity.liu.edu/steve Phone: 299-3439
Course Credit: 4 credit hours Pre-Requisites: PHY 3 & MTH 7; MTH 8 (or co-requisite)

Course Description (from the campus bulletin): Physics 4 is the second half of an introductory, calculus-based, physics course for science and mathematics majors. It is concerned with the laws and principles of electricity, magnetism, and optics, and includes an introduction to modern physics.

Course Objectives: Students will learn the principles and applications of electricity, magnetism, optics, and modern physics through classroom lectures, problem solving sessions, and laboratory work.  Student knowledge will be evaluated through the use of quizzes and tests. Ultimately, this class should improve your:

Grading Policy: Grades will basically follow the traditional divisions at 90% (A or A-), 80% (B+, B, B-), 70% (C+, C, C-), and 60% (D), with minimal adjustments based on how the class proceeds.

Labwork 20%
Quizzes 20%
Classroom Work, Participation, and Attendance 10%
Test 1 15%  
Test 2 15%
Final Exam 20%

Extra Credit: There will be no significant extra credit or extra credit papers. Do the homework, labs, and take the quizzes and tests, and everyone can do well in this class. As the semester progresses, there is less and less to be done to increase your grade. There is nothing to be done about your grade once you take the final exam.

Class Work & Participation: Everyone starts with 90% participation grade. Subtractions are made for being disruptive (excessive talking, ringing phones, being late, etc) as well as excessive absences. Additions are made for contributing (questions or answers) to class discussions. Problems will also be given to be done in class. These problems can be done in groups (up to 3 people). The intent of these is to have you benefit both from working in groups and have my (limited) assistance at making it past the stumbling blocks of problem solving.

Homework: Homework assignments will be presented in class and will generally consist of problems from the required text. The homeworks will not be graded. Instead, quizzes will cover the material and problem solving skills. Even though the homework will not be graded, the homework problems must be done in order to gain mastery of the material and skills necessary for both the quizzes and tests.

Quizzes: Quizzes will be 20 minutes long given in class usually every week in which we don't have a test. The intent of the quizzes is to insure: (1) that you have read the chapter to be covered that day and (2) that you can solve problems from the previous material. Hence, questions on the new material that you are to have read will be very straightforward covering, for example, new vocabulary. Questions on the older material will be more along the lines of the easier homework problems. I will drop your lowest quiz grade.

Tests: The class will have two tests as scheduled on the syllabus. Each test will cover the material presented since the previous test (to be precise, much of what we will learn applies throughout all the chapters, however, the questions will be geared towards specifically covering material presented between the tests). The tests will be given during classtime.

Final: The final will be held during the time dictated by the Registrar during Exam Week and will be similar in style to the two tests.

Lab: The lab is integral with the lecture. You receive a single grade for the class which represents the work you do in lecture and lab. I will drop your lowest lab grade. As part of your lab work will be a lab final covering both the content of the labs and good lab practice in general.

Cheating: You are encouraged to work on homework problems with others. However, you must work alone on quizzes and tests. On quizzes and exams you may use only a calculator (not a cell phone's calculator) and writing utensils; I will give you an equation sheet for each test. On individual lab write-ups (and therefore excluding group write-ups), every sentence should be yours alone, but data tables can be copied.

Other Resources: Department-provided tutors, library books, office hours, and supplemental texts provide additional assistance.

Week 1 Feb. 1 Electric Charge & Electric Field   Course Overview; Ch. 21 Lab 1: Static Electricity HW Ch. 21: Q: 2, 5, 7; P: 1a, 5, 7, 13, 25a, 31, 52, 53, 89*, 94
Feb. 3   Ch. 21      
Week 2 Feb. 8 Gauss's Law   Ch. 22  Lab 2: The Electric Field HW Ch. 22: Q: 1, 5; P: 1, 5, 7, 8, 14, 18, 19, 45
Feb. 10 Electric Potential   Chs. 22 & 23    HW Ch. 23: Q: 4, 5, 8; P: 3, 15, 23a, 35, 43, 70, 79a*
Week 3 Feb. 15 Capacitance & Dielectrics   Chs. 23 & 24   Lab 3: Ohm's Law HW Ch. 24: P: 1, 5, 15, 17, 31
Feb. 17   Chs. 23 & 24; Review      
Week 4 Feb. 22 TEST 1 TEST 1 TEST 1 TEST 1
Feb. 24 Current, Resistance, and Electromotive Force  Ch. 25     HW Ch. 25: Q: 2, 8, 16; P: 1, 13, 29, 39, 45, 66a*, 72
Week 5 March 1 Direct-Current Circuits   Ch. 26   Lab 4: Resistors in Series & Parallel HW Ch. 26: Q: 1, 8, 13; P: 3, 5, 11, 17, 25, 27, 41, 48, 53
March 3   Ch. 26      
Week 6 March 8 Magnetic Field and Magnetic Forces   Ch. 27   Lab 5: Capacitors in Series & Parallel HW Ch. 27: Q: 1, 5; P: 3, 11, 15, 25, 31, 38, 41a
March 10 Sources of Magnetic Field   Ch. 28    HW Ch. 28: Q: 9, 12, 13, 14; P: 1, 3, 14, 17, 19, 20, 24, 33, 42, 45
Week 7 March 15   Ch. 28   Lab 6: Snell's Law  
March 17 Electromagnetic Induction  Ch. 29     HW Ch. 29: P: 1a, 5, 7, 9, 15, 19, 31
Week 8 March 22   Ch. 29   Lab 7: Thin Lenses  
March 24 TEST 2   TEST 2   TEST 2   TEST 2  
Week 9 March 29 Alternating Current   Ch. 31   Lab 8: Intro. to the Oscilliscope HW Ch. 31: Q: 16, P: 1, 2a, 35a
March 31 Electromagnetic Waves   Ch. 32     HW Ch. 32: Q: 5, 10; P: 1, 3, 5, 6a
Week 10 April 5 The Nature and Propagation of Light   Ch. 33   Lab 9: Diffraction HW Ch. 33: Q: 12; P: 1, 7, 18, 27, 48
April 7 Geometric Optics   Ch. 34     HW Ch. 34: P: 1, 5, 8, 13
Week 11 April 12 Interference  Ch. 35     
April 14 Relativity   Ch. 37   Lab Make-up day  HW Ch. 37: Q: 8; P: 3, 5, 9, 11, 29a, 31, 33
Week 12 April 19   Ch. 37      
April 21 Quantum Mechanics      Six Things Everyone Should Know about Quantum Physics 
Week 13 April 26 Quantum Mechanics       
April 28 Review session        
Week 14 Finals Final Exam   Section 2: M May 3 1:50pm   Section 1: W May 5 8am    

Last updated Feb. 15, 2021.
Steve Liebling (home)