PHY3101 Intermediate Modern Physics

Syllabus – Spring 2011

Faculty	Room	Phone	Office Hours	Email Address
Professor Nick Bonesteel	410 Keen	644-7805 (MagLab) 644-2516 (Keen)	M, W 10am –11am  or by appointment	bonestee@magnet.fsu.edu

 

Course Description: This course introduces the exciting developments of physics in the 20^th century, i.e., everything that happened after PHY2049. We will see how the seeds of this great revolution were planted in the greatest triumph of 19^th century physics! And a revolution it was! There is no other way to describe the fascinating, surprising, and mind boggling discoveries of relativity, quantum mechanics, and the structure of matter. Some of the great scientists we will encounter along the way are Planck, Einstein, Curie, Rutherford, Bohr, Pauli, Dirac, Schrödinger, Heisenberg, Fermi, Feynman, and Schrieffer. Two of these giants of 20^th century physics, Dirac and Schrieffer, have served on the FSU faculty!

Course Textbook: We use as our guide Modern Physics 5th edition by Tipler and Llewellyn. (Note on the class homepage this links to a superb associated webpage.)

Course Webpage:  http://www.physics.fsu.edu/courses/spring11/phy3101

Class meetings: Monday, Wednesday and Friday in 101 Richards (UPL) from 9:05 to 9:55. These classes involve lectures, discussion, and amazing (!) demonstrations. Unlike 2048/9, there are no separate recitation or lab classes, so make the most of these class meetings. The iclicker system will be used to improve class involvement. Also try and read the designated text sections before class.

Homework: Your homework score is based on your solutions of your individualized LONCAPA problems and some written homework assignments. Remember all LONCAPA homework is due in by midnight of the assigned day, which is usually Wednesday (sometimes Friday).

Examinations: During the semester, there will be 2 one-hour exams and a two-hour final exam. Any discussion relating to the grading of your exam #1 and #2 scores must take place within 2 weeks of the hand-back date.

Completion of Course and Grading: The course grade will be calculated using the grades from the CAPA problems, the 2 one-hour exams, the final examination and your class participation from the iclicker records. These components will be weighted in the following way:

Grade Components	%		Grade	Score	Grade	Score
Hour Exam 1	18 %		A	100 – 88	C+	72.9 – 69
Hour Exam 2	18 %		A-	87.9 – 85	C	68.9 – 65
Final Exam	30 %		B+	84.9 – 81	C-	64.9 – 60
CAPA homework	28 %		B	80.9 - 77	D	59.9 - 55
Class participation	6 %		B-	76.9 – 73	F	54.9 - 0

Students who do not attempt the final exam will automatically be given a grade “F” for the course. You should keep a record of your point totals, in order to verify and check my record keeping. Each student is required to know and abide by the honor code.

Academic Honor Code:

Students are expected to uphold the Academic Honor Code published in The Florida State University Bulletin and the Student Handbook. The first paragraph is:

The Academic Honor System of Florida State University is based on the premise that each student has the responsibility (1) to uphold the highest standards of academic integrity in the student's own work, (2) to refuse to tolerate violations of academic integrity in the University community, and (3) to foster a high sense of integrity and social responsibility on the part of the University community.

 

Resources for Students: I want you all to do well in this course. There are resources available to help you towards this goal. Please take advantage of them.

·         Classes: Attend all lectures. You may not realize it at the time but what you learn and retain from these classes may surprise and “down the road” help you explain the world to your children.

·         Professor's office hours. Other times may be arranged. Please don't hesitate to call or email me .

·         Physics Department consultation sessions. After the first week a graduate student is available to assist you.

Consultant	Days	Time	Room
TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA

Tutors: If you need to hire a tutor, check with Melissa Adams in the Physics Undergraduate Office. She can be reached either by e-mail or by calling the number given below.

email : madams@phy.fsu.edu Office : 307 Keen Building Phone : 644-4473

They have a list of physics graduate students who are happy to work as tutors.

 

ADA Statement

Students with disabilities needing academic accommodations should: a) register with and provide documentation to the Student Disability Resource Center SDRC; b) bring a letter to the instructor from SDRC indicating you need academic accommodations. Please do this in the first week of class if possible.

 

Course Information on the WWW: This syllabus and other useful resources such as announcements and exam grade posting can be accessed via the "blackboard" system. Go to campus.fsu.edu . If you are registered for this class, you should see "PHY3101" in the menu of your courses. It is a good idea to "bookmark" the latter address for future direct access and visit it once in a while for updates. Remember also the excellent associated webpage for the book, Modern Physics 5th edition by Tipler and Llewellyn.

LONCAPA on the WWW: In order to attempt the Learning Online Computer-Assisted Personalized Approach or LONCAPA assignments you must have access to the world wide web. There are numerous computer labs on campus and in the libraries. The Physics Department also has a number of computers that may be used for CAPA. If you have any difficulties locating a computer please contact me.

The CAPA web page is at http://loncapa.fsu.edu/. Instructions for using LONCAPA are given here.

As always if you have any problems come and see me.

 

Some Sensible Advice: I want everyone to do well in this course. Below are a few tips to help make your adventures in physics fun.

·         This course is no pushover, physics is based on understanding not remembering. I will do all I can to help you, but only you know whether you really understand something or not! Test yourself on additional problems from the book or the book’s webpage.

·         We know about “Underground CAPA” or whatever the “website du jour” is called now ….. but come the time of the exams, if you do not understand the material then you will be sunk….. maybe change it to “Underwater CAPA”?

·         Attend all lecture classes.

·         Use the textbook, you paid good money for it! Try to find time to look over a chapter before it is covered in class.

·         Use the Professor's office hours.

·         Find a study partner.

·         Finally, although you shouldn’t give up too easily, don’t sit for hours trying to do one question. Come and discuss your solution with me. Often you will be much closer than you think to being able to solve it!

·         If you are seriously thinking of dropping the course at any point please come and talk to me.

·         Good luck and I hope you enjoy the course (I know I will)!

 

PHY3101 Intermediate Modern Physics

Daily schedule for the course

 

Date	Schedule and Assignments	CAPA
M  3 Jan W  5 Jan F  7 Jan	Welcome and Introduction Ch. 1, The Special Theory of Relativity	Log in to CAPA
M  10 Jan W  12 Jan F  14 Jan	Ch. 1,  Continued Ch. 1,  Continued Ch. 2,  More Relativity	Set 1 due
M  17 Jan W  19 Jan F  21  Jan	Martin Luther King Day Ch. 2,  Continued Ch. 2, Continued	Set 2 due
M 24 Jan W 26 Jan F 28 Jan	Ch. 3,  Particlelike Properties of Light Ch. 3,  Continued Ch. 3, Continued	Set 3 due
M 31 Jan W  2 Feb F  4 Feb	Ch. 4,  Rutherford-Bohr Nuclear Atom  Ch. 4,  Continued Ch. 5,  Wavelike Properties of Particles	Set 4 due
M  7 Feb W  9 Feb F  11  Feb	Ch. 5,  Continued Ch. 5,  Uncertainty Principle Ch. 6, Schrödinger Equation	Set 5 due
M  14 Feb W  16 Feb F  18 Feb	Review Chapters 1-5 FIRST HOUR EXAM (Chaps. 1-5) Ch. 6,  Continued	No CAPA
M 21 Feb W 23 Feb F 25 Feb	Ch. 7,  H atom in Wave Mechanics: Atomic Physics Ch. 7, Continued Ch. 7,  Electron Spin	Set 6 due
M 28 Feb W  2 Mar F  4  Mar	Ch. 7,  Many-Electron Atoms Ch. 9,  Molecular Physics Ch. 9,  Continued	Set 7 due
M  7 Mar W 9 Mar F 11 Mar	SPRING BREAK	No CAPA
M  14 Mar W  16 Mar F  18 Mar	Ch. 8,  Statistical Physics Ch. 8, Continued Ch. 8, Continued	Set 8 due
M  21 Mar W 23 Mar F 25 Mar	Ch. 9,  Lasers Ch. 10, Solid State Physics Review Chapters 6-9	No CAPA
M 28 Mar W 30 Mar F 1 Apr	SECOND HOUR EXAM (Chaps. 6-9) Ch. 10, Solid State Physics, Continued Ch. 10, Continued	No CAPA
M 4 Apr W 6 Apr F 8 Apr	Ch. 10, Continued Ch. 11, Nuclear Physics Ch. 11, Continued	Set 9 due
M 11 Apr W  13 Apr F  15 Apr	Ch. 11, Continued Ch. 12, Particle Physics Tour of Linear Accelerator	Set 10 due
M 18 Apr W  20 Apr F  22 Apr	Ch. 12, Continued Ch. 12, Continued Review for Final Exam	Set 11 due

 

FINAL EXAM: Wednesday Apr 27 12:30pm– 2:30pm UPL 101 GOOD LUCK!