TO DO list for PHYS 105

Your Cruise Director:

Office hours: M 2:00 - 3:50

W 4:00-4:50

F 2:00 - 3:50

Each PHYS 105 lab contains two parts: guided inquiry, where we introduce you to the systems available for the week, and independent inquiry, where we require you to do something that we have not specifically required you to do (i.e., you are expected to do science, pertaining to the current topics at hand, using the systems available for the week).

Pseudo-Notebooks:
For the first part, guided inquiry, we provide lab procedurals that should be viewed, in part, as simple guides to the sorts of habits of mind and work that we wish to promote for your later coursework and research, when you will be keeping your own lab notebook. That is, the sorts of information that you regularly enter into the spaces provided within these procedurals is, in a generic sense, the same sorts of information that you would enter into a professional lab notebook. You would do well to think of these procedurals as pseudo-notebooks for guiding and documenting your work.

Lab Summaries:
In typical lab work, an engineer or researcher will not only use a lab notebook to enhance their own planning, thinking, and analysis, ...they will also prepare regular reports for others (e.g., a boss). So, in addition to maintaining your lab pseudo-notebooks during each lab meeting, you will be expected to spend no more than 30 minutes outside lab preparing very brief lab summaries.

Habits of Work:

Before taking data, engage in significant exploration of your equipment/apparatus. Although these experiments involve some concepts that may be new to you, they commonly rely upon principles that you have already learned. Use your text! Use your life experience! Use the sorts of physics that you already know in order to think through how your equipment is intended to operate, and its operating limits, to plan your measurements, and to consider what can be learned.

One of the important "habits of work" that we expect you to adopt is that taking the time to write in the spaces provided in your procedural, as you work! Writing should an integrated part of your work in any lab. A real lab notebook is not something produced "after the fact"!

Continually work to make your discussion of errors more specific and "professional" - that is, make sure that your arguments are plausible. Try to estimate the magnitude and direction of skew you might expect to be associated with any sources of error you might suggest, or perform tests in order to track down the magnitudes and signs of various sources of error. Also, try to incorporate at least some numerical work on uncertainties (in order to quantify your level of confidence in your results - which you should demonstrate that you have tried to make as high as possible!).

Try to work at least a few pen & paper exercises each day. Some students consider these to be more entertaining than crossword puzzles, but I consider this to be, literally, exercise.

Tentative Schedule:

Week

Reading Schedule
(After each section from the Principles text;
always read the associated
Worked & Guided Problems in the Practice text)

Hands-on Grapplings
(Also see Thursday readings)

Pen & Paper Exercises
("Questions & Problems"
from the Practice text)

Computer Exercises

Links

Aug 27	Principles: Ch 1-2 (Zoom!)
Aug 29	Practice: Ch 1-2 (More Zoom!)
Aug 30	Lab Grading Guidelines
Aug 31	Principles: Ch 3 (Acceleration)

Lab 1 = Simple Pendulum Hypothesis
(Read each procedural BEFORE Lab)

For your practice:
Ch 2: 12, 32, 46, 50, 58,
62, 68, 76

Homework due Aug 31:
Ch 2: 36, 56, 66, 82, 88

Start the first sections of our
Igor Pro Tutorial
(Do the rest in Lab 3)

Sept 3	No Classes Principles: Ch 3 (Acceleration)
Sept 5	Principles: Ch 3 (Acceleration)
Sept 6	Readings: Vernier Calipers and Statistics
Sept 7	Principles: Ch 4 (Momentum)

Lab 2 = Stats Lab
(using a fresh download of this spreadsheet)

For your practice:
Ch 3: 4, 6, 12, 16, 36, 50,
70, 84, 92

Homework due Sept 10:
Ch 3: 34, 52, 58, 96, 108

Download Mathematica!

Intro to Mathematica
Get used to it by exploring the basics:

Slope & Derivative

Constant Velocity

Constant Accel

Share something wonderful
on our Discussion page

Sept 10	Principles: Ch 4 (Momentum)
Sept 12	Principles: Ch 4 (Momentum)
Sept 13	Background on Graphical Analysis
Sept 14	Principles: Ch 5 (Energy)

Lab 3 = Igor Pro Tutorial
(Printouts due at the end of the lab period)

For your practice:
Ch 4: 10, 24, 50, 58, 62,
64, 68, 84, 90

Homework due Sept 14:
Ch 4: 36, 56, 70,
72, 80, 86
(Piazza discussion recommended)

Conservation
of Momentum
in a Canoe

When does a
Philosophy Student
become a Philosopher?

Sept 17	Principles: Ch 5 (Energy)
Sept 19	Principles: Ch 5 (Energy)
Sept 20	Data Acquisition using DataStudio
Sept 21	Bring to class problems you wish to see worked!

Lab 4 = 1D Motion

For your practice:
Ch 5: 4, 16, 24, 34, 36,
46, 54, 58, 62, 68, 78

Homework due Sept 21:
Ch 5: 10, 28, 44, 60

Sept 24	Principles: Ch 7 (Interactions)
Sept 26	Principles: Ch 8 (Force)
Sept 27	Ask yourself: what constitutes a collision? What's the difference between a collision and an interaction? (Can galaxies collide?)
Sept 28	Exam I: all materials up through Energy

Lab 5 = Elastic & Inelastic Collisions

For your practice:
Ch 7: 20, 38, 42, 52,
54, 56, 60, 68, 76

Homework due Oct 1:
Ch 7: 8, 36, 44, 58, 66

Try using Mathematica
to simulate
Collisions

Fun site of the day: TheSloMoGuys

Oct 1	Principles: Ch 8 (Force)
Oct 3	Principles: Ch 8 (Force)
Oct 4	Breaking down complex problems into simpler parts
Oct 5	Principles: Ch 8 (Force)

Lab 6 = Lord Kelvin's Ballistic Pendulum

LOTS of practice!!:
Ch 8: 2, 28, 30, 32,
36, 44, 46, 52, 58, 62, 68,
74, 78, 80, 84, 86, 90, 98

Homework due Oct 8:
Ch 8: 10, 34, 40, 42,
54, 66, 70, 76, 82, 94

Mathematica Demos

Alumni Talk, 4pm: "The Physics of Computers from the Future"

Technological and economic progress in this era has been largely defined by the rapid increase in computational power and the increasing ubiquity of computing in our lives. Computers define how we communicate, trade and work. From vacuum tubes to the transistor, physics has always defined the fundamentals of computing. We live in interesting times where physics has to be called upon again to revolutionize computing. Trusting in Moore’s law which has historically been a guarantee of an exponential increase in computing power is no longer a viable option. Dennard’s scaling which guaranteed bounded power consumption is also no longer being satisfied. These challenges come at a time when the demands for computing are at an all time high. We want to talk to our computers and we are dreaming up computers that will drive us around, help us cure diseases and discover great new materials. We are conjuring up a magical future where computers are intelligent. Today’s physics and architectures cannot support this future. This talk is about a framework for understanding the exciting paths we must invest in for physics to play a role in revolutionizing computing and ushering in a future characterized by a radical leap in the ability of computers to augment humans.

Oct 8	Principles: Ch 9 (Work)
Oct 10	Principles: Ch 9 (Work)
Oct 11	Falsification Labs
Oct 12	Exam II: all materials up through Force

Lab 7 = Work & Energy w/ Air Tracks

For your practice:
Ch 9: 4, 6, 20, 22, 36,
38, 40, 44, 48, 52,
60, 64, 66, 74

Homework due Oct 15:
Ch 9: 24, 30, 34, 42,
50, 54, 56, 58, 62, 76

Fun site of the day: MinutePhysics

Oct 15	Principles: Ch 18 (Fluids)
Oct 17	Principles: Ch 18 (Fluids)
Oct 18	Article of Interest Log Readings
Oct 19	No Classes

Lab does not meet this week, so
analyze all options on this:

Click to Run

For your practice:
Ch 18: 5, 15, 20, 24,
27, 29, 49, 56

Homework due Oct 22:
Ch 18: 1, 7, 8, 10, 16,
18, 21, 26, 43, 61, 62, 70

Explain the second part of this demo:

Oct 22	Exam IIb, cumulative
Oct 24	Principles: Ch 10 (2D Motion)
Oct 25	Street-Fighting Physics, & Back-of-the-Envelope Calcs
Oct 26	Principles: Ch 11 (Circular Motion)

Lab 8 = Projectile Motion

LOTS of practice!!:
2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 16,
18, 20, 26, 28, 34, 36,
38, 40, 46, 56, 62, 66,
68, 70, 72, 76, 78, 80,
84, 86, 92, 94, 104

Homework due Oct 29:
Ch 10: 22, 30, 44, 54,
64, 74, 88, 90, 96, 110

Fun sites of the day: SmarterEveryDay
(It takes time, but taking Physics is rewiring your brain!) Steve Spangler

Oct 29	Principles: Ch 11 (Circular Motion)
Oct 31	Principles: Ch 12 (Torque)
Nov 1	Sit 'n Spin
Nov 2	Principles: Ch 12 (Torque)

Lab 9 = Torque & Angular Accel.

For your practice:
2, 4, 8, 14, 16, 18, 20,
22, 24, 34, 36, 38, 42,
48, 54, 58, 60, 68, 72,
76, 82

Homework due Nov 7:
Ch 11: 6, 30, 44, 46,
50, 52, 66, 70, 84, 90

IWU Physics student Joe Richards, by working with collaborators Yoshi Arita and Kishan Dholakia, was able to create what was (at the time) the world's fastest spun man-made object. That record has since been surpassed, but you might ask, "What's the limit?":

Nov 5	Exam III: all materials up through 2D Motion
Nov 7	Discrete vs. Continuum Mechanics
Nov 8	Can you violate the conservation principles?
Nov 9	Localized Oscillators vs. Waves in Extended Systems

Lab 10 = Angular Momentum
(& its conservation)

For your practice:
4, 6, 10, 20, 24, 26,
32, 38, 46 (challenger!),
54, 56, 62, 64,
76 (challenger!), 80,
92, 96

Homework due Nov 14:
Ch 12: 12, 18, 30, 36,
40, 52, 58, 68, 84, 98

Wolfram|Alpha Demos

Nov 12	Principles: Ch 15 (Waves)
Nov 14	Principles: Ch 15 (Waves)
Nov 15	Laws have their limits
Nov 16	Exam IIIb: through Ch 12

Lab 11 = Hooke's "Law"
(Mass on a spring)

For your practice:
Ch 15: 4, 11, 16, 24,
28, 38, 44, 56, 64,
70, 76, 78

Homework due Nov 19:
Ch 15: 10, 26, 36, 40,
46, 55, 58, 66, 84, 86

Try using Mathematica
to simulate the
Motion of Mass & Spring

Fun sites:
Physics Girl
Vsauce
The Hacksmith

Nov 19	Principles: Ch 16 (1D Waves)
Nov 21	No Classes
Nov 22	Article of Interest Log Readings
Nov 23	No Classes

Lab does not meet this week, so
analyze all options on this:

Click to Run

For your practice:
Ch 16: 9, 11, 16, 26,
38, 44, 57, 66, 76

Homework due Nov 28:
Ch 16: 4, 13, 18, 30,
41, 60, 69, 78, 80

Try using Mathematica
for modeling physical systems:
Driven Oscillator

Coupled Oscillators

Share something wonderful
on our Discussion page

Also: Summer Internship Applications

(If a link is bad, google it!)

Nov 26	Principles: Ch 16 (1D Waves)
Nov 28	Principles: Ch 17 (2D & 3D Waves)
Nov 29	Article of Interest Log Readings
Nov 30	Principles: Ch 17 (2D & 3D Waves)

Lab 12 = Sound, Resonance,
& Standing Waves

For your practice:
Ch 17: 2, 8, 10, 12,
19, 24, 39, 49, 71

Homework due Dec 7:
Ch 17: 9, 11, 14,
17, 22, 23, 29, 42

Use Mathematica
to model:
Wave Motion

Wave Addition

Fun sites: ViHart
The Backyard Scientist
The King of Random

Dec 3	Principles: Ch 17 (2D & 3D Waves)
Dec 5	Exam IV: Continuum Mechanics
Dec 6	Article of Interest Log Readings
Dec 7	Expect a 25-minute post-term assessment

Individual Conferences

Use Mathematica
to explore
Diffraction

Fun sites:
Element 14 Presents
AvE
Captain Disillusion

FINAL EXAM: Tuesday, Dec 11, 3:30-5:30 pm,
Room C102

Over the break between terms, you may wish to read Ch 19-21. We don't cover it in PHYS 105, and then PHYS 106 starts up with Ch 22, ...but this reading constitutes a (basic) introduction to one of the four theoretical pillars of the major.

Fun sites:
Cody Reeder
Contour Corsets
Jeremy Fielding

** Class Discussion Page on Piazza **
Course Syllabus