The IWU Catalog states that, "Ideally, all courses will make approximately the same total demands upon a student’s time: ten to twelve hours per week per course (including scheduled class meeting time needed to complete all assignments) as a rule of thumb during a regular semester."
Required Texts:
- Thornton & Rex, Modern Physics for Scientists and Engineers, 3rd Edition. Check your copy against this list of the first printing's Errata. (Some students supplement this with N. David Mermin's very thin book, which introduces the unavoidable engineering issues involved in high-speed measurement and communications, i.e., Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity.)
- John Essick, Hands-On Introduction to LabVIEW for Scientists and Engineers (4th Edition). You may either purchase a (potentially used) copy of the 4th Edition, or make a 180-day rental. Personally, I got an eBook version from RedShelf, which I can keep forever. This is a key book you'll need to refer back to in future terms (and internships as well!)
Scientific Software: (no prior experience assumed; help is available)
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Programming for instrumentation control and data acquisition: Essick's workbook walks you through the kinds of programing that scientists use for research projects and engineers use for prototype development. (For prototyping and product development, it is common to use programming languages, such as LabVIEW or MATLAB, that "lower the overhead," simplifying development in many ways; for product deployment, other languages, such as C++ or Python, are used, mostly for cost.) Our departmental license gives you permission to install LabVIEW on your device, for your coursework, and we will do that, together, during our first week of lab.
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Data visualization and analysis: our licensing gives you permission to install Igor Pro on your device, for your coursework, and you can do that, while others are around to help, during our second week of lab.
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Symbolic Manipulation: our licensing gives you permission to install Mathematica on your device. Be sure to use your IWU email address when you sign in. From the third week on, you will use (our site license for) Mathematica to model physical systems.
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Quick Calculations: a pocket calculator will be needed for exams, but in many situations you would much be better served by using the Wolfram | Alpha applet, on your phone.
Creating sharable, editable materials: Since much of your learning arises from revision, the materials we pass back and forth, electronically, ought to be easily editable (which excludes the .pdf format, which is designed for robust sharing without corruption of equations, etc., but is severely restricted in the kinds of editing that is easily allowed).
Software for Electronic Lab Notebooks:
Productivity-enhancing formatting tools made simple: What would you suggest for incorporating all of the elements below, along with text formatted with clear Section Headers and Bullet Points, all cross-referenced to a Table of Contents? — For your lab notebook, we use Microsoft OneNote, as Amelia notes, "because we can type and insert images but also get the mobile app and draw additional images if need be." It is also easy to paste in certain kinds of simulations and, most importantly, to share your notebook (in editable form) with your instructor. You should check out the built-in Help for a text-based tour, but documentation is poor for using OneNote to write equations. I will demonstrate how it works; still, at times you may throw up your hands and opt to generate equations in Word, and copy it to your lab notebook. For this course, add a new notebook named "PHYS207-F23-YourFirstNameLastInitial."
Sketches: Have you ever tried using a touchscreen or tablet or phone to make quick sketches? As Amelia points out, OneNote allows that. A larger tablet with a stylus provides more natural control, but the key with any system will be to spend time practicing before the start of term! Of course, when you get around to creating more polished figures, you could go with a full-featured product such as Adobe Illustrator or the open-source equivalent, Inkscape. (On my MacBook Pro, I use OmniGaffle, which makes nice use of the Touch Bar.) But whatever you opt for, it can be a good use of your time to watch a quick instructional video for your setup. — You'll need to be able to make quick sketches during class on the first day!
Tables & Plots: Layout control within Igor Pro allows you to generate publication-quality output.
Software for Formal Papers:
a)
The reason that Piazza is valued as a class discussion platform is that it makes it easy to discuss equations that are formatted for easy reading by using LaTeX, which has been stable and reliable for decades. (TeX was released in 1978, LaTeX in 1984.) The very same equation coding is utilized in Overleaf, a free-to-use online LaTeX editor that you can use in your browser. (You can even, if you wish, use Piazza to generate the encoding, and then copy and paste it into Overleaf.) If you haven't already done so, eventually we will help you to sign up for an Overleaf account.
b)
At this level, you will also need to keep track of, and cite, materials that will be of use to you, or to those who later take up such work. Zotero was designed to manage those kinds of citations, and you can easily integrate Zotero with Overleaf! You will want to install Zotero both as a desktop application and as an add-on to your internet browser. Please keep track of your username and password: you'll need that by the second week of class.
Grading procedures:
Laboratory Notebook: 20% [discussed at the following link.]
Other written exercises: 20%
In-term exams add up to a total of: 39%
Final Exam: 13%
Zotero/Field Trip/Participation/Follow-up: 8%
Analytical exercises: the following simple scheme will be applied to each
problem or substantial part thereof: 4 points will be awarded for a correct
numerical answer if arrived at through clear application of physical
principles, 3 points for correct application of concepts, 2 points
for a significant attempt with conceptual errors, and 1 point for an attempt.
Exams: Clearly conveying understanding is key! Partial credit may be
awarded for sensible efforts even without completely correct answers.
