Spring 2024
Email is the best way to contact me. Many questions and issues can be solved over email.
I will be in my office
every
| Monday | 11:00–12:00 |
| Tuesday | 11:00–12:00 |
| Tuesday | 1:00– 2:00 |
| Wednesday | 11:00–12:00 |
| Friday | 11:00–12:00 |
during the course of the Spring 2024 semester.
If you would prefer a Zoom meeting, or would like to schedule an in-person meeting at a time outside the office hours above, please send me an email to set that up. You can drop by my office any time to see if I am there. If I’m there, we can chat.
My Zoom personal room is
We meet Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10:00-10:50 in N-G 203. The first week of classes (January 15, 17, and 19) will be held online, as Dr. Walck recovers from his hospital stay.
A continuation of Physics 103. Fundamental concepts and laws of the various branches of physics, including electricity, magnetism, optics, and atomic and nuclear structure, with laboratory work in each area. Physics 104 must be taken concurrently with Physics 104L, General College Physics Laboratory II. The combination of Physics 104 and Physisc 104L consists of 4 credits hours. Physics 104 itself has 3 contact hours per week. Physics 103 is a prerequisite for Physics 104.
It is expected that students will
The textbook for the course is Physics, Principles with Applications (7th edition) by Douglas C. Giancoli, ISBN 978-0-321-62592-2.
Health request: if you have cold, flu, or COVID symptoms, please wear a mask. If you feel too sick to come to class, please stay home and send me an email. You are free to use your own judgment on when you are too sick to come to class.
Our primary goal in this course is for you to learn some physics. Learning is not an easy endeavor; different methods are effective for different people. Nevertheless, I believe that attending class will help you to learn physics. It may not be as entertaining as you or I would like. It may not be as pleasant as you or I would like. But I am committed to spending our time together effectively, doing activities that will help you begin to see the principles of physics and apply them to real-world situations.
Please attend every class meeting that we have. I’m no linguist, but attendance and attention surely must come from a common root. Attendance, showing up for class, is the first step. But I really need your attention during class, and this second step can be harder. Modern life has made it difficult for us to focus our attention on anything that is not extremely pleasing, entertaining, horrifying, disturbing, or outrageous in some way. I’ll do the best I can not to bore you, and you’ll do the best you can to attend to the ideas we come across, whether they seem pleasing, repulsive, or neutral.
From time to time, we will do activities in which I ask for your participation. A portion of your course grade is based on class participation. Of course, you must attend class in order to participate and earn participation points.
There will be three 50-minute exams during the normal class time. The exams will contain both conceptual questions to be answered in words and problems to be solved. The purpose of the exams is to give you an opportunity to demonstrate what you’ve learned about physics.
How do I know if I am ready for an exam? The litmus test of the solidity of your understanding of physics, and consequently whether you are ready for an exam, is whether you can do the problems in the textbook on your own in a reasonable amount of time. It is useful to read the textbook, do the homework, take notes in class, do the practice exam, and study the conceptual questions on the web site, but the real test of your understanding is whether you can solve problems (and conceptual questions) like those in the textbook on your own. If you can, you’re in great shape. If you can’t, you need more practice; you need to train your brain to think of possible ways forward when confronted with a situation you haven’t seen before. What principles might apply? What tools are at your disposal? This practice is best to do over time, not right before an exam. There is very little to memorize in physics. It’s more about knowing when to apply which principles.
An exam is an individual endeavor in which you write and submit your ideas, your solutions, your guesses, and your work.
During an exam,
During an exam,
If you have any questions about whether a particular resource is allowed or not allowed during an exam, please ask me.
At the end of the semester, we will have a comprehensive final exam.
You should not think that office hours are only a time for people that need remedial help. Coming to office hours is helpful for people at all levels. Nobody is too advanced or too far behind to benefit from coming to office hours. A typical student in this class probably cannot get a high grade without coming to office hours, at least from time to time. Even if you don’t have specific questions, I can suggest problems for you to work on that will deepen your understanding, putting you in a better position for exams.
There will be a computer-based homework assignment for each chapter in the textbook that we study. The purpose of these assignments is to give you an opportunity to work with the concepts that we discuss in class and that you read about in the textbook. ("The only way to learn physics is to do physics.") I encourage you to start work early on the homework. This way you will have multiple opportunities to see me before the deadline.
You will learn the most if you attempt the homework on your own, formulate questions when things get confusing, and refrain from looking at how others solved the problem until you have thought about it for a bit. The reason is that you need to train your brain to emerge from the confusion or blankness you experience when you first look at a problem and don’t know exactly what to do. Think about how the principles we’ve studied might apply to the problem in front of you. Don’t spend forever trying to solve a problem on your own. Give it a reasonable effort, then seek help, either from me or a fellow student.
Students may work together on the homework. You may explain to another student exactly how you did a homework problem. Each student has different numbers for each homework problem. You are expected to do your own calculations with your numbers, and enter your results into the moodle system. There is no academic dishonesty in getting a lot of help on the homework from a fellow student. It may decrease the effectiveness of your learning to get too much help too quickly, but for the homework, it is not academically dishonest. It would be academically dishonest to have another person do your calculations for you.
The homework is available on a web site, using a computer-based learning environment called moodle.
You can access the moodle homework system at http://quantum.lvc.edu/moodle/.
You do not need to do a homework assignment in one sitting. In fact, you should not. You can do a few problems one day and a few more the next day. If you get a problem wrong, you can try it again, although your grade decreases slightly with each additional attempt, so don’t just guess.
Do not include units when submitting answers to homework problems. Each problem should tell you what units to use. If no unit is specified, use the appropriate standard SI unit (for example, kg, m, s, N). Enter only the numerical answer into the computer.
Do not count significant figures of the given numbers to decide how many significant figures to include in your answer. The computer will regard your answer as correct if you are within 1% of what it regards as the correct answer. So, keep at least 3 or 4 significant figures in your calculations regardless of the number of significant figures given in the problem.
Do not type commas in your answers, such as 39,450.
Instead, type 39450.
You may use exponential notation in your answer if you wish.
Instead of 39450, you may type 3.945e4 or 3.945E4.
When you have answered all of the problems on the homework assignment, you must click the box that says Submit all and finish. If you fail to click this box, your grade will not be recorded. On the other hand, do not click this box until you are finished with the entire homework assignment.
Your grade will be determined by a weighted average as indicated in the table below.
| Exams | 45% |
| Homework | 20% |
| Laboratory | 15% |
| Class Participation | 5% |
| Final Exam (comprehensive) | 15% |
Your letter grade for the course is determined by the weighted average. The minimum weighted average (out of 100) required for each letter grade is indicated below.
| A | 93 |
| A- | 90 |
| B+ | 87 |
| B | 83 |
| B- | 80 |
| C+ | 77 |
| C | 73 |
| C- | 70 |
| D+ | 67 |
| D | 63 |
| D- | 60 |
| F | 0 |
Your grade is not an indication of how much I like you. It is not an indication of your worth as a person. It is not even a measure of your ability to learn physics. It is my judgment of your accomplishment in learning physics, in particular the portion of physics that we studied.
Regarding homework, you are free to discuss homework problems with others, and talk about the methods for solving them. Doing someone else’s homework is academically dishonest. Submitting homework for someone else is academically dishonest. Telling someone else or showing someone else how you did a problem is not.
Regarding exams, I expect you to follow the rules on this syllabus. Collaborating or communicating with others on an exam is academically dishonest. Do not collaborate or communicate with others on an exam. I will submit any cases of academic dishonesty to the appropriate Dean. Please be academically honest.
Homework and exams can only be made up in the event of serious circumstances such as illness. There is no extra credit in this course.
| Date | Topic | Read before class | Due |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01/15 | Welcome | ||
| 01/17 | Coulomb’s Law | 16-1 to 16-6 | |
| 01/19 | Electric Field | 16-7 to 16-9 | |
| — | |||
| 01/22 | Electric Field | ||
| 01/24 | Electric Field Superposition | HW 1 | |
| 01/26 | Electric Potential Energy | 17-1 | |
| — | |||
| 01/29 | Electric Potential | 17-2 to 17-5 | |
| 01/31 | Capacitor | 17-7 | HW 2 |
| 02/02 | Dielectrics | 17-8 to 17-9 | |
| — | |||
| 02/05 | Electric Current | 18-1 to 18-2 | |
| 02/07 | Ohm’s Law | 18-3 to 18-7 | HW 3 |
| 02/09 | Series and Parallel | 19-1 to 19-3 | |
| — | |||
| 02/12 | Exam 1 (Electricity) | ||
| 02/14 | Kirchhoff’s Rules | 19-5 to 19-7 | |
| 02/16 | Magnetic Field | 20-1 to 20-2 | |
| — | |||
| 02/19 | Lorentz Force Law | 20-3 to 20-4 | |
| 02/21 | Long Wire | 20-5 to 20-6 | HW 4 |
| 02/23 | Solenoid | 20-7 | |
| — | |||
| 02/26 | Faraday’s Law | 21-1 to 21-2 | |
| 02/28 | Motional emf | 21-3 to 21-4 | HW 5 |
| 03/01 | Electric Generators | 21-5 | |
| — | |||
| 03/04 | Spring vacation | ||
| 03/06 | Spring vacation | ||
| 03/08 | Spring vacation | ||
| — | |||
| 03/11 | Spherical Mirrors | 23-1 to 23-3 | |
| 03/13 | Snell’s Law | 23-4 to 23-6 | HW 6 |
| 03/15 | Ray Tracing | 23-7 | |
| — | |||
| 03/18 | Exam 2 (Circuits, Magnetism) | ||
| 03/20 | Thin Lenses | 23-8 | |
| 03/22 | Wave Optics | 24-1 | |
| — | |||
| 03/25 | Interference | 24-3 to 24-4 | |
| 03/27 | Diffraction | 24-5 | HW 7 |
| 03/29 | Easter vacation | ||
| — | |||
| 04/01 | Easter vacation | ||
| 04/03 | Thin Films | 24-8 | |
| 04/05 | Blackbody Radiation | 27-1 to 27-2 | |
| — | |||
| 04/08 | Photoelectric Effect | 27-3 | HW 8 |
| 04/10 | Photon Energy | 27-4 | |
| 04/12 | Exam 3 (Optics) | ||
| — | |||
| 04/15 | Pair Production | 27-6 to 27-8 | |
| 04/17 | Atomic Spectra | 27-10 to 27-12 | |
| 04/19 | Nuclear Physics | 30-1 | |
| — | |||
| 04/22 | Binding Energy | 30-2 | HW 9 |
| 04/24 | Radioactivity | 30-3 to 30-7 | |
| 04/26 | Half-life | 30-8 to 30-9 | |
| — | |||
| 04/29 | Radioactive Dating | 30-10 to 30-11 | |
| 05/01 | Catch up | ||
| 05/03 | Catch up | HW 10 |
PHY 104 satisfies the Quantitative Reasoning (QR) area of the Formative Experience requirement of Constellation LVC. Quantitative Reasoning courses develop students’ abilities to reason about and solve quantitative problems from a wide array of contexts.
| Constellation QR Learning Goal | Course Objective | Assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Students will understand information presented in mathematical forms (e.g., equations, graphs, diagrams, tables, words), including the ability to learn about and interpret unfamiliar quantitative structures. | calculate the electric field produced by a charge distribution | HW 2, HW 3, Exam 1 |
| Students will convert relevant information into various mathematical forms (e.g., equations, graphs, diagrams, tables, words). | calculate the magnetic field produced by a current distribution | HW 5, HW 6, Exam 2 |
| Students will make judgments and draw appropriate conclusions based on the quantitative analysis of data, while recognizing the assumptions used and other limits of the analysis. | explain magnetic phenomena using the concept of magnetic field | HW 5, HW 6, Exam 2 |
| Students will clearly express the results of the interpretation, representation, application, and analysis of quantitative information in an effective format. | describe the behavior of circuits using the language of circuit theory | HW 4, Exam 2 |
| The course will have a significant and continuing focus on working with quantitative arguments. | explain phenomena in terms of principles and theories | Exam 3, Final Exam |
In this course, you may be asked to use a custom browser that locks down the testing environment within the Canvas learning management system. While using these programs, your instructor may require you to activate the video camera and microphone of your computer while completing the exam. Students who are not willing to provide the requested video and audio feeds may ask to take the exam using an alternative proctoring method. Students may arrange for the exam to be proctored at a professional testing center such as Sylvan Learning Centers. The student is responsible for finding the testing site and must pay any fees associated with testing. The Alternate Proctoring Request form can be obtained by contacting Kristen Shutter at shutter@lvc.edu or by phone at 717-867-6028.
Students participating in face-to-face class sessions must adhere to the guidelines put forth in LVC’s Community Covenant (http://wordpress.lvc.edu/wordpress/lvcforward/2020/07/09/community-covenant/). To facilitate contact tracing, students will be given assigned seats for the semester.
Audio and/or video recordings of the class sessions may be made by the College and/or by students who have been authorized by the LVC Center for Accessibility Resources to record classes as an accommodation for a disability. By participating in the class, all students consent to being recorded for these purposes. Any other recordings of class sessions are not permitted. Students participating in on-line courses are asked to respect the privacy of those participating in the class by ensuring that class sessions cannot be overheard by those who are not enrolled in the course.
Any student who submits work that is in violation of the academic honesty policy will be subject to the penalties described in the College Catalog and outlined in LVC’s Academic Honesty Policy. Lebanon Valley College expects its students to uphold the principles of academic honesty. Violations of these principles will not be tolerated. Students shall neither hinder nor unfairly assist the efforts of other students to complete their work. All individual work that a student produces and submits as a course assignment must be the student’s own.
Cheating and plagiarism are violations of the academic honesty policy. Cheating is an act that deceives or defrauds. It includes, but is not limited to, looking at another’s exam or quiz, using unauthorized materials during an exam or quiz, providing unauthorized material or assistance to another student, colluding on assignments without the permission or knowledge of the instructor, and furnishing false information to receive special consideration, such as postponement of an exam, essay, quiz, or deadline of an oral presentation.
Plagiarism is the act of submitting as one’s own the work (e.g., the words, ideas, images, compositions, or other intellectual property) of another without accurate attribution. Plagiarism can manifest itself in various ways: it can arise from sloppy, inaccurate note-taking; it can emerge as the incomplete or incompetent citation of resources; it can take the form of presenting passages or work prepared by another as one’s own, whether from an online, oral, or printed source. It may also take the form of re-using one’s own previously submitted work (such as a paper written for a different class) without the current instructor’s knowledge and permission.
A student is culpable for violations of the academic honesty policy, as outlined above, when caused by either academic negligence or academic dishonesty. An act of academic negligence is when a student engages in behaviors outlined above through irresponsible ignorance or carelessness. Acts of dishonesty involve the intent to deceive or mislead. Initially, the instructor will make the determination that a violation of the policy may have occurred.
Students who take part in violations as described above are subject to a meeting with the Associate Provost of Undergraduate Education, who has the authority to take further action, up to and including expulsion from the College.
In this course, you may be asked to submit some or all of your assignments for review by LVC’s online plagiarism service, Unicheck. This service will compare the content of your work to content found on the internet and several proprietary databases. Any work submitted to this service may become part of the service’s permanent collection of submitted papers. After your work is submitted, the service will generate an originality report, which will be sent to your instructor. Any student who submits plagiarized work will be subject to the penalties outlined in LVC’s Academic Honesty Policy found in the Student Handbook and the College Catalog.
Most courses at the College utilize a course evaluation system called EvaluationKIT. Near the end of the term, you will have the opportunity to evaluate the course in a number of key areas: learning environment, instructor performance, overall course structure, progress on relevant course objectives, and Constellation learning outcomes (if they apply). The faculty have approved a set of common questions that students will respond using an agreement scale. Please note that quantitative survey results and comments are used for course and instructor improvements and to indirectly measure the progress on relevant student learning objectives.
Individuals with disabilities are guaranteed certain protections and rights of equal access to programs and activities under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act (ADAAA) of 2008. Therefore, Lebanon Valley College recognizes the responsibility of the college community to provide equal educational access for otherwise qualified students with disabilities.
In-Person and Online Courses: Any student who needs accommodations is invited to provide letters from the Center for Accessibility Resources and discuss accommodations with me.
Any student who feels they may need accommodations based on a documented disability or other condition that may affect academic performance should: contact The Center for Accessibility Resources, located in the Lebegern Learning Commons — Mund Suite 002. Students may schedule an appointment by calling 717-867-6028 or emailing hannafor@lvc.edu to determine if accommodations are warranted and to obtain an official letter of accommodation.
Assistive Technology is available to enhance your academic skills. The Center for Accessibility Resources, located in the Lebegern Learning Commons—Mund Suite 002, offers educational software and personal assistive devices for short-term loans. Available assistive devices include LiveScribe pens, mini iPads, digital recorders, headphones, and adaptive keyboards. Our student coordinator is available to meet with students throughout the semester to suggest devices and/or software aligned to individual student needs.
If a student believes that appropriate accommodations are being denied, the student may file a grievance. Procedures for filing grievances may be found at www.lvc.edu/offices-directories/center-for-accessibility-resources.
LVC is a community of inclusive excellence. We affirm the rights of all persons to a superior educational experience that is characterized by respect for others. As such, this class and all classes at LVC, are places where our core values of inclusiveness, civility and appreciation of difference are affirmed.
Lebanon Valley College is committed to fostering an environment of inclusion and support, which includes honoring all its members’ forms of self-identification. This policy provides uses of preferred first names and pronouns for students, faculty, staff, friends, and alumni who wish to provide them. Many members of the LVC community may use names other than their legal names to identify themselves. If the use of this different name is not for misrepresentation, LVC acknowledges that a preferred name may be used wherever possible. The preferred name will be recorded and used except where the legal name is required.
Although students, faculty, staff, friends, and alumni are free to determine the preferred name and pronoun they wish to be known by, the College deserves the right to deny a preferred name and pronoun if it is used inappropriately.
Gender pronouns are those pronouns that members of the community use to represent themselves. Gender pronouns can include, but are not limited to, he/him/his, she/her/hers, they/them/theirs, etc. Asking for and correctly using a person’s pronoun is one of the most basic ways to show respect for a person’s gender identity.
Preferred name and pronouns will be entered and accessible internally for members of the campus community. Lebanon Valley College expects all faculty, staff, and students to facilitate the use of preferred names and pronouns listed on the directory and class rosters.
Lebanon Valley College prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, ancestry, religion/creed, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, genetic information, marital/familial status, or veteran status in all programs and activities, as required by Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and other applicable statutes and/or College policies. Lebanon Valley College prohibits discriminatory harassment and sexual harassment, including sexual violence and any type of sexual misconduct.
Title IX makes it clear that violence, harassment, and any type of sexual misconduct based on sex and gender are civil rights violations. If you or someone you know has experienced violence, discrimination, or harassment, support is available through Counseling Services, Health Service, the Chaplain’s office, the Victim Advocacy Program, and Title IX deputies. Please refer to the Student Handbook or the College Catalog for specific contact information.
The faculty of Lebanon Valley College approved guidelines on Equivalent Instructional Activities that will be used to substitute for face-to-face contact hour requirements for this online or hybrid course. These activities are clearly documented in this syllabus. For further details, please review the approved Equivalent Instructional Activities.
Starfish is an online tool used at LVC that gives you the opportunity to connect with faculty and staff to cultivate your success. Through Starfish, you can submit concerns, access beneficial resources, connect with your Success Network, and receive updates on your academic progress. This tool also allows faculty and staff to recognize when you might need extra help and reach out to collaboratively resolve an issue. If you receive a Starfish Flag showing that someone has a concern, you will receive an email with a specific action plan to follow. Take that action and work with us to maximize your success.
At Lebanon Valley College, we want you to succeed in and out of the classroom. Administrators and faculty work together on the CARE Team to cultivate Confidence, Accountability, Resilience, and Engagement in every student. If a member of the LVC community is concerned about you for any reason (i.e. academic, social, or emotional issues), they will ask a CARE team member to reach out to you and work with you towards a solution. You should consider it your assignment to follow through and accept assistance from the appropriate source(s). Don’t be afraid or hesitant to seek help from these individuals: supporting you is their job! Be proactive and take control of your success.
Located in the lower-level of Mund College Center, the Center for Academic Success and Exploratory Majors serves to support, inspire, and cultivate student success. The key to performing well academically lies in frequently utilizing support services across campus; in fact, many of our top students utilize tutors to help prepare for exams, talk through challenging concepts, learn how to take effective notes, and more. For this reason, we staff peer tutors in almost all 100 and 200-level classes, including subject-specific writing conferencing. Students can request tutoring appointments through Starfish and the sessions serve as a place to connect with classmates, ask questions, and work on homework as well as drop-in writing support from 7pm-9pm, Mondays through Thursdays. If you would like to work with a tutor, please request a time using Starfish.
In addition, the Center features academic success coaching, where staff members support students by designing and implementing a plan for academic success. These "coaching" sessions focus on developing effective time management, organizational, test-taking, critical reading, note-taking, and study skills, as well as learning healthy behavioral techniques like stress management and self-motivation. . For more information on any of these services, visit the Center for Academic Success. To request an appointment, please email findyoursuccess@lvc.edu.
The Center also serves as the home on campus to Exploratory (undecided) majors. Professional staff advise students who are still determining their major/career path and support students who are in transition between majors as they determine their next steps.
Your mental health, including excessive stress, anxiety, depression or problems with eating and/or sleeping can adversely influence your academic performance. At LVC we care about the whole person. If you feel that any of these issues are negatively impacting your performance, please contact our Counseling Services to consult with one of our professional counselors. During a brief phone conversation, they can assess your particular needs and help you make a connection to the services you may need. If you would like a phone consultation, just email counselingservices@lvc.edu and leave your contact information. A professional counselor will return your call or email the next business day. We will not check email after hours or over the weekend/vacation times. If you experience an emergency, please call 911 in your local area or text 741741 to request immediate assistance.
Lebanon Valley College does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, ancestry, religion/creed, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, genetic information, or veteran status in its programs and activities as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and other applicable statutes and/or College policies.
The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act, Title VII, and related statutes and regulations: Ann C. Hayes, Senior Director of Human Resources and Title IX Coordinator, Administration Building/Humanities Center 108, Lebanon Valley College, 101 N. College Avenue, Annville, PA 17003–1400, 717–867–6416, hayes@lvc.edu.
Students should be aware that the work they submit must be their own. Professors may create assignments or activities that require or encourage the use of AI. If such use is not either required or allowed explicitly, then students must assume that the use of artificial intelligence is *not* acceptable in any given assignment. In this instance, unacknowledged uses of artificial intelligence in student work can be deemed violations of our academic honesty policy (see above). If this is unclear in any way, it is the student’s responsibility to ask the professor about appropriate uses of AI for the assignment.
Lebanon Valley College is committed to providing a welcoming and supportive environment for students from all cultural and religious backgrounds. All members of the community should commit to students not suffering adverse consequences for practicing their religions. We recognize the Christian centeredness of our campus, including our Academic Calendar. We seek to support an environment that is welcoming to persons of all faith traditions and backgrounds. Students whose religious practice requires that they observe holidays other than those specified on the Academic Calendar should have a conversation with either a faculty member or the Chaplain and Coordinator of Spiritual Life to initiate the accommodation process. This conversation should happen within the first two weeks (or first week, if the course is a summer, winter, or graduate course meeting for less than 15 weeks) of each semester of their intent (even when the exact date of the day will not be known until later) so that alternative arrangements for both students and faculty can be made at the earliest opportunity. Any such conversation should seek to determine the needs of the student and the appropriate next steps. If the conversation starts through a faculty member, the faculty member should recommend that the student also have a conversation with the Chaplain so that the Chaplain may learn about the student’s needs, attend to any non-academic requests, and refer the student to other impacted faculty. If the conversation starts with the Chaplain, the Chaplain will direct the student to also have a conversation with impacted faculty members.