PHYS-3510
Spring Semester, 2008
| Dr. Lee Eimers | Office hours: M-F:9-10; 11-12 |
| Office: ENS 270 | Other times by app't |
| Phone: Office: ext. 7945 CedarNet | Address: eimersl@cedarville.edu |
| Home: 374-0294 (NOT after 9 p.m. please.) |
TEXT: Modern Physics, 3rd Ed., by R. A. Serway, et al. We will cover about half the chapters in this book this semester.
EXAMS: There will be four unit exams given throughout the semester, on dates to be announced in class. I will always try to give you at least a week's notice. There will also be a comprehensive final examination.
GRADING:
A. Base Points available:
3 regular unit exams (100 pt ea) 300
1 final exam (comprehensive) 100
1 final exam (unit) 100
quizzes (variable, up to) 100
homework 50
research paper 50
Total: 700
B. Grade for the semester:
A: 91% of base points
B: 81% of base points
C: 71% of base points
D: 61% of base points
F: Below 61% of total points
Generally the lowest three percentage points in a range will be minus and the highest three points will be plus. In addition to this, I leave myself the option of raising the final average by a few points for the student who demonstrates such things as a good attitude, class attendance and participation, and/or improvement in his work over the course of the semester. Usually this would not be more than the next higher grade (e.g., from C+ to B-). Enrichment credits will also figure strongly in this.
C. Attendance: The role will be checked at all classes, but will not figure directly in the computation of your grade other than as evidence of a good attitude, as mentioned above. Regular attendance is definitely encouraged, however.
D. Tardiness: This class starts at 2:00 p.m. sharp. Make the effort to be here on time. Punctuality is an excellent character trait that all Christians should seek to cultivate.
E. Exams: The unit exams will consist of a variety of questions designed to probe your level of understanding of the materials covered. Many, if not most of the questions will be modeled after the questions in the homework, so be sure you are able to do every problem. Each exam may also include an extension question that takes requires you to use material in a new way.
The final exam will be the only exam that will be intentionally comprehensive. Individual unit exams will not be, except insofar as each chapter builds on the material of the previous ones.
Each student will be guaranteed his previous grade as a minimum on the corresponding comprehensive section of the final exam.
F. Quizzes: We will have quizzes on various days, some announced and some unannounced. The purpose of quizzes is to encourage you to keep up-to-date in your preparation and to reward you for doing so. If you cut class and miss a quiz, you receive a grade of zero for that quiz. If you miss with a valid excuse, it will not be counted for or against you in the calculation of your grade. At the end of the semester any excess over ten quizzes will be dropped. So, for example, if we have 13 quizzes, your lowest 3 will be dropped.
G. Homework: Assignments will be collected on the days announced in class and will be checked for two things: (1) Completeness. Did you make a reasonable attempt on all the problems. (2) Detailed grading of selected parts of the assignment. Homework is due at the beginning of class. Late homework WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED unless you are absent with a valid excuse. If you plan to cut a class when homework is due, be sure to have someone hand your homework in at class time or slide it under my office door before class time. Do NOT send it by campus mail!
I encourage working together with others on the homework. Work together, but the final product should represent your ownwork and not someone else's.
Homework must be done on standard sized white paper, in blue or black ink, or DARK pencil. Use only one side to facilitate grading. Do not tear paper out of spiral-bound notebooks, because this produces 'confetti' (a real mess) and makes the papers harder to handle.
H. Research Paper: A research paper must be written on some appropriate topic to be chosen jointly with the instructor. Information must be derived mainly from current publications in the journals rather than from books (although books also may be used). The body of the paper, not including title page, bibliography, etc., should be about 10 typewritten pages. The format should be standard, although the 'references cited' form is preferred for footnotes. If you are under the old science seminar system, you may be interested to know that in the past, many students have found that this paper makes a fine beginning for a Senior Seminar topic.
Suggested potential topics for research papers: (If any of these are of interest to you, or if you have some other idea of your own, talk to me about it and then do some preliminary checking to see how much current information seems to be available.)
Bell's Theorem, Black holes, Dark Matter, EPR Paradox, Evaporation of black holes, Gravitational lensing, Gravitational radiation, Gravity wave searches, Interpretations of Quantum Mechanics, Mach's principle, Naked singularities,Paradoxes in special relativity, Quantum gravity, Schrödinger's cat, String theory, Superluminal velocities, Twins paradox, Wormholes.
FINAL COMMENT: I consider my position here at Cedarville to be a ministry for the Lord. If I can help you in any way, academically or otherwise, please feel free to call me. I believe that the Lord has directed all of us to this course. In it, you will learn some amazing and unbelievable facts and insights, so incredible that they are mind-blowing. If you approach it realizing that the Author of Creation used the principles that we will discover here in the structure of His creation, then you will appreciate it even more. Also, we will be working on the development of your thinking and problem-solving skills. This, and the discipline that you will develop by working through the problems and the study can benefit you, both academically and spiritually. May the Lord richly bless us as we study His Creation and learn to appreciate Him more.