Course overview
Physics 208 "Electricity, Magnetism and Optics" is the second of a two-semester sequence in general physics, intended to introduce students to the basic principles of the electromagnetic theory and its most important applications. We will cover topics in electrostatics, Gauss's Law, electric currents, Ohm’s and Kirchhoff’s Laws, electromagnetism, Faraday's Law, electromagnetic waves, Maxwell’s equations, and optics. This corresponds to chapters 21–30 and 32–36 of the textbook. The course is taught with pre-lectures, lectures, recitations and laboratories. The pre-lectures present the core concepts prior to class and allow more time for problem-solving strategies in class as compared to traditional lectures. The recitation is meant to practice problem-solving and to sharpen your reasoning about physics in a smaller class-size setting than the main lecture. And of course the laboratory is an integral part of understanding physical processes. The material is presented at a level that requires significant algebra, trigonometry, and calculus.
Upon successfully completing this course, you will have come to understand the basic principles electromagnetic effects and their contemporary applications, learned to think more critically/scientifically, and developed the skills needed to attack difficult problems. These are all skills that will serve you strongly in your future courses and careers, and also in your day to day life.
Course Schedule
The weekly class schedule gives an outline of the course, but is by no means definitive; check with your professor for a more complete schedule of your specific sections. There is also a Department-wide lab schedule and a information page for the labs of all the introductory physics courses. The content and date of the recitations can be found here. The recitations scenario will require you to work in teams of 3-4 for solving relevant problems in a limited amount of time. You are strongly encouraged to show a complete solution of each problem, not just the answer. A template for a complete solution is given here. The problems to be solved during the recitations are posted in advance each week here.
Instructors:
Name |
Sections |
|
Lectures |
|
FlipItPhysics course access Key |
|
|||||
521–524, 526 |
MPHY204 |
MW |
4:10 pm |
– |
5:25 pm |
phys208MW |
|||||
516–518,520,530 |
MPHY205 |
TR |
11:10 am |
– |
12:25 pm |
MioFall2016 |
|||||
511-513,515,529 |
MPHY205 |
MWF |
9:10 am |
– |
10 am |
fall2016 |
|||||
506-510, 528 |
MPHY205 |
TR |
9:35 am |
– |
10:50 am |
welch-208-16f |
|||||
Required material
| Pre-requisite: | You should have completed MATH 151 and be currently enrolled in MATH 152. You should have also completed a semester of Mechanics (Physics 218 or the equivalent). Students are expected to have a working knowledge of plane and solid geometry, trigonometry, algebra, vectors, differentiation and integration. |
Textbook: |
University Physics, (14th Edition) Volume 2 by Young and Freedman, Addison Wesley. Your most cost-effective option is probably to get either the e-text or the loose-leaf version with Modified Mastering. |
Homework: |
MyLab&Mastering will be
used to submit the homework assignments on a weekly basis. If you did
not buy Modified Mastering with the textbook, you may purchase
it online during the registration process. Note that MyLab &
Mastering access lasts 24 months and includes the entire text
(i.e. the same account can be used for both
PHYS 218 and 208). Also note that this is
not (exactly) the same product as in
semesters prior to Spring 2014; if you've taken this course and paid
for Mastering already, please see below for information on
gaining access this semester without being charged again (under the
"If you've previously taken the course" heading).
Pearson gives a
14-day trial period before requiring you to pay for Mastering if you
didn't get access by purchasing a new book. You should register for Mastering
from the homework link on your eCampus PHYS208 course site. After registering, you can access your homework either through your eCampus course or directly from the Mastering/MyLab website. |
Pre-lectures: |
All sections will use the
flipItPhysics on-line lecture system. We will not
be using their book; so don't buy it! You only need online access to
their site, for which you'll need to sign up with a Course Access Key
provided to you by your professor. flipItPhysics is
kind enough to offer a 30-day grace period for you to try it out,
particularly so those of you who end up choosing to drop the course
do not have to pay for it. Therefore there's no rush for you to buy
accesss and we suggest you wait until after the first week or two of
classes to purchase it. After the 30-day grace period, your most
cost-effective option is to purchase it online from
flipItPhysics directly.
This handout
will help guide you through the registration process. |
Labs: |
You do
not need to purchase a printed
lab manual as in previous semesters; instead we are adopting a new
online lab manual with write-ups turned in via the
WebAssign
website. To enroll,
sign up using your TAMU NetID login and password at our customized
login page: webassign.net/tamu/login.html.
WebAssign offers a
two-week grace period for you to try it out before requiring you to
purchase access. So we again suggest you do not rush to buy an
access card; wait until you're sure you won't drop the course before
spending your money. Before the end of the two-week grace period,
your most cost-effective option for purchasing it will be online from
WebAssign directly. This
quick start guide will
help guide you through the registration process. You
must complete the Lab Safety
Acknowledgement form before being allowed to enter the
lab rooms. |
i>clickers: |
If you don't already have one for
other classes, you will need to purchase an
i>clicker2
for in-class participation during the lectures. If you bought a
new book, it may have come with a discount coupon for the
i>clicker2. We will not be using the alphanumeric
capabilities of the i>clicker2, so the older
i>clicker model for just multiple-choice responses is
completely acceptable. |
| If you've previously taken the course | If you are re-taking PHYS208, consider the following:
|
Course Evaluation
| Midterm exams (×3) | There will be three midterm exams on 9/26/16, 10/17/16, and 11/14/16 each counting for 14% of the course grade. The exams are comprehensive. Each exam generally consists of problems similar in content and difficulty to the class and home work. The entire solution will be graded and partial credit given if deserved. Your work must show the steps toward the solution; the answer alone is not sufficient. The grader will judge your use of physics in arriving at the solution. Formula sheets will be provided for each exam and the final. You will need to bring a SAT approved calculator to the exams. You need to bring your student ID with you to all exams for identification purposes. |
| Comprehensive final | The date and time of each prof's comprehensive final exam is already fixed by the registrar's academic calendar; check now if you need to reschedule! The final exam is worth 26% of the course grade. NOTE: If your final exam grade is higher than the lowest of your three midterm exams, the mean between midterm and final will replace this lowest grade. |
| Online homework | Submitted and graded using MyLab & Mastering through Homework link on your PHYS208 course on eCampus. |
| Laboratory | There are seven laboratories
submitted using WebAssign, worth 8% of the course grade. See the Department-wide
Laboratory
Information page for schedules by section. Note that we do meet the first week! Also, be sure to
fill out the LSA before attending
the labs! |
| Recitation quizzes | There are weekly recitation quizzes and team-based In-Class-Exercises (ICEs) worth 8% of the course grade. The ICEs will be posted in advance as pre-ICE here. It is your responsibility to download and sketch the solutions for the pre-ICE BEFORE coming to the recitation session. Recitations meet weekly before the lab, even when no lab is scheduled. The content and date of the recitations can be found here. |
| Pre-lectures and checkpoint quizzes |
flipItPhysics
pre-lecture videos to introduce concepts followed by checkpoint
questions to assess how well you grasped the core physics concepts. |
i>clickers |
A personal response system used for in-class participation and/or lecture quizzes. |
Resources available to you
| All the Help Sessions: | The schedule of the various help sessions for the current PHYS208 are listed here. There may be more opportunities not included in this list. |
| Office hours: | Hopefully all of you feel comfortable taking advantage of your professor's office hours if you have any questions. |
| Supplemental Instruction: | The University provides free
Supplemental Instruction led by a student who recently completed
(and did well in!) PHYS208.
The SI leader this term for all sections
using the Young & Freedman textbook
is Reynaldo Chavez
.
|
| Recitations: | Your Recitation Instructors should be an invaluable resource for you! They will help you clear up any misconceptions or difficulties you may have. Another person explaining another way may resonate better with you; this is, after all, the whole point of the recitations. |
| The Help Desk: | The Physics Help Desk is located in MPHY 135. Starting the second week of the term, it is open from 9am to 4pm Mon through Thurs, and 9am to noon on Fridays. The Help Desk is staffed by physics graduate students knowledgeable in mechanics who can help if you are stuck solving the homework or on a particular concept. No appointment is necessary. |
Further information
| Formula sheets: | link to the formula sheets that will be provided to you for each midterm and the final. |
| Previous exams: | link to the recent past exams in PHYS 208. Note that we have a common midterm exam policy: all sections of PHYS 208 will write the same midterms at the same time; your professor is only one of a number of faculty that will be contributing problems to the midterms. |
| Academic calendar: | link to the Registrar's academic calendar. Includes important dates, holidays and the final exam schedule. Note, you can tell right now whether or not you're scheduled to write three exams in one day. So, if you want to reschedule, you need to ask your professor now; if you wait until the end of the semester, (s)he may not have time to re-schedule it for you and may have to say no. |
| eCampus: | Texas A&M's centralized learning management system, powered by Blackboard Learn. |
Academic Integrity Statement
The Aggie Honor Code is "An Aggie does not lie, cheat or steal, or tolerate those who do." For more information, refer to the Honor Council Rules and Procedures at http://aggiehonor.tamu.edu.
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Policy Statement
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal anti-discrimination statute that provides comprehensive civil rights protection for persons with disabilities. Among other things, this legislation requires that all students with disabilities be guaranteed a learning environment that provides for reasonable accommodation of their disabilities. If you believe you have a disability requiring an accommodation, please contact Disability Services, in Cain Hall, Room B118, or call (979)845-1637. For more information visit http://disability.tamu.edu. All information and documentation concerning a disability is kept confidential.
