PHYSICS 350

Electricity and Magnetism

Spring, 2005

 

Dr. Cain                                              9:30-10:20 a.m., MWF                                  Dana 153

 

Text: Electromagnetism, by Gerald Pollock and Daniel Stump

 

This course will consider the broad field of electricity and magnetism.  As the authors of your text say “The electromagnetic interaction is one of the fundamental interactions of the physical world.”  The phenomena and theories that we will look at are used in all areas of physics, as well as in every field of science.  The material is interesting (in my humble opinion!), but the concepts are not necessarily intuitive and the mathematics is challenging.  However, as in any physics course, once you learn the jargon, the techniques, and the mathematics that are appropriate for this subject, it should be at least meaningful and understandable.  That is our goal this semester.

 

We will cover Chapters 1-11, excluding Chapter 7, and parts of Chapters 13 this semester.  You will have problem assignments for every chapter, and shorter assignments almost every day, due at the beginning of class on the assigned date.  These will be a combination of pledged and unpledged work.  You are encouraged to work together with members of our class on the unpledged work.  However, the work you turn in must be your own.  Problem assignments and day-to-day problems will be posted on the home page when assigned.  You may not use work done by students in previous Physics 350 classes.

 

There will also be two take-home reviews that will include both open-book and closed-book sections.  The dates of the reviews will be given at least a week in advance and will depend on how long it takes to cover certain parts of the material.  The weeks for these reviews are tentatively listed on the schedule below.


The exam will be cumulative and take-home during the self-scheduled exam period.  It will be due by the end of the last scheduled exam period.  It will also contain open-book and closed-book sections.

 

The course grade will be determined as follows:

 

Problems 40%

Reviews 36%

Exam 24%

 

Class attendance will follow the College’s 25% rule.

 

Attendance at all Physics Department seminars is a required part of this course.  You are to the point where you have enough physics under your belt to begin to apply it to other areas of physics and science.  This attendance will be included in the intangible part of your course grade.

  

Please try to read the material before coming to class.  That way you will at least be familiar with the terminology and can ask informative questions.  We can then spend more time in class on more interesting and informative activities.

 

A very rough outline of what we will cover this semester is given below.  This schedule is subject to change.  We will delete some sections in every chapter in order to get a broader view of our subject.

 

 

Jan. 10 – 14

Chap. 1 & 2

Jan. 17 – 21
(NO CLASS Jan. 17 – MLK Day)

Chap. 2

Jan. 24 - 28

Chap.2 & 3

Jan. 31 - Feb. 4

Chap. 3

Feb. 7 – 11

Chap. 3 & 4

Feb. 14 – 18

Chap. 4 & 5

Feb. 21 – 25

Review #1 - Tentative

Chap. 5 & 6

Feb. 28 - Mar. 4

NO CLASS - Spring Break

Mar. 7 - 11

Chap. 6

Mar. 14 - 18

Chap. 6 & 8

Mar. 21 – 25

Chap. 8

Mar. 28 – Apr.1

(NO CLASS Mar. 28 – Easter Brk)

Chap. 8

Apr. 4 – 8

(NO CLASS Apr. 8 – AP Comm)

Chap. 9

Apr. 11 – 15

Chap. 10 & 11

Apr. 18 – 22

Review #2 - Tentative

Chap. 11

Apr. 25 – 29

Chap. 11 & 13

May 2 – May 4

Chap. 13

May 5

May 6 – May 11

Reading day

Final Exams