Physics
2A Syllabus
Fall 2008
Instructor information
Name: Marcus Watson
Contact information: Office: 832C Phone: (831) 479-6519
Email: mawatson<at>cabrillo[dot]edu
Office hours: M 2.10–3.10 pm, T 3–4 pm, W 10–11 am, Th 2.10–3.10 pm and/or by cheerful appointment
PLC hours: M 11–12 pm, T 4–5 pm, W 11–11.30 am & 2.10–3.10 pm
Course information
Physics 2A is 4 semester units: 3 hours/week lecture, 3 hours/week lab, 1.1 hours/week PLC
Lecture meeting: T/Th 8.00 - 9.20 am, room 825
Lab meeting: T/Th 9.30 - 10.50 am (section 1); 11.10 am - 12.30 pm (section 2); room 830
PLC meeting: You must plan on spending 1 hour, 5 minutes every week working a PLC problem.
PLC is located in room 835
Required text: Giambattista, College Physics, 2nd edition.
Prerequisites: Math 4 or equivalent. Algebra, trigonometry and graphing skills are important.
Format/Objectives of the course
We will discuss mainly mechanics, heat and fluids. The topics comprise chapters 1-15 in the text. You are expected to read
the assigned sections before the last lecture on that chapter. This will be a course emphasizing the following goals: 1) A
conceptual understanding of physics; 2) Application of these concepts to quantitative problem solving. Exam questions will
reflect these goals.
PLC
The drop-in physics/engineering learning community (PLC) is in room 835, and is open every weekday with PLC tutors who can
help you work on your required PLC activities. Try working in small groups with other students who have a similar schedule.
The PLC is also a great place to work homework problems or study (even during non-tutored hours).
When you finish a PLC activity, be sure to show your work to any tutor or instructor and (more importantly) be prepared to
answer questions about what you've done. When the tutor is satisfied that you have completed and understood the activity,
he/she will initial the signoff sheet and you are done.
Important note: PLC activities must be completed by Thursday, 5.00 pm.
Homework sets
Homework will be assigned nearly weekly. The key to doing well in this class is to do the homework and, by spending a few
hours a night studying, your performance will be dramatically improved. The class periods will introduce you to a subject,
but the more work you put into the homoework, the better your chances of earning a grade you want. Physics is just like
everything else: the more you practice, the better you get. I encourage you all to attend my offic hours in order to get
help. Homework sets will be due at the beginning of class. You should write neat, well-organized solutions that show
the steps you used to solve the problems. You may use pen, pencil or type them up, but all work must be shown and it must
be done neatly. The grading will be 50% strong effort (survey of completion), and 50% detailed grading of selected problems.
You are allowed one "free" late homework (no penalty) that must be turned in by the next class period. Following that, the
maximum allowable points on any late homework will decrease by exp(-#), where # is the number of late homeworks submitted.
Labs
You must actively participate in the lab experiments. Lab notes should be written neatly, and organized into sections that
include experimental data, how you obtained that data (if you are devising the experiment), calculations you made with that
data, graphs and a conclusion.
Lab reports are due each week (to me or the NAS division office, room 701) by Thursday at 5.00 pm.
Grading & Exams
The grade breakdown will be: lecture grade 85%, lab grade 15%. You must pass both portions to pass the course. Failing the
lab section by not attending two or more meetings or by not submitting work will mean you earn an F in the course.
The lecture grade will be determined by: exams 15% each, final exam 20%, homework 15%, quizzes & PLC 10% each. There will be
2 1.5 hour exams whose dates can be found on the schedule. On exams, you will be provided with a formula sheet and constants.
There is no need to memorize equations or answer to specific problems. In this class, it is the process of solution that is
important. To this end, more points will be awarded to exam solutions with sound scientific reasoning and a minor math error
(resulting in an incorrect answer), than to solutions with an equation, no work and a correct numerical answer.
Please note: only calculators are allowed on exams. Cell phone usage during exams is forbidden.
PCQ
The lecture portion of the course will be more productive if you have the chance to think about the material before class. In
order to encourage reading ahead, pre-class questions (PCQs) will be assigned randomly throughout the semester. At the end
of lecture, a question about a topic covered in the next lecture will be assigned. Answers are to be emailed to the
instructor and postmarked by midnight the night before the next lecture (i.e., if assigned on Tuesday, the PCQ is due by
Wednesday at 11.59 pm). These questions are designed to reward you for your preparation: you receive one extra point on your
homework for each question you answer. No late PCQs will be accepted.
Quizzes
During lecture, there will be short, conceptually-oriented questions asked. These concept quizzes will be multiple-choice
and taken on your PRS clickers and will count toward your quiz grade.
Make-ups
Any missed exams / labs cannot be accepted or made up unless PRIOR arrangements have been made with the
instructor or an extremely exceptional circumstance (as deemed by the instructor) is withstanding.
Expected time commitment
Per week breakdown of about 16 hours of work:
In class lecture: 3 hours
In lab activities: 3 hours
In class PLC activities: 1 hour 5 minutes
Reading the textbook: 3 hours
Homework & studying: 5-6 hours
Instructor responsibilities
My responsibility is to set high standards for your achievement, and provide a supportive environment to help you meet these
standards. I will meet my responsibilites by: 1) Being available during scheduled office hours and for appointments;
2) Assigning appropriate material to help you further your understanding of physics; 3) Returning graded assignments in a
timely fashion; 4) Regularly updating the course website with daily summaries and homework & exam solutions.
Academic honesty
All work submitted must be your own. You are allowed and encouraged to work in groups on homework problems or test review,
but on exams and quizzes you must work independently. Any cheating on exams will result first in no credit, then an F in the
course. Please review the Cabrillo statement regarding plagiarism in the catalog.
Disabilities
If you are a student with a disability, the Disabled Students Program & Services (DSPS) office determines appropriate
accomodations through consultation with you. After you meet with DSPS and they have determined your needs, please let me know
as soon as possible what accomodations you will need. Please bring an Accomodation Letter that verifies your needs and
eligibility for accomodations.
