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Course Overview and Text

These sections of PHYS 121 and MATH 122 are team taught as a combined course. All students must be enrolled in both courses.

The text for this course is Integrated Physics and Calculus by the course instructors.

As a prerequisite for this course, students must have an understanding of the fundamental ideas taught in the first semester of the calculus sequence. We will begin this course with a rapid review of some fundamental ideas in calculus: limit, continuity, and derivative. We will do this review in both the familiar context of functions with scalar input and scalar output and in the new context of functions with scalar inputs and vector outputs. We will then study definite integrals, antiderivatives, and the Fundamental Theorems of Calculus. In the remainder of the semester, we will explore extensions and applications of these ideas, including differential equations, function approximation, and infinite series. We will concurrently explore the fundamental ideas of physics including Newton's laws and conserved quantities.

Students who take separate physics and calculus courses find many points of contact between the two fields. Physics relies on calculus as a tool or language for precise quantitative description of the natural world. Describing the natural world provided motivation for the developers of calculus, notably Newton. Our idea in this combined physics and calculus course is to enrich both subjects by emphasizing the many connections.

In successfully completing this course, a student should

• understand the relevant concepts of calculus and physics,
• develop facility with the computational techniques of calculus and physics,
• become proficient in reading and writing technical exposition,
• understand the relationships between calculus and physics, including their historical development, and
• appreciate the similarities and differences between the disciplines of physics and mathematics.

Office Hours

We will be available in our offices on a drop-in basis at the following times each week.

Grading, Coursework, and Policies

We will assign one grade for the combined course. This grade will be recorded for both PHYS 121 and MATH 122. Grades will be based on a percentage of the points you earn on coursework with points weighted according to the following:

 1. Homework   5%
 2. Projects  35%
 3. Exams  40%
 4. Laboratory work  10%
 5. Final exam  10%

We assign a preliminary course grade based on this objective standard. We then look at each student's performance subjectively. Occasionally we will assign a course grade that is higher than the objective standard. For example, if a student has a grade of B according to the objective standard but has shown steady improvement, we might assign a course grade of B+.

We will assign homework problems from the textbook on which we expect you to spend considerable time and effort. We will discuss homework problems daily in class. You will benefit most from these discussions if you have worked on the assigned problems. A selection of homework problems will be regularly collected and evaluated.

You will be working on a take-home project almost every week. We try to write project problems that are interesting and challenging. These problems can be open-ended in the sense that there is no one best solution. We will expect your results will be written up with complete sentences to guide a reader through the work (see below for more specific comments on writing style). We encourage you to work on the projects in small groups. If you do work on a project with others, you must do your own write-up of the results. The write-up should include the names of those with whom you worked.

Exams will be given approximately every three weeks. We will announce each exam date about one week in advance. We will give a make-up exam only if you make arrangements with us prior to the time of the exam. We write exams so that approximately half of each exam is ``straightforward'' and the remainder involves more challenging problems. By this, we intend that a well prepared student can do the ``straightforward'' problems without hesitation but will often or always have to struggle with the challenging problems.

Detailed information on labs will be given during the first lab session.

The final exam will be comprehensive. It is scheduled for 8:00-10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, December 12 and 12:00-2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December 12.

Attendance Policy

We expect you will come to class every day. We do not take attendance, but in a class of this size we usually notice when someone is not here.

Attending class helps enormously in learning physics and calculus. Class time is often used to (1) explain material from the textbook, (2) work on new problems not found in the textbook, (3) give hints on assignments, and (4) go over assigned problems. [Hint: Exam problems are sometimes remarkably similar to assigned problems and examples worked in class.]

If you have to miss a class for any reason, professors generally appreciate it if you let them know why you will be missing, in advance if possible.

If you will be absent on an exam date, you must let us know well in advance. Students absent from campus on an exam date because they are representing the University in music, athletics, forensics, etc. can arrange to take the exam before leaving campus.

Policy on Late Work

Our policy is to accept no late work unless there are exceptional circumstances. Examples of exceptional circumstances are (1) a serious, extended illness and (2) a family emergency. Other circumstances can be considered on a case-by-case basis. Generally, permission to hand in late work should be obtained in advance of the due date from one or both professors.

[Note: If you wake up and feel too sick to come to class the day an assignment is due, simply have someone else hand in your assignment for you.]

Reading and Writing Expectations

Developing an ability to read and understand a (relatively) technical piece of writing is one of our primary goals for students taking this course. This skill is fundamental not only for those of you who wish a career in science but also for those who ``merely'' wish to be a well-rounded member of society. Hence, careful reading of the texts is an integral part of this course. We recommend you make multiple readings of the material as practice toward the goal of quickly grasping technical material.

It is best to think of these projects as officially assigned papers in which you completely explain your analyses of the problem(s). At the very least your project should be

• In ink or written on a word processor with the names of any collaborators cited on the first page.
• Written using complete, accurately punctuated sentences
• Presented in the first person and with a clear, easy-to-follow expository style
• Targeted at an audience consisting of students not in this class but with an equivalent mathematical background

Since most of you are either science or mathematics majors, you might consider using a word processor to write your papers. Reasonable technical word processors that also have symbolic manipulation packages include Scientific Notebook, Mathematica, MathCad, and Matlab

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