Physics 212 Course Syllabus Spring 2018

Class Hours: MTWR 3:10 - 4pm, Building 53-215

Course Materials: See the course PolyLearn on the Cal Poly portal
Instructor: Dr. Sean Echols
Office: Faculty Office East 25-200, Phone: 756-1692
Office Hours: Mon. 2:10 - 3:00 pm, Tues. 1:10 - 3:00 pm,
Wed. 2:10 - 3:00 pm, Fri. 3:10 - 4:00 pm
E-mail: sechols@calpoly.edu

Required Textbook:
Modern Physics, 2 ed. by Randy Harris
Recommended Reading:
Modern Physics for Scientists and Engineers, 2 ed. by Taylor, Zafiratos, Dubson

Rough Course Outline for Physics 212

(A more detailed and regularly updated schedule will be available on the course page.)
Week Topic Reading

Apr. 3 Hydrogenlike Atoms Review, Chapter 7

Apr. 10 Transitions, Spin Chapters 7 & 8
Apr. 17 Atomic Physics Chapter 8
Apr. 24 Total Angular Momentum Chapter 8
May 1 Classical Statistical Mechanics Chapter 9
May 8 Quantum Statistics Chapter 9
May 15 Molecular Bonding Chapter 10
May 22 Solid State Physics Chapter 10
May 29 Nuclear Physics Chapter 11
June 5 Subatomic Physics Chapters 11 & 12

Course Grading and Requirements

• 24% Weekly Homework
• 16% Midterm 1 (Ch. 5.8 - 5.11, 7.1 - 8.5) - Thu. Apr. 26
• 24% Midterm 2 (Ch. 8.6 - 9.9) - Mon. May 21
• 36% Final Exam* (Mon. June 11, 1:10 pm–4:00 pm)
*Note: This value includes the optional Take-home Final Exam portion. See Exams section
below.
Homework assignments

Weekly readings and homework assignments will be posted on PolyLearn. It is your

responsibility to check online regularly to be aware of the assignment deadlines and any
changes to our schedule. Late submissions will be accepted but will only receive 50% credit
once solutions have been posted. In other words, half of the battle is simply sitting down
to spend the time to understand the problems, and you will receive half of the homework
credit for exhibiting a concerted effort. Just as with any discipline, proficiency comes
with practice and dedication. Regardless of how comfortable you feel with the material,
completing the homework assignments on your own will be integral to your success in this
course. I encourage you to work on the assigments with partners or in groups, but your
written work must represent your own comprehension of the material. This also implies that
copying solutions from the instructor’s manuals or the internet will not be beneficial to your
grade in the class (let alone help you learn the material). If your homework solutions appear
to be copied from the solution manual they will not receive credit, at the discretion of our
grader. The homework is also important for developing another invaluable skill (especially
for physics) – producing work that is neat, organized, comprehensive, and makes it easy for
someone else to read and follow. Neatness and clarity will be a factor in determining your
homework score.

In-Class Exams

Both the midterms and the final exam will be held in the same classroom as the lectures.
Midterm 1 will be 50 minutes in-class, will cover material from the first three homework
assignments, and will focus on Quantum Fundamentals, Hydrogenlike Atoms, Atomic Tran-
sitions, and Multiparticle Atoms (sections 5.8 - 5.11, 7.1 - 8.5). Midterm 2 will be 50 minutes
in-class, will cover material from homework assignments 4 - 6, and will focus on Angular
Momentum Addition, The Zeeman Effect, and Statistical Mechanics (both classical and
quantum). The final exam will be 3 hours long in-class and will cover the complete course
material, with emphasis on Molecular, Nuclear, and Particle Physics (chapters 10 - 12 as
well as any other material not covered on the midterm). You must take the midterm and
final exam to pass the course. The exams will be closed book, but you will be permitted
to consult a single 8.5” x 11” page of personal notes that you have created for yourself, as
well as a scientific/graphing calculator.

Take-Home Exam

The take-home final exam will be offered as an optional portion of the overall final exam
grade. The exam will be posted on PolyLearn near the end of the quarter and will be due
at the beginning of our last class meeting, Thursday, June 7. It is your choice whether to
submit the final exam on this day or not. If you do, your score on the take-home exam
will account for 12% of your overall course grade, in addition to 24% from the in-class final
exam. If you do not submit the take-home, your entire final exam score (36% of the overall
grade) will be based on your performance on the in-class exam during finals week. This
is NOT a best-case scenario, i.e. if you choose to submit the take-home exam it will be
graded and included in your final score regardless of your perfomance on the in-class exam.
However, historically students almost always receive a better score on the take-home exam
if they have dedicated the necessary time and put in full effort.
The take-home exam will cover material from the entire course content. The problems
presented will be extremely difficult, but entirely solvable based on the material learned
in class. The take-home exam should be thought of as a final project for the course,
and may require some research and review on your part to complete. You may use any
prewritten resources you find helpful, but you will not be permitted to communicate about
the exam with anyone. You will be required to sign and date a document asserting that
the work submitted is solely and completely your own. Please be sure to thoroughly read
the Academic Honesty documentation. The take-home will be long and quite challenging,
be sure to leave ample time in your schedule to complete it.

Academic Honesty

Please refer to http://www.osrr.calpoly.edu/academic dishonesty.html for the campus

Academic Honesty policy. The basic idea is that I will assume that you as students are here
at Cal Poly and in this class in particular to learn the material and to better yourself in
your career and as a human being in general. I will give you the benefit of the doubt that
you are dedicated to doing your best to learn and succeed. Cheating and/or copying work
will only hurt your classmates, it certainly won’t help you succeed in the long run, and it’s
just not cool. Have some integrity.

Important Dates

Thu. Apr. 26 Midterm Exam 1 - Ch. 5.8 - 5.11, 7.1 - 8.5

Mon. May 21 Midterm Exam 2 - Ch. 8.6 - 9.9

Mon. May 28 Academic Holiday - Memorial Day

Thu. June 7 Last Day of Class, take-home final due

Mon. June 11 Final Exam, 1:10pm - 4pm