>> NOTE: the office and review hours listed are for all students in the Matter & Interactions courses.
Matter and Interactions teaching team: Professors Florin and Swinney, Dr. Rodenborn (rodenborn@utexas.edu), Graduate Teaching Assistants Orrin Shindell (oshindell@physics.utexas.edu) and Michael Himmelsbach (himmelsm@gmail.com), and Undergraduate Teaching Assistants Lucas Spencer (anonymousluke@utexas.edu), Venkat Tirumala (tirumala.venkat.7@gmail.com) , Jaci Ward (jacquelinejward@yahoo.com), and Mitchell Johnson (johnson.mitchelld@gmail.com).
NOTE: Orrin Shindell will address questions about ambiguities in the homework problems.
INSTRUCTOR: H. Swinney, swinney@chaos.utexas.edu, office: RLM 14.224, http://chaos.utexas.edu/people/faculty/harry-l-swinney, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_swinney
Here are pictures of the teaching team for Professor Swinney’s section:
Harry Swinney, Orrin Shindell, Lucas Spencer, Venkat Tirumala
COURSE UNIQUE NUMBERS: 58385 (Discussion Tuesday 6-7 pm), 58390 (Discussion Tuesday 7-8 pm), 58395 (Discussion Tuesday 8-9 pm), 58400 (Discussion Tuesday 9-10 pm). The weekly Discussion Sessions on Tuesdays will be held in JES A307A, beginning January 21, 2014.
THIS COURSE may be used to fulfill three hours of the natural science and technology (Part I or Part II) component of the university core curriculum. The course addresses the following four core objectives established by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board: communication skills, critical thinking skills, teamwork, and empirical and quantitative skills.
This is a first semester calculus-based engineering mechanics course that uses the modern Matter and Interactions curriculum, which emphasizes four fundamental principles that form the basis of science and engineering: momentum, energy, angular momentum, and entropy. The concepts are applied initially to single particle systems, and later the concepts are applied to multiparticle and continuum systems. Frequent connections are made between the macroscopic and microscopic (e.g. gases as collections of colliding molecules, Einstein’s model of a crystalline solid), demonstrating the universality of the fundamental principles. The course introduces concepts from quantum physics, including quantization (e.g. Bohr model for hydrogen and the quantized harmonic oscillator) and concepts from relativity, including Einstein’s famous E=mc^2. The final topic of the semester is thermal equilibrium and entropy, obtained by counting the number of accessible microstates for a system. Equations that cannot be integrated in closed form are studied computationally using Vpython, which is a simple yet powerful open source programming language developed for use in education and now used also in research and in industry.
This course is taught using the ‘flipped classroom’? approach, where, before attending a class, students learn new content online by reading the textbook assignment, watching related videos, and answering related questions. In the flipped classroom the instructor and teaching assistants provide personalized guidance and interaction for students as the students work together on ‘clicker questions’?, which include both conceptual questions and more complex multi-step problems. Weekly discussion sessions (one hour, required) are an integral part of the course; these sessions emphasize the development of systematic problem solving techniques. Both the flipped classroom and the discussion sections are designed to help students develop communication skills, critical thinking skills, teamwork, and empirical and quantitative skills.
TEXTBOOK: Matter and Interactions, volume I, 3rd Edition (NOT 2nd!), by Chabay and Sherwood. The book is available from stores on the drag and from many online vendors; the book is available as a paperback and as an ebook for purchase and also for semester rental.
>> Do NOT purchase WebAssign because the cost includes a homework service that we will not use; instead we will use UT’s Quest homework system.
>> BOOKMARK: matterandinteractions.org has much useful material — videos, lectures, problems. etc.
LEARNING MODULES: assignments made in Quest of material to be completed BEFORE CLASS — this includes text sections to be read, videos online, and short clicker-type questions to answer.
Registration in the UT QUEST is required. Quest will be used for homeworks and for the clicker quizzes in each class. Read QUEST FAQs to get started.
The Quest content delivery and homework server system is maintained by the College of Natural Sciences. Quest charges $25 per student per semester for its use, which goes toward the maintenance and operation of the resource. After the 12th day of class, when you log into Quest you will be asked to pay via credit card on a secure payment site. You have the option to wait up to 30 days to pay while still continuing to use Quest for your assignments. If you are taking more than one course using Quest, you will not be charged more than $50/semester. Quest provides mandatory instructional material for this course, just as your textbook, etc. Please address questions regarding fees to quest.fees@cns.utexas.edu.. Address questions regarding payments to quest.billing@cns.utexas.edu .
i-CLICKERS will be used for class quizzes beginning Wednesday, January 15th. Either the basic i-Clicker ($30-$50) or the i-Clicker-2 will work fine. i-clickers are available new or used from many places online, and are available new at the UT-coop.
Register your i-clicker in Quest by entering its serial number. Quest will give you a number (1-150) for your clicker; you will need this number in class. DO NOT REGISTER ON THE i-CLICKER WEB SITE. (If you buy a used clicker with a serial number worn off, then determine the serial number in class by punching a i-clicker key and looking on the screen to see your serial number light up.)
HOMEWORK: Due by 11:30 p.m. in the Quest system each Thursday and Sunday (except Sunday evenings before a Monday evening test). You may submit your answers one problem at a time, any time up to the due time for the homework set. No homework will be accepted beyond the cutoff time.
REQUIRED WEEKLY DISCUSSION SESSIONS (in JES A307A) start Tuesday January 21, 2014: These sessions are led by Orrin Shindell with the assistance of Lucas Spencer and Venkat Tirumala. The Discussion Sessions are designed to strengthen understanding of the fundamental principles and their applications. NOTE: Before attending a Tuesday Discussion Session, all students should download python 2.x and vpython ( from http://vpython.org/ ) on their laptop, home computer, or university computer. For the Discussion Sessions, at least one person in each group of 2-4 persons should bring a laptop.
TESTS will be at 7-9 p.m. on MONDAYS in BEL 328 on February 10, March 3, April 7, and April 28. Questions will be answered on Scantron “bubble” sheets, which will be provided. All four tests are required; no makeup tests will be given. Each test will include a sheet with relevant formulas, and also each student is allowed to bring one 3×5 card with notes to an exam. Before the test begins, cell phones and all other electronic devices must be placed in a backpack or bag at the front of the classroom. A calculator may be used after its memory has been erased by a Teaching Assistant.
FINAL EXAM: Thursday, May 8, 2014, 9 a.m. – 12 noon.
FOR EACH CLASS: (1) Read the textbook reading assignment given on the Syllabus BEFORE each lecture. (2) Bring your i-Clicker and calculator to every class. It’s also helpful to bring your textbook. (3) Arrive for class in time to start promptly at 8 a.m. Late arrivals are disruptive, as are departures before the class is dismissed. (4) PLEASE MOVE TO THE CENTER OF A ROW WHEN YOU ARRIVE. LEAVE NO UNOCCUPIED SEATS because the course enrollment is full.
COACHING: Starting on Tuesday, January 21st, a coaching service will be available 9-5 weekdays in RLM near the elevators on the 5th floor (one floor up from ground level).
STUDY SESSIONS: You are encouraged to organize study groups. You can ask a Teaching Assistant to help you form the session. You can also reserve a Group Study Room on the web site www.lib.utexas.edu/pcl/roompolicy.html
TEST ABSENCES: If a student misses one of the four evening tests, it will be the “dropped’ Midterm unless the absence is excused (e.g. documentation is provided within one week attesting for example to a broken leg, pneumonia, car wreck, jail term). For an excused absence the final exam grade will be substituted for the missing test grade.
PREREQUISITES AND CO-REQUISITES: Prerequisites and co-requisites: High school physics or consent of the undergraduate adviser; Mathematics 408C with a grade of at least C-; Mathematics 408K with a grade of at least C- and registration for 408L, or Mathematics 408N with a grade of at least C- and registration for 408S; and credit with a grade of at least C- or registration for Physics 103M.
LABORATORY: The 103M lab is a separate course with a separate grade.