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Department of Physics and Astronomy |
Dartmouth College |
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Physics 1 -- Spring 2006 |
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Contact Information Instructors Teaching Assistants |
Course Info/Documents Assigned Reading Description/Policies Exams Lecture Notes Syllabus Term Essay Assignment |
Lab Information General Schedule/Write-ups Section Assignments Weekly Attendance Lists Temporary Lab Change Permanent Lab Change |
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Instructor | Top |
| Marcelo Gleiser | Send email to: Marcelo.Gleiser@Dartmouth.EDU |
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Office:
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116 Wilder | |
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Office phone:
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6-1489 | |
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Office hours:
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Wednesday 1:45 - 3:00 pm |
| Richard Kremer | Send email to: Richard.L.Kremer@Dartmouth.EDU |
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Office:
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405 Carson | |
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Office phone:
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6-2228 | |
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Office hours:
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Wednesday 2:00 - 4:00 pm |
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Teaching Assistants | Top |
| Ryan Johnson | Send email to: Ryan.E.Johnson@Dartmouth.edu |
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Office:
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302 Wilder | |
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Office phone:
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6-3535 | |
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Office hours:
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Wed. 4:00-5:00 PM | |
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Lab Sections:
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Tue. & Wed. 7:00-10:00 PM |
| David Sicilia | Send email to: David.P.Sicilia@Dartmouth.edu |
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Office:
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302 Wilder | |
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Office phone:
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6-3535 | |
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Office hours:
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Wed. 4:00-5:00 PM | |
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Lab Sections:
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Mon. 2:00-5:00 PM & 7:00-10:00 PM |
| Sara Walker | Send email to: Sara.I.Walker@Dartmouth.edu |
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Office:
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302 Wilder | |
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Office phone:
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6-3535 | |
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Office hours:
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Thu. 4:00-5:00 PM | |
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Lab Sections:
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Tues. 2:00-5:00 PM |
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Course Information | Top |
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Goals of Course: |
An historical examination of the evolution of physical theories of natural phenomena, from Greek antiquity through the present. Designed especially for
non-science majors, the course will also consider how the rules for doing physics have changed and thus should also interest science majors. |
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Textbook: |
Cassidy, David, et al. Understanding Physics Springer, 2002. Gleiser, Marcelo. The Dancing Universe Plume, 1998. Stoppard, Tom. Arcadia Faber & Faber, 1994. |
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Class Periods: |
Monday, Wednesday, Friday 12:30 - 1:35 pm Occasionally held on Tuesdays, 1:00 - 1:50 pm |
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Class Room: |
104 Wilder |
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Labs: |
Five labs, conducted in sections meeting: M 2-5, 7-10 p.m.
In each laboratory you will attempt to reenact classic experiments from the history of physics. Each lab will require a 3 to 4-page write-up, due in
the P1 mailbox two days after your lab meets, by 5 p.m. Labs will count for 30% of your term grade. Late lab write-ups will be penalized. Please
attend the lab section for which you are scheduled. A lab fee of $25 (approximately) is required. |
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Examinations: |
The midterm (65 minutes) counts for 20% of your grade. The final (150 minutes), covering the entire course with somewhat greater emphasis on the latter
half, counts for 35%. Exams will cover all aspects of the course (lectures, readings, films, labs). |
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Term Essay: |
You will write an essay of 5-6 pages in length (about 1500 words), worth 15% of your grade, on one of several topics we later shall propose. Due 19 May
by 5 p.m. in the P1 mailbox. |
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Honor Principle: |
Adherence to the Honor Principle means that you will write your own exams (closed book) without assistance and write the lab reports and term essay by
yourself. The essay should be properly documented (see Sources: Their Use and Acknowledgment, 1998, http://www.dartmouth.edu/~sources). Otherwise, we
encourage you to work together in the labs and in studying for the exams. |
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Special Situations: |
Students with learning, physical, or psychiatric disabilities enrolled in this course that may need disability-related classroom accommodations are
encouraged to make an office appointment to see us before the end of the second week of the term. All discussions will remain confidential, although
the Student Disability Services office may be consulted to discuss appropriate implementation of any accommodation requested. |
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Syllabus | Top |
Date |
Topic |
Lecture Notes |
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Mar 29/Wed |
Introduction |
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Mar 31/Fri |
Removing the Gods? Pre-Socratics and the Invention of "Physics" |
Download |
Apr 3/Mon |
Plato versus Aristotle |
Download |
Apr 5/Wed |
Archimedes, Greek Engineering, and the Bathtub |
Download |
Apr 7/Fri |
Celestial Motions and Mathematics: Ptolemy to Kepler |
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Apr 10/Mon |
"Physics 1" in 1300: Natural Philosophy and the Medieval University |
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Apr 11/Tue |
Film: Newton's dark secrets," NOVA 2002, 56 mins |
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Apr 12/Wed |
Physics at Court: Galileo's New Sciences |
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Apr 14/Fri |
Newton, God and Motion |
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Apr 17/Mon |
The Mechanical Universe from Descartes to Laplace |
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Apr 19/Wed |
Steam Engines, Perpetual Motion and the Conservation of Energy |
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Apr 21/Fri |
No class meeting: J.Robert Oppenheimer's birthday (22 April 1904) |
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Apr 24/Mon |
Electricity and Magnetism: From Parlor Games to Maxwell's Equations |
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Apr 25/Tue |
The Statistical World in the Nineteenth Century |
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Apr 26/Wed |
Light, the Electromagnetic Spectrum, and the Aether |
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Apr 28/Fri |
Applied Physics, from Newton to World War I |
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May 1/Mon |
Midterm Examination |
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May 3/Wed |
X-Rays, Dartmouth and the Growth of American Physics |
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May 5/Fri |
The Emergence of the Quantum World |
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May 8/Mon |
Einstein, the Aether and Special Relativity |
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May 9/Tue |
Film: "Einstein Revealed, Part I," NOVA 1996, 58 mins |
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May 10/Wed |
General Relativity and the Discovery of an Expanding Universe |
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May 12/Fri |
The Atom and Quantum Mechanics |
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May 15/Mon |
Nuclear Physics and the Manhattan Project |
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May 16/Tue |
Film: "The Day after Trinity," Pyramid Films, 1974, 88' |
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May 17/Wed |
What Are We Made Of? Quarks, Leptons and Particle Physics |
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May 19/Fri |
Applied Physics after 1945: Transistors and Lasers |
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May 22/Mon |
Complexity, Chaos and Nonlinearity: A New Physics? |
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May 23/Tue |
Film: "The Ghost Particle," NOVA, 2006, 56 mins |
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May 24/Wed |
Physics and Twentieth-Century Culture |
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May 26/Fri |
Modeling Universes |
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May 29/Mon |
No class: Memorial Day |
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May 30/Tue |
Film: "Testing Einstein's Universe," Norbert Bartel, 2004, 40 mins |
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May 31/Wed |
The Physics/Cosmology Connection: Theories of Everything |
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Assigned Readings | Top |
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A note on reading Understanding Physics:
As stated in its preface, Cassidy's textbook seeks to place "the fundamental concepts of physics with the broader humanistic and historical contexts in
which they arose" (x). At times, the text offers slightly more mathematical detail than will be provided in our lectures. And for some weeks, the
topics covered in Cassidy's chapters that we have assigned will be more comprehensive than the material in our lectures. Nonetheless, we expect you to
read Cassidy carefully. For example, you should be able to understand the terms listed at the end of each chapter under "Some New Ideas and Concepts."
The "Study Guide Questions" can also help you gauge your understanding of the material. |
Date |
Reading |
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Mar 29 - 31 |
Cassidy, Prologue to Part 1 Gleiser, Chapter 1 |
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Apr 3 - 7 |
Cassidy, Chapter 2 Gleiser, Chapter 2-3 |
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Apr 10 - 14 |
Cassidy, Chapters 1, 3 Gleiser, Chapters 4 & 5 |
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Apr 17 - 21 |
Cassidy, Chapters 4-6 |
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Apr 24 - 28 |
Cassidy, Chapters 7-8, 10-12 Gleiser, Chapter 6 |
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May 1 - 5 |
Cassidy, Chapters 9, 13-14 Gleiser, Chapter 8 (pp. 220-28); Chapter 7 |
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May 8 - 12 |
Cassidy, Chapters 9, 15 Gleiser, Chapter 7 & 9 |
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May 15-19 |
Cassidy, Chapter 17-18 Gleiser, Chapter 9 |
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May 22-26 |
Gleiser, Chapter 10 Stoppard |
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General Laboratory Information | Top |
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Lab Sections Times: |
Mon. - Tue. 2:00-5:00 pm; Mon. - Wed. 7:00-10:00 pm |
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Lab Location: |
219 Wilder (Map) |
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Lab homework due date: |
the Monday after the lab session at 5:00 pm |
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Lab report turn in location: |
In marked slots under mailboxes by the front door to Wilder |
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Lab report return location: |
In student mailboxes |
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Student mailbox location: |
By the front door to Wilder on the right at you look out |
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Number of lab books needed: |
None |
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Max. temporary lab changes: |
2 |
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Lab Schedule | Top |
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Week of: |
Lab |
Write-up |
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April 10 |
Galileo's Measurement of g | Download |
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April 24 |
Interference & Diffraction of Light | Download |
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May 8 |
Thomson e/m | Download |
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May 22 |
Neutron Activation of Ag | Download |
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Temporary Lab Section Change | Top |
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Pemanent Lab Section Change | Top |
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Weekly Class Lists | Top |
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Exams | Top |
| Exams | Solutions | |
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Sample Exam 1 |