Summer 2009

 PHY 211 Section 020 Algebra Based Mechanics  What do you mean “mechanics”? Mechanics – the study of things in motion.  Linear Motion  Angular Motion  Forces  Energy  That sort of thing  Think Isaac Newton and apples.

 J. D. Roaden, Physics TA. (still not updated for this semester!) Office: CP –or- Office Hours TBD  Steve Ellis is your lecturer, and you’ll be meeting him soon enough.

 Lecture: Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday from 12:40 pm – 1:40 pm in CP-155  Recitation: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday from 9:00 am – 10:00 am in this room, CP-367  Lab: Tuesday and Thursday from 1:50 pm – 3:50 pm in CP-165 starting NEXT WEEK. No lab today!

 Textbook! Serway/Vuille – Eighth Edition. It looks like this:  TurningPoint “Clicker” ResponseCard. It looks like this:

 A lab manual! You can get this one at Johnny Print, which looks like this:  Actually, I’m not certain these are ready yet, but when they are, Johnny Print is on S Limestone

 The tests, quizzes, and homeworks for this class assume you have access to a calculator  The labs require a TI-83 or TI-84 series calculator (eg. TI-84 plus, TI-83 plus pink shiny edition, etc)

 Register your clicker: This is possible at Steve Ellis (your lecturer!)’s website: (Hint: Now would be a good time to start writing things down if you haven’t been.)  Read through the syllabi for this course (including lecture/recitation and lab— two separate syllabi!) You can find them at Steve’s site or on Blackboard.

 We’ll be using an online homework system for homework in this course  This is located at (or.com, either works)  You need the following CLASS KEY to register: uky

 Physics is not like most classes. Memorization is not that important  Formula sheets  Physical constants Problem solving is very important  Learn how to solve problems—not the solution to individual problems  Figuring out what to do is often more difficult than doing it—unless you struggle with the mathematics

 The more math you can use, the better off you’ll be Algebra  Solid foundation absolutely required  If you can’t readily:  Solve two equations with two unknowns  Solve quadratic equations  Deal with exponents, cancel factors appropriately, work with negative numbers then you are behind already. Use the next few days to brush up on math. Trigonometry. You can (re)learn as you go, but you’ll need to know it by the end

 Geometry We’ll be working with physical objects—or at least idealized approximations of physical objects These take the form of shapes—knowing about shapes is good. Know your Euclidean Geometry

 If you feel confident that, at a moment when you least expect it, somebody could hand you a pen and a math exam (say, college algebra, trig, or geometry) and you could pull a decent grade on it without too much trouble? Math probably won’t be your Achilles Heel in this course.

 Like I said before—figuring out what to do is often more difficult in this class than doing it. If you like solving puzzles, you’ll probably like physics  Seeing a problem worked out shows you the sort of math you’ll need to be capable of—but it doesn’t show you the logical leaps necessary to get to the math!

 You can read and memorize every problem on the homework and in the solutions manual and still fail  If you do not put pen(cil) to paper, you won’t get the problem solving experience you need.  It’s not about the final answer, it’s about the journey to get there.

 Draw  Given  Find  Physics  Solve  Check

 A quantity that gives a magnitude and a direction Displacement Velocity Acceleration Force Momentum

 A quantity that only gives magnitude— not direction Distance (As opposed to displacement!) Speed (As opposed to velocity!) Temperature Mass Energy

 The following exercise is for completion only—don’t stress if you don’t get it just yet.  Vectors are one of the mathematical tools we don’t expect every student to have experience with—the first thing you’ll learn about in this physics course is the math with vectors!  We just want to see where you stand right now with vectors.

A = 10 m in +x direction +X +Y B = 8.5 m at 50° above +x direction C = 13.5 m at 30° below -x direction What is A + C – B? Vector Diagnostic: