Physics 116a: Lectures (Spring 2008 Schedule)


Professor Charles F. Maguire

Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vanderbilt University

Currently Available Lectures and Supplementary Material (link for archive file with all lectures)

  1. January 10, Mathematical Preliminaries and Introduction to Vectors
    First example of analytic addition of vectors
    Second example of analytic addition of vectors
    Corrected second example of analytic addition of vectors

  2. January 15, Vector Algebra and Velocity
    Problem 1.38 for analytic addition of vectors
    Problem 1.96 for analytic addition of vectors
    Illustration for constant acceleration motion along x direction

  3. January 17, Acceleration, free-fall, and two-dimensional motion
    Illustration for setting up in-class Example1
    Illustration for solution to in-class Example1
    Illustration for setting up in-class Example2
    Illustration for solution to in-class Example2

  4. January 22, Projectile motion and circular motion
    Illustration for setting up in-class Example1
    Illustration for Example1 solution to part a)
    Illustration for Example1 solution to part b)
    Illustration for Example1 solution to part c)
    Illustration for Example1 solution to part d)

  5. January 24, Two dimensional motion and an introduction to Newton's Laws of motion
    Illustration for low speed projectile fired at a target
    Illustration for high speed projectile fired at a target
    Example of Newton's Second Law

  6. January 29, Newton's laws of motion and their applications
    Illustration for traffic light in static equilibrium
    Example spreadsheet for traffic light in static equilibrium
    Illustration for a Mass Accelerating Down a Smooth Inclined Plane

  7. January 30, Newton's laws of motion and their applications (continued)
    Illustration Two Connected Masses with a Common Acceleration
    Illustration for Static Friction Free Body Diagram with Horizontal Force
    Illustration for Static Friction Free Body Diagram with an Inclined Force
    Illustration for Mass Accelerating Down a Rough Inclined Plane

    First practice exam
    Solution to first practice exam

  8. February 5, Circular Motion, Work and Kinetic Energy
    Illustration for a car traveling on a banked horizontal highway curve
    Illustration for the conical pendulum demonstration
    Illustration for a motorcycle traveling in a vertical circle
    Illustration for work in one dimension without friction
    Illustration for work in two dimensions without friction
    Illustration for work in two dimensions with friction

    First Exam on February 7, Chapters 1 to 4
    • 16 multiple choice questions with 5 answer options each, 4 points per question, no partial credit
      9 of the multiple choice questions require the use of a calculator
      7 of the multiple choice questions do not require a calculator

    • 2 worked out problems worth 18 points each, partial credit to be given
      One problem from Chapter 3, one problem from Chapter 4

    • Bring two pencils for the OPSCAN sheet, and a few sheets of scratch paper if you like to work that way
      scratch paper will not be collected nor provided

    • Make sure that your calculator is charged and working, as no extra calculators are available

    • A pencil sharpener will be available

    Some students requested a list of end-of-chapter problems to use as an additional study guide. These students have the student solutions guide to the odd-numbered problems (we use even numbered problems for MasteringPhysics). Here are sets of three odd numbered problems to study from the different chapters.

    • Chapter 1: 1.31, 1.43, 1.49
    • Chapter 2: 2.9, 2.11, 2.15
    • Chapter 3: 3.3, 3.19, 3.67
    • Chapter 4: 4.13, 4.33, 4.47

    The first exam solution keys will be posted on this site after 1:00 PM on Friday, February 8.
    Exam Version A
    Exam Version B
    Average grades: Part I (multiple choice, 4 points each) = 49.8 ; Part II (worked out problems, 18 points each) = 28.4
    Exam 1 total average = 78.2

  9. February 12, Work, Kinetic Energy, and Potential Energy
    Illustration for work in two dimensions with friction
    Illustration for conservation of energy with a fritionless inclined plane
    Illustration for work work done by friction on an inclined plane
    Illustration for minimum speeds in the loop-the-loop problem
    Illustration for minimum ramp height in the loop-the-loop problem

  10. February 14, Potential energy, momentum, and collisions
    Illustration for work work done by friction on an inclined plane
    Illustration for potential energy gained by a spring
    Illustration for work done by gravity on a falling and a rising mass

  11. February 19, (Chapter 8) Momentum and collisions; (Chapter 9) rotational kinematics (with correction for soccer ball force problem)
    Illustration for conservation of momentum when a cannon fires horizontally
    Illustration for conservation of momentum in a completely inelastic collision
    Illustration for conservation of momentum in a completely elastic collision
    Illustration for conservation of momentum in a two dimensional elastic collision
    Mathematica solution for conservation of momentum in a two dimensional elastic collision

  12. February 21, (Chapters 9 and 10) Rotational kinematics and dynamics
    Illustration for water molecule center-of-mass
    Illustration for torque on a cylinder
    Illustration for a rod rotating in the vertical direction

    Second exam on Tuesday, Februray 26. Covers Chapters 5-8
    There will be two Part II problems, 20 points each. There will be 20 (3 points each) multiple choice problems, according to the results of the class survey.

    Thirty practice multiple choice questions for the second test
    Answer key: 1) E 2) B 3) E 4) A 5) B 6) D 7) E 8) A 9) B 10)E
    11) C 12) E 13) C 14) A 15) C 16) E 17) B 18) D 19) C 20) A
    21) E 22) E 23) E 24) E 25) D 26) D 27) D 28) B 29) D 30) E

    Suggested end-of-chapter problems (solutions were posted in OAK Assignments area, Feb. 23)
    5) 5.9, 5.23, 5.33, 5.97
    6) 6.3, 6.35, 6.53, 6.81
    7) 7.11, 7.43, 7.65, 7.79
    8) 8.9, 8.25, 8.43, 8.103

    Second Exam version A Multiple Choice Questions
    Second Exam version B Multiple Choice Questions
    Second Exam Part II Questions
    Second Exam version A solutions
    Second Exam version B solutions

    There is some correlation with not doing the MasteringPhysics homework and doing poorly on the exams. For the set of 32 students whose homework average is less than 80% (often because of not doing the latest assignments) their exam average is 68.6. For the set of 107 students who are getting 93% or better on the homework grade, their exam average is 76.4. Doing the homeworks will not guarantee that you will do very well on the exams, but not doing the homeworks makes it more likely you will do more poorly on the exams. An 8 point difference in the average for the first two exams is worth almost a two level jump from a C to a B-, or a B- to a B+ in the Mid-Term grade assignments.The correlation figure is shown below.

    Correlation of Exam Grade Average with MasteringPhysics Grade

  13. February 28, (Chapters 9 and 10) Examples of rotational kinematics and dynamics
    Illustration for moment of inertia of 3 masses

  14. March 11, (Chapters 10 and 11) Rotational Dynamics and Rotational Equilibrium
    Illustration for torque on a cylinder
    Illustration for a rod rotating in the vertical direction
    Illustration for a wheel rotating because of a suspended mass
    Illustration for a beam in rotational equilibrium

  15. March 13, (corrected after class) Rotational Equilibirium, Elasticity (Chapter 11) and Universal Gravity (Chapter 12)
    (corrected after class) Illustrations for a ladder in rotational equilibrium (3 pages)
    Illustrations for stress and strain definitions (3 pages)

  16. March 18, Conclusion of Universal Gravity and Introduction to Oscillations
    Illustration for gravity from a large spherical mass

  17. March 20, Oscillations and Simple Harmonic Motion
    Illustration for a simple pendulum
    Illustration for a pressure change with depth in a liquid
    Illustration for Pascal's Law example in a hydraulic press

    Third exam on Thursday, March 27. Covers Chapters 9-12
    There will be two Part II problems, 18 points each. There will be 16 (4 points each) multiple choice problems, according to the results of the class survey.

    31 Practice Multiple Choice Questions (answer key is on the last page)

    Suggested end-of-chapter problems (solutions are posted in Oak Assignments system)
    9) 9.19, 9.25, 9.49, 9.85
    10) 10.11, 10.23, 10.45, 10.67
    11) 11.13, 11.47, 11.67, 11.89
    12) 12.13, 12.31, 12.53, 12.75

    Third Exam version A solutions
    Third Exam version B solutions
    The exam grades were scaled up by 8 points in order that the average of the third exam (=70.4) match better the average of the second exam(=72.4). The exam averages showing in the Oak system will be somewhat lower because a few students have withdrawn, and their grades are being carried at 0. The Oak system also shows a numerical average for the letter grades, which must be based on some conversion of the letter grades to a numerical value. The actual fact is that the class GPA for the March 31 set of grades is 2.78, based on 4.0 for an A, 3.75 for an A-, etc. As mentioned in class on April 3, the class GPA on March 31 was about the same at the mid-Term break.

  18. March 25, Fluid Mechanics (version with Test 3 study guide)
    Illustration for a simple pendulum
    Illustration for a physical pendulum A "physical pendulum" is sometimes called a "compound" pendulum
    Illustration for a pressure change with depth in a liquid
    Illustration for Pascal's Law example in a hydraulic press
    Illustration for Buouyant Force From Archimedes Principle
    Illustration for Venturi Tube Equation From Bernoulli's Law (corrected and updated)
    Illustration for Water Exiting from the Bottom of a Large Water Tank

  19. April 1, Wave Motion and Sound

  20. April 3, Review of Third Exam, Wave Motion
    Solution for dropping mass while wheel turns
    Solution for non-uniform beam supported by a cable
    Solution for gravity between unequal masses

  21. April 8, Wave Motion and Sound
    Spreadsheet for predicting the Doppler Effect

  22. April 10, Heat and Thermal Properties of Matter
    Illustration for solving problem 14.66 SHM + buoyancy
    Illustration for solving heat conduction example 17.13

  23. April 15, The First Law of Thermodynamics

  24. April 17, Heat Engines and the Second Law of Thermodynamics

  25. April 22, The Second Law of Thermodynamics, Preview of Final Exam
    Illustrations for reversible and irreversible volume expansions (2 figures)
Poster for special Seyfert Astronomy Lecture on April 18, 4 PM in SC4327

Final Exam Information


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The page last updated on April 22, 2008