PHYSICS 1A-1 SYLLABUS - Dec 18, 2018

Physics for Scientists and Engineers: Mechanics, WINTER 2019

GOALS: In this course you will learn the basic concepts of Classical Mechanics, namely the
description (kinematics) and causes (dynamics) of motion and conservation laws (of energy,
linear momentum and angular momentum) and how to apply them. We will develop skills in
formulating and solving problems with mathematical tools as well as physics intuition to an-
alyze different situations in terms of fundamental physics principles. You need to know some
calculus (e.g. derivatives and integrals of functions xn , cos ax and sin ax with a constant).

GENERAL ORGANIZATION: The course is delivered in lectures and discussion sections.

The lectures will overview the material and provide examples and applications to problem
solving of the basic concepts. In the discussion sections the TA and Learning Assistants (LA’s)
will help you solve more problems in small groups, and provide the opportunity for you to
further discuss the material and go over the assigned homework. Try to start your homework
before your discussion section so you are ready to ask questions during the discussion. You
will also be able to ask questions about the material and homework during office hours of the
TA’s and the instructor
The homework (HW) will be assigned on-line though the “Mastering Physics” service
and you will provide your answers likewise. This constitutes an incentive to solve problems
each week, which is necessary to master the material at the rate it is presented.
A summary of each lecture will be posted after the lecture in the CCLE site of the
course (https://ccle.ucla.edu/course/view/19W-PHYSICS1A-1). In this website also practice
exams, announcements of review sessions for the two Midterm Exams (MT1 and MT2) and
for the final exam (F) as well as other relevant information will be posted. The grades of
MT1, MT2, F and the final letter grades of the course will be posted in the my.ucla website
of the course. This means that you need access to three websites for this course (CCLE,
my.ucla and Mastering Physics).
The pace of the course is fast, so you must master the material as soon as it is presented
in class to do well in the course. If you try to catch up after a few weeks, the material may
already be too much. Ask for help as soon as you need it. Use office hours if you need more
help than you get in your discussion section. Find out about free-tutoring possibilities at the
beginning of the course.
We will use i>clicker 2 in lectures which you need to either purchase (new
or used), or get in loan. More than 400 i>clicker 2 are available to get in loan for free
for the quarter from the OID (https://oid.ucla.edu/iclicker-rentals). You need to register
you i>clicker 2 on CCLE. You will see iClicker Student Registration in the CCLE website
of the course, and just need to enter the information from your physical clicker. If you have
used your clicker for another class, it should already be registered (there is no need to do it
each quarter).

LECTURES: - M. and W., 8:00 to 8:50 am and 9:00 to 9:50 amPAB 1-425
DISCUSSION SECTIONS: - You must enroll in one of the four sections:
1-A M, 10:00 to 10:50 am. Boelter Hall 5422
 1-B M, 11:00 to 11:50 am. Boelter Hall 5273
1-C M, 12:00 to 12:50 pm. PAB 2-748
1-D W, 5:00 to 5:50 pm. PAB 2-748
1-E W, 4:00 to 4:50 pm. PAB 2-748
You are strongly encouraged to attend the discussions, as they are an integral part of the
course. Although all the sections are equivalent, please try to attend the one in which you
are registered, to avoid having too many or too few students in any particular discussion.
Lectures and Discussions start on Mon 01/07. The discussion of Week 1 will be
devoted to an overview of basic mathematical concepts that we will use in the course (see
the questions already posted in the CCLE website of the course). Either review or learn the
corresponding mathematics, because during the course it will be assumed that you know all
of it.

INSTRUCTOR:
Graciela Gelmini
E-mail: gelmini@physics.ucla.edu;
Office Hours: M and W 17:30 to 19:00pm (will continue until 19:30 if there are students
present by 19:00pm) at either PAB 4-937 or PAB 4-334 (the main conference room in
the 4th floor) depending of how many students are present (if we are not in one of these
rooms, you will find a note at the door directing you to the other).
TEACHING ASSISTANTS:
Nicholas Geiser (Disc. 1A, 1B, 1C and 1D) and
Trevor Scheopner (Disc. 1E)
E-mail: ngeiser@physics.ucla.edu; trevor@physics.ucla.edu
Office Hours: to be posted later.
You may consult the TA’s or the professor during any of the office hours periods, indepen-
dently of which discussion section you are enrolled in. There is also available free tutoring in
the Tutoring Center at PAB 1-704A, a few hours daily (the schedule is posted at the door),
during which you can meet a TA for additional help.

BOOK AND HOMEWORK ONLINE-SERVICE: The book we will use is

Young and Freedman, “University Physics” 14th edition, Volume 1.
We will cover Chapters 1 to 11 and Chapter 13. The same book is used for Phys 1B and 1C.
You may also use to study older editions, either the 12th or 13th editions, taking into account
that the Chapter 13“Gravitation” in the 13th and 14th editions is instead Chapter 12 in the
12th edition. Many of the problems and exercises at the back of each chapter are different or
numbered differently in previous editions, but this is not an issue since all HW problems are
entirely given through Mastering Physics.
You are required to have the “Mastering Physics” (MP) service, a tutorial and
homework service associated with the book. We will use it for all the homework assignments.
The service is already included if you buy the physical book (14th edition) new. If you
purchase the book otherwise please check if MP access is included. Alternatively, you can
buy the access separately online, with a credit card for about $ 68 dollars. The purchase
of Mastering Physics is valid for the three quarter of Physics 1 (1A, 1B and 1C), which
can be completed in a period of two years since the moment of purchase. When purchasing
the service online, you have also the choice of buying also the e-book of the 14th edition
together with MP service and for about $115 dollars (again the access is valid for up to two
years). Try to register in MP before classes start, following the indications provided with the
book or online, or in the power-point or pdf instruction files posted in the CCLE website of
the course. Once registered in Mastering Physics, you need to register into the
“course” associated with our course, whose ID is MPGELMINI20803. The first
two assignments (both not for grade) already posted in this course are a tutorial practice to
teach you how to use the program and a review of basic concepts, called “Physics Primer”,
that you may use if you need it. You need to go through the “Introduction to Mastering
Physics” to learn the format the program requires to answer questions.
As mentioned above, the same book and Mastering Physics service are usually used for
Phys.1A, 1B and 1C.

GRADING: The grading will be on a curve, with average approximately at the C+/B- bound-
ary. The break down of the grade for different components is the following:
- 10% Homework (HW) finished before the due deadline (Thursdays at 11:59pm, except
on Week 1).
- 20% Midterm Exam 1 (MT1) Monday 02/04, during the 8:00 to 8:50 am
lecture time (with the content of the first three HW sets, 1 to 3).
- 20% Midterm Exam 2 (MT2) Monday 02/24, during the 8:00 to 8:50 am
lecture time (with the content of the following three HW sets, 4 to 6).
- 50% Final Exam (F) on Monday, March 18, 2019, 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm
(the exam is comprehensive, it covers the content of the whole course).

Nine HW sets will be assigned in the “Mastering Physics” website, one on or before each
Th and due before midnight (11:59 pm) of the following Th. The complete solutions to all
assigned problems will be posted soon after the due time of each HW in the CCLE website
of the course.
“Mastering Physics” grades your work as you do it. Problems not completed by the due
time are graded zero (notice that if you leave any of the questions of a problem not
answered the whole problem is graded zero). Start HW early in the week, it will take
you several hours (in the Mastering Physics website you may keep your partial work and
return to it as many times as you want). If you start HW the same day it is due, you may
not have enough time to finish it if you encounter any difficulty.

The exams will be closed book. You will be allowed to bring a sheet of a pre-
viously specified size with the formulas of your choice (besides a simple calculator,
pencil and eraser).
There will be NO MAKE-UP exams. If you miss a Midterm Exam for a justified cause
(you will need to provide a certificate of some sort) contact the instructor as soon as possible
(the points missed will be added to your Final).
 If you miss the Final exam you will get an F grade in the course, unless you
make arrangements BEFORE the final exam with the instructor to have an I
(incomplete) grade (in this latter case you will need to take the final exam the next time
one is offered).

MAKE-UP LECTURES: There are two holidays in the quarter, 1/21 and 2/18, both on
Mondays, and we cannot afford loosing 4 hours of lectures. The lectures corresponding
to these two holidays will take place on the Fridays just before (Fridays 1/18
and 2/15) at the usual time of 8:00am to 9:50 am (place to be announced). These
make-up lectures will be recorded and posted online, so you can view them in case you cannot
attend in person at these special times. Also the three discussions of the Mo. holidays will
be recuperated, at the times (and places) that your TA will announce in due time.

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE OF LECTURES:

Week 1: Chapter 1 (Units. Significant figures. Vectors: definition, unit vectors, compo-
nents, addition (leave products for later) and Chapter 2 (Motion in 1-dimension: velocity,
speed, acceleration, t-x and t-v graphs, constant acceleration, free-fall).
Week 2: Chapter 3 (Motion in 2 and 3 dimensions: projectiles, circular motion, relative
velocity) and start Ch. 4 (Newton’s Laws).
Week 3: Chapter 4 (Newtons Laws. Mass and weight) and Ch. 5 (Particle equilibrium
and dynamics. Weightlessness in free-fall. Friction forces. Centripetal force).
Week 4: Chapter 8 (Linear momentum and impulse. Conservation of momentum.
Center of mass).
Week 5: MT1 exam on Monday 02/04 (content of HWs 1 to 3). Chapters 6 and
7 (Review scalar product of vectors from Ch 1. Work- kinetic energy theorem. Power.
Potential energy. Energy conservation).
Week 6: Finish Chapter 7, and rest of Chapter 8 (Collisions).
Week 7: Chapter 9 (Rotation of rigid bodies, angular velocity and acceleration. Rota-
tional energy).
Week 8: MT2 exam on Monday 02/25 (content of HWs 4 to 6). Chapter 10
(Rotational Dynamics: torque, angular momentum. Review vector product of vectors
from Chapter 1. Conservation of angular momentum.)
Week 9: Chapter 11 (Equilibrium of rigid bodies under translations and rotations)
and begin Chapter 13 (Newton’s Law of Gravitation. Weightlessness of astronauts.
Gravitational potential energy. Motion of planets and satellites. Black holes.)
Week 10: Finish Chapter 13.
Classes end on Friday March 15. Final Exam on Monday, March 18 (content of the
whole course).