PH 102 / Summer 2011

Grades

2011-08-08T00:55:00.000-05:00

I have updated grades on MasteringPhysics, which includes exam 3 scores and your overall grades. Have a look.

Exam 3 wasn't too bad, but I did scale it a bit. After scaling up by about 6 points for everyone, the average was 78.5 with a standard deviation of 10.5. Not quite as high as the first exam, but on par with the last one.

Most of you stayed about where you were at going in to exam 3, and the grades didn't change much overall. I'm not saying everyone is going to be happy, but most of you should feel pretty good about how you did - the overall class average was a solid B, nearly a B+.

Anyway: I'm not going to post final grades on myBama just yet, not until I've reviewed everything a few more times. If your grade ended up within ~0.5 points of a grade boundary (say, 89.5), I will carefully review your grades and re-grade your final exam to make absolutely sure of your grade.

Calculating final grades is agonizing, and I hate having to break a whole semester's performance down to a single descriptor. Not my idea though, has to be done ...

Grades

2011-08-04T13:53:00.003-05:00

Don't panic too much, I will make sure the average comes out well one way or another.

Last exam

2011-08-04T11:05:00.000-05:00

I will scale it if necessary.

I am a bit perturbed by how difficult the exam seemed to be, since over half the questions were either from previous exams or covered in class. I think some of you know now that 'open book' does not mean 'won't study, I can just look stuff up.'

Q1 - similar problems on many previous exams, spent a lot of time in lecture on this.
Q2 - you a lab on this, examples in book
Q3 - almost identical to previous exams you had access to
Q4 - you need to multiply by volume=Ad and use E=V/d, no tricks
Q5 - directly from previous exam
Q6 - on previous exams, done in class, basically an example from the book ...
Q7 - I did this in class, exactly the same problem.
Q8 - just need mirror definitions, no tricks
Q9 - directly from previous exams
Q10 - need only the photoelectric equation for both pairs of data

Anyway, the thing is done now. I'll have it graded over the weekend at some point, and will put the grades on MasteringPhysics. I will scale it if need be, we'll just have to see how it goes.

Grade updates / last class

2011-08-03T03:11:00.000-05:00

If you gave me lab grades that needed to be corrected, I think those should all be done now. Please check through your lab grades and see that everything makes sense. The paper grades (lab 1) are in now as well - so if you wrote a paper, make sure you got a grade ...

The only outstanding grades other than exam 3 are now the Planck's constant lab and the last HW due Wed night. We'll go over those problems in class tomorrow (Wed) so you can get them done quickly after the exam [I'm just going to go ahead and assume many of you are putting the last one off, it seems reasonable].

Tomorrow's lecture is being decided right now ... probably we will go over energy levels in atoms and solids, but one never knows what I might do at the last moment. In any case, tomorrow's lecture material will not be on the exam.

Last summer's final

2011-08-02T19:33:00.001-05:00

UPDATE: here are answers and sketched solutions to (only) the questions relevant for tomorrow's exam.

For your studying pleasure, here is last summer's final. I can't find my key, so I'll have to do all the problems quickly before I can post the answers ... but I will post them later this evening.

Other things this evening: grade updates (including fixing lab grades you've brought to my attention), and some hints for the exam.

Tentative exam 3 coverage

2011-08-02T02:43:00.000-05:00

This is all pending a discussion with Dr. Mazumdar so we can coordinate ... but here are the minimal sections you should worry about:

22.2,4 reactance & power in ac circuits, there is certain to be a question about filters
23.1-3, 5-9 EM waves
24 all (geometric optics, but you won't have to draw ray diagrams)
28.1-3, 6-7 quantum and atomic physics, note in particular the Bohr model

Tentatively, there will not be any questions from Ch. 29 since that is almost purely qualitative stuff.

The test will be open book & notes, the only restriction is that no internets are allowed (i.e., no phones, PDAs, laptops, etc.).

And, very important, both sections will have the exam at 4pm on Wednesday in the usual lecture room. You will have at least 2 hours for the exam, and will probably not need all of it. If, for some good reason, you cannot make it from 4-6pm (e.g., job constraints, another class, etc.) we will work out an alternate time, but please contact me as soon as possible.

There will be 10 problems out of which you must solve 8, and they will be shorter problems than the previous exams. That is, don't freak out about there being more questions than before, the questions will be much less involved than usual HW or exam problems. They will be at the level of example problems in the book, for the most part find the right formula and go. Nothing really subtle.

More details tomorrow (Tues) after Dr. Mazumdar and I discuss a bit more ...

Today's lab

2011-08-01T09:48:00.000-05:00

We'll measure Planck's constant.

The optics HW is extended until tomorrow night.

MasteringPhysics

2011-07-31T21:28:00.001-05:00

Yes, MasteringPhysics has been down all day. I can't really do anything about it. The HW is not due until tomorrow night in any event, and I expect the site to be up tomorrow morning.

Exam 3

2011-07-30T13:55:00.003-05:00

Chapter 26 (Interference and Diffraction) will not be included in Exam3. Chapter 30, on nuclear physics will also not be covered.

The exam will be open book. Bring your book and any scribbled up piece of paper that you might want.

Homework problem 2

2011-07-29T02:35:00.000-05:00

Think of a toroidal solenoid as a cylindrical solenoid wrapped back on itself. A toroid is basically a donut. If you cut it at one point and straightened it out, it would be a regular old solenoid of length l=2πr, the inductance would be L=µN^2A/l, and the energy U=(1/2)LI^2.

The figure they provide is terrible ... look at this one.

Exam 2 scores are up

2011-07-29T02:14:00.000-05:00

Check it out on Mastering Physics.

It wasn't that bad - average of 79.3, standard deviation 8.7. I was basically happy (though all of you might not be I guess ...). Here's the distribution, the bulk of you were in the mid-C to mid-B range.

More on this during Friday's class. Above all, do not panic: we have one exam to go, and almost no one is in any sort of danger.

Labs grades were updated as well, have a look.

Today's lab

2011-07-28T09:56:00.001-05:00

Today, we'll do two little experiments on mirrors & snell's law, and one on lenses:

http://faculty.mint.ua.edu/~pleclair/ph102/Labs/reflection_refraction/reflection_refraction.pdf
http://faculty.mint.ua.edu/~pleclair/ph102/Labs/lenses/lenses.pdf

Even though there are three experiments, overall it is still very fast and should not take the whole period.

In other news, the tests should be graded tomorrow. I will also extend the current HW deadline since I was out, but the next one will come out tonight (due Sun).

Today

2011-07-27T10:01:00.000-05:00

I am sorry for the last-minute notice, but there will not be a lecture today. There will be a lab at the usual time.

Lab grades

2011-07-27T00:53:00.000-05:00

You now have many lab grades posted on Mastering Physics.

Wednesday's lab: ac circuits

2011-07-26T21:44:00.000-05:00

Here you go.

Makeup exam questions

2011-07-26T03:19:00.000-05:00

They are graded, and you'll get the back tomorrow. Not on Mastering yet, but hope to update that on Tues.

The 2nd exam should be graded by Thursday - I didn't get them back this evening to get started due to a mix-up, but I'll grade them as quickly as I can.

New HW out

2011-07-26T01:52:00.000-05:00

Due Thursday at midnight, induction/ac circuits/em waves.

The next homework after that will likely be due Saturday or Sunday.

Office move

2011-07-24T23:09:00.000-05:00

Over the weekend, I had to move into a different office as part of some reshuffling we're doing to free up space. My new office in Gallalee is now room 323.

Old exam answers

2011-07-24T21:54:00.004-05:00

Exam 1, summer 2009, problem 4: this was also on the summer 2008 exam 2.

Exam 2, summer 2010: only the first three problems are material related to your upcoming exam.

1. Just walk around the middle loop - that gives 12-6I=0, and determines the current in the 6Ω resistor to be 2A.

2. Use the right-hand rule to determine directions. Two of the currents give fields pointing to the lower right corner, and two of them give fields going to the lower left corner. All fields have the same magnitude (same current, same distance; watch the geometries). All but the vertical components will cancel; find those and add together. The net field is in the -y direction, and has magnitude (field of 1 wire at center)*(sin 45)*(4 wires)~5e-6T.

3. (a) into the plane. (b) set r=mv/qB equal for both particles using the known electron and proton masses. q is the same for both, and will cancel, as will B. This gives (v_e/v_p)=(m_p/m_e)~1.8e3

4. (a,b) This filter passes speech - the inductors let low frequencies through, and the capacitor shorts out any remaining high frequencies. (c) Add all inductors together, they sum to 10.26mH. The cutoff frequency is when the inductive and capacitive reactances are equal, so f=1/(2*pi*sqrt(LC))~10.6kHz

5. This is motionally-induced voltage, like the conducting bar. (a) V=Blv~2.5mV (b) Right hand rule gives the force on a positive charge toward the drivers door, so it is the positive side.

exam 2 coverage

2011-07-24T16:01:00.000-05:00

The following sections are fair game for the exam: 19.1-8, 20.1-9, 21.1-9.

I am aware that there is no solution to summer 2010 exam 2. I will do what I can tonight.

You did not have any homework on induction (yet ...), but it is still on the exam. Check out the old hw, exams, and solved examples in the book for some practice. We will probably have time to do a few more in class tomorrow.

There is a formula sheet essentially identical to the one you will receive on the exam here.

Thursday's lab

2011-07-20T16:27:00.000-05:00

We'll study inductance in tomorrow's lab. You'll learn how this works in tomorrow's lecture before the lab. Also, plenty of demos on induction and magnetism tomorrow.

And, good job on the transistors lab - it went better than I thought it would, and everyone's circuits worked in the end. As you can see, however, real circuits often require a little 'fiddling' to get the working, even when the paper versions look just fine ...

Exam scaling

2011-07-20T02:21:00.000-05:00

Long story short, just taking the total points on the last exam and grading it out of 100 instead of 120 is not really fair to those who only did 5 problems (like the instructions said). Doing it any other way makes it unfair to some other groups of students.

So here's the deal. If you did only 5 problems on the exam, during Thursday's lab you can solve one more problem to add to your test. No down side here. Exactly the same rules as the exam, except you don't have a choice of problems.

If you did 6 problems, but got only 1-5 points on one problem (i.e., the token partial credit for writing down *something*), I'll let you take the makeup problem on Thursday to replace the problem you only got token points on.

If you did 6 problems, but still feel your score could be better, then you should make a specific appeal ... I might be willing to let you replace one of your problems, and I might not, depending on the situation. Probably not if you're just aiming for that A+. Probably so if you are worried about failing. So it goes. One can't be completely fair in all things, but we'll do the best we can.

Short homework on magnetism out ...

2011-07-20T02:16:00.002-05:00

due Friday night. Should not be too bad, we'll go over many of them on Friday.

Wednesday's lab: transistors

2011-07-20T00:57:00.002-05:00

Here is the procedure and background for Wednesday's lab. It will probably make more sense if you have read the posted notes from yesterday, but we'll go over the basics in the lab session to get you up to speed.

Exam 1 grades

2011-07-19T08:35:00.000-05:00

I've posted exam 1 grades on Mastering Physics now. I ended up taking the total number of points you got from all problems you did, and just taking it out of 100 instead of 120.

I arrived at this procedure by first calculating your grades that way, and also separately taking the best 5 out of 6 problems. In all cases, the first method gave the same or better grade, so I opted for the second method. That gave an average class score of 81% with a standard deviation of 15%, pretty reasonable. I was also happy that choosing this method meant substantially fewer people ended with Ds and Fs on the exam.

Anyway: please check your posted scores against what is marked on your exam (and also make sure all the points add up right on the exam) so there are no errors.

Some notes on transistors

2011-07-19T02:41:00.001-05:00

UPDATE: the figure showing the internal diode-like connections of the transistor terminals had a mistake (the b-c one was backwards), now corrected at the same link below.

I just finished a first draft of. Two of the circuits discussed (current source, night light) are what we'll build in the lab on Wednesday. I mean build, not design - you aren't responsible for anything on these notes, you'll only be responsible for building working versions of the two circuits.

These notes are rough - I just wrote them tonight and haven't done much editing yet - but you might find them useful if you want to understand a bit more how transistor circuits work. The notes are not required reading, this transistor stuff isn't on any test or homework (and just one lab), it is merely ostensibly interesting and highly practical information. If you're curious, give them a read through. I have sections to add yet (how to build an amplifier and a few other bits), and I'll update the link as that happens.

For the actual lab on Wednesday, you don't need to read all of this or really know much about transistors at all. In fact, all you need to do is build them and measure there properties, which will be detailed in a lab procedure I'll post tomorrow. So, don't freak out, the lab itself will be entirely circuit construction and measurement (current vs voltage), no theory at all (but the circuits will do cool things). These notes are only if you want to figure out a bit more why the circuits behave the way they do, how they were designed, and how you can build your own.

As usual, if you notice mistakes or think something could be clearer, let me know. I plan to reuse these notes in later classes, so you would be helping future ~~victims~~ students.

Today's lab: resistors & LEDs

2011-07-18T10:38:00.000-05:00

Here you go. Relatively straightforward, should be done early.

Eating candy off of the ground

2011-07-15T13:16:00.002-05:00

Using equations at random is like eating candy off of the ground.

Home-made circuits

2011-07-15T13:15:00.002-05:00

Turns out, you can make conducting play-dough.

HW3 is out

2011-07-15T01:46:00.002-05:00

All about circuits; due next Tuesday at midnight.

HW2 #7

2011-07-13T22:37:00.000-05:00

Q1: On problem 7 (Moving a Charge) of the second homework set I keep getting this error message when I input my answer in a variety of different ways: "There is an error in your submission. Make sure you have formatted it properly."

Q2: I'm sure I have problem 7 right, but it is being marked wrong.

I've gotten these questions many times already, and in almost every case you did have the right answer. For some reason this problem is weirdly particular about the order the operations (superscript, subscript, square root) are put in.

If you definitely have the right answer, and can prove it (screen shot, copy & paste, etc), show me and I'll just go in and override your score for that question to give you full credit.

If this happens more than (roughly) 20 times, I will decide it is not worth the effort anymore and will give everyone full credit on #7 :-)

Solutions to Sum10 exam 1

2011-07-13T20:39:00.003-05:00

Some very quick solutions to the Summer 2010 Exam 1.

Exam practice problems

2011-07-13T17:11:00.000-05:00

Your best bet is to dig around in the exams from previous incarnations of PH102 - just about all of them have solutions too.

http://faculty.mint.ua.edu/~pleclair/ph102/Exams/

Look at the first exams for any given year, the one from Summer 2010 is probably most relevant. Old HW problems are also good, and almost all have solutions:

http://faculty.mint.ua.edu/~pleclair/ph102/Homework/

The only trick is that HW problems are usually harder than exam problems (at least in the past, when I didn't use online HW).

Exam format

2011-07-13T17:08:00.000-05:00

I had a couple of questions about the exam format, etc., so I'm reproducing my answer here for the rest of you to see.

The test will basically be 6 problems, and you can solve any 5 of them - so you can skip the one you think is hardest. Each problem will have multiple parts, so there is plenty of chance for partial credit (even within an individual part). A good example would be this one:

http://faculty.mint.ua.edu/~pleclair/ph102/Exams/Sum_2010/

(This exam from last summer had them solve 6 of 8, but that ended up a bit too long). Again, heavy partial credit if you seem to more or less know what to do, but just make some small mistakes, or just get part of it right.

The formula sheet is totally unrestricted so long as it is 1 page of normal paper on both sides, or two sheets with only 1 side of printing each. Otherwise, it can have on it whatever you like.

The other section of PH102 this summer ...

2011-07-13T01:52:00.000-05:00

They also have a blog. Some nice links posted there. (Both sections are covering the same material on the same schedule, fyi.)

Wednesday's lab: electrical components

2011-07-12T19:34:00.004-05:00

UPDATE: I've included another part of the experiment in which you'll learn about the function of photoresistors, and a bonus circuit construction project where you'll build an 'electric eye' circuit if you want some extra points. The files are in the same directory linked below
----------

Wednesday's lab is a simple one on components, designed to introduce current & voltage and operating the lab boxes. Find it here: http://faculty.mint.ua.edu/~pleclair/ph102/Labs/components/ (2 parts, 2 files).

One small warning, of sorts: this lab is not at all as obvious as it seems when you take into account non-idealities of components, sources, and meters. Once you've seen it once, though, it is straightforward. That is part of the point of the lab - how to real components, sources, and meters work, as opposed to the ones in the textbook.

I will probably add a small section to the lab at the end where you will explore photoresistors and LEDs combined to make a simple sensor-actuator setup, just a qualitative thing where you describe what happens. I will post the revised procedure late tonight.

Exam 1 is soon

2011-07-12T09:57:00.003-05:00

Exam 1 is coming up on Thursday. It is rather soon, but there are reasons for this ... The exam will be held during your lab period, in the lab room. Even if you have my lecture and the 5pm lab, you still take the exam during your normal lab period. It will take you 60-90 minutes. Don't be late. Here's what it will cover, just two chapters:

Electric Forces & Fields (Ch. 17 in the text, all sections)
Electrical Energy & Capacitance (Ch. 18 in the text, all sections)

Note that relativity is absent.

The format of the exam will be 6 problems (i.e., solving stuff, no multiple choice), you pick any 5 to solve. Put another way, I'll give you 6 problems, you can skip any one of them you like, they are all worth the same amount. To head off an obvious question: if you do all six, I may grade all six and take the best 5 as your grade. Or, I might just grade the first 5. Who knows. Your best bet if you do all six is to tell me which 5 you want me to grade.

I will provide a formula sheet (example) with all relevant constants and basic formulas, a list which should be sufficient to solve all problems. Additionally, you are allowed to bring in a single 8.5x11 inch sheet of paper with your own notes, formulas, etc. -- anything you want, really. Front and back sides are allowed, I will allow two sheets with only a single side if you prefer that. You are additionally allowed writing implements and a calculator (i.e., not a cell phone or any network-enabled device). You can feel free to program your calculator in arbitrary ways, however, just no internet or peer-to-peer communication of any kind.

I don't know if I can stress enough that you should not forget your calculator.

Random Things

2011-07-12T01:59:00.000-05:00

Thing the first: I really think the electric potential stuff will 'gel' for you quite a bit after the next lecture. We've just touched on it so far, in the next lecture we'll look at some practical problems and how to really use potential for calculations. We'll also be moving into more concrete subjects - the energy of crystals, circuits, etc. - and you'll have a little more intuition for what's going on. So, it is a lot of information at once, but be patient. There is a plan of sorts, and by exam time you'll be vastly less confused ...

Thing the second: check out the right sidebar. The 'course notes' are very extensive (nearly a complete textbook), and very close to what I follow in lecture. Following both the notes and the book is not a bad idea - if a section in the book doesn't make sense, try the notes & vice versa. They treat the same subjects slightly differently, you might find one explanation more to your liking than the other.

Thing the third: there are also many, many solved HW and exam problems you can access from the right sidebar. If you want example problems, or want to see what I've asked before on exams (the presumption that I will ask similar things is a good one), there you go ...

Thing the fourth: if you are in Dipanjan's section, we are going to have the same exam, same format. Details to follow soon ...

Relativity HW extended

2011-07-11T17:23:00.003-05:00

I'll push the deadline for the relativity HW until Friday so you can worry about the test more efficiently.

This will not affect the HW2 deadline, nor the occurrence of HW3 shortly thereafter.

(This is for Dr. LeClair's section only. Dr. Mazumdar may or may not decide to do the same.)

HW2 is out

2011-07-10T22:15:00.000-05:00

Your second homework set is out (LeClair's section), due Wednesday at midnight. It is a bit longer than the first, but meant to double as study material for Thursday's exam. More details on that later, however ... for now, suffice it to say that you should not delay in starting the second homework.

There is likely to be a shorter homework due on Friday covering current & dc circuits.

Tomorrow's lab

2011-07-10T17:01:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow, you will measure equipotential lines. A lot like electric field lines, we'll learn about them in the lecture.

Syllabus

2011-07-10T16:51:00.000-05:00

Course syllabus. Note that one lab and one homework grade are dropped. Repeat, one homework and one lab dropped.

Intro & relativity slides

2011-07-10T16:31:00.000-05:00

Here are the slides from the first two lectures, which contain the intro/syllabus information and some figures for the relativity material.

MasteringPhysics

2011-07-08T13:54:00.000-05:00

If you have not been able to register for MasteringPhysics, it is because the existing code has been used too many times. If this is the case, email me and I will give you a new code.

If you're already signed up for MasteringPhysics for my or Dipanjan's PH102 section, you don't need to do anything. This is just if you haven't been able to sign up.

Two kinds of electric charge

2011-07-08T09:08:00.002-05:00

Two kinds of electric charge

HW1 is out

2011-07-08T09:03:00.003-05:00

For Dr. LeClair's section: your first HW (on relativity) is out on MasteringPhysics now, due Monday at midnight. We'll go over some of the questions in class on Monday.

Final grades

2010-08-10T00:18:00.002-05:00

UPDATE 2: I think all the + and - parts are fixed now. I will check again shortly and again (later) in the morning.
UPDATE: Bear with me, I put in some of the + and - parts in wrong in myBama. Correcting it now, should be done by 01:30.

I am about to put up final grades on Moodle, and then on myBama. By the time I hit 'post' on this thing, they should be on Moodle already. There will be a new column called "Final Grade" which is just what it sounds like. The difference between this number and the "Course Total" is due to the bonus you may have received for improving on the assessment test, and extra credit if you did it. As before, please let me know if anything seems to be in error (e.g., missing HW or lab grades).

If there is anything I hate more than having to boil your entire performance down to a single letter (perhaps with a + or -), I don't know what it would be. It is agonizing to try and decide who gets what, and I end up sitting in front of the spreadsheet for hours making sure I didn't miss anything. It is by far the worst part of the job, I would much prefer to just say 'yea' or 'nay' and be done with it. What really happens is this: I grade the final exams twice, check the spreadsheet many times, and then look at each calculated final grade. If you're close to the borderline between grades, I look a few more times at your individual grades, and take yet another look at your final exam. I do what I can, and round up where I can justify it, but it always ends up that some people are just short of a letter grade, and it can't be helped.

In the end, after the final exam some of you moved up a letter grade, and some moved down. That's how it always ends up, and as a result, some of you will be happy and some of you will be quite unhappy. I hate to see people move down based on the final exam, but it has to happen in some cases, given that it is worth 25% of your grade. I was generally pleased with how it came out. A few of you really pulled yourselves up on the final, and that was good to see. A smaller number of you made a significant drop, and that is the main reason I spent a few hours going over each final exam one more time to be certain.

Anyway: I had a lot of fun this summer, and it was a pleasure to have all of you. Whether or not your grade came out how you wanted it to, I hope it seems fair at least, and more importantly, I hope you learned something useful.

Grade update

2010-08-09T00:31:00.000-05:00

Pretty much all grades are up on moodle now, including the final exam scores (they took a long, long while to grade). The morning section averaged about 79% on the final, the afternoon section 75%. I graded it pretty leniently in the end, since time was definitely a factor. As a result of fairly lenient grading, scaling wasn't really necessary.

Tomorrow some time I will post a final grade average, taking into account all the dropped grades, the bonus for taking the assessment test, extra credit, etc. Letter grades will be posted on myBama on Tuesday, probably in the morning.

Again, check your grades to make sure that none are missing. I think everything that has been brought to my attention so far has been taken care of, but it is possible I've missed a homework or lab grade for someone yet.

If you have questions about how your final exam graded came out the way it did, I have your scores recorded by question and can answer that as well.

Photons

2010-08-05T13:22:00.002-05:00

A nice post on how we know they exist. A great blog if you want to learn a bit more about physics.

Availability tomorrow

2010-08-05T00:35:00.000-05:00

I'll be around Gallalee from about 11:00 tomorrow, and available up until the afternoon final (modulo ~30min to make copies and so forth).

The exam has been made, and I worked out all the problems to make sure they were reasonable. After doing so, I tweaked a few of them to make them more straightforward ...

Remember, if you have questions about a particular problem during the exam, you should ask. Sometimes the main difficulty is just figuring out what is being asked, and that I can usually help you with.

Notation

2010-08-04T02:26:00.000-05:00

So we've discussed the fact that physics notation has quite a bit of historical baggage, and lacks precision at times (same symbol, different quantity ...).

Counterpoint.

Grades updated

2010-08-04T02:20:00.002-05:00

UPDATE - lab grades were uploaded incorrectly. Should be fixed shortly.

HW6 grades are up, which means HW7 is the only one outstanding. One HW is dropped, Moodle takes this into account.
Quiz 8 grades are not up yet, but the rest are. One quiz is dropped, and Moodle takes this into account.

Lab grades are up now. Two labs are dropped, and this is accounted for in the Moodle average. Here are the labs I have grades for right now:

Lab 1 = paper
Lab 2 = errors (I don't have these grades for some of you from the TAs yet)
Lab 3 = electric field applets
Lab 4 = capacitors
Lab 5 = equipotential lines
Lab 6 = simple circuits / bulbs
Lab 7 = resistors
Lab 8 = RC circuits

Remember, Labs, HW, and Quizzes are 15% each of you total grade, and Exams 1 and 2 are worth 15% of your grade each. Moodle's course total should take this into account properly.

Other than a couple of labs, HW7, and Quiz 8, please check to make sure that your grades seem to be correct. It doesn't happen often, but I do make mistakes. Sometimes it is a typo, sometimes I put a HW set in the wrong pile of papers and it doesn't get graded with the rest. If you're missing a grade you are sure you should have, or the number doesn't seem right, don't hesitate to ask me about it. That's the whole reason for online grades, greater transparency, so you can see what's going on with no surprises. (Of course, that being said, it is hard to keep up with the pace during the summer, so the feedback is not exactly instantaneous.)

Practice Problems

2010-08-04T01:25:00.000-05:00

For more practice problems, you might want to start with the following:

HW 12 from Spring 2008 (solution available)

Final from Spring 2008. Though there are no multiple choice questions on your exam, these are worth studying as 'quick drills' to make sure you have the concepts down. (MC answers posted, problem answers are not)

Final from Fall 2007. Answers available for all questions. Again, the MC questions are good for a quick test of what you might want to look at in more detail, or work some longer problems.

Last homework

2010-08-03T19:11:00.000-05:00

Here you go. It is due at the start of the final exam.

This homework is just a small review of sorts, with a little stronger emphasis on recent things. They are good practice questions for the final, one or two might even show up in nearly the same form on the final.

(Of course, this small homework set does not cover all the material. More practice problems will be posted tonight that cover most of the remaining material.)

Quiz 7 solution

2010-08-03T12:28:00.002-05:00

Quiz 7 now has a solution posted. I'll be updating some of the homework solutions tonight.

Extra credit

2010-08-03T02:06:00.000-05:00

Here is your chance for more points. A short paper will replace your lowest non-dropped quiz, HW, or lab. If you missed more than the allotted number of labs/HW/quizzes, for instances, this is kind of a big deal. You can replace a zero grade, and that can help a lot.

If you already have an "A" going in to the final, i.e., >=90% overall grade, I'm not going to read your extra credit submission. Extra credit, in my opinion, is meant to help people that could use a little boost, and may be on the borderline between grades. It is not an insurance policy for keeping your A going in to the final. If you already have an "A" you are better off studying for the final, rather than writing me a paper.

I suppose that isn't really fair, in some sense. In another more real sense, I shouldn't offer any extra credit at all, so take it when you can get it :-) It costs me a good amount of time to offer this, so I only want to entertain it for those who really need it.

More grades

2010-08-03T01:46:00.000-05:00

HW5 grades are now posted on moodle. If you don't have a score for HW5, but are sure you've turned it in, feel free to remind me. I didn't quite get through that stack of homework this evening.

HW6 & 7 grades will follow tomorrow evening, along with some of your lab scores. Most of the lab scores you know already, but I will post what I have from the TAs tomorrow.

Final exam time

2010-08-03T01:31:00.000-05:00

Thursday, 2pm: FINAL EXAM for 1-2:45 class
Friday, 8am: FINAL EXAM for 10-11:45 class

No, I don't like the 8am exam either, and I always seem to get that slot. Nope, I don't know why the exam time isn't the same as the class time ... that would make sense ... I've been wondering that for 5 years now. Not much we can do about it, but at least it is just one day.

If for some reason you have a conflict with the final exam time (a conflict which is more serious than 'it is way early and I don't want to get up,' for instance another final exam), we should talk soon to arrange something else.

Final exam

2010-08-03T01:25:00.000-05:00

The following topics will be fair game for the final (text sections in parentheses). If I don't list it, it isn't covered. The listed sections in the textbook relate directly to sections in the notes, if you look at the topic headings for each section.

Relativity (26.1-6)
Electrical forces and fields (15.1-6,9)
Electrical energy (16.1-4,6-10)
Current & resistance (17.1-4,6)
dc circuits (18.1-5)
magnetism (19.1-9, excl. Ampere's law)
induction (20.1-6)
ac circuits / EM waves (21.1-3, 7, 10-12 + filters)
Reflection & refraction (22.1-5, 7)
Mirrors / lenses (23.1-6)
Quantum physics (27.1-2, 5-8)
Atomic physics (28.1-4)

Parts of chapters 27-28 we have not covered yet, and that is the subject of the lectures on Tues and Wed.

The exam will be broken up into (probably) three sections, and in each section you will have to solve something like 3/4 or 3/5 problems. The sections will be logical groupings of material, for example:

Section 1: electric forces, field, energy
Section 2: current, resistance, dc circuits
Section 3: magnetism, induction, ac circuits
Section 4: optics
Section 5: quantum, atomic physics

I'm not saying this is exactly how it will be, but more or less.

Thoughts on the final

2010-08-03T00:04:00.001-05:00

I posted this last year, and it still stands. Here are some of my random thoughts on the final. It goes to 11.

(1) Relax. There is no reason to be more freaked out about this exam than any other, percentages and so forth notwithstanding. You should be less scared: broadening the scope of the material necessarily means that the difficulty level for any given problem goes down.

(2) There is only one way to study for this thing: read and solve problems. You will be given all of the required formulas, memorizing them will not help, nor will memorizing tricks or shortcuts. All problems will involve the systematic application of simple principles and simple relationships, there are no tricks. Rote memorization / cramming is not useful, but solving practice problems is.

(3) Cut your losses on the one chapter you really don't think you can master in the time remaining. You'll have a choice in problems, so you can avoid certain topics if you know the rest very well.

(4) Look at the previous final exams (spring/fall semesters mainly). They mostly don't have posted solutions, but I can tell you the answers at least.

(5) Few problems I have asked you before will appear on the final. Most likely no problems directly from the notes will appear on the final. However, about half of the problems will seem eerily familiar.

(6) Relax. You will need to have your wits about you, the problems on the final will involve logically solving problems step-by-step using simple rules. They will not involve remembering an arcane phrase or formula buried in the text, nor will they have many convoluted twists and turns. Most of them involve only 1 or 2 steps.

(7) Run the numbers on your grade. The final is worth 25% of the total grade ... it can only change your overall grade by so much. Not as much as you think. I will scale the average on the final if necessary, such that it is at least 75% for the class. It is unlikely to be necessary.

(8) I like crystals and mass spectrometers and circuits. Capacitors have been done to death though.

(9) Study the homework solutions I have online.

(10) Seriously, relax. Get some rest the night before, you'll be better off well-rested.

(11) Answers/solutions to your outstanding homework/quizzes will posted soon, and will be good to study from.

Grades / this week

2010-08-02T20:29:00.000-05:00

I just posted Quiz 6 & 7 grades on Moodle, the homework grades will be updated later tonight.

Tomorrow, your quiz is on photons - energy per photon (E=hf), intensity of a beam of photons, etc.

Wednesday, several things will happen.
1) During the lab sessions, there will be a chance for review.
2) There is no real lab, you'll do the post-assessment test (worth some bonus points) and evaluations.
3) I will discuss a few things related to the logistics of the final exam.

Later tonight, I will be posting details about the final exam, and how to review for it. Tonight and tomorrow I'll be posting some of the HW and quiz solutions so you can use them for studying as well.

Finally, I will there will be a possibility for extra credit I'll post about tonight or in the morning.*

*If you have >90% in the class, I really don't want to see an extra credit assignment from you. I'll go over formal ground rules for the extra credit tomorrow, but it is not meant to be an insurance policy for those of you already getting a solid "A." The idea is to have a way to boost your grade if you're on the border line, etc.

Exam II grades

2010-08-02T01:51:00.000-05:00

Your exam II grades are up on Moodle ... you'll get them back tomorrow. The average was 85/81 for the am/pm sections, so most of you should be happy. I was, anyway.

Tuesday, I should have the homework and quiz grades mostly up to date, and I have more lab grades from the TAs as well. At the very least, before the final you will know what your grade is going in.

This is a problem in teaching physics

2010-08-02T01:42:00.000-05:00

Precision in language is important, but it is a slippery slope.

Monday's lecture

2010-08-01T11:38:00.001-05:00

Monday, we'll start on Quantum Physics, and you'll do an associated lab on atomic spectra. I'll post that procedure tomorrow when the server is powered up again ... the power is off across most of campus!

UPDATE: servers are back up. Here is tomorrow's lab.

No quiz tomorrow. Be ready for one on Tuesday, and a review homework due Wednesday. Really, it will help with the studying ...

Exam 2 / HW 7

2010-07-30T09:37:00.000-05:00

Here is yesterday's exam. I will have them graded by Monday, possibly with grades on moodle over the weekend. I'll post here when they are ready.

Your next homework (#7) is to do the remaining two exam problems you didn't choose yesterday. Due tonight by midnight, but we'll go over the problems quickly in class today.

Draft of the cheat sheet

2010-07-28T21:41:00.000-05:00

Find it here. It will not change much, unless I find typos or obvious omissions.

(Also, I am not happy with the script "I" that I'm using to designate light intensity, as it looks too much like a "J". It will probably bother me enough that I will have to fix it.)

Today's lab

2010-07-28T12:03:00.002-05:00

ac circuits.

HW5 solutions

2010-07-28T00:25:00.001-05:00

A solution set to HW5 is out, though the solutions to the last couple of problems are a bit terse.

Quiz 5 & 6 solutions

2010-07-27T22:40:00.002-05:00

Quizzes 5 & 6, along with their solutions, are now up.

Quiz tomorrow (Wed)

2010-07-27T21:56:00.002-05:00

Reminder, there is a short quiz tomorrow on ac circuits. Basically, filters, entirely qualitative.

Checking grades online

2010-07-27T12:52:00.002-05:00

I now finally have the system set up so you can log in and see your grades.

1) go here: http://faculty.mint.ua.edu/~pleclair/moodle/
2) Click on "PH102 Summer 2010" (for both sections)
3) Then, to log in to the system:

Your username is same as your bama email address
Thus, if your bama email is "jdingus@bama.ua.edu" your username is "jdingus"
If you have a @crimson address, perform the analogous string operation.
Your password is the last four digits of your CWID. You can change the password if you like after logging in. In fact, this is an awesome idea. Please change it right away.

Once you have logged in successfully, you should be at the main PH102 course page. There are a great number of things on this page, most of them are not useful. I'm really only using this thing so you can view your grades. Facebook, blogger, email, and IM handle the rest well enough.

From this page, you can access your grades. You should see a link for "Grades" on the left-hand side of the page, about halfway down, under "Administration." For that matter, you can change your profile, create a little blog or discussion board, or all sorts of other things.

Any feedback you have on this system is helpful. Let me know if it works ... Right now, the first five quizzes, the first four homework sets, and your exam 1 scores are there. (Please check to make sure that is true ...) One homework and one quiz are being dropped from the listed average, as per the syllabus. The overall course grade is, for the moment, meaningless since I did not put in the proper percentages for each category. I'll do this soon.

If you are missing a grade, it means I didn't get it. Let me know if this is in error. Similarly, check that your scores in Moodle correspond to what you were handed back. Lab grades will appear there once the TAs send them to me ...

Online grades

2010-07-27T01:16:00.001-05:00

I swear, I was getting ready to post grades online, and the power outage this evening brought down the server I need ... it should be up by 08:00 Tuesday, so Tuesday evening I can finish the update. I have graded all quizzes and all but the last HW set, which you'll get back tomorrow, but you'll have to wait one more day before I get grades online.

Hopefully Tuesday evening you will be able to log in to the open-source system I have set up to access all your grades. The server I have the software on did not power cycle well, so I can't finish uploading your grades to it until someone physically reboots it Tuesday morning.

(FYI, it is a secure system that you log in to, and I will post instructions on how to access it and determine your login and password. It is, in my opinion, less clunky than eLearning, and vastly easier from my end.)

It figures that I delayed one more day and this happened ... there is a lesson in there somewhere about procrastinating I guess.

Exam II this Thursday

2010-07-27T00:47:00.001-05:00

Exam II is this Thursday. Same as last time, it will be held during the lab period, and we will have a lecture that day as well. The format will be nominally identical: you can skip 2 of the problems, you can bring a formula sheet, there won't be any multiple choice. I'll provide the basic formulas, also like last time. Basically, same thing, different material.

For the material, here's what it looks like:

Covered on exam II

Book Ch. 18 (notes Ch. 5): end of dc circuits (combining resistors, multiple loops)
Book Ch. 19 (notes Ch. 6) Magnetism (nothing on Ampere's law or the relativity stuff)
Book Ch. 20 (notes Ch. 7) Induction
Book Ch. 21 (notes Ch. 8) ac circuits (filters and audio circuits, basically)
Book Ch. 21 (notes Ch. 8) EM waves (very little there, honestly.)
Book Ch. 22 (notes Ch. 9) reflection / refraction (mirrors, refraction; no lenses)

The questions will be a bit heavier on circuits, magnetism, and induction (maybe 2 questions each) with not so much on EM waves or the start of optics (maybe 1 question each). More details to follow as the week proceeds ...

I will not make this exam purposely more difficult than the last one. However, most people find this material harder than the material from the first exam, in my experience. If you study the old homework & exam questions, you will probably be fine (presuming you've kept up with reading the notes or textbook).

Friday's homework

2010-07-26T12:14:00.002-05:00

If you sent me homework by email on Friday, I'll send you a confirmation this evening. I got a bit behind this weekend.

Another day in the kingdom of fear

2010-07-25T21:48:00.001-05:00

I'm glad we're still letting you do real, live labs with real, live equipment. Unlike these geology students, who can't have real rocks ...

(Or, heaven forbid, you try to find a chemistry set anymore. Sigh.)

So, even if you don't particularly like the labs, you can consider it something of a privilege to be allowed to do them anymore ;-)

Next homework

2010-07-25T21:23:00.002-05:00

HW 6 is out, due Tuesday night. We'll go over some of them in class Monday, and the rest on Tuesday.

Monday

2010-07-25T20:07:00.000-05:00

I've been a little bit ill this weekend, and have fallen behind ...

Monday (tomorrow) there will be a short quiz on induction (Friday's lecture) with an related lab.

Tuesday night, you'll have a homework set due, it should come out later tonight or early Monday morning.

Why calculators are not helping you learn physics (or math)

2010-07-23T12:34:00.000-05:00

Have a read. In particular, comment 6 is appropriate.

In my opinion, and Dr. Orzel's it seems, using a calculator except when absolutely necessary is really obscuring a lot of the physics going on in the problems, and, ironically, making things more tedious than they need to be. (I have a sort of boilerplate rant about using numbers in problems, which is why I often just don't include numbers in the problems. They only hide the interesting physics.)

That being said, you're free to use calculators whenever you like. All I'm saying is that they are, if anything, probably hindering your learning process if you become too reliant on them. Try solving some of the next homework set without a calculator, and see if you notice a difference in your understanding of the problems.

Today's lab

2010-07-22T11:48:00.000-05:00

Sorry I forgot to put this up earlier ...

Today, you'll explore RC circuits, which we covered last week and will come back to next week when we discuss ac circuits and audio filters.

Before you do the lab, however, I'd like you to explore this applet on circuit construction. There are no real instructions, just spend 10-15 minutes constructing different circuits to get a feeling for how things work. Of particular interest is the 'grab bag,' from which you can choose various household items and try to run current through them. Too much current, and you will start a little virtual fire ...

HW 5 is out

2010-07-22T01:39:00.001-05:00

HW5 is out. It has bits of dc circuits and magnetism, all stuff we've covered already. Due Friday before midnight.

Punting

2010-07-22T00:50:00.000-05:00

Let's punt Friday's quiz in celebration of your dominance of my first exam.

You win this round. [shakes fist]

There is, however, still a homework coming out shortly that is due Friday.

Wednesday's labs

2010-07-20T09:28:00.000-05:00

Wednesday, we'll do two labs on circuits:

Simple circuits with light bulbs
Resistor addition

Please have a look through the procedures before the lab sessions, it will save you time in the end.

Exam 1 / Homework 4

2010-07-19T20:38:00.000-05:00

Well, exam 1 is over. I should have it graded and returned to you Wednesday morning. For now, the exam is here.

That brings up homework 4, and it is simple. The exam had you do 6 out of 8 problems, your homework, due Tuesday before midnight, is to do the other two problems.

So, short notice, but short homework.

Things which tempt me greatly

2010-07-19T00:42:00.001-05:00

This.

As the undergrad adviser for physics and astronomy, I enjoy giving undergraduates advice. Occasionally, however, when confronted with a vague question, it is hard to resist the temptation to be a bit silly ...

With regards to the link above, I'm thinking of some sort of Fight Club crossover, "My class is Jack's inflamed appendix."

In other news ...

2010-07-19T00:10:00.000-05:00

Remember what I said about photons having momentum, and how one could use that for spacecraft propulsion?

Done. Very cool stuff, though the linked summaries are somewhat ... lacking. Knowing what you know of relativity and mechanics, can you spot some places where the articles are incorrect or misleading?

Last-minute things

2010-07-18T23:51:00.001-05:00

First: an error in the HW2 solution has been corrected; I solved #2 incorrectly ... it is fine now.

Second: There won't be any questions from Ch. 18 in your text (Ch. 5 in the notes), i.e., dc circuits. There will be questions on current, resistance, and resistivity, but not on resistors and circuits with resistors. I know I said it was fair game for the exam, but once I got to making it up, I had enough questions without digging into dc circuits. So, that's one less thing to worry about.

Third: here's a preview of your formula sheet for the exam. It may change as I find typos or change my mind about something, but it will look very much the same. You are still allowed to bring in one 8.5x11in sheet of paper of your own with whatever you want on it; this preview is meant to help you figure out what you needn't bother putting on the sheet ... (You can bring in one sheet with both sides filled, or two sheets with a single side filled, which I figure amounts to the same thing.)

Fourth: DO NOT FORGET A CALCULATOR. I will bring a few spares, since someone's calculator invariably dies on exam day ...

Finally: relax. You have been well trained for this thing, if I do say so myself :-) and you will be fine.

HW 3 solutions are out

2010-07-18T01:33:00.002-05:00

Here you go.

Quiz 3 and 4 solutions are up

2010-07-17T22:35:00.002-05:00

Find them here.

Quiz 3

2010-07-16T01:16:00.004-05:00

Quiz 3 was all over the map. The average score (across both sections) was 77, with a standard deviation of 19. Looking at the distribution, however:

It has no discernible pattern. Based on the average, it is hard to justify curving the quiz, but based on the number of people at the low end, it almost begs for it.

There are three possibilities here. One is that I just let it go, and a lot of you drop this quiz (undesirable). A second is that I let you do some extra work (perhaps a paragraph essay on the questions you missed), to make up, for instance, half the credit you missed. A third possibility is that I just decide to drop two quizzes for the course instead of one.

I am not promising any of these three, but the last option is probably more likely. I'd rather not have one quiz drag a lot of you down, when in retrospect I can understand where you were tripped up. Some sort of action will be taken, in the end, and by the end of the course the quiz average will be 75-80%, minimum.

HW 2 solutions are up

2010-07-15T23:49:00.002-05:00

Find them here. I did parts of them quickly, so let me know if you find any mistakes.

Exam Guidelines

2010-07-15T20:06:00.003-05:00

Exam 1 is coming up on Monday. The exam will be held during your lab period, but will take place in the lecture room. It will take you 60-90 minutes. Don't be late. Here's what it will cover:

Electric Forces & Fields (Ch. 15 in the text)Electrical Energy & Capacitance (Ch. 16 in the text)
Current & Resistance (Ch. 17 in the text)

See the course schedule for the particular sections in each chapter you are responsible for. Note also that relativity is absent. The material we cover tomorrow (Friday) will be on the test.

The format of the exam will be (approximately) 6 problems (i.e., solving stuff, no multiple choice), you pick any 5 to solve. Put another way, I'll give you 6 problems, you can skip any one of them you like, they are all worth the same amount. To head off an obvious question: if you do all six, I may grade all six and take the best 5. Or, I might just grade the first 5. Who knows. Your best bet if you do all six is to tell me which 5 you want me to grade.

I will provide a formula sheet with all relevant constants and basic formulas, a list which should be sufficient to solve all problems. Additionally, you are allowed to bring in a single 8.5x11 inch sheet of paper with your own notes, formulas, etc. -- anything you want, really. Front and back sides are allowed, I will allow two sheets with only a single side if you prefer that. You are additionally allowed writing implements and a calculator (i.e., not a cell phone or any network-enabled device). You can feel free to program your calculator in arbitrary ways, however, just no internet or peer-to-peer communication of any kind.

I don't know if I can stress enough that you should not forget your calculator.

More details will follow over the next couple of days. For now, I suggest reading the chapters and old homework/exam solutions.

Slides from today's lecture

2010-07-15T16:46:00.000-05:00

... are up here. I'll use the same slides tomorrow to finish current/resistance and start with dc circuits.

Friday's quiz

2010-07-15T16:38:00.003-05:00

Tomorrow's quiz will derive entirely from Ch. 16 in the textbook, or the equivalent sections in the notes.

UPDATE: I swear this one should be easier than the last one.

You will need: 1) the rules for combining series and parallel capacitors (formulas given), and 2) the rule for calculating energy stored in a capacitor from voltage and capacitance (formulas also given).

One thing I haven't mentioned explicitly: if you put batteries together in series, and connect them plus-minus-plus-minus, you add the potential differences. So, two 3V batteries connected in series with the same polarity gives 6V. Charges moving through the batteries in series would get a boost of 3V potential difference from the first, and another boost of 3V from the second, and thus each charge acquires 6V potential after moving through the two batteries in series.

Two 3V batteries connected with opposite polarities (so plus-minus-minus-plus) usually leads to zero V, and undesirable behavior.

Thursday's Lab

2010-07-15T12:27:00.003-05:00

Today, you'll investigate the equipotential lines around some charged conductors.

Sorry for not getting this up earlier ... I had my days mixed up.

Powerpoint slides used in class

2010-07-15T08:43:00.000-05:00

Here you can find the powerpoint slides I used in class, along with a few extras I didn't. I have the slides from relativity, electrostatics, and electrical energy up at the moment.

(If you are in the pm class, I didn't use as many slides due to the room being inconvenient, but you might find the slides useful anyway.)

Problem-solving template

2010-07-15T01:00:00.000-05:00

In past courses, I've tried off and on to have students use a problem-solving template that my colleague Prof. Mankey developed. The basic idea is to give you a general structure for solving problems by compartmentalizing the problem-solving process. Break it down into fairly general steps that most problems have (though not always in the same order) so you have a guide for how to start and finish problems.

The template is not something you will be required to use when solving problems, but if you're having trouble with the homework, it might help. Details below the fold ...

There are six sections to the template, which you can find here:

Find/Given: state what you are supposed to find, and what is given in the problem. Usually trivial.

Sketch: this should be something that helps solve the problem, not just a picture. If you are given a function, sketch its graph. If you have a physical situation, draw a picture with rough dimensions noted to help clarify the geometry a bit better. Particularly with problems involving circuits or point charges, this will be an obvious thing to do.

Relevant equations: list all equations you will (or might) need to solve the problem, such as F=qE or x=vt.

Symbolic solution: without plugging in any numbers, algebraically solve for the variable of interest. This is supposed to be a general solution, in the next step you plug in the numbers you have. Your answer should (in most cases) be an equation, solved for the quantity of interest. You don't want to plug in numbers until you absolutely have to, because it makes troubleshooting later on vastly more difficult. I've ranted about this before.

Numeric solution: now use the previous result, plug in the numbers and units/conversions, and state the numerical value of the quantity of interest. Include the proper units and significant figures or error margin. By waiting to plug in numbers, you can easily check that the symbolic solution has the right units, and trace the origin of any mistakes.

Double-check: Just what it sounds like, find a second method of solving or estimating the answer of the previous step to confirm that your methods are correct. Two usual ways to do this are to make sure the units of the answer are correct, and to make a "ballpark" estimate (order-of-magnitude).

The point of the template is to help you learn good problem-solving techniques that can serve you generally. It seems painful when the problems are easy, but it pays off considerably when things get more involved (soon).

If you are interested, I'll solve a few example problems in class using this method, which should give you an idea of how & why it is useful.

HW3 is out

2010-07-14T23:37:00.001-05:00

Homework 3 is now out. Since I'm late by about a day getting it out, I'll push the deadline back one day ... so this is due by 11:59pm on Friday, 16 July.

We'll go over most of these problems Thursday and Friday in class, at least enough to get you started.

(This means you have no HW or quiz tomorrow, but you have both on Friday ...)

HW3

2010-07-14T17:58:00.002-05:00

I'm a bit late putting out the next HW ... it will come out tonight, but not be due until Friday instead of Thursday. Check back tonight ...

Wednesday's quiz

2010-07-14T02:39:00.000-05:00

Wednesday's quiz is all about charges moving through electrical potential differences and electric fields. E.g., if a charge q moves through a potential difference of V, how much energy is gained or lost? If a charge q is placed in an electric field, what force does it experience? What is the difference between the motion of positive and negative charges? You'll have to recall what we talked about Tuesday, along with the basics of PH101 - relating force, mass, and acceleration.

There will be plenty of useful hints about the quiz in Wednesday's lecture.