Friday, September 28, 2007

Exam I results

FYI, the exam average was 76%, with a standard deviation of 14.5%. This means there will little scaling, you all did pretty well. The A/B/C/D/F cut-offs will have to be adjusted slightly, I will give out the details on that on Tuesday.

For now, here are some plots showing the number of people that got each question right, and the histogram of scores. Clearly, questions 2, 9 and 14 were tougher than the rest, followed closely by numbers 16, 1, and 21 (in that order). On the other hand, you totally owned question 6, which was a nice surprise to me. The last question in the list is the bonus, which a bit more than 3/4 of you got right.


The histogram doesn't tell me much except the class is roughly divided into two groups ...


Full detailed solutions will follow this weekend.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Exam I Study Hint ...

I'm being awfully generous here, but it would behoove you to study last year's exam I, which you can find in the course notes packet.

It would also behoove you to study the solutions to this year's quizzes, as well as last year's (also in the notes packet).

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Exam I study session

Tomorrow evening, 5pm in room 203 Gallalee. I will be prepared to answer any questions from the homework or quizzes to date, questions about the exam/formula sheet, and any other random stuff you can think of.

5-6pm, 203 Gallalee, Wed 26 Sept (tomorrow)

Exam I is THIS THURSDAY

Exam I is, as you know, scheduled for this Thursday, 27 September. This means that there is no homework due this week, and no Friday quiz. The exam will cover the following sections in the Serway & Faughn book:

Chapter 15, including Sections 1-6, 9
Chapter 16, including Sections 1-4, 6-10
Chapter 17, including Sections 1-5, 8
Chapter 18, including Sections 1-5

If you are paying more attention to the course notes, it covers the following:

Chapter 3, excluding Sections 3.6, 3.7
Chapter 4, excluding Sections 4.7, 4.2.2.1
Chapter 5, excluding Sections 5.4.1.1, 5.4.6
Chapter 6 ALL

Whether you pay more attention to the book or the course notes, the list above covers the same topics.

You may have noticed that Relativity is not part of the exam. This is correct.

The exam will be multiple choice, and roughly 25 questions long. I suggest studying the "quick quizzes" and "conceptual questions" in Serway, in addition to the worked-out examples in each chapter. In the course notes, you could look at the example exam, and its solution, which starts on pg. 116 in the notes packet, as well as the quizzes included at the end of each chapter and the quizzes I have given this semester.

Roughly half the questions will be conceptual or qualitative (no calculations), and roughly half the questions will involve real, live quantitative answers. With units and everything.

The exam will be in the usual classroom, at the usual time. I will devote the first 15-30 mins of class to answering last-minute questions, after which you will have about 90 minutes for the exam. I expect the exam to take you closer to 60 minutes, but don't want anyone to feel too rushed.

You will want a calculator. Make sure it handles simple trig functions and powers of ten at least.

I will be available on Wednesday for office hours most of the day (in Bevill).

You can bring in ONE standard 8.5x11 inch sheet of paper front and back (or two sheets front-only), containing any information you like. This could include pictures, formulas, example problems, or even the first few chapters of "The Count of Monte Cristo" in a very small font. Whatever you think might help. You can use both the front and back, typed or written, crayon or pencil, your preference.

One interesting variant is to write from left to right with a red pen, and then turn the page 90 degrees and write over the top of that with a blue pen. If you can then lay your hands on a set of 3-D glasses ... presto, you've doubled your storage density.

Monday, September 24, 2007

Lab for 25 Sept 2007: RC circuits

Here is the procedure for tomorrow's lab. We'll be investigating series RC circuits, specifically their response a sudden increase or decrease in voltage.

Keep in mind that you have an exam on Thursday. They have a way of sneaking up on a person.