Exam II / Homework 4

The exam on Thursday (3:30pm, in the lab room) will consist entirely of problems, no multiple choice. It will be broken up into four sections. In each section, there will be 4 problems, you must pick 2 to solve in each section. Thus, you solve a total of 8 problems, and you will have about 2.5 hours to do it in. I expect you will need more like 1.5-2 hours.

The sections are:

1. dc Circuits (mostly Kirchhoff's rules) - solve 2 out of 4
2. Magnetism - solve 2 out of 4
3. Induction - solve 2 out of 4
4. ac Circuits - solve 2 out of 4

All problems are equal weight, you pick the two in each section you think you have the best shot at. There will be heavy partial credit - try to show as much work as possible.

There is nothing on EM waves or light included. You can bring in one formula sheet (8.5x11 in, front and back) and a calculator; the exam will include the minimal set of formulas you will need.

I suggest (strongly) studying last semester's homework and exam questions, and additionally the example problems in the book/notes. There will be a good number of problems that will look familiar. Also, it is crucial you don't get stuck on anything. Probably most of you will not quite finish 8 problems, maybe 7. Pick your problems carefully, and start with the ones you are most confident with. This will be an exercise in time management as much as anything.

All that being said, it will be a fair exam, no tricks. Just fair warning.

Well: there is also one more homework set to do, it is due on the last day of class. Here's how the last one will work: you solve all of the problems you didn't attempt on the exam as homework problems. Thus, you will also have 8 problems for homework 4. Probably, you will find that your classmates solved different problems on the exam than you did, and a group of 4 or 5 of you should be able to cover all of them ...