Physics/Environmental Studies 105 Syllabus, Fall 2009
Energy
St. Lawrence University
Daniel W. Koon, Instructor: Bewkes 221, x5494.
Office Hours: Mon-Fri, 8-9am
Syllabus last revised: 11/6/09

TEXT: Energy: Its Use and the Environment, Roger A. Hinrichs, Merlin Kleinbach, Brooks/Cole Publishing, 4th Edition.

LEARNING PHYSICS: Much of what you will learn in this course is counter-intuitive and contradicts preconceived notions we all have had about how the Universe operates. To overcome these notions, it is important to confront them. This requires a lot of practice. If you expect to learn this material simply from coming to class, doing the homework, and watching the classroom demonstrations, you are in for a disappointment. You will get a lot out of the class, but you probably will need to do more. Read the sections of the book listed below before each lecture. (I am likely to throw in-class quizzes on that day's reading.) Do the homework. Do extra problems. Discuss problems with classmates, other students, and the prof. Come to Office Hours if you have questions. Think of Office Hours as a Study Group that includes the guy who will be writing the exam questions. What a deal.

ACADEMIC RESOURCES, SPECIAL NEEDS: If you need accommodation for special needs, please contact your instructor by the end of the first full week of classes. Please also contact the Office for Academic Services for Students with Special Needs (homepage, contact) as soon as possible. Another useful office for all students is the Academic Achievement Office, which can set you up with tutoring for this and other courses.

ATTENDANCE POLICY: The instructor reserves the right to subtract one whole a letter grade from your final grade for each class absence beyond the first three. (e.g. four absences means your highest possible final grade is 3.0, etc.) Each time you are late for class will count towards an absence. Missed classes and exams generally can not be made up. If you miss 7 classes you will fail this course, period.

EXAMS: There will be three exams during regular class time during the semester, Wednesday, Sept. 16, Monday, Oct. 26, and Friday, Nov. 13, plus a Final Exam, Monday, Dec. 14, 1:30-4:30. You may bring with you to the exam a calculator and all the notes you can fit on a 3" x 5" index card (both sides, handwritten). Calculators can not be brought to the exam that have anything stored in their memories. It is up to you to make sure that the memory is cleared. Ignorance of how to do so, or of how to use the memory, is not an acceptable excuse. The Final Exam is weighted equally with the other exams. I will throw out the lowest of these four exam grades.

ACADEMIC DISHONESTY: Please read the relevant portions of the Student Handbook printed at the bottom of this syllabus. You will be held responsible for them.

HOMEWORK: Homework assignments will be due at the beginning of class on the date they are due. The instructor reserves the right to not accept any work not handed in at that time. The reason for this is so that we can discuss the homework in class as soon as possible, post the solutions, and clear up any problems anyone may have with the material. When submitting homework sets,

• Write your name at the top,
• Indicate the number of the set (e.g. "HW #1") and the original due date,
• Write out the questions on the page,
• Staple pages together, if needed,
• Write legibly, but you needn't be a "neat freak".
• Show your work! The answer is not enough. You need to communicate how you got there.

Your goal in writing a homework solution is to communicate what you understand and what you don't understand about the problem. I encourage you to write (scientists DO use complete sentences) about those points of the problem that confuse or interest you and to make commentary on the plausibility of your answers.

CELL PHONES No cell phones, beepers, pagers, etc. should be heard during class time.

GRADING POLICY: Your final average will be calculated from the following:

Homework* 25% Top 60% of In-class quizzes* 5% Top 3 of 4 exams (three regular-season exams + one Final Exam) 20% each Class participation 10% * Must hand in at least 60% of the assignments to pass course.

93%+ 4.0 90.25%+ 3.75 87.5%+ 3.5 84.75%+ 3.25 82%+ 3.0

82%+ 3.0 79.25%+ 2.75 76.5%+ 2.5 73.75%+ 2.25 71%+ 2.0

71%+ 2.0 68.25%+ 1.75 65.5%+ 1.5 62.75%+ 1.25 60%+ 1.0

All exams, homework, and labs will be counted toward your final average. All cutoffs are exact. I do not round percentages up before calculating the final grade, even if they are the tiniest fraction of a percentage. Should you feel inclined to argue this point, please do it before the first few weeks of class.

THE CALENDAR: (Dates and topics are subject to change)

MONDAY	WEDNESDAY	FRIDAY
	8/26: Ch. 1: Introduction Powerpoint overview (Works best in Microsoft Explorer.)	8/28: Finish Ch. 1 before class
8/31: Ch. 2: Energy mechanics. pp. 35-43, 63-71	9/2: pp. 44-51	9/4: pp. 51-58
9/7: Ch. 3: Conservation of Energy. pp. 73-79	9/9: pp. 79-84. cents/kW-hr	9/11: pp. 84-90. Prefixes
9/14: Exam review	9/16: EXAM I Content, format	9/18: Ch. 4: Heat and work. pp. 97-101
9/21: pp. 100-105	9/23: pp. 115-124	9/25: pp. 106-114
9/28: Ch. 5: Home conservation: pp. 130-148	9/30:	10/2: Ch. 6: Solar energy: pp. 160-170
10/5: pp. 170-196	10/7: (Ch. 12) pp. 387-400. Links	10/9: Ch. 7: Fossil fuels: pp. 201-5, 217-226
10/12: pp. 205-217, 227-9	10/14: Ch. 8: Pollution: pp. 239-248	10/16: Fall break. No classes
10/19: pp. 248-268	10/21:	10/23: Ch. 9: Global warming, etc.: pp. 28, 269-279, 289-302 Links
10/26: EXAM II Content, format	10/28: Ch. 10: Electricity: pp. 317-330	10/30: pp. 331-340
11/2: pp. 340-349	11/4: Ch. 11: Electromagnetism	11/6: Ch. 13: The atom
11/9: Ch. 14: Nuclear fission	11/11: TBA / review	11/13: EXAM III Content, format
11/16: Fission, continued	11/18: More fission	11/20: Ch. 15: Nuclear radiation
11/23: Thanksgiving Break	11/25: Thanksgiving Break	11/27: Thanksgiving Break
11/30: Ch. 16: Nuclear fusion	12/2: pp. 398-409: Nuclear fusion	12/4: Wind and hydro
12/7: Hydrogen fuel	12/9: Review for exam. (YSBAT)

Final Exam: Tuesday, Dec. 13, 1:30-4:30.

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ACADEMIC HONESTY: SELECTIONS FROM THE SLU STUDENT HANDBOOK (page 55)
Academic Honesty
A major commitment of the University is “to the intellectual development of the student” (St. Lawrence University Aims and Objectives) which can be achieved only by strict adherence to standards of honesty. At St. Lawrence, all members of the community have a responsibility to see that these standards are maintained. Consequently, St. Lawrence University students will not engage in acts of academic dishonesty as described below.

Academic Dishonesty

1. It is assumed that all work is done by the student unless the instructor/mentor/employer gives specific permission for collaboration.
2. Cheating on examinations and tests consists of knowingly giving or using or attempting to use unauthorized assistance during examinations or tests.
3. Dishonesty in work outside of examinations and tests consists of handing in or presenting as original work which is not original, where originality is required.

The following constitute examples of academic dishonesty:

1. Plagiarism: Presenting as one’s own work the work of another person—words, ideas, data, evidence, thoughts, information, organizing principles, or style of presentation—without proper attribution. Plagiarism includes paraphrasing or summarizing without acknowledgment by quotation marks, footnotes, endnotes, or other indices of reference (cf. Joseph F. Trimmer, A Guide to MLA Documentation).
2. Handing in or presenting false reports on any experiment.
3. Handing in or presenting a book report on a book one has not read.
4. Falsification of records.
5. Supplying information to another student knowing that such information will be used in a dishonest way.
6. Submission of or presentation of work (papers, journal abstracts, oral presentations, etc.) which has received credit in a previous course to satisfy the requirement(s) of a second course without the knowledge and permission of the instructor/supervisor/mentor of the second course.
7. Knowingly making false statements in support of requests for special consideration or special timing in the fulfillment of course requirements.

Claims of ignorance and academic or personal pressure are unacceptable as excuses for academic dishonesty. Students must learn what constitutes one’s own work and how the work of others must be acknowledged.

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