| Illinois State University | Physics 107, Fall 2007 |
| Department of Physics | R. Martin |
PHY
107 Frontiers of Physics
Course Syllabus
This course is intended for freshman who are majoring in physics or who are considering a major in physics. The course has three components:
¥ Orientation to Physics, and closely related fields such as Engineering, in a national context, with discussion of career options
¥ Some basic tools and a focus frontier topic: nanotechnology
¥ Orientation to the ISU Physics programs, focusing on undergraduate research and out-of-class activities
There is no textbook for the course. Instead we will be hearing first hand from faculty, staff, and students in the department, surfing the web, and using other references.
There are no grades for
the course; this is a credit/no credit (C/NC) class. If you do the homework regularly you'll get credit; if not,
you won't (and you'll have to take it over again!) Hint: do the homework.
As part of the learning process, youÕll be asked to do some homework, typically one homework per week. These will range from finding information on the web, to summarizing a topic from class notes, to working out some basic homework exercises, to writing a short report on a research topic. The homework is designed to help you learn the material and to keep you engaged in the class but not to tax you severely – in other words, it should be no problem to complete the assignments on time. Here are the basic course grading policies:
1. No credit for late homework
2. To account for unexpected illness, etc., one homework grade will be dropped in calculating your semester homework score.
3. You need a semester homework score of at least 60% to earn credit for the course.
It's pretty simple: 60% or higher = credit, below 60% = no credit.
IÕll have office hours before each class: 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. Monday and Wednesday. IÕm available at other times, too: come to the department office and ask Roberta if IÕm available. Take advantage of it!
| Class | Date | Topic | Week's Homework |
| 1 | 8/20/07 | Basics | Find EPM jokes |
| 2 | 8/22/07 | EPM jokes and quotes | |
| 3 | 8/27/07 | Physics methods & frontiers | "Frontier" essay |
| 4 | 8/29/07 | Engineering fields | |
| 9/3/07 | No class: Labor Day | No homework | |
| 5 | 9/5/07 | Physics/engineering careers & job searching | |
| 6 | 9/10/07 | Science & engineering ethics | Find jobs for grads |
| 7 | 9/12/07 | Engineering ethics | |
| 8 | 9/17/07 | Physics Picnic | Attend picnic; Ethics homework |
| 9 | 9/19/07 | Learning science | |
| 10 | 9/24/07 | Physics Club, ISU Solar Car, Trebuchet | Online homework |
| 11 | 9/26/07 | Toolbox: Graphics software, data analysis | |
| 12 | 10/1/07 | Toolbox: Intro to Mathematica | Plot/analyze data |
| 13 | 10/3/07 | Toolbox: Communicating Science, Mathematica 2 | |
| 14 | 10/8/07 | Mechanics, determinism, energy | Mathematica 2D Plot analysis |
| 15 | 10/10/07 | Waves, interference, quanta, quantum weirdness | |
| 16 | 10/15/07 | Atoms, molecules, solids | Mathematica 3D Plots |
| 17 | 10/17/07 | Semiconductors; Particle diffraction | |
| 18 | 10/22/07 | Materials characterization | Online homework |
| 19 | 10/24/07 | Buckyballs | |
| 20 | 10/29/07 | Quantum dots & nanotubes | Online homework |
| 21 | 10/31/07 | Self-assembling nanostructures | |
| 22 | 11/5/07 | Nanoradio and summary | Online homework |
| 23 | 11/7/07 | Dr. Ren research talk | |
| 24 | 11/12/07 | Drs. Karim & Rutherford research talks | Online homework |
| 25 | 11/14/07 | Drs. Matsuoka and Holland/Martin research talks | |
| 11/19/07 | No class: Thanksgiving | No homework | |
| 11/21/07 | No class: Thanksgiving | ||
| 26 | 11/26/07 | Drs. Rosa and Hassani research talks | Online homework |
| 27 | 11/28/07 | Dr. Clark and Grobe/Su research talks | |
| 28 | 12/3/07 | Dr. Marx research talk & PHY 107 Survey | Online homework |
| 29 | 12/5/07 | Planetarium & Summary |
Note that an occaisional attendance quiz might be given at any time, just to keep you on your toes.