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Physics for Scientists and Engineers



(Note: I posted this a few days ago but it never appeared so I am
reposting it.)

We need some information from those folks who teach two semester calculus
based physics course for science and engineering students. But first a
little background....

For a number of years we have been teaching a two-semester calculus-based
physics course. In recent years we have taught this course using
textbooks by Young/Freedman, Halliday/Resnick/Walker, and now Hecht. For
each of 26 weeks each section meets in a classroom for three fifty-minute
periods an in a lab for one 110 minute periods. Section size is limited
to 24. The course is taken in the sophomore year when they are
concurrently taking the third semester of calculus.

Among those who teach this course there is concern as to which topics to
cover and how long to spend on each topic. In recent years topics in
mechanics have been covered the first semester and topics in electricity,
magnetism, and optics the second semester. Here mechanics includes
kinematics, Newton's laws, work-energy, impulse-momentum, gravity,
rotational kinematics and dynamics, oscillations, mechanical waves, and
sometimes fluids. The second semester typically includes all the E&M
topics typically offered in a textbook, excluding ac circuits, an optics
includes geometrical and physical optics. Typically the course enrollment
900 and includes English, history, and political science majors as well as
those majoring in science and engineering.

Is our course too demanding? Some of us and many of our students think
so. Others, however, think it is just about right while still others
think it should be more demanding. In order to advance this discussion I
am seeking data from my colleagues on Phys-L. If your school teaches a
"physics for scientists and engineers" course would you send me a copy of
the course syllabus?

The information you provide will provide some guidance. If there is
interest in the result I will be glad to supply a compendium of the
results.

Thanks for your help.

Gene

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Eugene (Gene) P. Mosca Phone 410-293-6659 Office
Physics Department 410-267-0144 Home
572 Holloway Road 610-683-3597 Summer
U.S.Naval Academy Mailstop 9C, Michelson Rm 339
Annapolis MD 21402 email: mosca@nadn.navy.mil
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