Today's quiz and solution ...

I have put up a copy of today's quiz, and a key. I will try to post a more detailed solution later this weekend ...

Homework 1

Item the first: the homework is no longer due at the start of recitation. The deadline is extended to any time before 6pm on Friday, so you have a chance to ask questions related to the homework in recitation.

Item the second: look here. *Cough*

*UPDATE* there were some errors in the homework hint ... check the file now, it should be more clear.

Today is add date

Today is the last day to add a course ... that means if you are not yet registered, but are attending class, you should do so *today*. Let me know after class if you have questions about that, I'll help you out.

Also: after an email from one of you today, I realized that there was essentially nothing on the course calendar, technical snafu on my end. Now the whole course calendar should be up to date, including what chapters we will be covering on any given day (so you can read them ahead of time ...)

In today's class, we will basically do a math overview, so we're all on the same page, and work out some of the homework problems. And by "some" I mean "most." Friday, we'll begin a bit of Ch. 24 (Gauss' law) and have a very short quiz on electric forces. It will be easy.

Next week, keep in mind that Monday is Labor Day ... and hence there is no class. Wednesday we'll continue with Ch. 24.

Math

Well. My bad ... after talking with some of you today, I realized that what I presumed Math 126 covered, and what it actually covers are two different things. I apologize for the oversight, and I feel really bad that some of what I've been doing has been a bit beyond your prerequisites. It was not intentional, and it is not too late to adapt.

So, here's what we'll do to rectify the situation. First, we will slow down a bit, and more carefully explain the math that is being used ... part of my speed was based on the incorrect assumption that you had already seen the math before. I'll try not to skip as many steps.

Next, on Wednesday, we'll review everything to date, using nothing more than single integrals, and put things in a somewhat simpler form than we have so far.

On Wednesday, I will also give you a crash-course in multiple integrals and other sorts of math you probably haven't really seen yet. We'll not prove a lot of theorems, or formally justify a lot of it, but rather I'll give you enough information to use some powerful tools we'll find useful. Just enough to get the job done, because believe it or not, having some more powerful tools at our disposal will make things easier in the long run. Really, it won't be a lot, just extending what you already learned in Math 125 a tiny bit.

That being said, from now on I will try to be a bit more aware of what math you are supposed to know already, what I should teach you along the way, and what I should avoid all together. For example: doing integrals over a path, surface, or volume, so far as they are useful to ph106, does not require much more than you've seen in Math 125, you just need to be shown it in a bit different manner. Mainly, it will be Useful to know how to set them up, and what they mean, but most of the time actually solving them is Not.

So anyway: from now on, I will try to be careful. This will be easier if you keep letting me know when I've gone a bit too far, as you did today ... it is not at all a Bad Thing to ask me to explain our methods in more detail when you are not quite sure you follow.

Today's activity

Today, we will run some small applets to get a feel for electric forces & fields.

This link should bring you directly to the applets. The username and password will be given in class.

Mathness

I made up some random math notes, regarding vectors and such.

You may also find my ph102 notes useful - same material, very little math. You want this file ... fair warning, it is a 26Mb PDF.

Recitation today

So. Today we'll slow it down a bit, and there are only two things we need to do.

1) Work on the homework problems
2) Take a small assessment test on electricity and magnetism.

The latter thing is ungraded, and has two real purposes. First, it lets us see which areas are most deserving of attention, and what you (as a whole) are likely to have the most trouble with. Second, it lets us (and by 'us' I mean the administration) see how well we actually teach you the material.

Related to the latter point, you will take the same assessment test at the end of the semester - the same material as a pre- and post-test to gauge how much you actually learned, vs. how much you knew already.

As a small incentive, if you successfully complete both assessment tests, I will drop one additional quiz.

Syllabus / prerequisites

As promised, here is the syllabus.

This contains all of the official sorts of information you might need, feel free to comment here or email me if you have questions.

I may make minor changes as I discover errors, or find something is possibly unworkable; I will post any updates that are made.

The full course calendar should be up by tomorrow afternoon. All you need to do before Friday is have a look at the homework. I'll give you one hint: the problems get easier toward the bottom. More serious hints to follow in Friday.

* One of you mentioned today that you may be eligible for transfer credit for this course. Please remind me of this on Friday, and I will have more information for you.

** Some of you do not have the proper prerequisites. Math-wise, the math today was about as hard as it is going to get; if you followed along well enough, you will probably be fine in that regard. Physics-wise, if you do not have ph105 credit, you are almost certain to have graduation troubles down the road ... you can stay in ph106 if you feel comfortable, but keep in mind you may need to take ph105 anyway at some point. Please come see me to further clarify these issues; I have information on this topic.

Intro slides

Here you can find the slides I used today, which includes all of the official course information (as well as a few figures I used for electrostatics). A proper syllabus will follow in the next hour or so.

Friday, we will spend some time reviewing what we covered today, and solve a few additional problems.

Homework 1 is out

Your first homework is out. It is due at 5pm on Friday, 29 August 2008. You may collaborate, but everyone must turn in their own work.

EDIT: change of heart; homework will be due at 5pm each friday, rather than at the start of recitation, so you have time to absorb last-minute hints from recitation and finish it off.

Join us.

There is a Facebook group for this section of ph106. We hope this will help you get to know the other students in this class, and provide a forum for asking questions.

Working together on homework sets is encouraged, this is one way you can enable that.