Homework 8 is out

This is delayed a couple of days, but so is the corresponding due date.

Homework 8, due 10 Nov. 2008.

Lab / due dates / grades

Right! My being out of town for nearly a week means I am behind on this thing, and a few updates are in order. They get less urgent as you go down the list, precipitously.

Item the First: we have a shiny new lab for Wednesday, which is all about induction. Basically, we are making a transformer, though the lab doesn't just come right out and say that.[1]

Item the Second: your next exam is not, in fact, this Friday (Halloween). It has been moved one week forward, to Friday, 7 November 2008, during the recitation period. It will be entirely problem-based, and not cruel. It will go something like this: I give you 6 problems, and you pick any 3 of them to solve. The values of "3" and "6" are subject to change as the exam approaches.

Item the Third: your current homework set is due on Wednesday (formerly, this past Friday). Don't get so excited about the extension that you forget to do it ;-) Of course, since we did the remaining problems in class today, this is not so much a problem I suppose.

Item the Fourth: by Wednesday's class period (probably by Tuesday evening) your up-to-date grades will be posted on Moodle. Just in time for Drop Date, on Wednesday. If you think you are in some danger, come see me and we can discuss things.

Item the Fifth: before your exam comes, I will have the missing homework solutions online. I have actually solved all the problems, it is the typesetting that I am a bit behind on ...

Finally: for some reason, I am listening to The Cure as I type this. Did it just become 1992 again? Is this savage time warp localized to my particular living room, or is it widespread? Check your wardrobes carefully before going out ... this could get serious. [2]
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[1] Parenthetically, we are usually doing something much more clever than it looks like at first sight ... this is one case where I think utility of what we are doing will be more apparent however. This is more due to the writeups not being all that clever sometimes, less than it is because you are missing something. Given more time, we should really go back after each lab and make sure why we were doing it was clear.
[2] This is mainly here just to see if you read the whole thing.

Homework 6

So, take a break this weekend. Homework 6 will come out on Monday (6 Oct.) and be due the following Monday (13 Oct.).

We are a bit ahead of one of the other sections now, so we will hold off on new problems for now, and probably take Monday to summarize a bit what we've done so far.

Wednesday's class & lab

We'll start the class today by going over the most recent homework set, due by the end of the day. Number 6 is particularly tricky, we will set that one up in case you are having trouble.

Lecture-wise, we'll learn about RC circuits, briefly about diodes, and end with some more generalities about

We will also do a lab on dc circuits, in which we will learn how to do a proper 'four point' measurement and learn about a new component, the light-emitting diode. The hydraulic analog of a diode is a check valve, if that helps ...

Wednesday's class

First, we will discuss Electric Flux and Gauss' law (Ch. 24) for a while ... including a look at the current homework set.

At least the first two homework problems on the homework will require a bit of sneakiness involving Gauss' law. The third ... well ... you should already know how to go about it at least. I strongly suggest the energy minimization approach, which I will outline for you. By the end of the day, we should have covered most of Ch. 24, and you should have a good head start on the homework.

Then, we will explore what we learned about Gauss' law with some applets.

Reading for this week

In case I failed to mention it ... the reading for this week is Ch. 24 in the Serway book.

If you can, read it before class tomorrow. If not, make sure to read through it by Friday of this week ... it may make more sense after the lecture tomorrow (hopefully).

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.