My primary role at Fairleigh Dickinson University was as a Professsor of Physics. I directed the physics program and taught most of the courses we offered at Metropolitan Campus (although not all at the same time). I created a page with syllabi for the primary physics courses that we offer: University Physics, PHYS 2203 & PHYS 2204 and its corequisite Physics Laboratory, PHYS 2201 & PHYS 2202. I have also put together a page of physics resources to help students in any of these courses. I also taught Astronomy.
The main full-year physics course that we offer is University Physics, PHYS 2203 & PHYS 2204. This course is intended for all majors within the School of Natural Sciences and for all other students needing a full year of physics. It also satisfies the requirements for all professional school admissions. The only exception is for Technology majors in the School of Computer Sciences and Engineering who take General Physics, PHYS 2101 & PHYS 2102. University Physics makes some use of calculus, which is a corequisite. The calculus makes the physics easier to understand. The examples of calculus use provided by the physics reinforce the calculus. General Physics uses algebra, trigonometry, and analytic geometry. Both courses require the same Physics Laboratory, PHYS 2201 & PHYS 2202.
The Syllabi for all these courses are available here to read with a browser or download and print in PDF format. In addition to the specific syllabi listed below, I have put together a page of physics resources to help students in any of these courses. There is also a Laboratory Guide for our physics laboratories. You can read it online or download it in PDF format.
I required all students enrolled in my course sections to have an account on WebCampus and to use it for the latest information on their section of the course. WebCampus is where I posted announcements, schedules, assignments, and information on exams. I expected enrolled students to visit WebCampus regularly.
The first half of a two-semester, calculus based physics course for science and engineering majors. Topics normally covered include: units and dimensions, forces and motion in one and two dimensions, vectors, momentum and center of mass, work, kinetic energy and the work-energy theorem, potential energy and the conservation of energy, rotation and moment of inertia, torque and angular momentum, gravitation, oscillations, elasticity, fluids, heat, kinetic theory of gases, thermodynamics. Corequisite: Physics Laboratory I and Calculus I. Lecture 3 credits, 4 hours. Laboratory 1 credit, 3 hours.
The second half of a two-semester, calculus based physics course. Topics normally covered include: waves and sound, geometrical and physical optics, electrical forces and fields, electric potential, current and resistance, circuits, capacitance, magnetic forces and fields, force on a moving charge, magnetic field of a current, electromagnetic induction, electromagnetic oscillations and waves, alternating currents, special relativity, quantization and modern physics. Prerequisite: University Physics I. Corequisite: Physics Laboratory II and Calculus II is recommended. Lecture 3 credits, 4 hours. Laboratory 1 credit, 3 hours.
The text we are now using for University Physics, PHYS 2203/2204, is Physics for Scientists and Engineers: A Strategic Approach with Modern Physics and MasteringPhysics™ (2/Ed) by Randall D. Knight, Pearson/Addison-Wesley (2008). The text has a web site, MasteringPhysics™, that we will be using for home work assignments and tutorials.
There are old practice exams available for University Physics taken from the test bank for the text we used until this summer, Understanding Physics by Cummings, Laws, Redish, & Cooney, J. Wiley & Sons (New York, 2004). The physics resource page also contains helpful material for the student.
The overall objectives of a Physics Laboratory are threefold: (1) to demonstrate and make concrete through actual experience some of the physical phenomena presented in the lecture portion of the course; (2) to present, in an actual laboratory environment, some of the methods and techniques used to investigate physical phenomenon and to test and validate physical law; and (3) to illustrate the role that experiment plays in relation to theory in the physical sciences.
The laboratory environment is a guided tutorial. Students will be grouped into teams of two or three which work collaboratively to perform the experiments. Each experiment will be introduced by the instructor who will then give individualized help to each team or student. The laboratory manual will provide the framework for the experiment. The instructor will further define the procedures to be followed. Individual initiative and creativity, if appropriate, will be rewarded. Each experiment will have a report due one week after the experiment is completed. The reports are written individually not collaboratively. See the Physics Laboratory Guide for details.
Physics Laboratory I (Phys 2201)
Physics experiments drawn from mechanics and thermodynamics. Measurement, data analysis, and error analysis. Written laboratory reports. This is the required laboratory for PHYS 2101, General Physics I, and PHYS 2203, University Physics I.
Physics Laboratory II (Phys 2202)
Physics experiments from electricity, magnetism, circuits, waves, optics, light, and modern physics. Measurement and data analysis. This is the required laboratory for PHYS 2204, University Physics.
The first semester of a survey of physics: mechanics, heat, and sound. A quantitative non-calculus treatment oriented toward technology. This course sequence satisfies the physics requirement for curricula that require a year of non-calculus physics with a laboratory.
General Physics II (Phys 1102)
The second semester of a survey of physics: electricity, magnetism, waves, light, modern physics. A quantitative non-calculus treatment oriented toward technology. This course sequence satisfies the physics requirement for curricula that require a year of non-calculus physics with a laboratory.