PHY2048C (Spring 2025)
Undergraduate course, Florida State University, 2025
Physics Studio A
- Instructor: Prof. Daniel D. Sega (email)
- Instructor’s Office: 2nd Floor, Faculty Wing
- Course Times: Spring 2025, Tue./Thu./Fri., 9:30 am-12:00 m
- Location: 3rd Floor, Room 309
- Office Hours: 1st Floor, Faculty Wing or Room 309: M to F 12:15-12:45 pm
- Syllabus: See the most up-to-date PDF version.
Summary
In this course, engineering and science majors will learn about the basic laws of motion in classical mechanics. They will learn how and why objects in our day-to-day move (or stay put) the way that they do, and will know how to predict projectile and rotational motion. They will also learn about the nature of scientific laws and the statistical nature of scientific measurements.
There’s a lot more information about this course – including details about the textbook, who should/shouldn’t take this class, and how your grade is calculated – in the syllabus.
Course Material
The primary “required readings” are in the OpenStax book University Physics 1 and the first section (thermodynamics) of University Physics 2. For one of our experiments in this class (Lab 5), you will be using your phone, and the app phyphox, which you can download here.
Here are some additional resources:
- An excellent, more abridged e-book for this course is available through the FSU Library Fundamental of Physics I. Give it a try if the OpenStax book treatment of a topic does not click with you. Ramamurti Shankar writes in a very particular voice that can help some students.
- This book is based on R. Shankar’s Open Course (Yale University), which is available online. These lectures were, and still are, a helpful resource for me.
- The phone app phyphox will be required in some of the labs, download here.
- Here is a worksheet to practice verbal algebra problems. Problems like this will be use to test your ability of translating English and concepts into equations, an essential skill in this class.
Schedule
Below is a detailed schedule that will list the material covered in each class session, links to electronic copies of any handouts and problem sets, and various course deadlines.
Tues., January 7: The Structure of Mechanics. Motion in 1D. (Chp. 1 & 3)
Handout: syllabus Homework 1 (Chp. 2 & 4) assigned, due Tue., January 21. - Thur., January 9: No Classes
- Fri., January 10: Quiz Chp. 1 & 3 (Practice | Vectors, motion in higher dimensions. (Chp. 2 & 4)
Tues., January 14: Vectors, motion in higher dimensions. (Chp. 2 & 4)
Handout: BBC article - Thur., January 16: Vectors, motion in higher dimensions. (Chp. 2 & 4)
- Fri., January 17: Newton’s Laws I (Chp. 5)
Tues., January 21: Newton’s Laws I (Chp. 5)
Homework 1 due. Homework 2 (Chp. 6 & 7 & 8 ) assigned, due Tue., February 4. Extra credit reading: What is a Law of Nature? OR Physical Astronomy for the Mechanistic Universe, due Fri. February 14 Thur., January 23: Newton’s Laws II (Chp. 6)
Lab 1: Measurements and dimesions - Fri., January 24: Quiz Chp. 5 & 6 (Practice -> Solved) | Newton’s Laws II (Chp. 6)
- Tues., January 28: Work | Conservation of Energy in 1D (Chp. 7)
- Thur., January 30: Conservation of Energy in 2D (Chp. 8)
- Fri., January 31: Conservation of Energy in 2D (Chp. 8)
Tues., February 4: Gravitation (Chp. 13)
Homework 2 due. Extra credit reading: What is Space?, due Fri., March 14 - Thur., February 6: Multiparticle Dynamics (Chp. 9).
Fri., February 7: Multiparticle Dynamics (Chp. 9)
Lab 2: measuring g (Pendulum) Homework 3 (Ch 10 & 11) assigned, due Tue., February 25. - Tues., February 11: Multiparticle Dynamics (Chp. 9)
Thur., February 13: Multiparticle Dynamics (Chp. 9)
Lab 3b: Collisions in 1-D - Fri., February 14: Quiz Chp. 13 & 9 (Practice -> Solved) | Rotational Dynamics I (Chp. 10)
- Tues., February 18: Rotational Dynamics II (Chp. 11)
- Thur., February 20: Rotational Dynamics II (Chp. 11)
Fri., February 21: Rotational Dynamics III (Chp. 12)
Homework 4 (Math & Ch 12) assigned, due Tues., March 25. Tues., February 25: Rotational Dynamics III (Chp. 12)
Homework 3 due - Thur., February 27: Rotational Dynamics III (Chp. 12)
Fri., February 28: Quiz Chp. 12 (Practice -> Solved) | Mathematical methods intermission.
Handout: Complex numbers
[March 3-7: Spring Break, no classes.]
- Tues., March 11: Rotational Dynamics II (Chp. 11) and III (Chp. 12)
- Thur., March 13: Mathematical Methods | Simple Harmonic Motion (Ch. 15)
- Fri., March 14: Simple Harmonic Motion (Ch. 15)
Tues., March 18: Quiz Chp. 11 & 12 (round 2) (Practice) | Simple Harmonic Motion (Ch. 15)
Handout: notes on damped harmonic motion - Thur., March 20: Waves (Ch. 16)
- Fri., March 21: Waves (Ch. 16).
Tues., March 25: Quiz Chp. 15 (Practice-> Solved) | Waves (Ch. 16)
Homework 4 due. Homework 5 (Chp. 12 & 14) assigned, due Tues., April 8. Thur., March 27: Waves (Ch. 16)
Lab 3: The definition of mass (springs) - Fri., March 28: Waves and Fluid Statics (Ch. 14 & Ch. 16)
- Tues., April 1: Fluid Statics (Ch. 14)
Thur., April 3: Fluid Statics (Ch. 14)
Lab 4: Archimides | Pre-lab: read Ch. 14.4 Fri., April 4: Fluid Dynamics and Sound Waves (Ch. 16 and Ch. 17)
Handout: notes on the Navier-Stokes equation and the wave equation Tues., April 8: Fluid Dynamics and Sound Waves (Ch. 16 and Ch. 17)
Extra credit reading: What are waves?, due Tues. April 17 Thur., April 10: Sound Waves, Waves, and Fluids (Ch. 14, Ch. 16, and Ch. 17)
Fri., April 11: Sound Waves (Ch. 17)
Lab 5: Speed of sound experiment | Pre-lab: re-read Ch 17.2 and watch this video Tues., April 15: Quiz Chp. 14, 16 & 17 (Practice) | Sound Waves, Waves, and Fluids (Ch. 14, Ch. 16, and Ch. 17)
Thur., April 17: Heat and Thermodynamics I (Ch. 1b) and Ch. 2b)
Homework 5 due Extra credit reading: What is time?, due Tue. April 22 - Fri., April 18: No Classes
- Tues., April 22: Thermodynamycs I (Ch. 2b)
- Thur., April 24: Thermodynamycs II (Ch. 3b and Ch. 4b)
Fri., April 25: Thermodynamics II (Ch. 3b and Ch. 4b)
Lab 6: Thermal Expansion | Pre-lab: re-read Ch 1.4b
[Final Exam Week: April 28–May 2. (Practice)]