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General Information

Course ID (CB01A and CB01B)
PHYSD004A
Course Title (CB02)
Physics for Scientists and Engineers: Mechanics
Course Credit Status
Credit - Degree Applicable
Effective Term
Fall 2023
Course Description
A rigorous introduction to the physical laws that describe and explain the motion of bodies. This course requires problem solving using verbal logic, critical analysis, and mathematical models. Students investigate general scientific procedures as a quantitative interplay between experimentation and theory employing statistical methods, graphical techniques, and measurement theory.
Faculty Requirements
Course Family
Not Applicable

Course Justification

This course rigorously analyzes the structure of classical mechanics and its applications. This course satisfies the major requirements for physics, engineering, and chemistry majors. It is the first course of a 4-course series sequence. It meets a general education requirement for °®¶¹´«Ã½, CSUGE and/or IGETC. It satisfies the Liberal Arts A.A. Degree, Science, Math and Engineering Emphasis.

Foothill Equivalency

Does the course have a Foothill equivalent?
No
Foothill Course ID

Course Philosophy

Formerly Statement

Course Development Options

Basic Skill Status (CB08)
Course is not a basic skills course.
Grade Options
  • Letter Grade
  • Pass/No Pass
Repeat Limit
0

Transferability & Gen. Ed. Options

Transferability
Transferable to both UC and CSU
°®¶¹´«Ã½ GEArea(s)StatusDetails
2GBX°®¶¹´«Ã½ GE Area B - Natural SciencesApproved
CSU GEArea(s)StatusDetails
CGB1CSU GE Area B1 - Physical ScienceApproved
CGB3CSU GE Area B3 - Science Laboratory ActivityApproved
IGETCArea(s)StatusDetails
IG5AIGETC Area 5A - Physical ScienceApproved
IG5CIGETC Area 5C - Science LaboratoryApproved
C-IDArea(s)StatusDetails
PHYSPhysicsApprovedC-ID PHYS 205 PHYS D004A & PHYS D004B & PHYS D004C & PHYS D004D required for C-ID PHYS 200 S

Units and Hours

Summary

Minimum Credit Units
6.0
Maximum Credit Units
6.0

Weekly Student Hours

TypeIn ClassOut of Class
Lecture Hours5.010.0
Laboratory Hours3.00.0

Course Student Hours

Course Duration (Weeks)
12.0
Hours per unit divisor
36.0
Course In-Class (Contact) Hours
Lecture
60.0
Laboratory
36.0
Total
96.0
Course Out-of-Class Hours
Lecture
120.0
Laboratory
0.0
NA
0.0
Total
120.0

Prerequisite(s)

PHYS D050. with a grade of C or better, or the equivalent (including high school Physics); and MATH D001B or MATH D01BH (may be taken concurrently)

Corequisite(s)

Advisory(ies)

ESL D272. and ESL D273., or ESL D472. and ESL D473., or eligibility for EWRT D001A or EWRT D01AH or ESL D005.

Limitation(s) on Enrollment

Entrance Skill(s)

General Course Statement(s)

(See general education pages for the requirements this course meets.)

Methods of Instruction

Lecture and visual aids

Discussion and problem solving performed in class

Quiz and examination review performed in class

Laboratory experience which involve students, working collaboratively in groups, in formal exercises of data collection and analysis

Laboratory discussion sessions and quizzes that evaluate the proceedings weekly laboratory exercises

Assignments

  1. Daily and weekly readings from the text
  2. Weekly readings from the laboratory manual
  3. Weekly written assignments from the text and lectures
  4. Written laboratory records during each week of lab as a result of the lab group's collective effort which would include oral discussions.

Methods of Evaluation

  1. The required readings will be evaluated through homework, quizzes, group discussions, collaborative projects. Grading will be based on logical step-wise problem solving, depth of concepts, and ability to apply mathematical problem solving.
  2. Laboratory quizzes (which are qualitatively different from lectures quizzes), will assess student's ability to synthesize the main objectives of the lab and the details of performing it successfully with the relevant graphical and uncertainty analysis. Periodic reviews and critiques of laboratory notebooks that includes oral discussions regarding the lab's objective will assess the student's ability to maintain a lucid written record of the lab's execution and completion.
  3. Examinations are objective, written tests to demonstrate the student's understanding of the course material for computational accuracy and conceptual depth. A minimum of two one hour exams composed of concept based and computational questions requiring the student to demonstrate ability in integrating the methods, ideas and techniques learned in class.
  4. A laboratory based final examination involving "hands on" practical evaluations demonstrating the understanding of the learning outcomes listed in the student learning outcomes section.
  5. A two-hour comprehensive lecture final that includes the testing of verbal and conceptual understanding as well as mathematical and computational competency with respect to the theoretical basis and problem solving aspects of the class. The comprehensive final will test the overall understanding of the learning outcomes listed in the student learning outcomes section.

Essential Student Materials/Essential College Facilities

Essential Student Materials: 
  • Textbook, laboratory manual, and scientific calculator
Essential College Facilities:
  • Physics laboratory

Examples of Primary Texts and References

AuthorTitlePublisherDate/EditionISBN
Serway and Jewett, Physics for Scientists and Engineers, 9th edition, Brooks/Cole, 2014

Examples of Supporting Texts and References

AuthorTitlePublisher
Feynman, Leighton, and Sands, The Feynman Lectures on Physics, 1st edition, Addison-Wesley, 1963
Friedman and Young, "University Physics", 12th edition, Pearson, 2007
Halliday and Resnick, Physics for Scientists and Engineers, 3rd edition, 1978

Learning Outcomes and Objectives

Course Objectives

  • Analyze kinematics to solve mechanics problems
  • Examine dynamics as a general approach to problem solving in mechanics problems
  • Analyze momentum theory and its use in collision theory
  • Explore the application of the energy paradigm
  • Examine the mechanics of rotational motion
  • Discuss oscillations
  • Analyze data in the laboratory using graphical, statistical, and computer based techniques
  • Examine the success of mechanics from its European origins to its eventual global influence as a paradigm transcending any particular cultural perspective

CSLOs

  • Examine new, previously un-encountered problems by critically analyzing and evaluating their constituent parts, to construct and explain a logical solution utilizing, and based upon, the fundamental laws of mechanics.

  • Acquire skill and confidence in taking precise and accurate scientific measurements, with their uncertainties, and then with calculations from them, analyze their meaning as relative, in an experimental context, to the verification and support of physics theories.

Outline

  1. Analyze kinematics to solve mechanics problems
    1. Review displacement
    2. Explore velocity as a vector and derivative
    3. Explore acceleration as the derivative of the velocity
    4. Explore vectors and scalars
    5. Analyze kinematics using calculus to solve problems
  2. Examine dynamics as a general approach to problem solving in mechanics problems
    1. Examine Newton's three laws of motion
    2. Analyze Newton's second law as a problem solving tool
    3. Examine Newton's second law to solve problems using integral and differential calculus
    4. Analyze the statics of a system
  3. Analyze momentum theory and its use in collision theory
    1. Define momentum
    2. Explore Newton's second in momentum form
    3. Define momentum conservation and solve relevant problems
  4. Explore the application of the energy paradigm
    1. Define work
    2. Examine the forms of energy
    3. Discuss the work-energy theorem
    4. Apply energy conservation to problem solving
  5. Examine the mechanics of rotational motion
    1. Discuss rotational kinematics
    2. Define torque and Newton's second law for rotation
    3. Define angular momentum
    4. Analyze angular momentum in terms of Newton's second law
    5. Analyze angular momentum conservation and apply to problem solving
    6. Analyze Newton's law of gravity
  6. Discuss oscillations
    1. Define the relevant parameters for oscillations
    2. Analyze oscillations in terms of Newton's laws
    3. Examine the energy of oscillations
  7. Analyze data in the laboratory using graphical, statistical, and computer based techniques
    1. Take accurate measurements with confidence and understand the uncertainties associated with them
    2. Analyze data to induce scientific conclusions
    3. Collaborate with others as a lab group to produce collective results.
  8. Examine the success of mechanics from its European origins to its eventual global influence as a paradigm transcending any particular cultural perspective
    1. Analyze the failure of the Aristotelian model of the physical world
    2. Appraise the conflict between Galileo's insights and the Italian Inquisition's opposition to them
    3. Assess the failure of the Ptolemaic model and its replacement by the Copernican model

Lab Topics

  1. Density and Measurement
  2. The Behr Free Fall experiment
  3. The air track
  4. Rotation and conserved quantities
  5. Momentum and conserved quantities
  6. Oscillations
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