Physics 203 - Introduction to Physics
Four Quarter Hours

I. PREREQUISITES
Basic mathematics including algebra and trigonometry; no calculus is required.

II. COURSE DESCRIPTION
Physics 201, 202, and 203 form a three-part sequence in introductory physics. The first course covers the general subdivisions of mechanics, conservation of momentum and energy, rotational motion, gravitation, and fluids. The second course deals with harmonic motion, waves, heat, electricity, and magnetism. The third course treats light, optics, relativity, atomic structure, quantum theory, the nucleus, elementary particles, and other topics normally grouped into what is known as "modern physics." Today's society is strongly based on technological advances in the realm of "modern physics," but there is still much that can be learned from the areas of mechanics, electricity, etc. It is further true that many of the ideas found in "modern physics," although not always directly derived from earlier work in this course, can be better understood if you first acquire a good background in the concepts of "classical physics."

Unless you are a science major in another field, physics will be quite different from the courses you are used to taking. Physics often has a bad reputation of being difficult to understand, but basically this is because the approaches necessary to grasp physics are different from those you have had to use in the past. This is not entirely bad, because the study of physics will add another dimension to your thinking that may well be useful in other areas of your life.

III. REQUIRED TEXTBOOK
Any good college-level physics textbook can be used to study the content of Physics 201, 202, and 203. The following textbook, which has been used successfully by students learning independently, may be ordered from Ed Map (Nelsonville, Ohio) using the enclosed form.

Beiser, Arthur, Physics, 5th ed., Menlo Park, CA: Benjamin-Cummings Publishing Co., 1991 (You may also use the 4th ed., 1986, if you have it.)

Another good textbook is the one currently used on campus at Ohio University:
        Serway, Raymond, College Physics, 3rd ed., Saunders College Publishing Co., 1992.

Since you have elected to take this course without assistance from an instructor, you will be deprived of the normal "give and take" associated with a lecture course. You will be acquiring your knowledge basically from a single source—your textbook. I strongly recommend that, if possible, you acquire (from a library, friend, or teacher acquaintance) one or two other books on introductory physics. Often the darkest clouds can suddenly be lifted if you study a slightly different approach to or explanation of the material.

...available from EdMap's distance-learning online bookstore.

IV. NATURE OF THE EXAMINATION
Your grade for this course will based on your grade for a single comprehensive
examination. This examination will consist of 15 short-essay questions and/or problems. You will be required to answer any 12 out of the 15. The questions will be of the general-information type but will still require some specific information on the laws, postulates, and definitions used in physics.

The problems will require some basic mathematics, but the most important part is the ability to set up the problem for solution. This will require applying the defining equations and theorems of physics.

Please remember that this examination tests your general knowledge of physics, and partial credit will be given for any information that pertains to the question or problem being answered. This means that if you have some idea of how to proceed but cannot provide the complete solution—tell me about what you do know. This will help to indicate your understanding of the subject and it will not appear that you know nothing at all about the area of physics covered by that particular question or problem.

Appendix A provides a general summary of the topics covered on this examination. Appendix B contains the tables of physical constants and trigonometric functions that will be available for you to use during your actual examination. Look these over carefully so that you will know what material you are expected to know for this course and what reference information you will have to help you when you take the examination. Appendices

You will be given three hours to complete the examination. You may bring and use a hand-held calculator, but you are not permitted to use your textbook, notes, or other aids. (The information in Appendix B will be included as part of the examination.)

V. GRADING CRITERIA

VI. LABORATORY CREDIT
Completing this course gives you four quarter hours of credit, but it includes no laboratory component. This does not usually fulfill the requirement for a laboratory science course unless actual laboratory work is completed. Be sure to check with your college dean or academic advisor to determine if this course (with or without laboratory work) will satisfy the requirements of your field of study.

A laboratory credit option is available to you, if you are able to attend the laboratory section on the Athens campus or a regional campus of Ohio University. To do this, you must arrange to take a regularly scheduled laboratory as offered in conjunction with the Physics 203 course on one of the campuses of the university. The laboratory is scheduled for one 2-hour period each week for ten weeks (summer sessions have two 2-hour periods each week for five weeks).

A second option is to use the laboratory that you have already taken in conjunction with a general physics course at Ohio University or another accredited college. This method is only available to those who have actually taken a physics course and are planning to use this examination to improve their present grade or replace an incomplete, but the entire laboratory portion of that course must have been successfully completed. If you wish to use this option, contact the Physics Department office, Clippinger Hall, Athens campus for full details about your previous laboratory course and contact information and get approval for this option before you sign up for this independent learning course.

If you elect to take the course with laboratory credit, you may register for five credit hours. To receive five hours of credit, you must take the written examination and complete the laboratory work within six months, although you may take the laboratory work either before or after the written examination. If you register for five credit hours, no grade for the course will be recorded on your transcript until you have completed both elements.

Note: Physics 203 is not offered every quarter on Ohio University campuses, so you must plan ahead and make arrangements early. For further information call or write to the IDL office.