_-- ENERGY --

Physics 100

 

Spring 2008

 

Lectures, Upham Hall Room # 141, Tuesday and Thursday 2:30-3:15 pm

                                                                                  

 

Lecturer: Ms. Juliana Constantinescu,

                        Department of Physics, UWW

 

Office:  Upham Hall #159                                                     Phone:  (262) 472-5115

 

E-mail:  constanj@uww.edu

 

Office hours:                 8:30 - 10:00 am  and 2:00 –4:30 pm Wednesday;

                                         9:00 –10:45am  Friday

 

                                         other times by appointment

 

Office hours are held by your instructor for your benefit.  If you want to see your instructor and do not have free time during an office hour, please make an appointment.  Appointments may be made after class, by phone, or by e-mail.  Feel free to contact your instructor by e-mail at any time. I check my email the latest at  7:00pm. So if you write to me after seven you cannot expect to receive an answer  before the next morning.

 

Course Objectives

This course is a science course! It will  introduces the basic aspects of energy fundamentals, forms and types of energy, forms of fossil fuels and their sources, renewable sources of energy, advantages and desavantages, energy storage and conservation, environmental aspects of energy consumption, pollution and alternatives for human civilization. You will familiarize yourself with a vocabulary, with concepts and ideas, you will gain an understanding of scientific concepts as well as a becoming a constient citizen in understanding problems of energy conservation and future of energy sources and alternatives.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Course Prerequisites

 Intermediate Algebra 760-141

 

Required Text and Materials

 

1.     Energy: its use and the environment, Roger A Hinrichs and merlin Kleinbach ( Thomson)

2.     A notebook for different activities

3.     Colored pencils (one box), ruler,and Steno notebook – for answers in class

4.     One folder for your final project

 

Students can obtain text #1 from the textbook rental center.

Materials #2 and #3 and #4  are  available at the Bookstore; additional materials would be given in class by your instructor.

 

Learning tools, Progress evaluation and Requirements

In many courses you have had before, the professorÕs responsibility was to lecture and your responsibility was to take notes and memorize the material.

In this course, my responsibility is to find ways to help you learn astronomy and your responsibility is to actively engage in your own learning process .

Participation on each and every class is necessary to fully understand the material. The reading of your book is not going to be enough for you to consider as an accomplishment for this course.

 

This is a science course for non-science majors. There are no prerequisites for this course other than the standards needed to graduate from high school. To understand science requires the use of numbers and relationships between numbers much like a literature course requires the student to be able to read.

The math examples used in class are to demonstrate how math is used to understand and resolve scientific problems. It is one of the goals of this course to expose you (the student) to how the scientific process works so as to become educated in both the answers that science provides and the methods by which it arrives at these answers.

All math exercises in this course will be worked out in lecture and will not require any expertise beyond the skills needed to balance your checkbook. If you can't balance your checkbook we need to talk.

 

Active engagement with nearly weekly  group activities.  It is our belief that you can only learn a limited amount of information from lecture alone, no matter how clear or entertaining .

á       There are a couple of  homework assignments that will be given to you at the end of some lectures. In some cases homework will consist of a short writing assignment that will be completed and handed in at the end of the class other time you will complete, type and handed in  the writing assignment at the beginning of the next class.

 In other cases we will assign a set of internet activities. After practicly doing the activity you will turn in the answers from the activity and a typed two page paper with all answers and, at the end,a personal paragraph sumarizing the activity and the gain in understanding of a particular concept. The papers need the be personal writings, checked from the grammar point of view, typed, with your name printed on the left part of the paper. ANY OTHER FORMAT OR NOT  A TYPED WORD DOCUMEN PAPER WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED AS A HOMEWORK. No late homework will be accepted for ANY reason

 

You will be expected to t y p e your answers clearly, completely and on your own.

When answer questions, donÕt copy fragments from your book. I expect you to read and answer questions from the homework, using your own words. When you are using web information, I expect you to read and answer using your own words.

I encourage you to work with someone else, but you need to turn in YOUR OWN ANSWERS/ HOMEWORK, NOT TO COPY THE SAME ANSWERS.

 

 

 

FINAL PROJECT

 

v      A small team of (two-three) students  will receive, on the third week of class,  a list of topics . You need to find magazines, articles as well as web sources and write a paper related with the topic you have selected.

 

v      This paper will be presented in separate different steps and will be no shorter than three pages and no longer than eight  pages ;it should be in 12-point font with 1 inch or smaller margins on 81/2 by 11 white paper with no more than double spacing. Any spelling, grammatical or punctuation mistakes will result in the paper being handed back to you and an automatic 10% penalty.

 

When you write your paper you should always have your audience in mind.  Your peers  should learn something new from your paper.

 

Step #1 – you will receive the topic and we will discuss  the  members  of your team ; you will start the search for  articles in periodicals at the university library, or any other library, and /or on the Internet, read them and write a draft of your paper. Your first draft  is due on Tuesday April 1, 2008.

 Late papers lose 10% per day starting when the bell rings for class. If you have problems with this you must talk to me BEFORE things are due.

 

Step #2 – I will read and/or correct your first draft and return it to you in a week period. You will rewrite the paper if necessary, or just prepare the final presentation: this can be a  poster presentation or a power point presentation.

 

You will search for additional sources regarding same topics at the Library or/ and Internet. You may add any additional information you will wish. 

 

The final complete  paper, with a copy of the article and / or articles , list of web sources and any other sources you used as  references, a bibliography and graphycs ( if necessary)  and also a package, nicely stapled, containing y Final paper for the FINAL PROJECT IS DUE, back to me ON   TUESDAY APRIL 22,2008.

 

Late papers lose 10% per day starting when the bell rings for class. If you have problems with this you must talk to me BEFORE things are due.

 

 On last week of semester starting April 29, 2008  your team will make a small  presentation ( 10 minutes) in front of class regarding your topic and your additional information related with that topic.

The project will count 15% of your final grade.

 

á       Occasional small quizzes will be given to you, in class, to help remember concepts and review information previously presented in class and used by students for homework. Periodically we will administer unscheduled quizzes that will not receive a grade, rather you will be given credit on your participation and what you complete.

á       Attendance to class is REQUIRED. Your attendance and full participation at each class period will be an essential component of your success in the course. Attendance will be taken every time, at the beginning of the lecture.

á       Carefully studying the text is  REQUIRED!. You are accountable for all material, concepts, and interrelationships presented in lecture, the book text and additional activities done either in class or outside of class. Reading assignment should be completed BEFORE the class lecture. It is important to remember that exams will cover material from the textbook readings that may or may not be discussed in class.

á       Two  Summary Examinations and a Final Examination will be given during the course. The Final Exam will cover all the course material.

 

ABSENCE POLICY FOR QUIZZES AND EXAMINATIONS

 

1.      There will be no make-up of missed homework assignment, regardless of the reason for the absence. If you are absent form the class when the homework is assigned, you are expected to obtain the problem from a classmate and hand it in at the required time. A missed homework assignment will be recorded as a zero grade.

 

2.      There will be no make-up of missed quiz, unless you have an excused absence for a University activity, family emergency or health problem. A written documentation is required and you have to inform the instructor in advance.

 

3. Attendance at examinations is mandatory. Those with excused  absences   will be able to make up the exam ( once) at the scheduled date by your instructor. Permission to miss an examination must be obtained from the instructor prior to examination. Family emergency, University activity and health problems need to have written documentation. Those with unexcused  absences will be given a zero grade for this portion of the course; the unexcused absence to the regular date of your exam will  you the permission to come at the make up time scheduled for that particular

 

 

 

GRADING POLICY

SUMMARY:

¤          Exams                               45%

¤          quizzes                               5 %

¤          assignments                 20%

¤          in class activities       15%

¤          term-paper              15%

                  ---------

                                                      TOTAL POSSIBLE    =                  100%

                                       GRADE ASSIGNMENTS:

                                    89%<A<100%; 76%<B<88%;  66%<C<75%;  56%<D<65%;  F<55%

 

 The Final  Exam will cover all the course material and be of the same form as Summary Examinations. However will count 1.5 times as much as a single exam.

 

CALCULATOR POLICY

Successful completion of this course requires your possession of a scientific calculator with at least the power of the Casio FX -300 series. You are expected to bring working scientific calculator to every class. If you do not already own such a calculator, a Casio fx-300 series calculator or an equivalent can be purchased at Wall-Mart for about $15. Of course, you may use as expensive a scientific calculator as you wish to purchase, provided it possesses the functions available on Casio fx-300 series.

FOR THE EXAMS, YOU WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO USE YOUR CALCULATOR. YOU WILL USE THE PHYSICS DEPARTMENTÕS CALCULATORS.

 

Policy of cellular phone

The cellular telephone would be turned off during class periods, lectures time.

YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO USE THE CELLULAR PHONE AS A CALCULATOR DURING ANY EXAMS!

Cell phones will be not be allowed with you during the final exam: you will leave it  with the instructor  and pick it up at the end of the exam, or you will not bring it with you at all!

 

Attendance Policy and Defined Excuses

Attendance is expected.   Students are expected to participate fully in class discussions and in-group assignments.

¯       Show the instructor documentation for missing class for a university sponsored event as soon as possible in advance of the absence so that arrangements may be made for makeup.  Absences for university sponsored events will not count as an absence in recording grades

¯       In case of illness or other unavoidable reason for missing, it is the responsibility of the student to contact the instructor within 24 hours and be able to document the reason for being absent. 

Special Needs Statement

Students with special needs should contact the instructor to make appropriate arrangements.

 

Religious Beliefs Accommodation

Board of Regents policy states that students' sincerely held religious beliefs shall be reasonably accommodated with respect to scheduling all examinations and other academic requirements.  Students must notify the instructor, within the first three weeks of the beginning of classes (within the first week of summer session and short courses) of the specific days or dates on which they will request accommodation from an examination or academic requirement.  For additional information, please refer to the section of the University Bulletin and the Timetable titled, Accommodation of Religious Beliefs.

 

Academic Misconduct

Academic dishonesty includes such things as cheating, inventing false information or citations, plagiarism, and helping someone else commit an act of academic dishonesty. It usually involves an attempt by a student to show possession of a level of knowledge or skills that she or he does not posses.

á        Cheating is the act of obtaining or attempting to obtain credit for work by the use of any dishonest, fraudulent, or unauthorized means.

á        Plagiarism is the act of taking the specific substance of another and offering it as oneÕs own without giving credit to the source.

 

The University believes that academic honesty and integrity are fundamental to the mission of higher education and of the University of Wisconsin System.  The University has a responsibility to promote academic honesty and integrity and to develop procedures to deal effectively with instances of academic dishonesty.  Students are responsible for the honest completion and representation of their work, for the appropriate citation of sources, and for respect of others' academic endeavors.  Students who violate these standards are subject to disciplinary action.  URS Chapter 14 identifies procedures to be followed when a student is accused of academic misconduct.  For additional information, please refer to the section in the Student Handbook titled, Student Academic Disciplinary Procedures.

 

Absence for University Sponsored Events

University policy adopted by Faculty Senate and the Whitewater Student Government states that students will not be academically penalized for missing class in order to participate in university-sanctioned events.  They will be provided an opportunity to make up any work that is missed; and if class attendance is a requirement, missing a class in order to participate in a university  event will not be counted as an absence.  A university  event is defined to be any intercollegiate athletic contest or other such event as determined by the Provost.  Activity sponsors are responsible for obtaining the Provost's prior approval of an event as being university sanctioned and for providing an official list of participants.  Students are responsible for notifying their instructors in advance of their participation in such events.

 

 

IMPORTANT INFORMATION YOU SHOULD KNOW

 

The University of Wisconsin – Whitewater is dedicated to a safe, supportive and non-discriminatory learning environment. It is the responsibility of all undergraduate and graduate students to familiarize themselves with University policies regarding Special Accommodations, Misconduct, Religious Beliefs Accommodation, Discrimination and Absence for University Sponsored Events. (For details please refer to the Undergraduate and Graduate Timetables; the ÒRights and ResponsibilitiesÓ section of the Undergraduate Bulletin; the Academic Requirements and Policies and the Facilities and Services sections of the Graduate Bulletin; and the ÒStudent Academic Disciplinary ProceduresÓ [UWS Chapter 14]; and the ÒStudent Nonacademic Disciplinary ProceduresÓ [UWS Chapter 17]).

 

*   This syllabus conforms to the "Common Syllabus" resolution S 95-96: 09 of the Whitewater Student Government.

 

 POSSIBLE TOPICS TO BE COVERED

This is a tentative schedule of coverage of material and exams during the semester . Not all chapters would represent  material for exam, partial chapters could be part of exam.

Your instructor will inform you about the material you will be asses on exam a week prior to each exam. In class activity topics will be subject of exams also.

 

Week Beginning
 on MondayÉ

Subject

Week 1

Introduction to the energy and energy  consumption

 

The physics of energy, energy conversion, work and power

Week 2

More physics of energy,mechcanical energy, heat, heat transfer

 

Heat/The 1st Law of Thermodynamics

Week 3

Heat Engines and Maximum Efficiency, Refrigerators, Air Conditioners

 

Conservation of energy vs energy conservation

Week 4

Solar energy, characteristics and heating

 

Home energy and heat transfer control

Week 5

Mid term exam 1

 

Energy from fossil Fuels Gasoline and Diesel Engines

Week 6

Electricity/Magnetism

 

Electromagnetic Energy and Radiation

Week 7

Generation of electricity – standard  power plnat

 

Hydrogen Fuel Cells

Week 8

Energy – alternative sources, renewable sources

 

 

The atom and its nucleus

 

Week 9

Midterm exam 2

 

Work for project

March 21 -28

SPRING BREAK

 

Week 10

 

Nuclear power – fission – effects of radiation

 

 

 

 

Week 11

 

Nuclear power – fusion

 

 

Geothermal sources of energy

Week 12

 

 

 

 

Biomass – a source of energy

Week 13

 

Environmental Effects of Energy production and Consumption

 

 

 

 

 

Final Projects presentation

 

 

FINAL EXAM                 Thursday May 15, 2008  10:00 -12:00pm.