Syllabus[1]
for
Analog and Digital Electronics (PHYSCS 330)
Spring 2009
MW 4:50
– 6:05 PM
Department of Physics
The University of WI-Whitewater
Instructor:
Paul M. Rybski, Ph.D.
Office:
Upham 163 (472-5766) Laboratory: Upham 163A (472-3372)
Email:
rybskip@uww.edu
Office Hours – MTWR 9:00 – 11:00 AM
or by appointment
Course Prerequisites:
Physics 181 or Physics 141 or consent of instructor
Principal Texts (available through UW-Whitewater Textbook Rental)
1. Robert
E. Simpson. Introductory Electronics
for Scientists and Engineers, 2nd. edition
(Boston: Allyn and Bacon, Inc.),
1987. ISBN 0-205-08377-3.
2. Thomas
C. Hayes and Paul Horowitz. Student
Manual for the Art of Electronics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), 1989. ISBN 0-521-37709-9.
Other required materials
You
will need a scientific calculator, the satisfactory operation of which is your
responsibility (e.g., have the instruction book with you along with a spare set
of batteries). Bring it to class every day for use in
activities. You will also need
to purchase linear (5 div/inch), log/linear, log/log and polar graph paper as
you need it during the course.
Course Objectives
The
two texts I have chosen for this course are used in electronics courses in
physics departments at major universities throughout the country. Both are practically oriented. None teach the subject from a
professional engineering or theoretical physics point of view. They seek to acquaint you with design
techniques that yield working circuits with a minimum of calculation. This course will be taught in a manner
consistent with their philosophy.
Your first assignment at the beginning of the course is to read the
introductory material in both texts.
Though
both analog and digital electronics are listed in the title of this course,
only Analog Electronics will be studied.
In the first two-thirds of this course, we will cover the design and use
of passive components, such as resistors, capacitors and inductors; and active analog electronic devices,
such as bipolar and field effect transistors and circuits constructed from
these parts. From then until the
end of the course, we will cover operational amplifiers and their applications,
as well as how to combine discrete transistors and diodes with op amps to
create unique analog signal processing devices. The course will conclude with a few lectures on electronic
circuit and instrument construction techniques.
I
do not intend this course to make you an expert analog designer. Instead, you
will emerge conversant with analog design terminology , permitting you, first,
to study existing designs to determine their functions and possible limitations
and, secondly, to create simple but stable analog devices for preprocessing
analog data before it is digitized and collected by a computer.
To encourage motivation, I want you to
think of some variety of electronics device that you would either like to study
or to construct using the concepts and tools introduced in this course. Such a project will help you integrate
the concepts in the course and serve as a memory aid in mastering them. The
due date for submitting to me your ideas on such a device will be March 9th. If you find by March 2nd
that you cannot think of such a device, please see me during my office hours or
by appointment between March 2nd and 9th.
Course Philosophy
I
am a "mastery-oriented" instructor: I want you to achieve the highest grade possible, and I will
work with you -- both inside and out of class -- to make this possible. Each of you brings to this class a
unique set of skills and deficiencies.
If left uncorrected, your deficiencies might determine your grade in
this class, a possibility both you and I must work to avoid. As important to me as your mastery of
the course material is your enjoyment of it; and you certainly will not enjoy the course if you are
having trouble with it. If you are having trouble, ask questions! The more you ask, the more you will
learn. Remember: there is no such thing as a stupid
question; malicious questions,
yes, but not stupid ones. So don't hesitate to ask questions during
or after class: your problems are
important to me!
Those
of you who might be uncomfortable with asking a question in class should visit
me during my office hours or arrange for an appointment. My office hours are given above. If you need to reach me by telephone,
you may call my office number (472-5766) any time from 9 am until 6 pm. If I am not in my office, an answering
machine will take your message along with a telephone number at which I can
reach you. Alternately, you can
reach me by Email at rybskip@uww.edu.
Attendance
Attendance at all lectures is expected, and
attendance will be taken. If
you must miss a lecture or laboratory, please call me in advance and make
arrangements for someone in the class to share their notes with you. Work assigned in a given lecture that
you miss will still be due the following lecture, unless you have an excused
absence. An excused absence is one for which you have been excused in
advance by the instructor and you
provide him with written documentation on your return of the University
activity that took you away from class or of the medical or family emergency it
represented. Any work assigned
in lecture and not made up within
a period of time negotiated with me in advance after your excused absence will
not be accepted and will be recorded as a zero.
Attendance at announced examinations
is mandatory. Those with unexcused
absences will be given a zero grade on that examination. Those with excused absences will
be able to make up the missed examination by appointment with the
instructor. Permission to miss
an examination must be obtained from the instructor prior to the
examination.
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 as
outlined above to make up any work that is missed. A
university-sanctioned event is defined as 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 the Provost an official list
of participants. Students are responsible for
notifying their instructors in advance of their participation in such
events by providing them with a note written and signed by both the activityÕs
sponsor and the ProvostÕs Office.
A student that fails to present such a note prior to the event will not
be awarded an excused absence.
Progress Evaluations
Apart
from preparing good lectures and being responsive to questions, there are other
ways in which I will try to enrich your learning experience.
A.
Homework
Mastery
of conceptual material in the physical sciences is greatly aided by frequent
problem assignments, so I intend to assign at least one problem per lecture period. The
answers are due the following lecture period. On assigned homework, I encourage you to work in study
groups. You may collaborate with
classmates in arriving at a given solution, but each of you is responsible for composing his or her own answer. As in other physics courses, I am most
concerned about your procedure in solving a problem, not just your getting the
correct answer. So show complete solutions in answering all
questions.
To
provide you with rapid feedback, an answer sheet with fully worked-out answers
will be distributed at the beginning of the class when homework problems are
due. For that reason, late homework will not be accepted, except
in cases of an excused absence (see Attendance above).
B.
Quizzes
Quizzes
will be a special form of homework.
They will be assigned on Wednesdays and will attempt to draw together
the material discussed during the week.
Unlike the homework, you must work on quizzes by yourself. Since
they are "take-home" in nature, you will be on your honor to complete
the work yourself.
C.
Tests
Two
Summary Exams and a Final Exam will be given in the course. Each Summary Exam will be given after
about 1.5 month of material has been covered. The Final Exam will be comprehensive. Each Summary Exam – the first
distributed March 18th and due March 30th, the second
distributed May 6th and due May 11th – and the
Final Examination – distributed May 11th and due no later than
9:45 AM Tuesday, May 19th – will be "take-home" and
is to be completed individually on the honor system: you may ask me for clarifications only.
D. Extra
Credit
From
time to time, I will assign Extra Credit work for those who desire to acquire
knowledge of greater depth in analog or digital electronics. One or more of these may be projects
that will take an extended period of time. See below for how Extra Credit will figure in your final
course grade.
E. Grade Assignment
Grades
on the homework and quizzes will be assigned on an absolute scale:
A = 90 - 100; B = 80 - 89.9; C = 70 - 79.9; D = 60 - 69.9; and F < 60.
Only
the tests will be "curved", depending on class performance. Such a curve will only help your
grade; no curve will be any higher
than the scale given above.
Your
final grade will depend on your homework, quiz and test grades weighted as
follows: Homework -- 25%; Quizzes -- 25%; the sum
of all Exams, 50%. Since there are
two Summary Exams and one Final, with the Final worth 1.5 individual Summary
Exams, that makes each Summary worth 11.1% and the Final worth 16.7%. Extra Credit activities will add an
additional 2.5% to your existing grade, on a percentage basis out of 100%. Your lowest grade in each of the
homework and quiz categories will be dropped before your final grade is
assigned. Final grades will be
assigned on a Òwhole-gradeÓ basis.
Plus and minus grades will not be assigned.
Tentative Course Schedule (Chapters from Simpson)
Jan.
21, 26 Direct
Current Circuits Chapter
1
Jan.
28-Feb. 2 Alternating
Current Circuits Chapter
2
Feb.
4, 9 Fourier
Analysis and Pulses Chapter
3
Feb.
11, 16 Semiconductor
Physics Chapter
4
Feb.
18, 23, 25 Bipolar
Transistors Chapter
5
Mar.
2, 4, 9 Field-effect
Transistors Chapter
6
Mar.
11, 16, 18 Feedback Chapter
7
March
18 Summary
Examination #1 distributed
March
30 Summary
Examination #1 due
March
30, April 1, 6 Noise Chapter
8
April
8, 13, 15 Operational
Amplifier Principles Chapter
9
April
20, 22, 27 Operational
Amplifier Circuits Chapter
10
April
29, May 4, 6 Special
Circuits with Op Amps Chapter
11
May
6 Summary
Examination #2 distributed
May
11 Summary
Examination #2 due
May
11 Final
Examination distributed
May
19 Final
Examination due before 9:45 AM
University Policy Statements
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
due to University-sponsored Events.
(For details, please refer to the Undergraduate and Graduate
Timetables; the Rights and
Responsibilities section of the Undergraduate Bulletin; the Academic Requirements and
Policies and the Facilities and Services sections of the Graduate
Bulletin; the Student
Academic Disciplinary Procedures [UWS Chapter 14]; and the Student Nonacademic
Disciplinary Procedures [UWS Chapter 17].)