VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY Dr. A. J. PHARES

VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY Dr. A. J. PHARES

MECHANICS II: PHYSICS 4102 SPRING 2014

SYLLABUS

This syllabus has been prepared with the unanimous agreement of the students during the first day of classes, January 14, 2014. All of them have had Dr. Phares as their teacher in Mechanics I (the juniors, Fall 2013) or Mechanics I and Subatomic Physics (the seniors, Fall 2012, Spring 2013).

Tests are designed to last 50 minutes. There will be three tests during the regular class time, a number of homework assignments, and a final exam: tests and homework assignments are equally weighted, and the final exam counts as two tests.

Students from last semester (juniors) and from a year ago (seniors) have all expressed the benefit of studying, rewriting, and updating their own lecture notes on a DAILY basis, in accordance with Dr. Phares’ philosophy of teaching and learning. It is the hope that all students will maintain this work ethics right from the start of the semester. Students are not required but welcome to submit their updated notes for the purpose of receiving a feedback.

There is not a single one-hour period during which all students are free. Fortunately, the office hours announced to be on Tuesday and Wednesday from 10:00 till 11:15 accommodate almost everyone with a handful of exceptions. In addition to these hours, students are encouraged to stop by Dr. Phares’ office or cluster lab at almost any time and whenever there is a need for help.

REFERENCE: Classical Dynamics of Particles and Systems by Marion and Thornton. This is the same textbook used in Mechanics I. It is recommended, but not required.

COURSE OUTLINE:

Chapter 1: An Introduction to Statistical Mechanics and Liouville’s Theorem

Chapter 2: Dynamics of a System of Particles and Collisions

Chapter 3: Motion in a Noninertial Reference Frame

Chapter 4: Rigid Body Dynamics

Chapter 5: Coupled Oscillations

Chapter 6: Continuous Systems and Wave Propagation

HONOR CODE – ASSIGNMENTS – TESTS: It is taken for granted that students will abide by the honor code. Students are required to work individually on their homework assignments, usually designed to take less than one hour. Students must report the time it takes them to complete an assignment, as it provides an important feedback on the level of mastery of the material reached by the students. In-class tests will be announced at an appropriate time after consultation with all of the students.