takes place Physics 5B Home Page

 

Table of Contents


Physics Department Links


Instructor and TA Contact Information

5B Professor: Howard Haber

Office ISB 326
Phone 459-4228
Office Hours Mondays and Thursdays 2--3 pm
e-mail haber@scipp.ucsc.edu

Discussion TA: Jeff Jones

Office ISB 314
Phone 459-4138
Office Hours Mondays 3:30--5:30 pm
e-mail jeff@physics.ucsc.edu

5M Professor: George Brown

Office Thimann 111D
Phone 459-2327
e-mail gsbrown@ucsc.edu

Laboratory TA: Daniel Damiani

Office Nat Sci II 308
Phone 459-4588
Office Hours Tuesdays 12--2 pm
e-mail ddamiani@ucsc.edu

Laboratory TA: Sean Echols

Office ISB 314
Phone 459-4138
Office Hours Fridays 3:10--5:10 pm
e-mail sechols@physics.ucsc.edu

Laboratory TA: John Kehayias

Office ISB 262
Phone 459-5010
Office Hours Thursdays 1--2 pm
e-mail kehayias@physics.ucsc.edu

Laboratory TA: Jonathan Kozaczuk

Office Nat Sci II 308
Phone 459-4588
Office Hours Wednesdays 3:30--5:30 pm
e-mail jkozaczu@ucsc.edu

Laboratory TA: Alex Morisse

Office ISB 329
Phone 459-1962
Office Hours Wednesdays 2--3 pm
e-mail amorisse@physics.ucsc.edu

MSI Tutor: Dustin Gilbert

e-mail dgilbert@ucsc.edu


 
 
 
  Hand with Reflecting Sphere (Self-Portrait in Spherical Mirror) , by M.C. Escher
 
 
 


 

This page contains all class handouts and other items of interest for students of Physics 5B at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

new!!! Final grades for Physics 5B have been assigned. The final exam scores and the final course letter grades are listed by student ID number in numerical order in this PDF file (student IDs of UC Extension students contain an X and are located at the bottom of the list). This file is password protected, with the same userid and password that you use for homework and exam solutions. The distribution of all the final course grades is shown below:

course grade distribution

Letter grades are based on the cumulative course average, which is weighted according to: class participation (clickers)---5%; homework (10 problem sets with the low score dropped)---20%; first midterm exam---20%; second first midterm exam---20%; and the final exam---35%. This cumulative course average is then converted into a letter grade according to the following ranges: A+ (87--100); A (81--87); A- (75--81); B+ (69--75); B (63--69); B- (57--63); C+ (51--57); C(45--51); D(39--45); F (0--39). The horizontal axis labels above correspond to the upper values of the respective bins, which (excluding the two end bins) are each six points wide. For example, the 93 label refers to a cumulative course average in the range 87--93, the 87 label refers to the range 81--87, etc. Here is the statistical summary of the distribution of the cumulative course averages:

              mean: 63.4               median: 64.5               high: 92.5               low : 30.6

The solutions to the final exam have been posted to this website. Graded tests can be picked up in my office starting on Monday April 7. Here are the relevant exam statistics. First, a histogram of the test scores is shown below:

final exam grade distribution
Horizontal axis labels correspond to the upper value of a bin which is 10 grades points wide. For example, the 170 label refers to grades from 161--170, the 160 label refers to grades from 151--160, etc. The total number of points available was 175. Here is the final exam statistical summary:

              exam mean: 108               exam median: 108               high grade: 166               low grade: 33

Approximate grade equivalents of the test scores: A+ (164--175); A (150--163); A- (136--149); B+ (122--135); B (108--121); B- (94--107); C+ (80--93); C(66--79); F (0--65). Keep in mind that the grade equivalents apply only to this exam, and take into account the distribution of final exam scores.

I will be out of town from March 23 through April 5. You can pick up your graded exams in my office any time starting Monday April 7.

Have a great spring break---you earned it!!!

Physics 5B: Introduction to Physics II


I. General Information and Schedule of Lectures, Sections and Tutorials

The general course information handout is available in either PDF or Postscript format     [PDF | Postscript]
Some of the information in this handout is reproduced below.

Class Lectures, Discussion Sections and Drop-In Tutoring

Lectures [Howard Haber--Physics 5B Professor]:

Discussion Sections [Jeff Jones--Discussion TA]:

In addition to TA support, additional class learning support is available through Modified Supplemental Instruction (MSI).
MSI Drop-In Tutoring [Dustin Gilbert--tutor]:

Required Textbook

Physics for Scientists and Engineers with Modern Physics (4th edition), Volumes I and II, by Douglas C. Giancoli

Course and Exam Lecture Schedule and Assigned Readings

A detailed course lecture and exam schedule (including assigned readings) is available in either PDF or Postscript format:     [PDF | Postscript]
A snapshot of the course lecture schedule appears below.

Brief Course Outline for Physics 5B

TOPIC Lectures dates Readings
Fluids Jan 9, 11, 14, 16 Giancoli, Chapter 13
Oscillations Jan 18, 23, 25 Giancoli, Chapter 14
Wave Motion Jan 28, 30, Feb 4 Giancoli, Chapter 15
Sound Feb 6, 8, 11 Giancoli, Chapter 16
Light: Reflection and Refraction Feb 13, 15, 20 Giancoli, Chapter 32
Lenses and Optical Instruments Feb 22, 25, 27 Giancoli, Chapter 33
The Wave Nature of Light; Interference March 3, 5 Giancoli, Chapter 34
Diffraction and Polarization March 7, 10, 12, 14 Giancoli, Chapter 35
Final lecture and course review March 17 ---

There are no classes on January 21 (Martin Luther King Jr. Day) and February 18 (Presidents' Day). A course review is planned for March 17, the last day of class. There will be two midterm exams and one final exam:

All exams will be located in Thimann Lecture Hall 3.

Course Grading and Requirements

5% Class participation (clickers)
20% Weekly Homework (10 problem sets)
20% First Midterm Exam
20% Second Midterm Exam
35% Final Exam

Solving problems is an integral and essential part of learning physics. Weekly homework assignments will be handed out each Wednesday and are due at the beginning of class on the Wednesday of the following week. (Exception: the last homework set will be due on the last day of class, which is a Monday.) The homework problem sets are NOT optional. You are encouraged to discuss the class material and homework problems with your classmates and to work in groups, but all submitted problems should represent your own work and understanding. In order that homework can be graded efficiently and returned quickly, late homework WILL NOT be accepted (except for special circumstances, if you have made arrangements with me prior to the due date). However, note that the lowest homework set grade will be dropped in evaluating your course grade. Your homework sets will be graded based on the clarity of your method of solution as well as on your final answers.

The two midterm exams and final exams will be held in the same classroom as the lectures. Each midterm will be a one hour and ten minute exam. The final exam will be three hours long and cover the complete course material. You must take the midterm and final exams to pass the course.

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II. Physics 5M: Introduction to Physics Laboratory II

Required Laboratory Manual

Fluids, Waves and Optics, developed by George Brown

Laboratory sections and schedule

Laboratory Sections [George Brown--Physics 5M Professor]:

Laboratories are located in Thimann 115. The Physics 5M Laboratory schedule is listed below:

Policy for missed labs

If you cannot attend your assigned lab section, you must contact the TA of an alternate lab section to seek permission to attend that lab. If approved, you can substitute that lab section for you assigned one. If the TA may tell you that the lab section is full, try to find another lab section with TA approval. In case of some emergency that prevents you from attending any lab section of a given week, inform your regular lab TA before the end of that week. If you receive the TA's approval, then the missed lab will be dropped from your final lab grade. However, this can happen at most once per quarter; a second missed lab will not be excused. If you miss one lab altogether without any valid excuse, you will receive a zero for that lab. If you miss more than one lab in this manner, you will not pass Physics 5M.

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III. Homework Problem Sets and Exams

Problem sets and exams are available in either PDF or Postscript formats. Graded homeworks will be returned to the Physics 5B boxes located adjacent to Thimann 111D (near the Physics 5B laboratories).

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IV. Practice Problems for the Midterm and Final Exams

Practice midterm exams can be found here. These should give you some idea as to the format and level of difficulty of the exam. Solutions will be provided by the Discussion TA, Jeff Jones, in the midterm review session, to be held on Thursday Janurary 31 from 6--8 pm in Thimann Lecture Hall 3.

To access the solutions, you will need to use the same username and password that you use to download the homework solutions.

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V. Solutions to Homework Problem Sets and Exams

The homework set and exam solutions are available in PDF format. Solutions will be posted shortly after the homework is due and after the exams have been completed. To view the solutions, you will need a username and password, since much of this material is copyrighted The username is Physics_5B and the password has been announced in class. If you don't have the password, ask one of the other Physics 5B students or send me e-mail.

The summary of the midterm and final exam scores and statistics can be found here.

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VI. Clicker questions

If you still have not yet registered your clicker for Physics 5B, you should click on the following link to complete the registration. Please note that the clicker transmitter number is a six-digit number (it should be located on a separate white label on the back of the clicker). The nine-digit number 118-015-001 is the part number (which is NOT the same as the transmitter number). In fact, most of the clickers will have this same part number. It has already been "registered" (although this number will not be recognized by the system), so if you try to register this number again, you will get an error message.
Some of the material below is copyrighted, and hence password protected. Use the same username and password that you use to access homework and exam solutions.

  1. Consider a tank of liquid whose top is open to the atmosphere. The level of the liquid is a distance h from the bottom of the tank, which is at ground level. Three spouts on the side of the tank are placed at heights h/4, h/2 and 3h/4 above the ground. Fluid shoots out of each spout and each fluid stream eventually reaches the ground. Four possible sketches are shown displaying where the three fluid streams reach the ground (click here to see the figure). Which sketch is the most accurate (assuming all trajectories shown are parabolic in shape)?
     
  2. A hole is drilled through the center of Earth and emerges on the other side. You jump into the hole. What happens to you? (a) you fall to the center and stop; (b) you go all the way through and continue off into space; (c) you fall to the other side of Earth and then return; or (d) you will not fall at all. Click here for the answer.
     
  3. Consider a traveling wave on a string, where the wave is moving to the right. Focus on a point on the string located at the crest of the wave. The direction of velocity of a particle of the string at this point is: (a) to the right; (b) pointing 45° to the right and downward; (c) downward; (d) upward; (c) the velocity is zero. Click here for the answer.
     
  4. Now, answer clicker question #3 for a particle on the string located equidistant between the crest just considered and the following trough (same five choices as before). Click here for the answer.
     
  5. A length of rope L and mass M hangs from a ceiling. If the bottom of the rope is jerked sharply, a wave pulse will travel up the rope. As the wave travels upward, does the speed of the pulse (a) increase; (b) remain constant; or (c) decrease? Click here for the answer.
     
  6. An initially horizontal string is clamped at both ends and plucked so that it vibrates in a standing mode. At one point in the vibration cycle, the position of the string coincides with its equilibrium position (in which the string is completely horizontal). If we define upward motion to correspond to positive velocity, when the string is horizontal, the instantaneous velocity of points on the string: (a) is zero everywhere; (b) is positive everywhere; (c) is negative everywhere; or (d) depends on the position along the string. Click here for the answer.
     
  7. Two friends are having a conversation. The intensity of the sound from each person speaking separately is 60 dB. At some point the conversation becomes heated, and the two friends speak simultaneously (without raising their voices). The intensity of the combined sounds of their speaking voices is: (a) 60 dB; (b) 62 dB; (c) 63 dB; (d) 70 dB; or (e) 120 dB.
     
  8. You hold a hand mirror 0.5 m in front of you and look at your reflection in a full-length mirror 1 m behind you. How far in back of the big mirror do you see the image of your face: (a) 0.5 m; (b) 1.0 m; (c) 1.5 m; (d) 2.0 m; (e) 2.5 m? Click here for the answer.
     
  9. A light ray propagates from medium 1 to medium 2 to medium 3 as shown in this figure. The corresponding indices of refraction are n1, n2, and n3, respectively. Determine the relative magnitudes of the indices of refraction---do they satisfy: (a) n1 > n2 > n3; (b) n3 > n2 > n1; (c) n2 > n3 > n1; (d) n1 > n3 > n2; or (e) none of the above. Click here for the answer.
     
  10. To shoot a fish with a gun (assume the gun shoots real bullets), should you: (a) aim directly at the image: (b) aim slightly above the image; or (c) aim slightly below the image? You may ignore the effects on the bullet due to gravity. Click here for the answer.
    How would your answer to this question change if you were to use a laser gun? Click here for the answer.
     
  11. A lens is used to image an object onto a screen. if the right half of the lens is covered, which one of the following statements is correct? (a) The left half of the image disappears; (b) the right half of the image disappear; (c) the entire image disappears; (d) the image becomes blurred; or (e) the image becomes fainter. Click here for the answer.
     
  12. Consider two identical microscopic slides in air illuminated with light from a laser, similar to the wedge shown in Figure 34-20a of Giancoli. The bottom slide is rotated upward so that the wedge angle gets a bit smaller. As a result, the interference fringes are (a) spaced further apart; (b) spaced closer together; or (c) are unchanged in their spacing. Click here for the answer.
     
  13. Consider a diffraction pattern that arises from a single slit. If one wishes to sharpen the pattern, i.e. make the central bright spot narrower, what should be do to the slit width? (a) narrow the slit; (b) widen the slit; (c) enlarge the screen; or (d) close off the slit. Click here for the answer.
     
  14. Consider a coherent source of light shining on Young's two-slit interference experiment. Assume that each slit size is much smaller than the separation of the two slits. First, note the pattern of fringes on the screen behind the slits. Suppose we now cover each of the two slits with a linear polarizer such that the direction of polarization of the light transmitted by the two slits are perpendicular. Then, on the screen behind the slits: (a) the pattern of fringes is unchanged; (b) the pattern of fringes changes such that the intensity maxima occur where the minima used to be; (c) no light is seen at all on the screen; or (d) a fairly uniformly illuminated elongated spot is seen on the screen. Click here for the answer.
     
  15. The final clicker question for the course: If sound can't travel in a vacuum, how come vacuum cleaners make so much noise? (a) nature abhors a vacuum; (b) in order to scare the cat; (c) something to do with Higgs bosons; (d) wait a minute, is this a serious question?; (e) none of the above. Click here for the solution as provided by Dr. Science.

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VII. Other Class Handouts

1. These notes provide details on how to solve the equations of motion of the simple harmonic oscillator. The connection between the initial conditions (i.e. the initial displacement and velocity of the oscillator) and the amplitude and phase of oscillations is elucidated.   [PDF | Postscript].

2. The derivation of the solution to the equation of motion for a forced oscillation, which is given in Eqs. (14-22) to (14-24) of Giancoli is relegated to the problems. I provide Giancoli's derivation in this handout.   [PDF].

3. Comparison of the reflection of a pulse on a rope with a fixed end with the reflection of a pulse on a rope with a free end point. Giancoli's Fig. 15-18(b) which purports to show the reflection of a pulse on a rope with a free end point is quite inaccurate and misleading. A better illustration can be found in Fig. 12.39 of Physics Calculus by Eugene Hecht (Brooks/Cole Publishing, 1996). I have reproduced Hecht's version of Giancoli's Fig. 15-18 here. The captions to Hecht's figures are quite informative.

4. Parallel rays that reflect off a spherical mirror do not meet at a unique focal point, if the angle of incidence is not too small. In contrast, parallel rays that propagate parallel to the symmetry axis of a parabolic mirror will meet at a unique focal point after reflection. Details can be found in the following class handout.   [PDF | Postscript].

5. Fermat's principle states that "light travels between two points along the path that requires the least time, as compared to other nearby paths." From Fermat's principle, one can derive the law of reflection (the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection) and the law of refraction (Snell's law). Details can be found in the following class handout.   [PDF].     This is problem 81 on page 864 of Giancoli.

6. A comparison of the normal eye, the myopic eye (unaided and corrected) and the hyperopic eye (unaided and corrected), taken from Introduction to Optics (3rd Edition), by Frank L. Pedrotti, Leno M. Pedrotti, and Leno S. Pedrotti, is reprinted in the following class handout   [PDF].   In these figures, N.P. is the near point (which is 25 cm for the normal eye), F.P. is the far point (which is equal to infinity for the normal eye), M.N.P. and M.F.P. are the myopic near and far points, respectively, and H.N.P. is the hyperopic near point. In the myopic and hyperopic case, N.N.P. denotes the location of the "normal near point" of 25 cm.

7. In Giancoli, section 35-2, a derivation of the intensity of the light due to single slit diffraction is provided using the technique of phasor diagrams. In this class handout   [PDF | Postscript]     I provide you with a derivation of the same result, by converting the sum of N sine functions (with suitably related phases) in the limit of N → ∞ to an elementary integral that is easily computed. The first three pages of the handout provide details of this derivation, which was presented in class. For fun, I have included an alternative derivation of the same result, which makes use of an explicit summation of the N sine functions (before taking the limit). The derivation of this sum is beyond the scope of this class, but I present the details in an appendix for completeness.

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VIII. Articles of Interest

1. A detailed experimental study of the diet coke and mentos reaction and some of its implications has been published recently in the American Journal of Physics 76, 551--557 (2008)     [  Abstract   |   HTML ].

2. A nice treatment of surface tension can be found here. In this article, problem 13-76 of Giancoli is worked out in detail. You might find this discussion more illuminating than the one given in the solutions to homework set #2. This article is an excerpt from Essentials of Physics, by John D. Cutnell and Kenneth W. Johnson (Wiley Publishing, 2006).

3. How is water transported from the roots to the top leaves of a tall redwood tree? A very nice article by Melvin T. Tyree in Nature, volume 423 [26 June 2003] page 923 describes the most recent scientific understanding of this phenomenon. See what role the surface tension of water and capillarity plays.
    In the January, 2008 issue of Physics Today, a very readable account of this topic can be found in an article by N. Michele Holbrook and Maciej A. Zwieniecki entitled Transporting water to the top of trees. Unfortunately, there is no electronic access to this article until 2009. Check it out in the Recent Journals section of the Science & Engineering Library.

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IX. Applets for Physics 5B

Here are some physics java applets that allow you to explore some of the physics concepts covered in Physics 5B.

1. Lenses and mirrors. Explore the properties of spherical mirrors and lenses, by varying the focal length, object distance, magnification, and the shape of the mirror or lens.

2. Ripple tank simulation. This java applet is a simulation of a ripple tank. It demonstrates waves in two dimensions, including such wave phenomena as interference, diffraction (single slit, double slit, etc.), refraction, resonance, phased arrays, and the Doppler effect.

3. A related applet to the ripple tank simulation is the 2-D Wave simulation. This java applet is a simulation that demonstrates scalar waves (such as sound waves) in two dimensions. It demonstrates the wave principles behind slit diffraction, zone plates, and holograms.

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X. Web pages of Interest

1. The Diet Coke and Mentos experiment. A history of the experiment and a short discussion of the underlying physics principles can be found on Wikipedia.A video demonstration of the experiment can be found here.

2. Which weighs more: (a) one gallon of water; (b) one gallon of crude oil; (c) one gallon of vegetable oil; or (d) they all weigh the same? This question decided the grand prize of $1,795,000 for one contestant on the final round of the ABC game show "Duel", televised on December 23, 2007. If only Robert, the used car salesman, had learned his Physics 5B better....

3. Sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) is a transparent (colorless), odorless, non-toxic and non-flammable gas, which is about 5.1 times denser than air (at standard temperature and pressure). Consequently, one can fill up a water tank with sulfur hexafluoride and float a light boat on its surface. It looks like the boat is floating on nothing! Check out the video taken at the Physics Show, a biannual event hosted by the Physics Department of the University of Bonn in Germany.

4. The longest continuously running laboratory experiment has been running since 1927. The goal of this experiment is to measure the viscosity of pitch. So far eight drops have fallen in the last eighty years, suggesting that the viscosity of pitch is approximately 100 billion times that of water. A brief survey of this experiment and additional references can be found in Wikipedia.

5. Foucault's pendulum is a dramatic demonstration of the rotation of the earth. An animation of this effect demonstrates how the plane of the pendulum is seen to rotate by an observer on earth (which is a rotating reference frame). Foucault first demonstrated the effect in 1851 under the great dome of the Pantheon in Paris, using a 28 kg weight on a wire suspension nearly 70 m long. The attachment of the upper end of the wire allows the pendulum to swing with equal freedom in any direction. One can still see Foucault's pendulum in action at the Pantheon (presumably not the original one)---check out this short film.

6. The Tacoma Narrows Bridge Collapse. On November 7, 1940, the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, just over four months after its opening, sustained gale winds that incited a torsional vibrational resonance mode. The bridge collapsed within a few hours, and provided many future physics classes with a dramatic depiction of a resonance phenomenon.

7. Fourier series for a square wave. A periodic square wave with period T can be very well approximated as a superposition of sinusoidal waves of frequencies nf1 with corresponding amplitudes An ∝ 1/n, for n=1,3,5,.... and f1=1/T. This video provides a dramatic demonstration of this result by employing the superposition of sound tones of the appropriate frequencies and amplitudes.

8. Michael Martin (a student in our Physics 5B class) came across two youtube videos with some relevance to the physics of waves. Check out: Waves in a large free sphere of water and Standing waves in a Ruben's Tube. Thanks, Mike, for the reference!

9. Why does a sound wave propagating down a thin cylindrical tube reflect off an open end of the tube? Although the reflection is not 100%, most of the wave is reflected back up the tube. This allows for a standing wave to form in the tube (such that the acoustic pressure at the open end vanishes). An animation of the behavior of an acoustic pressure pulse that encounters either an open or closed end of a cylindrical tube can be found here. Another simple explanation of the physics underlying the reflection of sound waves off of an open end and closed end of a cylindrical tube is provided by N. Drozdoff.

10. For an amusing look at the electromagnetic spectrum, check out this image, courtesy of google images, taken from imgs.xkcd.com/comics.

11. A web page entitled Optics and Visual Perception provides numerous links to topics in physical optics and physiological optics. Elsewhere on this website you can find an illuminating article on the physics of the rainbow.

12. Relevant to our study of mirrors and their properties, I have selected a famous lithograph by M.C. Escher (see the reproduced image on the left-hand side of this webpage) as a symbol for the lectures based on the material of Chapter 32 of Giancoli. Check out this website for interesting comments on this Escher drawing. For more information on Escher and his work, check out the official Escher website; many of his works can be viewed from the "Picture Gallery" link on that webpage. For example, you can find in the picture gallery Escher's, Magic Mirror, a close second choice for the image of the week. Another website with many Escher prints for viewing can be found here.

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haber@scipp.ucsc.edu
Last Updated: June 9, 2008