Kristen B. Wingfield McQuinn

Learning Goals

Here are specific learning foals for this course:

• Understand physics principles and their application to astronomical systems

  • Specifically, understand how to use electromagnetism and atomic, nuclear, and gas physics to understand planets, stars, and galaxies

• Become skilled at estimation techniques, including using dimensional analysis, scaling relations, and Taylor series expansions

• Learn about exciting developments in astrophysics (including results from NASA's new flagship mission: JWST!)
   

The top 25% of our Physics majors demonstrate mastery of basic Physics and the ability to solve essential problems appropriate for beginning graduate study in Physics. All Physics majors demonstrate knowledge of fundamental Physics principles and are able to quantitatively analyze a broad spectrum of problems presented in a range of undergraduate Physics courses.

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Students with disabilities requesting accommodations must follow the procedures outlined at https://ods.rutgers.edu/students/getting-registered. Full disability policies and procedures are at https://ods.rutgers.edu/

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Assessment

We will have weekly problem sets due on Thursdays by 5pm and submitted to Canvas. To submit the HW, please scan (or take a picture of) your completed problem sets with your phone and upload a pdf to canvas.  In working on the problem sets, you are encouraged to work in groups, though your submitted write-up should be your own. You must list your collaborators on the write-up. You are allowed to consult outside reference material (which must be cited), but you may not examine problem sets or solutions from previous years of Physics 341/342 or other similar courses online, nor are you allowed to post problem set or exam questions online. No late problem sets will be accepted! No exceptions!

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Always show your work. You will not receive full credit if you do not show your work. I will never look for a specific answer. Rather, I am always looking for the reasoning behind the answer.

 

There will be one midterm exam and a final exam. Details about these will be provided as the semester progresses.

 

The course grade will be calculated from the problem sets (60%), in-class iClicker participation (10%), the midterm exam (15%), and the final exam (15%). A course grade of 90% or higher will guarantee you an A. The two lowest problem set grades will be dropped in calculating the course grade. While that means you could skip two problem sets and still get a perfect score, experience has shown it is typically much better for your grade to turn in all of them and have the two lowest scores dropped.

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Academic Integrity

Students are expected to maintain the highest level of academic integrity. You should be familiar with the university policy on academic integrity. Violations will be reported and enforced according to this policy.  As per the policy, all suspected violations will be reported to the Office of Student Conduct. Academic dishonesty includes (but is not limited to):

• Cheating

• Plagiarism

• Aiding others in committing a violation or allowing others to use your work

• Failure to cite sources correctly

• Fabrication

• Using another person’s ideas or words without attribution–re-using a previous assignment Unauthorized collaboration

• Sabotaging another student’s work

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Use of external website resources (such as Chegg.com or others) to obtain solutions to homework assignments or exams is cheating and a violation of the University Academic Integrity policy. Cheating in the course may result in grade penalties, disciplinary sanctions or educational sanctions. Posting homework assignments or exams to external sites without the instructor's permission may be a violation of copyright and may constitute the facilitation of dishonesty, which may result in the same penalties as cheating. 

 

The Rutgers honor pledge will be included on all major assignments for you to sign: On my honor, I have neither received nor given any unauthorized assistance on this examination/assignment.

 

Almost all original work is the intellectual property of its authors. In this course, this includes syllabi, lecture slides, recorded lectures, homework problems, exams, and other materials, in either printed or electronic form. You may not copy this work, post it online, or disseminate it in any way without the explicit permission of the instructor. Respect for the author's efforts and for the author’s intellectual property rights is an important value that members of the university community are expected to take seriously.

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Resources

• A list of physical and astronomical constants, in cgs units

• Astronomy Picture of the Day

• Student wellness resources, Crisis intervention, and Violence Prevention & Victim Assistance are available at Rutgers

• You can also Report a Concern 

• Students with disabilities should consult the department policy
   

Schedule: Topics and Assignments

This syllabus may be modified and the schedule updated as the semester progresses.

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Note: Under the "Text" column, "Ch" mark the Chapters in Keeton. "CO" refers to Carroll & Ostlie, on reserve at the Library of Science and Medicine