Last final exam announcement of Fall 2007

Now you guys in section 0002, 10:30-11:20 AM, MWF, have final exam scores AND SMA bonus points up. Look in your My Grades page.

Final exam scores, section 0001 are UP

OK, you guys in section 0001, 9:30-10:20 AM, MWF, your final exam scores are now up. Look in your My Grades page.

SMA bonus points up, Sec. 0001

Last bonus points announcement of Fall 2007

OK, it will be a few days before your main exam scores are in, but the SMA bonus points are up. Take a look in Webcourses.

53% of students taking the exam snagged at least two bonus points.

SWEET

Mandatory: Bring ID card to final

MANDATORY:

Bring your UCF campus I.D. card to the final exam, all sections.

1. Section 0001, 7 AM, Friday, December 7.
2. Section 0002, 10 AM, Monday, December 10.

Schedule for your other exams

Thomas Bobango, part 2: The SSG

Last SSG announcement of Fall 2007

YAY! Thomas Bobango has now set up his special study group for Wednesday, so there are now 7 more spaces are open for section 0002 students! The special study groups are now officially turbocharged.

SWEET

Section 0002 SSG now ready for signups

OK, there are now 7 out of 8 special study groups for section 0002 that you can now sign up for. GO FOR IT!

Thomas Bobango part 1

Thomas Bobango, thanks for reporting in on "time and place" for your SSG.

SSG for section 0001 is ready.

The SSG signup sheet for final exam preparation is now open for everybody. There are two groups Tuesday, two on Wednesday and one of Thursday. GO FOR IT!

Exam scores are UP

I just finished uploading your exam 4 scores. Go take a look.

Section 0001 average 31.4/45, 71%, C <--- genius section, exam 4
Section 0002 average 27.9/45, 66%, C

Cleaning up gradebook

I will be cleaning up gradebook rows, rearranging, releasing and in general getting gradebook ready for end of semester. Lots of work to do - especially a bunch of CPS points from mid-semester. Keep alert.

Some of you have been asking about where the SSG points are - they are up for section 0001 and now can be seen. Section 0002 - pending.

More lovely HW

Last HW announcement of Fall 2007

Your new circuitry homework is now up, HW 22. It is more practice on the circuit configuration concepts we worked on today in lecture. Bring your calculator!!

Scans from lecture are UP

Last lecture announcement of Fall 2007

I have set up scan files of both exercises we worked out in lecture today, #10 and #12 on p. 445. They are in the blue mailbox, Deluxe lecture files. Go take a look.

I suggest exercises #9 and #11 for extra practice on series and parallel resistors. These two exercises are just like the ones we worked out in lecture today.

Section 0001 SSG points UP

Ashton our section 0001 TA has got all the SSG points rounded up for exam 3 and exam 4, section 0001. They appear as SSG3 and SSG4 in your My Grades page.

Section 0002: still working on it.

GO for HW 21

There are now some circuitry exercises for you in HW 21. Due Wednesday morning, before lecture.

See you all on Monday

Last electromagnetism announcement of Fall 2007

Take the day off today (Friday). No lecture today. See you on Monday. Super duper homework and cool electromagnetic demonstrations on Monday!

P.S. No news yet on exam scores. I will post ASAP.

Gaby's review session for final exam

Last S.I. announcement of Fall 2007

Gaby's final S.I. review session for the semester will be on Sunday, December 2nd from 3-5PM in HPA 112.

Ashton's new Enigma machine: chapter 20.

Last enigma machine announcement of Fall 2007

Ashton has set up a new Enigma machine covering electromegnetic concepts.

Office hour shift this afternoon

Last office hours announcement of Fall 2007

OOOPS, I scheduled office hours to start today at 1:00 PM and finish at 4:00 PM, but I have astronomy lecture until 1:15 PM.

I will therefore start at 1:30 PM and go until 4:30 PM.

Somebody, be sure to get a good pair of tables, maybe three, at Starbuck's and hold it til I arrive at 1:30 PM. Gracias!

Jon Winfrey, report in

Jonathan Winfrey, please report in to Webcourses for course mail message.

RED ALERT

New afternoon SSG, section 0002

Tyler Provost has his section 0002 special study group opened up this afternoon, 3pm, outside the library, today (Tuesday).

If you got caught napping with earlier signup, see if you can squeeze in Tyler's SSG.

Extra questions and exercises; glass display case

I just set up the list of extra exercises and questions in chapter 20 that I like. Look in the homework area (yellow pickup truck) and click on the horseshoe magnet icon for the list. It has a few comments with it.

I will post the photocopies of the exercises I worked out in chapter 17 and chapter 20 this afternoon, right before walking over to the bookstore for office hours. Look in the glass display case across from room 337 in the MAP building.

HW 20 is up and running

I have just activated HW 20, which goes over a few electric field concepts. Make sure to finish reading chapter 20 before hitting HW 20.

Also, I re-activated HW 19.

Both assignments are due on Wednesday morning.

Be sure to study hard and expect the unexpected.

Bonus questions

Don't forget to post your true-false or multiple choice question in Discussions. If I select yours for the exam, you will get 2 bonus points. SWEET.

Deadline is Monday night, 11:55 PM.

SSG now open to all.

SSG signups are now open to everyone. Click through the blue SSG icon and you will hit the signups page -- IF there is still space. Don't tarry.

Awesome photo

The student I photographed this morning in first lecture looks AWESOME. She is now headlining both Webcourses areas. :)

You guys who snapped photos in the 10:30 AM lecture: email the photos to yourself, then upload them to me in a course mail attachment. I need all action photos so that we can have max awesomeness levels before the midterm!!!!!!!!

Section 0002 special study group, three available now.

First group in section 0002 10:30 AM section may now sign up for some of the special study groups. I will activate more groups as the SSG leaders report in with meeting time/place info.

Trouble report, Webcourses access

Last Webcourses, access announcement of Fall 2007

Students, I just received this trouble alert concerning access to Webcourses. I know many of you have had some trouble clicking in today and yesterday. Here is the email alert:

Dear faculty, Webcourses@UCF will be down for required maintenance tomorrow morning between 6:00am and 7:00am. Beginning this morning, Webcourses@UCF began experiencing a problem that forced users to use the "backdoor" to access their courses. This required users to use their NID and NID password. We think we have identified the cause of the problem and have successfully fixed the problem in our testing environment for Webcourses@UCF. We will bring the production server down tomorrow morning to apply this fix to production. We apologize for the inconvenience, Course Development & Web Services

Section 0001 special study group signups ON

The first group in the 9:30 AM lecture, section 0001, may now go sign up for one of the five special study groups:

1. Friday afternoon: Meghan and Steve.
2. Tuesday morning: Chris, Jason
3. Tuesday afternoon: Cristina.

You all in the first group have first dibs for signups. I will open up the groups for everybody at noon Friday.

First wave group of section 0002 I will open up your groups a bit later tonight! Stay alert.

New homework

So many students have complained and whined and pleaded for more homework, I decided to set up a nice new homework for everyone. HW 19 has some conceptual and computational questions from chapters 17 and 20, concerning optics and electric field.

Take a look at Webcourses and try out the questions. They are due Friday morning before lecture.

Also, I will be publishing my homework notes from chapter 17, all the exercises I like plus a few extra that I also did. They will be available in the third floor of MAP in the glass display case across from room 337.

Mirror, mirror on the wall

Ashton has set up a new Enigma machine to quiz you on reflection concepts from chapter 17. GO FOR IT!

996

Check out this public advisory for Tropical Storm Noel. See how low the central pressure is? How does that compare to fair weather at sea level?

000 WTNT31 KNHC 312032 TCPAT1 BULLETIN TROPICAL STORM NOEL ADVISORY NUMBER 17 NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL162007 500 PM EDT WED OCT 31 2007 ...NOEL LINGERING ALONG THE CUBAN COAST...TROPICAL STORM WATCH ISSUED FOR THE SOUTHEAST FLORIDA COAST... AT 5PM EDT...2100Z...A TROPICAL STORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FROM NORTH OF OCEAN REEF TO JUPITER INLET FLORIDA. A TROPICAL STORM WATCH MEANS THAT TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE WITHIN THE WATCH AREA. A TROPICAL STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE CUBAN PROVINCES OF SANCTI SPIRITUS...CIEGO DE AVILA...CAMAGUEY...LAS TUNAS... GRANMA...HOLGUIN...SANTIAGO DE CUBA...AND GUANTANAMO. A TROPICAL STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE CENTRAL AND NORTHWESTERN BAHAMAS. FOR STORM INFORMATION SPECIFIC TO YOUR AREA...INCLUDING POSSIBLE INLAND WATCHES AND WARNINGS...PLEASE MONITOR PRODUCTS ISSUED BY YOUR LOCAL WEATHER OFFICE. AT 500 PM EDT...2100Z...THE CENTER OF TROPICAL STORM NOEL WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 22.6 NORTH...LONGITUDE 78.8 WEST OR ABOUT 190 MILES...305 KM...SOUTH-SOUTHWEST OF NASSAU AND ABOUT 240 MILES...385 KM...SOUTH-SOUTHEAST OF MIAMI FLORIDA. NOEL HAS BEEN STATIONARY FOR THE LAST SEVERAL HOURS...BUT A GENERALLY NORTHWARD MOTION IS EXPECTED OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 50 MPH...85 KM/HR...WITH HIGHER GUSTS. SOME STRENGTHENING IS FORECAST DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS. TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 115 MILES...185 KM FROM THE CENTER. ESTIMATED MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE IS 996 MB...29.41 INCHES. ABOVE NORMAL TIDES ARE LIKELY WITHIN THE WARNING AREAS.

Office hours this afternoon

I will have office hours in Starbuck's in the central campus bookstore, 1-4 PM today. Drop by for any reason.

SSG bonus points

For those of you who attended special study groups, I have not added in your 2 bonus points yet. They will be in a separate line of your My Grades page. It is a chore I will get to maybe this afternoon. No worries.

Section 0001 sketches UP

OK, you guys in section 0001, at 9:30 AM, I just pushed the PDF of our sketching from Monday into the blue mailbox area, "Deluxe lecture files." I hope you find it useful.

Exam 3 scores are now up.

I got your guys' exam 3 scores this afternoon, as I hoped. I just set them up in Webcourses, and you can view your scores on your My Grades page.

Average scores were:

• Section 0001, 33/45
• Section 0002, 31/45

Sketching lecture UP

Last uvision, visual podcasting announcement of Fall 2007

The podcast of today's lecture is now up on the Uvision podcasting site. The visual track uses the diagrams from the 10:30 AM lecture. The full scale scan files of section 0002 are now in the blue mailbox, "Deluxe lecture files," for each section.

Early section: If you want the files from section 0001, we will be getting them scanned in tomorrow, and I will slip them into "Deluxe lecture files."

Day off from lecture

I think that nearly everyone worked their you-know-what off to get ready for midterm 3, so I am giving everybody the day off from lecture.

In the meantime here are a few things you can work on:

1. Scout ahead in the textbook:
   
   17. Light
   20. Electricity
   
   I specifically like the "Physics On Your Own" blurb on p. 341, with two pencils and a small mirror. You can try this out. And if you have another small mirror or two, you can make your own retro-reflector like the Apollo astronauts placed on the moon, which is diagrammed on p. 344.


2. View the two new movies on the Uvision site, both about the electromagnetic interaction, our last big topic of the semester.

See you again on Monday!

Be ready with calculator!

Last brain-burner, midterm, think announcement of Fall 2007

Today's midterm exam has some true-false questions and several basic calculations, in addition to the usual one or two brain burners.

So we want to start ultra-fast, minimum possible delay.

Have your calculator ready to go as soon as you sit down. The calculations themselves are not tricky, but we want to do them as rapidly and accurately as possible so that you have time to THINK!

Also: I am only going to make two time announcements: 15 minutes to go and 5 minutes to go. This will cut down on distraction.

Pitiful question submissions

I am surprised that so few people in section 0001 have proposed questions for inclusion in midterm 3. Most semesters we have a ton of questions. I am disappointed.

S.I. this week

Gaby asked me to provide the following announcement:

1. There is SI tomorrow afternoon after the test.
2. SI is cancelled this Thursday (Oct. 25th).

Study guide from CPS is UP

Last CPS, Gaby Guide announcement of Fall 2007

Gaby's CPS study guide from Monday's lecture is now up and ready for viewing, in the CPS Hideout. It is in PDF and should be helpful for preparing to CRUSH my midterm exam tomorrow.

Heat exchange combo homework, #18 = GO FOR LAUNCH

I just finished the next homework assignment, and it is a combo assignment, all about one heat exchange process. It has a brain burner and a cranium crusher.

Naturally, I cannot tell you what is going to be on the exam Wednesday, but you MIGHT find it helpful to study this combo HW and know it cold! :)

Don't forget to look over the Enigma machines.

Special study groups now open for EVERYONE, both sections

Okay, I just opened up the special study groups signup areas for EVERYBODY in both sections.

Remember, it is first come, first served. And we only have a few study groups, unfortunately, so get your spot quickly.

New Enigma Machines

Last study tool announcement of Fall 2007

There are two new Enigma machines to study with, one by Ashotn and another by Lenni Jo.

1. Ashton's Assortment, (Chapters 11 and 12)
2. Lenni Jo's Labyrinth

GO FOR IT! These will help you prepare for the midterm 3.

Section 0002, 10:30-11:20 AM, you can select your SSG now.

I just opened up special study group (SSG) sign ups for the first wave of students in section 0002. GO FOR IT!!

There are a few more groups to activate, but for now, there are a bunch of SSGs ready to go. Check later if you need a different time and place.

If you are not in the first wave, then you will not be able to sign up yet. Sunday evening, though, I will open the SSGs for anybody to sign up on.

Jeopardy S.I. review

The Jeopardy Review for the third test will be this Sunday (October 21st) from 1-3 PM in HPA 112. Gaby hopes to see you there!

Section 0001, 9:30-10:20 AM, you can sign up for SSG now

If you want to sign up for special study groups, you can do so now if you are in the early section, 0001, 9:30-10:20 AM. Click the SSG icon on the home page. If you are part of the first wave of students activated for signups, you will see the SSG3 signups page. First come, first served. If you can't see the SSG3 signup page, then you are in the second wave; I will turn you guys loose on Sunday evening for signups.

There are still 3 SSGs in section 0001 that might open up. The leaders have not accepted my offer yet. But when they do, section 0001 will have those SSGs to join, as well.

Section 0002: I am still waiting for more SSG leaders to respond. Maybe later on Saturday afternoon we will get signups open for the first wave.

Liquids mixing exercise 15, ch. 13 is UP

The exercise I worked on in lecture today, #15 from chapter 13, with mixing of two liquids at different temperatures, is now laid out in a blurb page for you. Look in the blue mailbox, deluxe lecture files, on the course home page.

Special study groups, SSG

I have sent a course mail message to a handful of students in each section who have done well, about 90% or more, on midterm exams 1 and 2. This course mail message is the call for special study group (SSG) leaders. Those of you who receive it, make your decision today! We want to activate SSG signups this weekend.

Homework so handy, so fine

Homework 17 has a bunch of questions, and it is ready for you to work on. You might want to read a bit in chapter 12 as you go. The first two questions change each time you take it.

Office hours revision

Remember: I have revised my office hours to Wednesday afternoons.

So this week, it will be 1:00-4:30 PM, in Starbuck's in the UCF Bookstore.

Homework 16 is up: cranium crusher included

I have set up homework #16 for you all to work on. It includes a cranium-crusher about densities.

Before tackling HW16, though, you might want to read through the metals blurb page, which is linked in the HW page for section 0001 students.

Not for section 0002, though! The section 0002 HW page is behaving slightly weird right now, and I will try to fix it up, but if HW16 and the metals blurb page do not show up in the yellow pickup truck, then look in the Assessments page for the homework and in the Weblinks page for the metals blurb page.

Meningitis alert from UCF Health Services

Recent alert from UCF Health Services concerning meningitis alert

Submitted for: UCF Health Services Subject: Meningitis Alert The Orange County Public Health Department (OCPHD) has informed UCF Health Services officials that a senior in the UCF Nursing program -- who lives in a house off campus with family members -- has a confirmed diagnosis of meningococcal meningitis, a type of bacterial meningitis. On behalf of the entire UCF community, our strongest hopes for a complete recovery go out to the student. OCPHD already has identified and contacted the closest contacts considered at risk, all of whom have received the antibiotic CIPRO. UCF Health Services staff has been working closely with OCPHD health officials to assist them in identifying those individuals who may have had exposure to the illness. The student is a senior in the UCF Nursing program, and Nursing students in the student’s classes (Adult Health on Mondays and Mental Health on Wednesdays) were informed of the situation Friday evening and advised to receive the antibiotic at UCF Health Services if they felt they were in close enough contact to be high risk. Exposure that imparts risk for transmission involves close contact with an infected individual. Close contact is defined as persons who shared a household with the student or had direct contact with oral secretions (kissing, sharing a drink, sharing food from the same plate, sharing a cigarette or being coughed on from very close proximity). Those persons who have had close exposure within the past seven days benefit from the use of preventative antibiotics. Classic symptoms of meningitis include high fever, confusion and neck stiffness. Those symptoms can develop over several hours, or they may take one to two days. Other symptoms may include headache, nausea, vomiting, sensitivity to lights and seizures. Persons with such symptoms should seek prompt medical attention. Previous vaccination for meningitis does not necessarily protect persons from acquiring this illness (because the vaccine is not 100 percent effective in protecting against the various strains of bacterial meningitis). Vaccination would not be the appropriate intervention for those persons who have had close contact. Anyone who has not had close contact and desires vaccination, or anyone who has other questions or concerns regarding meningococcal meningitis, can call the UCF Health Center during normal hours of operation at 407-823-2701. UCF Health Services Hours of Operation: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information on UCF Health Services, go to www.hs.ucf.edu.

Enigma machine

Ashton, our early class TA, has set up a new Enigma machine as an extra study workout on rotational concepts and ideal gas model ideas. Click the Enigma icon (right) to try it out.

Donuts, pencils and molecules - HW 15 is ready

The next homework assignment is ready, HW 15.

Being as how the ideal gas law is so important to understanding donuts, I included a brain-burner on there that concerns itself with donuts, pencils and molecules. :)

Three new problems on Uvision podcast

There are three exercises visually podcasted now on the Uvision website. These are three of the exercises that I like in chapter 11. I have a few more to publish but these will hold you for now.

BONUS points questions for exam 3

Last discussions announcement of Fall 2007

There is a new set of discussion areas in Webcourses, prep for midterm exam 3. One discussion area is for chapter 8 angular momentum concepts and another is for chapter 11, 12 and 13 concepts on the states and properties of matter.

A third discussion area is "BONUS points questions for exam 3" and I have already posted a sample question there. 2 bonus points for you if I choose your question!

Troubles with Internet Exploder

If you use Internet Explorer to access Webcourse, take a look at this alert.

Notice this afternoon from UCF Course Development and Web Services, regarding Webcourses login

Dear Faculty, Yesterday morning, CDWS began to receive reports that Internet Explorer users attempting to log in to Webcourses@UCF via myUCF were receiving an error. The problem was escalated to our server admins and reported to Blackboard, but we do not have a solution yet. Until we have a fix, please use a browser other than Internet Explorer to access Webcourses@UCF via myUCF, or log into Webcourses@UCF directly using your NID at http://webcourses.ucf.edu Thank you for your patience while we resolve this issue,

Exam scores are UP

Your examination 2 scores are up in Webcourses now. Look in your My Grades page.

If there was a problem with your scantron, it reads "no score" and we will have to dig out your scantron to grade it by hand.

Monday's lecture podcast ready.

The Monday lecture is now available for podcast viewing.

No office hours today

Due to illness, I will not hold office hours today. See you on Wednesday!

Matching homework on angular momentum

More homework is up and running for Wednesday, HW 14. It contains a matching item about the two kinds of angular momentum.

Friday's lecture and movie are up now.

Check the Uvision website. The Friday lecture on angular momentum is now UP. Also the special movie on angular momentum is now available.

Angular momentum homework is set.

There is a new homework set to work on, HW 13, covering some basic angular momentum concepts and calculations. Look for it in the yellow pickup truck on our Webcourses home page.

Remember to read through all of chapter 8 for Monday.

Exam scores, no asking

The exams are now in the hands of the test scoring center. For the next 48 hours, no one may ask me about his or her exam score. Failure to comply will be penalized by a small gravity experiment at the Acme Institute of Lower Technology, with Wile E. Coyote (super genius). :)

Enigma machines

There is a new study tool, an Enigma machine, which can help you prepare for examination 2. It is like a sideways version of jeopardy, with questions arranged left to right. It is not for points on homework or any other part of your semester grade, but many students find the Enigma machines to be helpful prep for exams. This one is called "Energy, momentum, force mental workout."

Its web link is located on our home page in Webcourses. Look for the Enigma icon (above left). You can do the game any number of times you like, and I encourage you to study it with friends. Enjoy!

Ashton the T.A. now will have office hours

You guys in section 0001, 9:30-10:20 AM, can check in with Ashton, our mighty T.A., during her office hours. She will announce them in the Webcourses discussion area, "Ashton's Annex." I think whe will have hours Tuesday, Oct. 2nd, in the afternoon. Please look in Ashton's Annex for the exact specs.

HW 12 has a brain-burner.

Homework assignment 12 is ready now. Sorry - it is a bit late, so I will let you all have an extra 48 hours on it. It will be due Wednesday morning, instead of Monday morning.

The fifth problem on this homework is a real barn-burner!! :)

This is the last mini-workout before the midterm exam on Wednesday.

Quantum physics, photons and ping pong balls

Here is an interesting news article about quantum states and how they work, as an elaboration of my comments in lecture this morning.

Blurb:

Researchers have shown that removing a photon from a laser beam can lead to it containing more photons than it had before... Measuring position and momentum in different orders produces different results. "You are working at the quantum level," explains Marco Bellini from the National Institute of Applied Optics in Florence, Italy. "If you did it with ping-pong balls it wouldn't work this way," he says.
K. Sanderson, News@Nature.com, 27 Sept. 2007

Read more (while on campus)

Read more (if off campus)

Homework 11 and where to find it.

Conservation of momentum homework #11 is available to work on right now.

Some of you might have missed the previous HW because you were clicking on the Assessments page in Webcourses. After a certain number of assessments, the Assessments page starts putting new HW assessments on its second page. You might not have paged over to page 2.

But if you log in to the home page and look for the yellow pickup truck icon, then you will see all of the HW assignments in one big multi-column list. That is the best way to find HW.

If you took notes last Wednesday...

If you took notes on the CPS questions from last Wednesday, Sept. 19, please post the questions in the discussion area called "CPS, Wed., Sept. 19," and this will help me sort out the trouble with CPS scores last Wednesday.

If there are more than two or three postings already, with the same questions you have, then you do not need to post. I will lock the discussion after a few students post. Gracias!

Homework 10, ready for your input

Go try homework 10 now, on the Webcourses site. Remember the impulse formula we covered today.

Sept. 14 lecture podcast

I just set up the lecture podcast for Sept. 14. It is on the Uvision visual podcasting site.

Homework 9 is UP.

Homework assignment 9 is set up and ready for both sections. You will want to study pp. 97-98 on impulse, FΔt, before tackling this homework.

HW 8 is ready to go.

More homework is ready, covering some basic concepts from today's lecture on chapter 6 toppics. Look in the yellow pickup truck icon in Webcourses.

HW 7 is up and ready to go.

Homework 7 is now ready to go. You might find it handy to review the gravitational strength mini-workout before trying this homework. Both files are in the HW section with the yellow pickup truck.

New exercises in the Uvision podcast

I just published seven (7) new visual podcasts corresponding to homework exercises up to chapter 6. Go take a look.

Friday, Sept. 14 lecture is UP.

The lecture from Friday, Sept. 14, is now up on the UVISION website. GO FOR IT!

Midterm exam 1 grades are UP.

OK, the scores for midterm exam 1 are now UP. Look in your My Grades page in Webcourses. The score posted is how many points you got out of 45, one point per question. It is not a percentage. I will have printouts for you next week.

Nobody aced it, 45/45; only four out of 342 did not earn a passing score. The average for earlybird section 9:30 AM was 33, and for the midmorning section 10:30 AM the average was 32. So this means that the earlybirds are the GENIUS section until at least Oct. 3! :)

Remember, we keep the best three scores out of four midterms. For many of you, that will end up being this first exam score. So if your grade is a little stinky compared to what you are shooting for, stay with it and do not be discouraged. We can attain victory!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good work, everybody! That was a tough exam!

HW 6 is ready to go, due Monday morning.

Homework #6 is now up in Webcourses, and it is ready to roll. Before tackling this assignment,you might find it handy to read and study the paragraphs and diagrams in chapter 5, up to about p.80.

And remember to THINK.

P.S. No news yet on exam 1 scores. Do not bug Dr. B about exam scores.

Midterm exam 1 today

Midterm examination 1 is today in class. Bring a raspberry-flavored scantron with the UCF logo on it, 50 questions on each side. Bring a pencil and eraser, and a calculator if you like. If you forget your calculator, it will not be a huge disaster.

And be ready to think!

Today's lecture is now UP.

I podcasted the Sept. 10 lecture, just now. Look at the lectures page in the Uvision website.

CPS points and study guides are UP.

I just inserted the CPS scores from today's session, PSC4, and the scores from Friday's sessiom, PSC3. For each session, there is a figure for how many questions you answered, and how many you got correct. At the end of the semester, those two sets of figures will determine your CPS regular points and the CPS bonus points. (See syllabus.)

Also, in the "CPS Hideout" you will find study guides from Friday's and today's sessions, in PDF. You might benefit from using them to study a bit.

Friday's lecture is UP on uvision.

The visual podcast of the Friday lecture is now available at Uvision, http://web.mac.com/uvision.

The visual podcasts of lectures actually make up a different podcast series, so you will want to subscribe to it individually in iTunes, in addition to your subscription to the "uvision podcasts" that we have been using since the first day of classes. So you will actually have two separate iTunes subscriptions now.

I will try to get as many lectures up as possible, time permitting. I hope to get Monday's lecture up on Monday afternoon.

Homework 5 and a homework redemption assignment

Homework 5 is now available in Webcourses. Two of the questions are about some concepts in chapter 4 that you all are ready to grapple with, so do some skimming ahead in chapter 4.

ALSO: There is a mega combo-basket redemption assignment that you can use to rescue your points from the nastiness that occured with assignments HW1 and HW2. If you already have all the HW1 and HW2 points in your My Grades page, you can bypass the combo-basket redemption assignment.

Uvision, new podcasts

There are four new visual podcasts at Uvision. Three of them are about forces, chapter 3 and chapter 4 concepts.

Homework 4 is UP

There is a new homework assignment up and ready for you. Sorry, it is a bit late. You can have til dinner time, Friday, to complete it. Look in the yellow pickup truck on our Webcourses homepage.

One of the questions is a brain-burner.

Homework 3 is now UP.

Homework 3 is now up for both sections in Webcourses, due Wednesday before lecture. Click the yellow pickup truck icon, and you will see the homework. It is related to our discussion of average speed and time intervals in lecture on Friday.

Office hours for the semester

OK, my office hours for the semester will be Tuesdays, 8:00-11:30 AM, in Starbuck's cafe in the UCF Bookstore. I will usually be at a table near a wall outlet for my Powerbook. I like Starbuck's because it's more comfortable, it's fun to meet there, and it's a fairly convenient location; my actual office in MAP is pathetic.

The normal procedure in office hours is that

1. I have no agenda, but
2. you have the agenda.

So drop in if you can squeeze it into your schedule, and bring questions or ideas that you want to discuss. We can get ready for lecture, double-check homework or talk about pretty much any subject except the parking situation on campus (don't get me started). ;)

Clickers today

Bring your CPS clickers to class today. We will have some CPS questions for those who have registered up from within Webcourses. One bonus point per day for everyone who can register before Sept. 7! That day, Friday, Sept. 7, will be the due date for getting registered for CPS activity.

Webcourses is cleared for re-launch.

Everybody can now go back in to Webcourses. The two sections now are in separate areas, PSC1121 - 07Fall_0001 and PSC1121 - 07Fall_0002.

You can now register your CPS response units directly from inside Webcourses, and I can see that several of you have already done so. Good. We will do our first CPS sessions on Friday. One bonus point for whoever gets registered up by next Friday, Sept. 7. On Friday, Sept. 7, we will have the first official CPS session in lecture.

By the by, it looks like the first two HW assignments evaporated when the Webcourses admin split the sections apart. Therefore, we will do them again, with a new due date, and since you should now be experts on these two assignmenst, grades should be perfect!!! :)

We will have a new HW assignment after Friday's lecture!

Stay off Webcourses 'til I give the OK.

We are making final adjustments to Webcourses so that CPS will link in smoothly. So for the next day or so, don't go in to Webcourses. I will announce here when it is OK to go back in to Webcourses.

By the by, you can read ahead in chapter 3 for Friday.

Baseball podcast

There is a new visual podcast concerning baseball acceleration at the Uvision site. It is from the problem solving manual (PSM).

Supplemental instruction schedule

SI session times and locations for PSC 1121 are:

Mondays	3:00 – 3:50 PM	COMM 115
Tuesdays	1:30 – 2:20 PM	HPA 110
Wednesdays	3:00 – 3:50 PM	COMM 115
Thursdays	1:30 – 2:20 PM	HPA 110

Try to make as many sessions as your personal schedule permits: even one per week will help.

Sign in method via my.ucf.edu portal

In case you encounter weird password troubles at the standard Webcourses sign-in page,

http://webcourses.ucf.edu

you can also try the My.UCF.edu portal. They have a new sign-in feature that will show all your online course areas, whether in the old WebCT or the new Webcourses.

Instructions for New! Online Course Tools Tab.

The modification to your portal page is kind of weird - you deactivate some stuff in order to activate the new tab. But it seems to work. Here is what the new "Online Course Tools" tab looks like on my portal page,


(dark grey tab by fountain)

More lovely homework

There is now a new homework for each section. Click the yeloow pickup truck icon in the course home page.

Also, the assignment #1 is extended til Wednesday, as I promised.

Go for it!!!

Homework 1 is now ready.

Each section has its first homework assignment of the semester:

1. early bird section, Homework 1 sec. 0001
2. lunch bunch, Sec. 0002 Homework 1

Click on the yellow truck icon on the home page. You will only see the one assignment, the one for your section. The other section's homework will be invisible to you.

You'll have three attempts, 25 minutes for each attempt, so if you get tripped up, go back and study a bit. The questions are about syllabus concepts from Friday's lecture and from ch. 1 and ch. 2 readings. Webcourses will report your best score.

This is the first of many HW assignments that, by semester's end, will convert to 25 points on your semester grade. These are "for real" so do not slack.

Study assignment for Monday, Aug. 27

1. Read ch. 1, pp. 6-11: especially "Powers of Ten" and exercises 1-12, p. 13.

2. Read ch. 2, all of it, especially study strobe figures 2-2, 2-4, 2-6, plus questions 12, 27 on p. 29, and exercise 16, p. 31. Uvision has new podcasts and WebCT will have our first homework assignment this weekend.

3. Get clickers! Monday we will get moving with CPS activity.

Uvision, new podcasts up

There are two new podcasts at Uvision. They are related to chapter 2 studies of motion.

http://web.mac.com/uvision

Skateboards

Bring your skateboard to lecture for the next few lectures. We will need visible velocity that can be measured.

Textbooks

Required Textbook

You can purchase this at the UCF bookstore and elsewhere. Authors: Kirkpatrick and Francis Title: Physics: A World View ISBN: 049501088X Edition: 6 Publisher: Thomson

Recommended Textbooks

I will talk about these books during the first week of lectures, and you can decide then whether you'd like to purchase them.


1. Authors: Kirkpatrick and Francis
   Title: Problem Solving for Physics: A World View
   ISBN: 0495010936
   Edition: 6
   Publisher: Thomson


2. Authors: Efthimiou, Hampton, Llewellyn and Winningham
   Title: Preliminary Edition of UCF Kirkpatrick Supplement
   ISBN: 1426628501
   Publisher: Thomson

Welcome to physical science PSC1121, fall 2007

Welcome to the announcements page for PSC1121, fall semester 2007.

Announcements about homework, examinations, lectures will be posted here, very rapidly, whenever the instructor needs to do so.