No lecture today, 9/29.

No lecture today, Monday, Sept. 29.

No scores yet

I was hoping to get scantron scores in from the computer test scoring center before supper tonight: no go.

So we continue to wait, now until Monday.

And just to rub it in, the morning physical science section got their exam scores back late this afternoon. We have to wait!

And on top of that, I am giving everybody the weekend off from homework. I.e., NO HOMEWORK. Sorry to deprive you of such fun. ;)

Two days or more

Do not ask Dr. B about exam scores until Friday, maybe.

It always takes time for scantrons to get graded, up to 48 hours. Since we cannot submit until Thursday morning, that means MAYBE we will get scores by Friday afternoon.

So...

Do not ask in course mail. Do not ask in email. Do not ask in Discussions. Do not ask in the hallway. Do not ask on telephone. Resist the urge to ask until Friday afternoon, earliest.

Violations of this rule will get 5 yard penalty for illegal procedure.

Midterm exam 1 ready for 3:30 PM SHARP

Be there at 3:30 PM, SHARP... if not earlier. The exams are ready, and there will be two bonus points available if you are prepared and ready to rumble.

Bring your CPS!

CPS pointage and Linsky files UP

The Linsky Files from Wednesday and Friday are now up. I also updated the gradebook, so L10 and L11 points are now up, as well.

Bring your CPS clicker to the midterm exam on Wednesday.

Homework 6 ready to go

I just activated homework for Monday, HW 6. It contains some basic gravitation questions plus a mini-review of free-fall calculations. You have 4 attempts, and you can take one hour per attempt. Bring your calculator and be ready to THINK.

No homework, once you finish HW 5

There is a homework assignment that you can skip once you have totally stomped it into the ground, homework #5. No brain-burners, just straight to the heart calculations of where the baseball/asteroid is heading and how fast it gets there and so many other lovely concepts I can hardly contain my excitement, so GO FOR IT.

CPS update

Your CPS pointage is now updated, and the Linsky Files from today are activated.

By the way, I just synched up the CPS roster, and we are down only 3 students, so you guys are looking good for some serious CPS clicking from here on out.

Remember to bring your CPS clicker on midterm exam 1, next Wed.

HW 4 is ready to go.

Take a look at the Monsters, Inc. icon, and you will find your next homework, HW 4, due at 3:30 PM, Wednesday.

GO FOR IT!

CPS pointage updated

I just updated the CPS pointage from Wednesday (L7) and Friday (L8) in your My Grades pages. Also the Linsky Files are updated.

Ashton Dacus, our mighty TA, made some scans of Wednesday's doc cam sketches, and they are posted as PDF in iTunes U. Look for the "Doc cam" tab and you'll see it.

iTunes U: 3 specific podcasts that help with homework etc.

There are three specific podcasts about recent topics in lecture and homework. Look in the "Motion" tab of our iTunes U area.

1. Subtraction of vectors, Ch. 3 (3:32)
2. Ex. 4, p. 54 (4:08)
3. Astronaut's weight on Mars, ex. 18, p. 54 (3:19)

Remember, these are visual podcasts, and they have diagrams and equations in the artwork track. They are meant to be viewed as well as listened to.

Homework UP

Be ready to think about polygons and Δv when you work on homework 3. It is ready now, in Webcourses, due Monday afternoon, 3:30 PM.

"Let me repeat..."

I frequently use the phrase, "Let me repeat that..." in order to emphasize an important concept for your lecture notes.

There is a new discussion area in Webcourses on which to re-post the information from lecture that I repeat with that phrase.

Post it there. Ashton and I will read and double check and maybe even give a bonus point or so if it is well done and timely. It will also be a good study tool after a few lectures.

More homework ready.

Your homework for Friday is now UP. Look for HW 2 in the Monster's, Inc. icon in Webcourses.

There are two questions about friction force and net force, semi-brain-burners, for which it might be helpful to

1. eyeball Fig. 3-12(c) on p. 47 of the textbook and
2. work through Example 3.5.3 on p. 27 of the Problem Solving Manual (PSM)

As always, this assignment is due at 3:30 PM before our next lecture, Friday.

CPS signups looking good.

Signups look good on CPS for you all. The total is up to 108 now. Still remaining: 17 students to go.

CPS for today and Friday's bonus are UP.

I just uploaded your CPS points

1. from today's lecture, L6, the sixth of the semester:
   1. how many you answered and
   2. how many you got correct
2. early CPS bonus point from Friday's lecture.

Look in your My Grades page.

Homework ready now! GO GO GO

The first real homework inside Webcourses is now ready. It works like a quiz:

1. You have 4 attempts.


2. Webcourses keeps your highest of your four attempts.


3. You have 33 minutes per attempt.


4. Many students actually use their first attempt as a reading guide:
   1. take it
   2. go study the chapter
   3. come back and crush a later attempt for max pointage.

Make sure to study through Ch.3 to Newton's 3rd Law before trying this out!!

Look for the Monsters, Inc. icon.

Office hours for fall semester

Here are my official office hours for students in PSC1121 section 0002:

1. Mondays, 2:30 - 3:15 PM, MAP412


2. Wednesdays, 8:00 - 9:00 AM, MAP412


3. Extended Wednesday Δt to be announced when appropriate.

Remember: when you come to see me in office hours, YOU bring the agenda, even if it just to shoot the breeze!

The Linsky Files, from our CPS session today

The PDF of Ed Linsky's session is now available for download in Webcourses. I will be placing Ed's work on Webcourses in PDF every time we have a CPS session. They are great for study tools.

Look for the X-Files icon. That identifies the top secret location of THE LINSKY FILES.

Billion dollar question: what we do.

Right now the prediction has changed: instead of "somewhere in South Carolina" it now looks like NHC is predicting North Carolina... somewhere!

As you might imagine, it is a BILLION dollar question for the people of the Carolinas.

This shows what we talked about in lecture about the scientific enterprise: we want to predict what Nature does. When our principles generate predictions that verify, then we consider the principles more solid. Right now, the hurricane prediction principles are not so solid.... BUT we keep working at it.