PH 201 General Physics

Algebra/trig-based General Physics sequence for science majors. Concepts include force, acceleration, work, energy and momentum of objects with mass in various kinds of motion. Emphasizes conceptual understanding, mathematical representations, problem solving, applications and science skills. Lab included.

Credits

5

Prerequisite

MTH 112Z with a C- or better. OR placement into MTH 251 via the math placement process

Course Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:
1. Understand, construct and evaluate position, velocity, acceleration graphs, motion diagrams and kinematic equations
2. Construct and evaluate velocity difference diagrams
3. Use vectors and vector addition to represent various quantities
4. Translate from one reference frame to another
5. Understand and apply Newton’s 1st Law
6. Identify forces/interactions in a situation by type and objects involved
7. Construct and evaluate free body diagrams for unfamiliar situations
8. Construct and evaluate 2nd Law equations from a FBD
9. Identify third law pairs
10. Identify direction of acceleration for uniform and non-uniform circular motion (i.e. distinguish radial from tangential acceleration)
11. Construct and evaluate energy bar graphs for unfamiliar situations (includes identifying systems, identifying types of energy present and sources of positive or negative work)
12. Construct and evaluate Conservation of Energy equations from energy bar charts (or directly from a situation)
13. Construct and evaluate momentum bar graphs for unfamiliar situations (includes identifying systems, identifying impulses)
14. Construct and evaluate Conservation of Momentum equations from momentum bar charts (or directly from a situation)
15. Construct and evaluate extended free body diagrams
16. Determine torques associated with forces and pivot point
17. Construct and evaluate 2nd Law and Rotational 2nd Law equations from an extended FBD for a static situation
18. Choose coordinate systems and determine components of vectors
19. Extract information from representations
20. Construct new representations from given ones
21. Translate from one representation to another
22. Evaluate consistency of representations and modify appropriately
23. Consider different systems, coordinate systems, reference frames and methods of analysis to arrive at a solution
24. Evaluate units in an equation
25. Perform dimensional analysis on an unfamiliar system
26. Identify assumptions
27. Evaluate special cases for solving and checking problems
28. Use solutions to make predictions
29. Check solutions based on units, reasonable fit to the question
30. Use multiple representations to determine solutions
31. Use proportional reasoning to solve problems
32. Design and conduct an observational experiment
33. Propose hypotheses for the observations
34. Design and conduct a testing experiment
35. Identify the hypotheses to be tested
36. Design a reliable experiment that tests the hypothesis
37. Distinguish between a hypothesis and a prediction
38. Make a reasonable prediction based on a hypothesis
39. Identify the assumptions made in making the prediction
40. Determine specific ways in which assumptions might affect the prediction
41. Decide whether the prediction and the outcome agree/disagree
42. Make a reasonable judgment about the hypothesis
43. Revise hypotheses when necessary
44. Design and conduct an application experiment
45. Identify the problem to be solved
46. Design a reliable experiment that solves the problem
47. Use available equipment to make measurements
48. Make judgments about the results of the experiment
49. Evaluate the results by means of an independent method
50. Identify the shortcomings in an experimental design and suggest specific improvements
51. Choose a productive mathematical procedure for solving the experimental problem
52. Identify assumptions made in using the mathematical procedure
53. Identify relevant assumptions
54. Determine specific ways in which assumptions might affect the results
55. Propose and evaluate potential experiments
56. Evaluate assumptions in an experimental set up
57. Identify and estimate measurement errors in an experiment