Physics I: Mechanics

Phys 131, Spring 2023

Course Web Page

Brooks Thomas

Hugel 020
Physics Department
Lafayette College
730 High St.
Easton, PA 18042

Phone: (610) 330-5207
Email: thomasbd@lafayette.edu

Contact Info

Physics at Lafayette

Other Resources

• My Personal Home Page
• Lafayette Physics Department
• Physics Courses

• List of NSF REU Sites
• APS Resources for Students
• Society of Physics Students (SPS)
• CUWiP
• SACNAS
• National Society of Black Physicists

Course Materials and Other Useful Links

• Syllabus
• Resources and Demos Page
• Course Moodle
• MasteringPhysics Site

Textbook

• Hugh D. Young and Roger A. Freedman, University Physics with Modern Physics, 15th Ed. (Pearson, 2019).

Instructor Drop-In Hours (i.e., "Office Hours")

During the times designated as my instructor drop-in hours below, you have the option of meeting with me either in person or virtually. In-person drop-in-hours meetings will be held not in my office, but rather in Hugel 125, which is a better ventilated room equipped with a HEPA filter. Virtual meetings will take place over the office-hours Zoom link posted on the course Moodle. If I am meeting with another student at the time you join the Zoom meeting, I may ask you to wait in the waiting room for a bit. However, if you and other students in the course have the same question, you can certainly meet with me as a group.


• Mon., 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
• Wed., 11:00 AM - 12:00 noon
• Thurs., 11:00 AM - 12:00 noon
• Fri., 11:00 AM - 12:00 noon

Since working through problems together at a blackboard is an integral part of most drop-in-hours conversations in a course like this (no pun intended), there is often a compelling reason why it is preferable for us to meet in person rather than virtually during my drop-in hours. Thus, you are strongly encouraged to attend drop-in hours in person rather than virtually when circumstances permit.

Supplemental Instruction

The SI leader for this section of the course (PHYS 131-04) is Tyler Comeau. The SI leaders for the other sections of the course are Angela Busheska, Julia Greeley, Bruno Loyola San Martin, and Jessica McDivitt. Contact information for all of these SI leaders, along with a list of their tutoring and drop-in hours, can be found on the course Moodle.

Course Schedule

The schedule for the course, including the topic to be covered each day and the corresponding chapters in the textbook, is provided below.



Date	Topic	Reading	Homework
Week 1
1/23	Introduction	1.1-1.2
1/25	Units and Velocity	1.3 - 1.6
1/27	Working with Vectors	1.7 - 1.10	HW 1 Due
Week 2
1/31	Position, Velocity, and Acceleration	2.1 - 2.3
2/1	Motion with Constant Acceleration	2.4	HW 2 Due
2/3	Falling Motion	2.5 - 2.6
Week 3
2/6	Motion in Two and Three Dimensions	3.1 - 3.2
2/8	Projectile Motion	3.3	HW 3 Due
2/10	Forces and Newton's First Law	4.1 - 4.2
Week 4
2/13	Newton's Second Law	4.3 - 4.4, 4.6
2/15	Applying the Second Law	5.1 - 5.3, 6.3	HW 4 Due
2/17	Newton's Third Law	4.5
Week 5
2/20	Circular motion	3.4, 5.4
2/22	Newton's Universal Law of Gravitation	13.1 - 13.2	HW 5 Due
2/24	Mid-Term Exam I
Week 6
2/27	Work and Kinetic Energy	6.1 - 6.3
3/1	Potential Energy: An Introduction	7.1	HW 6 Due
3/3	Potential Energy: Applications	7.1
Week 7
3/6	Energy problems	7.2
3/8	Conservative Forces and Potential Energy	7.3 - 7.4	HW 7 Due
3/10	Gravitational Potential Energy	13.3 - 13.4
Week 8
3/13	Spring Break (No Class Meeting)
3/15	Spring Break (No Class Meeting)
3/17	Spring Break (No Class Meeting)
Week 9
3/20	Power	6.4
3/22	Momentum	8.1 - 8.2	HW 8 Due
3/24	Momentum Conservation and Collisions	8.3
Week 10
3/27	Elastic and Inelastic Collisions	8.4
3/29	Center of Mass	8.5 - 8.6	HW 9 Due
3/31	Introduction to Rotation	9.1
Week 11
4/3	Rotational Kinematics	9.2 - 9.3
4/5	Energy of Rotation and Moments of Inertia	9.4	HW 10 Due
4/7	Mid-Term Exam II
Week 12
4/10	Evaluating Moments of Inertia	9.5 - 9.6
4/12	Torque	10.1 - 10.2	HW 11 Due
4/14	Angular Dynamics Problems	10.3
Week 13
4/17	Angular Momentum	10.4 - 10.5
4/19	Vector Torque and Angular Momentum	10.6 - 10.7	HW 12 Due
4/21	Simple Harmonic Motion, Part I	14.1 - 14.3
Week 14
4/24	Simple Harmonic Motion, Part II	14.4 - 14.6
4/26	Wave Properties, Part I	15.1 - 15.2	HW 13 Due
4/28	Wave properties, Part II	15.3 - 15.4
Week 15
5/1	Energy in Wave Motion	15.5
5/3	Superposition and Interference	15.6 - 15.7
5/5	Standing Waves	15.8	HW 14 Due
Final Exam
5/11	Final Exam: 12:00 noon - 3:00 PM in Hugel 100