Course Instructor: Prof. Andrew Mastbaum (mastbaum@physics.rutgers.edu)
Two 55-minute in-person lectures per week in the Physics Lecture Hall (PLH, map): Tuesday and Friday, 8:45–9:40 AM.
One 80-minute in-person workshop recitation/week:
Section | Day | Time | Room |
01 | W | 10:20 AM | SEC-218 |
02 | W | 12:10 PM | SEC-218 |
03 | W | 5:40 PM | SEC-218 |
01:750:228 Analytical Physics IIb is a 3-credit course introducing optics, relativity, and modern physics. This course will provide a solid foundation, at an elementary level, in waves and optics, relativity, quantum properties of electrons and photons, wave mechanics, atomic, solid state, nuclear and elementary particle physics. In addition to the two 55-minute lectures, you will meet in one 80-minute recitation each week, where you will gain experience with the material by working through examples and problems.
Note: This schedule is subject to change!
Week | Tuesday Lecture | Recitation | Homework | Thursday Lecture |
9/2 | Nature of light Reading: 33.1 - 33.3 |
None | HW 1 (Due 9/8) | Dispersion, polarization 33.4 - 33.7 |
9/9 | Mirrors and images 34.1 - 34.4 |
Recitation 1 | HW 2 (Due 9/11) | Thin lenses 34.4 - 34.8 |
9/16 | Interference 35.1 - 35.3 |
Recitation 2 | HW 3 (Due 9/18) | Thin films 35.4 - 35.5 |
9/23 | Diffraction 36.1 - 36.3 |
Recitation 3 | HW 4 (Due 9/25) | Diffraction cont'd 36.4 - 36.5, 36.7 |
9/30 | Special Relativity 37.1 - 37.4 |
Recitation 4 | HW 5 (Due 10/2) | Exam 1 (10/4) |
10/9 | Lorentz transformations 37.5 - 37.6 |
Recitation 5 | HW 6 (Due 10/9) | Relativistic kinematics 37.7 - 37.9 |
10/14 | Photons 38.1 - 38.2 |
Recitation 6 | HW 7 (Due 10/16) | Photons cont'd 38.3 - 38.4 |
10/21 | Particles & waves 39.1 - 39.3 |
Recitation 7 | HW 8 (Due 10/23) | Atoms 39.4 - 39.6 |
10/28 | Quantum Mechanics in 1D 40.1 - 40.3 |
Recitation 8 | HW 9 (Due 10/30) | QM potentials 40.4 - 40.6 |
11/4 | Atomic Structure 41.1 - 41.3 |
Recitation 9 | HW 10 (Due 11/6) | Exam 2 (11/8) |
11/11 | Hydrogen Atom 41.3 - 41.5 |
Recitation 10 | HW 11 (Due 11/13) | Multi-electron atoms 41.6 - 41.8 |
11/18 | Condensed matter & molecules 42.1 - 42.4 |
Recitation 11 | HW 12 (Due 11/20) | Conductors & semiconductors 42.5 - 42.8 |
11/25 | Nuclear Physics 43.1 - 43.4 |
Friday schedule No recitation |
HW 13 (Due 11/27) | Thanksgiving recess No lecture |
12/2 | Nuclear fission & fusion 43.5 - 43.8 |
Recitation 12 | HW 14 (Due 12/4) | Particle physics 44.1 - 44.5 |
12/9 | Particle physics, review | None | HW 15 (Due 12/11) | Reading days No lecture |
Final Exam: Friday, 12/20, 12:00–3:00 PM in PLH |
To enhance learning and provide affordable access to course material, this course is part the First Day Inclusive Access Program. You can easily access the course materials at discounted price through Canvas, by using the First Day Course Materials navigation link. Rutgers University will bill you at the discounted price as a course charge for this course. If you wish, you may choose to opt out, until the deadline on September 17. More details and support contact information are available on Canvas.
To register for the MasteringPhysics online homework system, use the Access Pearson navigation link in Canvas. The easiest way to get access is to purchase the version that includes the eText within MasteringPhysics via the First Day Course Materials program. If you choose to buy a copy of the book separately, be sure that it is the 15th edition version with Modern Physics.
To record your answers to lecture questions, you can create a free Mentimeter account, or email them to yourself at the end of the lecture. The lecture questions will not be graded.
For an additional reference for the course material, the free text book OpenStax University Physics Vol.3 is a good resource.
Your grade will be based on five components:
You must attend your own section, and will work with a partner. The worksheets you complete will be graded by your section instructor, each out of 20 points in total.
Homework is automatically graded, with a total score out of 100. Free Response Problems will allow up to 6 attempts with a 3% penalty on each. Multiple Choice questions will carry a penalty of 100%/(N-1), where N is the number of choices.
Late Homework will carry a penalty of 10% per day (0.4% per hr) with a maximum penalty of 50% (submitted 5 days or more after the deadline). Late penalties apply only to incomplete items (i.e., problems or parts of problems). No extensions will be given for any reason.
There will be two midterm exams and one comprehensive final exam. Items allowed at exams include: pencil(s), eraser(s), and a scientific calculator. No notes are allowed; a standard equation sheet will be provided.
All exams will be held in person. Midterm exams will be 55 minutes long and consist of about 10–15 multiple choice questions. The final exam will be 180 minutes long and consist of about 30 multiple choice questions.
The tentative ranges for letter grades are as follows. Note that the thresholds may be lowered, but will not be raised above these levels.
Changes: The course schedule and guidelines are subject to change. Any changes will be communicated promptly and clearly.
Absences: Students are expected to attend all classes; if you expect to miss one or two classes, please use the University absence reporting website to indicate the date and reason for your absence. An email is automatically sent to your instructors.
If you have been told to quarantine, or are experiencing symptoms of any transmissible disease, please do not attend in-person class meetings. Contact the Professor to make arrangements for handling such absences.
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Rutgers University takes academic dishonesty very seriously. By enrolling in this course, you assume responsibility for familiarizing yourself with the Academic Integrity Policy and the possible penalties (including suspension and expulsion) for violating the 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):
If in doubt, please contact the Professor. Also review the Academic Integrity Policy and Academic Integrity Resources for Students.
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.”
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Rutgers University welcomes students with disabilities into all of the University's educational programs. In order to receive consideration for reasonable accommodations, a student with a disability must contact the appropriate disability services office at the campus where you are officially enrolled, participate in an intake interview, and provide documentation: https://ods.rutgers.edu/students/documentation-guidelines. If the documentation supports your request for reasonable accommodations, your campus’s disability services office will provide you with a Letter of Accommodations. Please share this letter with your instructors and discuss the accommodations with them as early in your courses as possible. To begin this process, please complete the Registration form on the ODS web site at: https://ods.rutgers.edu/students/getting-registered.