University of California at Berkeley

Department of Physics

Physics 8A Course Information

[email protected] (email is the best way to contact me)

First week: You must attend your discussion/laboratory (D/L) sections during the first two weeks of class
to remain enrolled. If you need to change discussion sections (for schedule conflicts only), we will hold a
“swap meet” after the first lecture on Tuesday 1/18 at 2pm. The Drop Deadline is Friday 1/28. Please
contact Claudia Trujillo <[email protected]> in Student Services for more detailed enrollment
information.

Course WWW URL: Once you are registered in the class, you should have access to the course web site
on bSpace (http://bspace.berkeley.edu). The site contains course information and I will be posting
practice exams there along with other useful information when the time comes. Make sure your email
address is correct, as we will sometimes be distributing information through bspace mailings.

Head Graduate Student Instructor: Tony Ho <[email protected]>

8A Course Center: 103 LeConte Hall

Additional help is available through the Student Learning Center (Golden Bear Center), the Honors
Society, the Society of Physics Students, and the Physics Scholars Program. Inquire in the Physics
Department Undergraduate Student Services Office (368 LeConte Hall) for further information.

Required Text: Essential University Physics, Vol 1 by Richard Wolfson (Addison Wesley)
Student Learning Handbook by Waterhouse and Gillespie
These two are available at Ned’s and the ASUC bookstore bundled in a package with the access code for
the online homework (see below).

Discussion/Laboratory (D/L) Sections: You must be registered in DIS and LAB sections with the same
number (e.g. DIS 203 & LAB 203). They meet twice a week for two hours. You must attend your
registered sections during the first two weeks (even before the first lecture) or you may be
dropped from the course. Some D/L meetings will be discussions and some will be laboratory sessions.
Attendance at D/L sections is part of the course, and you are responsible for the material presented there.
Sections provide an opportunity to ask questions, discuss areas you are uncertain of, and to further
cement your understanding.

Lab Policy & Make-up labs: All labs are due at the end of the laboratory session; late labs will not be
accepted. If you miss a lab session, you must make it up in another lab section that week and turn it in to
the GSI of the section that you are making the lab up in, who will then return that lab to your GSI. Make-
up labs are granted only for legitimate reasons and only with the permission of your GSI and the GSI of
the section that you are making the lab up in. There will be no make-ups at the end of the semester.
Missed labs will badly affect your grade and can even lead to fail the course, as explained later.

Readings: Reading the textbook and working problems is very important. Be prepared for lecture and
section by reading the assigned sections in advance. Lectures and sections both assume that some of
the basic material has been learned from the text already.

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Homework: Working on homework problems is central to your learning the course material. You will have
a weekly problem set of varying difficulty, due Friday at 11pm. The first assignment is due Friday,
January 23, but it is for practice only (no credit). Late homework will not be accepted. Homework is
assigned and submitted via the online homework program Mastering Physics, and the class ID is
MPBORDEL32795. This system enables you to get rapid feedback on whether you understand the
material, and it has some ability to prompt you past difficulties. You should attempt each homework
problem on your own, but we encourage you to work with peers when you get stuck. When submitting
work as your own, however, you are stating that the solutions you are presenting are your own. You will
learn better if you can formulate your own solutions!

Lectures: Lectures are where we present the course material, but this is not self-sufficient. D/L sections
and Homework problems are essential for your understanding of the material. You are welcome to ask
questions during lectures! I recommend that you not attempt to get every word down in your notebook.
ASUC will make their lecture note service available.

Exams: There will be 2 midterm examinations on Thursday, March 03, 6:30-8:30pm in 1, 2, 3 & 4
LeConte and Thursday, April 07, 6:30-8:30pm in 145 & 155 Dwinelle, plus the final exam on Thursday,
May 12, 3-6pm (Exam Group 15). A Cal ID with your picture is required at all exams. More details
regarding what you will be allowed to bring will be posted before the first midterm.

Academic honesty: We encourage you to work with your fellow students when appropriate. Any form of
cheating will be treated very severely, most likely by your failing the entire course and by referral to
Student Judicial Affairs: http://students.berkeley.edu/uga/conduct.asp.

Grades: Your attendance and active participation in all parts of the course is expected. You are
responsible for all information presented in lectures, D/L sections, and on homework assignments.
Grades will be determined from a weighting of all the elements as follows:
HOMEWORK: 15%
LABS: 10%
EXAMS: 75%

Your EXAM SCORES will be based on a weighted average of your MIDTERM SCORES and your FINAL
EXAM SCORE:
MIDTERM 1: 25%
MIDTERM 2: 25%
FINAL EXAM: 50%

Your numerical score will be used to assign a course letter grade for the class, with two (hopefully rare)
exceptions discussed below.
The mapping of ranges of numerical scores to letter grades will reflect our judgment as to what
percentages correspond to various degrees of demonstrated performance and learning, based on our
overall assessment of all assignments, their difficulty, and their weights.
The university officially assigns meanings to the letter grades as follows:
*A+*
*A* Excellent
*A-*
*B+*
*B* Good
*B-*
*C+*
*C* Fair
*C-*
*D* Barely passing
*F* Failed

So, for example, and *A-* will be given where the scores indicate a demonstrated understanding of the
material at a level closer to a definitive "excellent" than to a merely "good." An *A+* would be given for
truly exceptional performance in the course. At the other end, a straight *D* constitutes barely passing
performance, and an *F* means that the course needs to be retaken.
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When taking a class pass/no-pass (P/NP), a *P* grade corresponds to the equivalent of a *C-* grade or
above.

Because both the Physics Department and Medical Schools take seriously the classification of this class
as laboratory-based, we will not only give a zero for any unexcused missed lab, but also lower your
grade by one-third of a letter grade (e.g., from *A-* to *B+*, or from *B+* to *B*) for one unexcused
missing lab, and give an F for two or more unexcused missing labs.

Out of the desire to maintain the high standards for education at the University of California, and fairness
and meaningfulness of grades, the University and Physics Department have established "strongly
recommended" guidelines for the distribution of A's, B's, and C's in any one course. For lower-division,
non-honors courses like Physics 8A, the recommendations are as follows: 25% A+/A/A-, 40% B+/B/B-,
and 35% C+ or below.

Note that on each exam or on labs or homework assignments, you will not be assigned a letter grade, but
we will post some class-wide statistics, and will decide the numerical cutoffs for corresponding letter
grades at the end of the semester.

A course grade of "Incomplete" will only be considered under circumstances beyond a student’s control,
and only when these circumstances have prevented the student from completing certain assignments, not
just because performance suffered, and then, according to official university policy, only when work
already completed is of at least "C" quality or better.
Students should contact Tony or me directly in the event of such emergencies, as soon as is possible. If
you are having difficulties or falling behind, PLEASE talk to us sooner rather than later, during the
semester, not after the grades are submitted to the university.

In accordance with University policy, an "Incomplete" for the course will only be given under
circumstances beyond a student’s control, and only when work already completed is of at least C quality.

There is quite a lot of material in this course, and not a lot of time to learn it. There are many
resources available to help you, so we strongly encourage you to take advantage of them. Also,
keep in mind that working with your peers and providing explanations to other students is an
excellent way of improving your understanding of the course material.

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