Old Announcements

Apr 23
Final Exam Format
The final exam will be in two parts. Part I is 26 (quick, hopefully) multiple-choice questions that are primarily qualitative. You may use a calculator if you wish, but any required calculations can probably be done in your head if you use g ≈ 10 m/s2. Part I is limited to 50 minutes! Part II has 2 free-response and 9 multiple-choice questions that require problem-solving, distributed roughly evenly over the topics in the course. You may use a calculator and the formula sheet and Table of Rotational Inertias that will be provided. You will have 120 minutes, plus whatever time you did not use on Part I, for Part II. The two parts will be weighted equally. If there is a substantial disparity in the class average between the two parts, scores on the part with the poorer average may be adjusted upward.
Apr 23
This formula sheet will be provided with Part II (the problem-solving portion) of of the final exam, as will the Table of Rotational Inertias from your text. You may use these copies to guide your preparation for the final, but do not bring them to the exam! Fresh copies will be provided with Part II of the final exam.
Apr 17
Quiz #5 Solutions
Solutions to Quiz #5 have been posted on the Quiz Solutions page.
Apr 05
Final Exam Locations
Final Exam Locations have been determined. Locations for section C (You, 11am) family names A–L and section E (Murray, 1pm) are different from the quiz locations. All other students taking the regular Final Exam in Exam Period One, Monday, April 30 from 8:00 to 10:50am, will report to their regular quiz location.
Students who notified Dr. Murray that they had a conflict with Period One have been advised of the PHYS 2211 Final Exam Conflict Period. A location has yet to be determined. Once a location has been selected, students with a conflict will be notified by email.
Apr 05
Results of Quiz #4 have been posted on the Course Standing Page.
Apr 03
Quiz #4 Solutions
Solutions to Quiz #4 have been posted on the Quiz Solutions page.
Mar 27
Final Exam
The final exam period has been set by the Registrar's Office. The Final Exam for 2211 sections A, B, C, D and E will be held Exam Period One, Monday, April 30 from 8:00 to 10:50am. Exam locations for each section will be established at a later date.
A PHYS 2211 Conflict Exam Period is in the process of being selected, based on the final exam schedules of those students who have already notified Dr. Murray that they had a conflict. Note that the PHYS 2211 Conflict Exam Period will be available only to students with an actual conflict.
Remember that that the Institute deadline for resolving any conflict is Monday, April 16. If you have not contacted Dr. Murray by this date, you will not be eligible for the PHYS 2211 Conflict Exam Period, and will have to take the final exam in the Institute Conflict Exam Period, Saturday, May 5.
Mar 27
MP40: Elastic Potential Energy
Once again, a problem on a regular assignment has inadvertently been marked for practice. This error has now (9:00am Tuesday, March 27) been corrected. There are no practice problems on MP40!
Mar 27
Quiz #4
Quiz #4 will be Monday, April 2 at 6:00pm. Each student is expected to take their quiz in the correct room. Answer cards for students who do not take their quiz in the correct room will NOT be scanned!! Be sure to bring a calculator that cannot store letters and your photo ID.
Mar 09
Results of Quiz #3 have been posted on the Course Standing Page. The results of the quiz were rather disappointing. To reduce discouragement, the posted quiz #3 grades have been curved according to
S = √[3002 + 2002 - (R - 300)2] - 200
where R is the original raw grade, and S is the scaled grade. Let me state the obvious by pointing out that no physics is learned in the scaling process. If your original grade, which you can determine by adding your points on the Course Standing page, is poor, you may want to spend some extra time studying these topics before the final exam.
Mar 06
Final Exam
The final exam period has been set by the Registrar's Office. The Final Exam for 2211 sections A, B, C, D and E will be held Exam Period One, Monday, April 30 from 8:00 to 10:50am. Exam locations for each section will be established at a later date.
All students are requested to review their full exam schedule carefully, to determine whether or not the 2211 exam will result in a conflict:
  • A Class One Conflict occurs when two exams are scheduled for the same time period. If you have any other Period One exam, you have a Class One Conflict.
  • A Class Two Conflict occurs when three exams are scheduled for the same day. If you have three exams (including Physics) on Monday, April 30, you have a Class Two Conflict.
If you have a conflict, please contact Dr. Murray by Monday, March 26, so that an optimum PHYS 2211 Conflict Exam Period can be established. The date of this Conflict Exam will be announced later in the semester. Note that the PHYS 2211 Conflict Exam Period is available only to students with an actual conflict.
Finally, please be aware that the Institute deadline for resolving any conflict is Monday, April 16. If you have not contacted Dr. Murray by this date, you will not be eligible for the PHYS 2211 Conflict Exam Period, and will have to take the final exam in the Institute Conflict Exam Period, Saturday, May 5.
Mar 06
Quiz #3 Solutions
Solutions to Quiz #3 have been posted on the Quiz Solutions page.
Feb 28
Quiz #3
Quiz #3 will be Monday, March 5 at 6:00pm. Each student is expected to take their quiz in the correct room. Answer cards for students who do not take their quiz in the correct room will NOT be scanned!! Be sure to bring a calculator that cannot store letters and your photo ID.
Feb 26
Student Workbook
Remember that the Student Workbook has been found to provide valuable practice for conceptual questions.
Feb 22
Recitation Solutions
Old recitation solutions are being posted as they become available, and new recitation solutions should be posted at the end of each week. Not only will this save trees, but students will be able to see the solution over the weekend, rather than waiting until their next recitation meeting. A link has been added to the menu on the left.
Feb 15
Progress Reports
Progress Reports (Mid-Term Grades) have been sent to the Registrar.
Feb 13
Quiz #2 Solutions
Solutions to Quiz #2 have been posted on the Quiz Solutions page.
Feb 08
Lab Rescheduled
Labs for Thursday, February 15, have been rescheduled for Thursday, March 1. Recitations are canceled on Thursday, February 15. We apologize for any inconvenience this causes.
Feb 08
Quiz #2
Quiz #2 will be Monday, February 12 at 6:00pm. Each student is expected to take their quiz in the correct room, and to bring a calculator that cannot store letters. Don't forget your photo ID!
Feb 01
Quiz #1 Grades
Results for Quiz #1 have been posted to Course Standing. Note that the question numbers are linked to the solutions, so you'll know which question is which. For the free-response (hand-graded) questions, the letters for Your Answer and the Correct Answer are just codes used to award partial credit.
Feb 01
Qualitative Assessment Extra Credit
Extra credit for the Qualitative Assessment will be applied to your homework average. One-tenth of the number of questions answered correctly will be added to your overall homework percentage. For example, if a student had a 95.0% homework average, and they answered 15 questions out of 30 correctly, their homework grade would be increased to 96.5%. Homework averages may exceed 100%. We hope this is enough so that students who took the Qualitative Assessment consider their efforts worthwhile, while not so much as to discourage those who could not take it for one reason or another.
Jan 30
Quiz #1 Solutions
Solutions to Quiz #1 have been posted on the Quiz Solutions page.
Jan 30
Qualitative Assessment
Results from the Qualitative Assessment, administered on the first day of class, have been posted to Course Standing.
Jan 29
Recitation w/o Lab
I'd just like to remind everyone that recitations will be held even when no lab is scheduled. The first week of the semester was the only exception, since the TA's hadn't yet been assigned at that point.
Jan 29
Tracking a Plane
The Tracking a Plane problem on MP09 was marked "practice" in error. I figured students would know it was an error as the class policies page states that the Saturday "assignment" is the practice, so I corrected the error as soon as I noticed it, on Friday morning. Since students who take the course seriously are doing the practice problems anyway, I didn't expect this to be an issue. I am very disappointed that it has become one. I've made that problem practice again.
-Eric Murray
Jan 25
Note Takers Needed!
Student note takers are needed in sections B and C to take notes for students with a disability. The note takers will be paid a stipend for this assignment. Skills needed are the ability to take accurate, legible, and organized notes and a commitment to attend every lecture. If interested, please contact Tina Allen via office phone at 404-894-2563 or via email at notetaker@vpss.gatech.edu as soon as possible.
(Jan 30) These positions have been filled.
Jan 24
Quiz Locations have been determined!
Quiz #1 will be Monday, January 29 at 6:00pm. Students should go to the following rooms for this and future quizzes: Be sure to locate your room and read the Quiz Rules before the first quiz. Don't forget your photo ID and your calculator that cannot store letters.
Jan 24
Students with ADAPTS letters must see Dr. Murray in Howey-Physics W-105 before the first quiz, even if they have already contacted their own instructor.
Jan 10
Because of the error in the Jan 08 announcement below, the deadline for the first assignment in MasteringPhysics has been changed to 11:59pm Wednesday, January 10.
Jan 09
Contact information for the PHYS 2211 Teaching Assistants has been added to the menu. Mr. Joh should be your first contact if wish for email help with MasteringPhysics. Ms. Merchán will be monitoring the Discussion Board, and may be contacted by email if an issue arises with the board.
Jan 09
So students will not miss an opportunity to learn and practice good problem-solving techniques, attendance at recitation will be required. The recitation attendance policy will be the same as that in lab.
Jan 08
Welcome to PHYS 2211 A–E! Don't forget to enroll in MasteringPhysics™ for this course. Enrollment will be possible through 9:00am Tuesday, January 16, but the first assignment is due on Wednesday, January 10.
Section E (Murray) Students will need to purchase and register a PRS transmitter. Registration will be closed at noon on Tuesday, January 16.
Not surprisingly, all students will need a text. We'll be using Physics for Scientists and Engineers — A Strategic Approach (First Edition) by Randall D. Knight.
  • Chapters 1 through 14 will be covered.
  • If you are buying the softcover multi-volume edition, you will need only Volume One.
  • Make sure that you purchase a textbook that has a passcode for the MasteringPhysics™ homework system bundled in with it.
  • The Student Workbook has been found to provide valuable practice for conceptual questions.