Welcome to the course page for Electricity & Magnetism. My schedule is on the welcome page of this site for your convenience in setting up appointments. Check back frequently for homework, updated course documents, etc. I’ll post solutions to homework and some in class exercises here to motivate your preparation for exams.
Electricity & Magnetism Course Documents
Syllabus <version 2018.01.01>
Tentative Schedule <version 2018.04.08>
Physics Reference Card <version 2018.03.19>
Open Stax Text
Get it Here
Consider ordering a hard copy from the OpenStax people (or Amazon, where you can rent it if you wish). There will be some copies in the bookstore as well. You’re under no obligation to buy a copy, but I recommend a hard copy.
Later in the semester, when we need to do some optics and light things, you can access the third volume of the text via the same page linked above. I haven’t asked the bookstore to get copies to keep your costs down – interacting with the text via the web ought to be sufficient for how little of the course we use that
Schaum’s Outlines Supplementary Text
While the OpenStax text we use has more example problems in it than any general text I’ve used, students always want more. The Schaum’s Outline series can provide this for you. They also give you access to a different style of author, which is helpful since the OpenStax authors don’t write your exams. They are inexpensive, easily had, and have fewer errors than you will find just cruising the internet. Here’s one on Barnes and Noble. There are many more out there – you may find it helpful to actually go to a bookstore and look at the content. Ones billed as “preparatory,” “beginning,” or “college” physics support less advanced courses. The “electromagnetics” one supports a more advanced course. All may be useful, the one I linked, I believe, is the best.
Tidbits
Course Specific
Here’s a general guide to grading and a problem-solving template, as well as a primer on significant figures to supplement the text coverage. Be sure to check out the grading guide – I don’t generally need to write extensive comments on your work because I post very detailed solutions.
Simulations
When we use physlets, the best way to access them is via this website: compadre.org. Also helpful as a resource at home as you study for exams – explore the many problems and activities we don’t do in class! Many are directly linked in the OpenStax text.
Also, on the simulation front, PhET simulations are great tools. They can help you develop an intuitive understanding of the concepts we cover. (See especially the energy skate park(s), buoyancy, balancing act, collisions, and forces labs.)
Other Supplementals
Here’s an overview of ray tracing with various examples. Lenses and mirrors are included, both convex and concave.
Electricity & Magnetism Board Problems and Homework
Be prepared to do board problems in class. Below is a list of problems I like from the text. I expect you will pass the course if you can solve all of them without notes. The more problems you do, the better prepared you’ll be to encounter the new ones on exams – you ought to do more than what are on the list.
You should maintain a list of what problems have already been done on the board (and which have been quizzed if your course will have homework quizzes).
Once a problem is done, don’t abandon it. Revisit it and try to solve it again a different way, perturb it and see how the answer changes. Predict what other questions could be asked about the same physical scenario – what other information would you need to be given in order to be asked these questions, etc. I like to take problems I know you’ve solved (or have at least been asked to), change up the known and unknown quantities, and put them on exams. The best way to study for ~70% of the exam is then pretty clear.
Electricity & Magnetism Homework:
Old Electricity & Magnetism Exams
old exam folder here
New Electricity & Magnetism Exams
Exam 1: TBA
Exam2: TBA
Exam 3: TBA
Final: TBA
Electricity & Magnetism Help!
Free help is available through department-funded student tutors in the conference room across the hall from our classroom if your course is meeting during the regular academic year. I also have office hours every week (link to my schedule is at the top of this page).