Welcome to the PHYSICS 5B Course Page--- (remember to reload...)
SUMMER READING: Ch 36 (this is a very interesting chapter to read and explore on your own. It deals with cameras and all that. You can e-mail me if you have questions)

Notes on the Final follow below...

The final will emphasis understanding, graphing and problem solving; like the midterms.

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Special office hours for Friday and finals week:
---I will have office hours from 12-2PM on Friday, and in addition a review session on Wednesday from 1:00 to 2:30 PM in Kerr 283.
Also, drop-ins are OK this week. Zack Schlesinger
office: 205 Kerr Hall
459-3714 (call 1st to see if I'm there if you want-- drop-ins OK)

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Here are some notes on the Final:
Notes for the final/ Course summary,

1. The statics problems are very good because they allow interesting problems to be constructed. There is an infinite spectrum of equations that can be created, but of course you only need a few, so judgement is involved. This is the kind of thing (exercising judgement) that humans are great at. For this problems (problems like the double ladder one) it is good to really understand conceptually what each equations is saying. It is important to understand to understand the difference between the kind of information you get by analyzing the whole thing together vs analyzing it after it is cut in parts (usually 2 parts).
It is not very valuable to read over a solution to a statics problem to see if you understand it. It is MUCH MORE USEFUL to sit down with a balnk peice of paper and work out the solution to a statics problem with no help of any kind. Solve it for several variations (of angles, configuration, whatever...). Work your solution through to the end (don't leave answers in terms of sin's... and see if the result makes sense (agrees with yr intuition).

2. Fluid flow Bernoulli eqn stuff. This also lends itself to designing cool problems. You know the equation. Make sure you understand what it is saying, and that you can work problems starting with only a blank peice of paper! There will definitely be problems on both fluid flow and statics on the final.

3. Bouyancy. It is worth understanding. It is not hard. There may be a problem on it on the final if a I can think of a good one.

4. Waves; this is a big area. There will definitely be problems on it. Standing waves of strings, standing pressure waves of tubes, travelling pulses, wave propagation, pulse propagation,...

a. Standing waves of strings
b. Pulses on strings

c. wave equation (understand it), how to use it on functions, not how to derive it.

cc. Ability to discern transverse velocity (for a string), or air flow velocity (for a pressure wave), and to relate it to the equation for the wave. i.e., y(x,t)=f(x,t) what is dy/dt vs x ? (and some time, t)

d. pressure waves, open ended tubes closed ended tubes... propagating pressure waves, boundary conditions for pressure waves (what happens if there is a hole in the side of a tube to the pressure waves (like in a flute) how is tha standing wave spectrum effected?)

e.combinations of more than one normal mode (standing wave).

5. Optics, simple ray tracing

reflection at plane or spherical mirrors.

principal rays for simple imaging. (see notes on webb)

diffraction from double or multiple slits (where are the maxima) what does the pattern of maxima look like?

mutiple reflection from a thin film. (Farbry-Perot) interference between the first and second surface reflections for a free-standing thin film or a film coating on glass.

refraction, Snell's law, how it is related to slowing down of the wave.
Applications of this to light or water waves. Ability to construct analogies between light and water waves.

Sound intensity problems, dB scale...

Doppler effect (simple ones, moving source or "detector" (person hearing)


The 9th homework assignment is:

Click here for the 9th HW assignment (I may add some more problems later...)


The 8th homework assignment is:

Click here for the 8th HW assignment (Due May 30!!!)

(Note: the eres bulletin board is a valuable resource for people doing homework.) Click here for ERES Bulletin Board...
Click here for ERES WEBB Site...
Homework is due each Thursday by 5:00 PM
in the Physics Department Office, 297 Kerr Hall.
(Look for the "5B box".)

Here's something on going faster than the speed of light
Click here for the 7th HW assignment
Click here for the 6th HW assignment
Click here for the 5th HW assignment
Click here for the notes on problem 20-35
Click here for the 4th HW assignment
Click here for the 3rd HW assignment

Click here for Solutions (Homework/ Midterm(s)) and to post comments on problems/solutions...
(The ERES page, passwd=phys5b)
Note: FINDING ERRORS in solutions or in problems/answers in the book gets you xtra credit !
Check out the ERES bulletin board. Post comments and point out ambiguities etc...


Click here for all office hours and discussion section times for this course
Click here for the Lab Schedule for this course

Course outline (syllabus)


Zack Schlesinger
Department of Physics
University of California, Santa Cruz
office: 205 Kerr Hall
zack@physics.ucsc.edu
Office Hours:
1:00 - 1:50 PM, Monday and Wednesday.
office: 205 Kerr Hall