Physics 55 Spring 2007
General Course Information

Official Course Schedule Entry

Lecture Time: MWF 3:05-3:55 PM Room 130

Textbook: The Cosmic Perspective, Fourth Edition, Media Update, by Bennett, Donahue, Schneider and Voit, Pearson/Addison-Wesley. The accompanying website is Mastering Astronomy. Expect to spend about 4-6 hours per week reading the textbook and exploring the website in preparation for the lectures. Relevant readings and links to other info for each lecture can be found in the syllabus. You are encouraged to do the tutorials on the text website corresponding to the relevant readings; some quiz and exam questions will be drawn from them. However these tutorials are neither required nor graded.

Grading: In-class Questions 5%, Homework 20%, Observation 20%, Quizzes 15%, Midterm 15%, Final 25%. Up to 5% extra credit may be gained via pre-arranged projects.

Prerequisites:

1. A curiosity and open mind to learn about the universe.
2. Some skepticism and a willingness to ask questions: how do we know what we know about astronomy?
3. A working knowledge of high-school mathematics
   • The ability to manipulate numbers written in scientific notation, e.g., you should know how to multiply 1.2 ×10⁶ times the number -3.4 ×10^-3.
   • The ability to manipulate and to understand simple algebraic expressions such as F= G M₁ M₂ / d².
   • The ability to make and to appreciate simple x-y plots.
   Appendix C of the textbook ("A Few Mathematical Skills") reviews most of what you need to know so please read this appendix if you feel your skills are rusty. The course will also give you numerous opportunities to review and to practice your mathematical skills.

Stuff you will need:

1. The text The Cosmic Perspective, Fourth Edition, Media Update by Jeffrey Bennett et al. This can be purchased in the Bryan Center textbook store, one level down.
2. An inexpensive calculator that can handle scientific notation, i.e., numbers of the form 1.23×10^-4 (which might appear as 1.23E-4 on some calculators). Such calculators can be purchased for about $10 at many stores. (A graphing calculator like a Texas Instruments TI-83 is fine but overkill for this course; you will mainly need to compute products and powers of numbers.)
3. A PRS (Personal Response System) RF transmitter. It can be purchased at the bookstore.
4. A computer with color display screen, CD-ROM, and a connection to the Internet. You will be installing and using a digital planetarium program, Voyager SkyGazer that comes with your textbook. You will also be running tutorials from the Mastering Astronomy webpage associated with the text.
5. A Duke computer account for browsing the Internet and for e-mail. Your browser should be configured to display PDF (Portable Document Format). The OIT web page has links that explain how to do this. The TA and I can also help.