Phys3121 Classical Mechanics I

Fall 2010, UNC Charlotte

Course Information
Instructor: Dr. Tsing-Hua Her, Grigg 107, (o) 704-687-8139, ther@uncc.edu
Class meeting: Monday, and Wednesday 9:30 – 10:45 AM, Grigg 131.
Office hours: Thursday 1-3 PM, Grigg 107.

Course Description
This course is the first-semester course on the subject “classical mechanics”. Classical mechanics
is to study the dynamics of particles and systems, with an ultimate goal to understand and
predict objects’ motion. Subjects to be covered in this course include Newton’s laws of motion,
motion of projectiles and charged particles, linear and angular momentum, energy, simple
harmonic oscillations, calculus of variation, and Lagrange’s equations. Detailed list of topics are
included in the academic calendar.

Textbook
Required textbook: Classical Mechanics, by John R. Taylor, 2nd ed. (University Science Books)
Supplementary textbook: Classical Dynamics of Particles and systems, by Thornton and Marion,
5th edition (Thomson Brooks/Cole). This book is researved in the Atkin lbrary under this course
and you may check it out for one day.

Instructions
Class will be conducted using tablet PC in Microsoft OneNote. Lecture notes, handouts, as well
as homework solutions will be posted online at course website
http://maxwell.uncc.edu/ther/PHYS3121/.

Grading
Grade scale: A grade of A, B, C, D, or F will be determined using a 10-point grading scale. A=90-
100; B=80-89+; C=70-79+; D=60-69+; F=<60.
Weighting factors: Homework assignments (25%), first midterm (20%), second midterm (25%),
and one final Exam (30%). The overage and date for each test are indicated in the lecture
calendar. This grade is final and will NOT be curved.
A note on homework: Homework consists of two parts. One is the reading assignment of
textbook sections. An approximate list of reading assignment for each class is given in the
lecture calendar for general reference purpose only. The actual reading assignment will be
based on topics covered in the lecture. The second part of the homework is problem solving,
which is primarily based on textbook problems and will be assigned at the end of each lecture.
Your written assignment during the week is due the following Monday by the end of the lecture.
Late submission is NOT accepted and it is better off you submit the homework on time, even
though you don’t finish it. There are totally 12 written assignments and their due date is listed in
lecture calendar. No homework will be dropped.

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A note on test: all tests are in-class and close-booked. However, one page of formula, written on
single side of the page, is allowed in the test.
Bonus points: Bonus points are available to encourage students’ engagement and promote their
performance. Each written assignment and in-class test is designed to have a full score of 100
points but the actual problems therein will have a total score more than 110 - 120 points. This is
to encourage you to work on as many problems as possible to gain enough points to
compensate for other points you lose.

Academic integrity
Students have the responsibility to know and observe the requirements of The UNC Charlotte
Code of Student Academic Integrity. (Policy #105). The standards of academic integrity will be
enforced in this course. The code forbids cheating, fabrication or falsification of information,
multiple submissions of academic work, plagiarism, abuse of academic materials, and complicity
in academic dishonesty. You may work with study partners and discuss the subject matter with
them. However, each student is individually responsible for his/her tests, papers, and reports.
The UNC Charlotte Code of Student Academic Integrity is published in the current University
Catalog. The code is also available at http://legal.uncc.edu/policies/ps-105.html.

Lecture Calendar
The following table contains the timeline of various topics, reading assignment, and due date of
written assignments. Please notice that the information provided here is based on rough
estimate and students should follow the actual course progress when preparing for the class.
Any change will be announcement in class.

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 Reading HW
Date Chapter Topics
assigment due
8/23/2010 space & time, mass & force 1.1-1.3
8/25/2010 1. Newton's Laws of Newton's laws, inertial frame, mementum conservation 1.4-1.5
8/30/2010 Motion Newton's 2nd law in Cartesian coordinates 1.6 HW1
9/1/2010 2D poalr coordinates 1.7
9/8/2010 linear air resistance 2.1-2.2
9/13/2010 2. Projectiles and Charged trajectory & ranges in linear medium 2.3 HW2
9/15/2010 Particles quadratic air resistance 2.4
9/20/2010 charges in B fields 2.5-2.7 HW3
9/22/2010 midterm 1
9/27/2010 3. Momentum and Angular conservation of momentum, rockets, center of mass 3.1-3.3 HW4
9/29/2010 Momentum angualr momentum of particles 3.4-3.5
10/4/2010 kinetic energy & work 4.1-4.2 HW5
10/6/2010 potential energy & conservative force 4.3-4.4
10/13/2010 energy for linear 1D systems 4.6
4. Energy
10/18/2010 curvalinear 1D systems 4.7 HW6
10/20/2010 central force 4.8
10/25/2010 energy of particle system 4.9-4.10 HW7
10/27/2010 midterm 2
11/1/2010 Hook's law, simple harmonic oscillation 5.1-5.2 HW8
11/3/2010 2D oscialltion, damped oscillations 5.3-5.4
11/8/2010 5. Oscillation driven damped oscillations 5.5 HW9
11/10/2010 resonance, Fourier series 5.6-5.7
11/15/2010 Fourier series for driven oscillation, Parseval's theorem 5.8-5.9 HW10
11/17/2010 Eulaer-lagrange equations 6.1-6.2
6. Calcualus of Variables
11/22/2010 applications of Euler-Lagrange equations 6.3-6.4 HW11
11/29/2010 Lagrange's equation for unconstrainted motion 7.1
12/1/2010 constrainted systems 7.2-7.4
7. Lagrange's Equations
12/6/2010 Examples of lagrange's equations 7.5 HW12
12/8/2010 generalized momenta & ignorable coordinates 7.6-7.7
T.B.D. final

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