Exams and grades
There will be two midterms (in the evening) and a final:
- Midterm 1: Thurs, Feb 11, 7:30-9:00 PM, location: G1B20
- Midterm 2: Thurs, Mar 17, 7:30-9:00 PM, location: G1B20
- Final: Tues, May 3, 1:30-4:00 PM, location: G1B20
Final Exam Informaiton
The exam will consist of multiple choice questions (~ 90% of exam) and
long answer questions (~ 10% of exam).
There will be this info sheet part of your
exam booklet a draft of it is here.
Please bring a pencil and a calculator to the exam. In addition, you can bring
a up to 3, 3x5 notecard with your own handwritten notes (front and back). No other
material is allowed.
Material:
50% of the exam will cover material through midterms 1 and 2, and 50% will cover material following but not include cosmology, gravitational waves, or high harmonic generation. Detailed information on the mterials for midterm 1 and 2 are below, and a list of topics for items since the mideterm 2 can be found here.
Class session on Wed Apr 27 will review the first half of the final, and Friday the second half of the Final.
ALSO: Learning Assistants will lead
Review Sessions will be held Wed Apr 27 5-6p
and Thurs Apr 28, 4-6p in the help room area
Practice materials have been posted on D2L
Midterm 2: Results
Exam 2 is graded. The class average was 79.5%, with a median of 83.5% (half of the class scored above that)
and a standard deviation of 12.2%.
The average on the Multiple Choice part was 80% and on the Long Answer part was 78%.
That's a nice high score, congratulation and well done to the class.
If your score is lower than you were expecting or you are worried about
your score, please do not hesitate to contact Prof. Becker or Prof. Finkelstein to see how you
can do better next time.
Midterm 2: Info
The exam will consist of multiple choice questions (~ 60% of exam) and
long answer questions (~ 40% of exam).
There will be this
info sheet part of your
exam booklet.
Please bring a pencil and a calculator to the exam. In addition, you can bring
a 3x5 notecard with your own handwritten notes (front and back). No other
material is allowed.
Material:
Everything covered in class in week 5-9 (incl. Mar 9), the corresponding assigned
sections in the textbook, all clicker questions and all problems on HW 4-7 would
be fair game.
Try to summarize the material covered in the course so far by yourself. Here are
some highlights, you should:
- understand the postulates of the Bohr model and which principles of classical physics are
fulfilled and which are violated in the model; the relation between kinetic, potential and total energy
in the Bohr model for hydrogen (and hydrogen like ions, e.g. He+ etc.);
the quantization of energy and radius (incl. formulas); the number of of possible states etc.
- know de Broglie wavelength (concept and formula); be able to calculate the wavelength
for a given particle (mass, energy) or photon (energy); know the concept of standing waves
and how this leads to a quantization of the orbital angular momentum.
- understand the results and interpretation of the double slit experiment with electrons and
other massive particles; particle, wave and probabilistic features in the results; the concept
of a matter wavefunction and the probability density based on the results of the double slit
experiment; the changes in the observations once the particle is observed behind the slits etc.
- understand the concept of the wavefunction; physical meaning of the probability density
and the probability based on the wavefunction (incl. calculation); the concepts of superposition
and normalization.
- know the Schrodinger equation (time-dependent and time-independent); use the separation of variables
for the solution (incl. when can it be applied); the solutions for a free particle (what is a free
particle?)
- know the difference between a plane wave and a wave packet; the relation between energy, wavelength,
frequency etc. for a plane wave; the uncertainty in position and momentum for plane waves and wave packets;
Heisenberg uncertainty relation.
- understand the concept of complementary variables; the relation to Heisenberg uncertainty relation;
the consequences for the measurements of such variables (simultaneous and individual).
- know the results and interpretation of the Stern-Gerlach experiment; the concept of the spin of
electrons and atoms; the analysis with one and more than one Spin-Gerlach analyzers (in different
directions).
Midterm 1: Results
Exam 1 is graded. The class average was 76.4%, with a median of 81% (half of the class scored above that)
and a standard deviation of 15.8%.
The average on the Multiple Choice part was 73% and on the Long Answer part was 81%.
That's a nice high score, congratulation and well done to the class.
If your score is lower than you were expecting or you are worried about
your score, please do not hesitate to contact Prof. Becker or Prof. Finkelstein to see how you
can do better next time.
Midterm 1: Info
The exam will consist of multiple choice questions (~ 60% of exam) and
long answer questions (~ 40% of exam). There will be this
info sheet part of your
exam booklet.
Please bring a pencil and a calculator to the exam. In addition, you can bring
a 3x5 notecard with your own handwritten notes (front and back). No other
material is allowed.
Material:
Everything covered in class in week 1-4 (incl. Feb 5), the corresponding assigned
sections in the textbook, all clicker questions and all problems on HW 1-3 would
be fair game.
Try to summarize the material covered in the course so far by yourself. Here are
some highlights, you should:
- understand the classical view of light as electromagnetic wave; sources of
electromagnetic radiation; the relation between oscillating electric and magnetic
fields; the relation between wavelength, frequency and speed of light; propagation direction;
interference phenomena; power; intensity etc.
- know the basic concepts of electric field, force on a charged particle, work
done by the field on the particle, and voltage etc.
- understand the set-up of the photoelectric effect experiment; change in kinetic and
potential energy of the electron between the plates; variation of frequency, intensity
and voltage in the experiment; the concept of stopping voltage; the definition of eV as energy unit etc.
- be able to explain the main observations for the photoelectric effect; the failures of
light as classical EM wave to understand the observations; the success of photon view
(energy quanta) to understand the observations; how to determine Planck's constant, the
stopping voltage, the maximum kinetic energy, the work function etc. from the observations;
the dependence of the current, the maximum kinetic energy etc. on the intensity or frequency of the light.
- know Einstein's postulates; the relation between energy and frequency; the concept
of photons as energy quanta; the interaction of photons with material (absorbed at once,
entirely); the relation between intensity, energy and number of photons.
- understand the distribution of energy levels in metals (loosely and tightly bound electrons);
that incoming electron can be absorbed by any of these electrons; the implications for
the emission of electrons (# of electrons, kinetic energy), current, etc.
- know the basic ideas of early atom models (Thomson,Rutherford); discoveries of electron and
nucleus.
- understand the experiments with discharge lamps; the insights on electron energy levels
from the spectra observed (discrete levels, spacing determines color of light, different
atoms = different energy levels, one photon emitted per jump); the mechanism of energy
transfer to electrons in atoms in discharge lamps (limit by KE of free electron, conservation
of energy); difference between absorption of photons and collision with electrons; relation
of spectra to energy levels and vice versa.
Grading:
The course grade weighting will be as follows:
- 2 Midterms (each): 17.5%
- Final exam: 25%
- Written homework: 40%
With this grading system, the most important requirement for getting a good grade is to do all the homework assignments. Missing several weeks of homework will likely put you in danger of failing, no matter how well you do on the exams!
Clicker responses and occasional in class and online activities will count for bonus (extra credit) points. The extra credit score will REDUCE the weight of your (midterm and final) exam total.
To be more explicit, your total course points are computed as (100 maximum):
6*ExtraCreditScore
+ 40*WrittenHomework
+ (60-[6*ExtraCreditScore])*WeightedAverage(Exams)
After computing this course score (from 0-100), I will use a standard scale:
- 90 - 100: A's (including A-'s)
- 80 - 90: B's (including B+'s and B-'s)
- 70 - 80: C's (including C+'s and C-'s)
- 60 - 70: D's (including D+'s and D-'s)
- < 60: F
If the class average comes out lower than we expect (due to say, accidentally overly tough exams) we reserve the right of "stretching" the scale down a bit. But, no matter what, we will not get tougher than the above. The scale can curve in your favor, but it will never change against you.
For further information please see Syllabus.