MIT 8.01 - Fall 2000

8.01: Physics I
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Fall 2000

Final Exam Solutions are now available.

Final grades are now available through this website. The class average on the final exam was 70.0, and the class average for the weighted course averages was 68.9. Solutions to the final exam should be available around the turn of the New Year. Grade information should also be available through WebSIS sometime soon. Students with more specific concerns should contact their recitation instructors directly.

Information about how the final 8.01 grades were computed is now available.

For all three exams, the combined scores for students who took the make-up are the average of the make-up score and the original exam score, or the original exam score itself, whichever is higher (capped at 65).

FYI: a student's lowest problem set score will be dropped before that student's homework grade is calculated for the semester.

Title	Name	Office Hours	E-mail	Office #	Phone #
Lecturer	Edward Farhi	M 12:00pm-1:30pm	farhi@mit.edu	6-309	253-4871
Course Administrator	Wit Busza	MTW 10:30am-12:00pm	busza@mit.edu	24-510	253-7586
Course Manager	Alicia Duarte		aaduarte@mit.edu	4-352	253-4855
Course WebMasters	Adam Bolton	R 2:00pm-3:00pm	bolton@mit.edu	6-405A	253-7033
Course WebMasters	Alan Guth	R 3:00pm-4:00pm	guth@ctp.mit.edu	6-209	253-6265
Recitation Instructors	William Bertozzi	MW 12:00pm-1:00pm	bertozzi@mitlns.mit.edu	26-437	253-5167
	Adam Bolton	R 2:00pm-3:00pm	bolton@mit.edu	6-405A	253-7033
	Michael Bove	TR 4:00pm-5:00pm	vmb@media.mit.edu	E15-324	253-0334
	Bernard Burke	M 2:00pm-4:00pm	bfburke@space.mit.edu	37-667A	253-2572
	Matthew Evans	TR 1:00pm-2:00pm	mhevans@mit.edu	6-102	253-6278
	Michael Feld	M 5:00pm-6:30pm	msfeld@mit.edu	6-014	253-7700
	David Fernie	T 12:30pm-2:30pm	dfernie@mit.edu	26-555	258-7326
	Alan Guth	R 3:00pm-4:00pm	guth@ctp.mit.edu	6-209	253-6265
	Jean Hager	M 1:00pm-2:00pm; W 1:00pm-2:00pm	jhager@mit.edu	13-2042	452-3894
	Paul Joss	By appointment	joss@mitlns.mit.edu	6-203	253-4845
	James McBride	TR 4:00pm-5:00pm	mcbride@mit.edu	E15-350	253-0185
	Tiago Ribeiro	R 11:00am-12:00pm	tribeiro@mit.edu	6-102	253-6278
	Jessie Shelton	M 4:00pm-5:00pm; T 11:00am-12:00pm	jshelton@mit.edu	6-405A	253-7033
	George Stephans	T 2:30pm-4:30pm	gsfs@mit.edu	24-412	253-4237
Tutors	Umut Gursoy		umut@mit.edu
	Chris Kouvaris		kouvaris@mit.edu
	Nikhil Mittal		nikhilm@mit.edu
	Ilia Sigalov		sigalov@mit.edu
	Haitang Yang		hyanga@mit.edu

Section

Day/Time

Room

Instructor

L01

MWF 10-11

26-100

Edward Farhi

L02

MWF 11-12

26-100

Edward Farhi

R01

MW 1:00

24-402

William Bertozzi

R02

MW 2:00

24-402

William Bertozzi

R03

MW 3:00

24-402

William Bertozzi

R04

MW 1:00

4-149

George Stephans

R05

MW 2:00

4-149

George Stephans

R06

MW 2:00

26-314

Michael Feld

R07

MW 3:00

26-314

Michael Feld

R08

MW 4:00

26-310

Michael Feld

R09

MW 1:00

8-302

Paul Joss

R10

MW 2:00

8-302

Paul Joss

R11

MW 3:00

8-302

Paul Joss

R12

TR 1:00

8-302

Adam Bolton

R13

TR 2:00

8-302

Jessie Shelton

R14

TR 3:00

8-302

Jessie Shelton

R15

TR 10:00

26-328

Alan Guth

R16

TR 11:00

26-328

David Fernie

R17

TR 12:00

26-328

Tiago Ribeiro

R18

TR 9:00

24-402

Bernard Burke

R19

TR 10:00

24-402

Bernard Burke

R20

TR 11:00

24-402

Bernard Burke

R21

TR 2:00

8-306

Matthew Evans

R22

TR 3:00

8-306

Matthew Evans

R23

TR 11:00

8-306

Jean Hager

R24

TR 12:00

8-306

Jean Hager

R26(M)

(Media Lab)

TR 3:00

E15-070

James McBride

Michael Bove

top | personnel | recitation schedule | general info
course calendar | exams (+ solutions) | other links

General Info (Also available in postscript and PDF forms.)

8.01 Study Guide:
Wit Busza, Susan Cartwright, and Alan H. Guth: Essentials of Introductory Classical Mechanics, 4th Edition; available from The Coop for $22.50. This is a required purchase. The Study Guide was written especially for this course, and will be your main resource for the course's material. It defines the content of the course and provides a concise discussion of the relevant principles of physics. If by the end of the term you understand and know how to use the material in the Study Guide, you will deserve an A for the course.

Text Book:
Douglas C. Giancoli: Physics For Scientists and Engineers, 3rd Edition, Vol. I; available at the Coop for $72.00. The 8.02 course to be taught next spring (2001) is expected to use a different textbook, so the purchase of Vol. II or the combined edition will not free you from purchasing another textbook next term.

When the material in the Study Guide is too concise for your taste, you can turn to the textbook, which provides more detailed derivations and explanations of the results and formulas. It also has more worked examples and problems, problem-solving hints, etc. You should buy this book as it contains material essential to the course.

Lectures:
Lectures will be given by Prof. Edward Farhi on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 10:05 a.m. and again at 11:05 a.m., in Room 26-100. The lectures will explain the concepts that you are expected to understand, and will also include demonstrations aimed at solidifying your grasp of the material.

Recitation Classes:
You will be assigned to a class instructor and a class that meets two hours each week. These classes will provide an opportunity to ask questions about the material and to practice the art of problem solving. If you need to change your recitation class, ask at the Physics Education Office, Room 4-352.

Tutoring and instructors' office hours:
Graduate student tutors will be available throughout the term. You are strongly encouraged to seek help both from the tutors and from all the instructors in the course. The tutoring schedule and list of the office hours of all the instructors will be made available in 4-339B and on the website.

Problem sets:
Problem sets will be assigned about once a week; they will be handed out in a Wednesday lecture and will be available on the website. They will be due in room 4-339B the following Tuesday by 4:30 p.m . Late problem sets will not be graded. Most of the problems will come from the Study Guide. The problem sets will be graded. You will find them essential in preparing for the quizzes and the examinations. Trying to learn physics without doing problems is like trying to learn to ride a bicycle by reading a book. Solutions to each problem set will be made available on its due date. We strongly encourage students to get together in groups to discuss the homework.

Examinations:
Recitation Quizzes: On 5 selected weeks, 25-minute quizzes on the current chapter will be given in the Wednesday and Thursday recitation sections. The lowest of each student's 5 recitation quiz scores will be dropped. The dates of the recitation quizzes are shown on the Course Calendar.

In-class Exams:
Three lecture periods during the term - Friday September 22, Friday October 13, and Monday November 20 - will be used for 50-minute exams, each of which will focus on all the material since the previous exam. Each exam will include at least one problem that is at most a slight modification of a previously assigned homework problem. Some students will take these exams in the usual lecture room, 26-100, and others will be assigned to Room 50-340 (3rd floor of Walker Memorial). Students who do poorly on an exam will have the opportunity to somewhat improve their score by taking a make-up exam. The make-up exam will be given on a Tuesday evening at 7:30 p.m. The dates of the in-class exams and of make-up exams are shown on the Course Calendar. All students who do not pass an exam will be required to have their subsequent problem sets graded by a tutor with the student present, to discuss his or her work. This gives the student the opportunity for some one on one interaction with a staff person. This requirement will be relaxed if the student passes the next exam.

Final Examination:
There will be a three-hour final exam during the regular final examination period at the end of the term. The final exam will cover all the material from the course. There will be no make-up final.

Grading:
The homework will count 10%. The exams will count 36% of the grade (12% each). For those students who take the make-up exam, the grade will be either the in-class exam score, or the average of the scores on the in-class and make-up exams, whichever is higher. However if you take the make-up exam there will be a maximum score that you can receive. This maximum will be determined at the end of each in-class exam. The recitation quizzes will count 16% (4% each), with the lowest of the 5 quizzes being dropped, and the final exam will count 38%.

There will be no make-up quizzes, so in the case of excused absences, the remaining grades will be averaged. A grade of zero will be assigned for any missed quiz that is not excused. Excuses for the exams must be requested in advance of the exam (if you are physically able to do so) from the Course Administrator, Prof. Wit Busza. Acceptable excuses include verifiable and significant medical problems, religious holidays, and also serious personal situations. For conflicts between exams and athletic events, Prof. Busza will try to make alternative arrangements for the student to take the exam. For conflicts between a recitation quiz and an athletic event, an excused absence is appropriate. To request an excused absence for a recitation quiz, see your recitation instructor.

Academic Behavior and Honesty:
During quizzes and exams, exchange of information with others is unacceptable. So is the use of notes or other materials, unless explicitly authorized. You will not be allowed to use calculators (they will not be needed). Anyone suspected of violating these guidelines will be charged with academic dishonesty and subject to MIT's disciplinary procedures. However, you are strongly encouraged to get together in groups to discuss the homeworks and the material presented in the course.

The Physics Interactive Video Tutor (PIVOT):
MIT's Center for Advanced Educational Service (CAES), in collaboration with the Physics Department, is producing a new learning environment on the web for those taking a Newtonian Mechanics course. You might find it useful and we encourage you to check it out. You can access PIVOT through Athena: http://curricula2.mit.edu/pivot/

8.01 WWW Website:
At http://web.mit.edu/8.01/www, the 8.01 website includes quizzes and solutions from past years. It will also be used to post all announcements, homework assignments, homework solutions, and quiz solutions as the term progresses. (Announcements and assignments will also be available in Room 4-339B). You are invited to use the anonymous feedback page to relay comments, complaints, or suggestions about the Website or about any aspect of the course. Messages that you write on the feedback page are forwarded anonymously to the lecturer, Edward Farhi.

Comments by Wit Busza:
Susan Cartwright, Alan Guth and I worked hard over the summer to make further improvements to the Study Guide, which we hope you will find a concise and convenient summary of the material, as well as an instructive collection of problems and solutions. We are asking you to also buy the textbook, however, because we expect that you will sometimes find the explanations in the Study Guide to be too concise.

Since the Study Guide is still under development, there will inevitably be some errors in it. As we discover these errors, we will post them on the website. If you discover any errors, I would very much appreciate your sending me an e-mail message about them (busza@mit.edu). No error is too small to be worth correcting.

8.01 is the mid-level first-year physics course, aimed at the majority of MIT students. It is paced faster than 8.01L, it is less rigorous that 8.012, and it does not have the emphasis on take-home experiments that characterizes 8.01X. Our goal is to convey the excitement of the physicist's quest to understand nature at its deepest level, and at the same time to provide the knowledge and tools that you will need to continue your studies in science or engineering. We hope you will enjoy the course.

top | personnel | recitation schedule | general info
course calendar | exams (+ solutions) | other links

Course Calendar (Also available in postscript and PDF forms.)

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	thuRsday	Friday
4-Sep Labor Day HOLIDAY	5-Sep Registration Day	6-Sep 1st Lecture PS#1	7-Sep	8-Sep
11-Sep	12-Sep PS#1 due date	13-Sep QUIZ#1 PS#2	14-Sep QUIZ#1	15-Sep
18-Sep	19-Sep PS#2 due date	20-Sep	21-Sep	22-Sep EXAM#1
25-Sep Student HOLIDAY	26-Sep	27-Sep PS#3	28-Sep	29-Sep
2-Oct	3-Oct EXAM#1 make-up PS#3 due date	4-Oct QUIZ#2 PS#4	5-Oct QUIZ#2	6-Oct ADD DATE
9-Oct, 10-Oct Columbus Day Vacation		11-Oct PS#4 due date	12-Oct	13-Oct EXAM#2
16-Oct	17-Oct	18-Oct PS#5	19-Oct	20-Oct
23-Oct	24-Oct EXAM#2 make-up PS#5 due date	25-Oct QUIZ#3	26-Oct QUIZ#3	27-Oct
30-Oct	31-Oct	1-Nov PS#6	2-Nov	3-Nov
6-Nov	7-Nov PS#6 due date	8-Nov QUIZ#4 PS#7	9-Nov QUIZ#4	10-Nov Veterans Day HOLIDAY
13-Nov	14-Nov PS#7 due date	15-Nov	16-Nov	17-Nov
20-Nov EXAM#3	21-Nov	22-Nov DROP DATE	23-Nov, 24-Nov Thanksgiving Vacation
27-Nov	28-Nov	29-Nov PS#8	30-Nov	1-Dec
4-Dec	5-Dec EXAM#3 make-up PS#8 due date	6-Dec QUIZ#5 PS#9	7-Dec QUIZ#5	8-Dec
11-Dec	12-Dec	13-Dec Last Lecture	14-Dec	15-Dec
18-Dec through 22-Dec 3 hour FINAL EXAM will be during finals period.

Notes: EXAM#1 will be on material from Chapters 1, 2, and 3. EXAM#2 will be on material from Chapters 4 and 5. EXAM#3 will be on material from Chapters 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. The FINAL EXAM will be on material from all Chapters. The make-up exams will be in the evening at 7:30PM. There will be no make-up final exam.

top | personnel | recitation schedule | general info
course calendar | exams (+ solutions) | other links

Exams (+ Solutions)

8.02 Spring 2001 documents:

8.02 Organization, including prerequisites and hour exam dates: HTML, PDF, or postscript.
8.02 Syllabus: PDF or postscript.
Math Supplement: PDF or gzipped postscript

Link to final 8.01 course grades

To access your grades, you will need to have a current MIT personal certificate.
This grade listing is as reliable as we could make it, but there is a possibility of error. If you find errors, please contact Prof. Alan Guth, guth@ctp.mit.edu.
Several people using Windows 98 and Netscape have experienced a hang-up when this link is accessed for the first time. But if the user clicks STOP, it always works the second time! If you experience this or other problems, please notify the webmasters, either directly or through the feedback form.
If you are not an 8.01 student, but would like to see a sample grade report, follow this link.

Information about how the final 8.01 grades were computed is now available.

Anonymous comment form for class or website

8.01 Web Pages from Previous Years:

Fall 1998, including Fall 1994 - 1997 (These courses were based on earlier editions of Essentials of Introductory Classical Mechanics, by Wit Busza, Susan Cartwright, and Alan H. Guth.)
All available previous years

The Physics Interactive Video Tutor

PIVoT
How to PIVoT
Take the official PIVoT survey and qualify for a prize! Spend a few minutes telling us about your PIVoT experience, and be automatically entered in a raffle to win a $20 Tower Records gift certificate. Take the survey.

Students' Advice on Succeeding in 8.01