PHYS 350 Applications of Classical Mechanics Syllabus

2024 Winter Session, Term 2 (Jan-April 2025)

Calendar Description

Review of principles. Particle mechanics: Euler's equations, tops and gyroscopes, motion of the Earth, Lagrangian and Hamiltonian methods. Variational principles in optics and mechanics, Liouville's theorem and statistical mechanics. The relationship between classical and quantum mechanics.
This course is eligible for Credit/D/Fail grading. To determine whether you can take this course for Credit/D/Fail grading, visit the Credit/D/Fail website. You must register in the course before you can select the Credit/D/Fail grading option.
Credits: 3
Pre-reqs: None. [See next section.]

Expected background material

This course is intended primarely for Engineering Physics students. Background typical of such students will be expected, in particular in mechanics, calculus and matrix/linear algebra at the second year level, together with proficiency in numerical methods. Specific courses taken by Engineering Physics students in their second year can be found here.

Schedule

Lectures: Mon, Wed and Fri, 15:00 - 16:00, in Hebb 114
Mandatory Tutorial: Mon 9-10 am, also in Hebb 114.

Textbook

We will be using Classical Mechanics by John R. Taylor.

Instructors

Professor: Joanna Karczmarek

Email: joanna AT phas.ubc.ca
Homepage
Office: Hennings 406
Office Phone: 604-822-2929 (but use email instead)
Office Hours: 16:00-17:00 Mondays and Fridays in Hebb 114 (after the lecture). See below for more info.

Teaching Assistants:

Abhisek Sahu, email: abhi AT phas.ubc.ca
Rana Zibakhshshabgahi, email: rzibakhsh AT phas.ubc.ca
Russell Bate, email: russellbate AT phas.ubc.ca

Office hour information

Main Office Hours: 16:00-17:00 in Hebb 114 (after the lecture).
Additional ad hoc office hours (as needed) will be announced on the Canvas Syllabus Page.
Outside of lectures and office hours, ask questions on Piazza or reach us via email (above) or through Canvas mail.
If you require a private meeting, please send an email to book one.

Detailed learning Outcomes

Link. These might be adjusted somewhat as the course progresses.

Learning sources and References

Textbook: "Classical Mechanics" by John R. Taylor

A copy of this textbook has been placed on reserve at the library. Purchasing the textbook is not mandatory, but course readings will be refering to specific sections from this book. You may read equivalent material from other books at a similar level (see some suggestions below).
There are a few topics (mostly in Hamiltonian mechanics) where this textbook is insufficient. If you want to read something more than the lecture notes on those, check out the more advaced textbooks below.
If homework questions are assigned from the textbook, the text of the question will be quoted in the homework paper, so access to the textbook will not be necessary for the homework.

Other books

If Taylor's textbook does not click with you, you might want to check out one of these:

"Classical Mechanics" by H. Goldstein (a classic, higher level);
"Mechanics" by Landau and Lifshitz (Course of Theoretical Physics, Volume 1, somewhat higher level and very terse. My favourite.) [ An electronic copy is available through the UBC Library, here is a link. [Log into the library first, then click on the orange Online Access button.];
"Analytical Mechanics" by Hand and Finch.

Finally, for a fun read on some of the topics, including background knowledge, check out Feynman Lectures.

Grading scheme and policies

Attendence in class and the tutorial is expected.

Homework	20%	There will be 6 Problem sets. These will be posted and due on the following dates: PS1 due: TBA PS2 due: TBA PS3 due: TBA PS4 due: TBA PS5 due: TBA PS6 due: TBA Your lowest homework grade will be dropped from the final course grade. For long term absences, when further accomodation is warranted, the weight of those HWs might be moved to the final exam, or make-up work could be assigned. Homework solutions should be handed in on paper, or uploaded via Canvas (in PDF format). If you experience technical problems, please email the solutions directly to me. Solutions should be complete, clearly written and legible. For computer-based work (such as plotting), please include your code or an equivalent presentation of your work (such as screenshots of on-line tools). Late homework will not be be accepted for credit once solutions are posted and solutions are usually posted soon after deadline. Group discussion of Homework is encouraged, but the solutions you hand in must be your own work. This means you should not be looking at anybody else's notes, solutions or code while writing up your solutions. If asked questions, you may share your thinking with classmates, but not your completed work. Both copying from another student's completed work and sharing your completed work with another student will be considered academic misconduct. Policy on AI usage is given below.
Midterms and Final exam	80%	There will be two midterms, administered during class time, each worth 15%. Final exam will be worth 50%. If your grade on the final exam is better than one (or both) of your midterm grades, these lower grades will be dropped and replaced with the final exam grade. Notice however that questions on the final exam are more usually more involved than those on the midterms. Midterms will be held in class (3-4pm) and cannot be taken online. The dates will be TBA and TBA. The midterms will be up to one hour long. Please do not come to write a midterm while sick. If you do show up to class and are clearly ill, I will ask you to go home. If you are sick on a final exam day, do not attend the exam. You must apply for deferred standing (an academic concession) through Science Advising no later than 48 hours after the missed final exam/assignment. Students who are granted deferred standing write the final exam/assignment at a later date. Learn more and find the application online: https://science.ubc.ca/students/advising/concession. For additional information about academic concessions, see the UBC policy here: http://www.calendar.ubc.ca/vancouver/index.cfm?tree=3,329,0,0.
Total	100%

UBC provides resources to support student learning and to maintain healthy lifestyles but recognizes that sometimes crises arise and so there are additional resources to access including those for survivors of sexual violence. UBC values respect for the person and ideas of all members of the academic community. Harassment and discrimination are not tolerated nor is suppression of academic freedom. UBC provides appropriate accommodation for students with disabilities and for religious, spiritual and cultural observances. UBC values academic honesty and students ae expected to acknowledge the ideas generated by others and to uphold the highest academic standards in all of their actions. Details of the policies and how to access support are available here.

UBC takes academic misconduct (this includes copying of homework, cheating on exams and plagiarism) very seriously, and the penalties are stiff. See sections on Academic Honesty and Standards and Academic Misconduct in the UBC Academic Calendar.

Copyright notice: all material in this course is copyrighted by Joanna Karczmarek (the instructor). It is provided online to you, the students registered in the course. You may not post, share or publish any of the course materials without explicit permission from the instructor (Joanna Karczmarek). This applies even to those portions of the course materials that are shared with the public by the instructor or other authorized agents. Moreover, sharing exam, test and/or quiz questions, or solutions to any questions posed in the course (including those in worsheets, homework, quizzes, tests, exams and any practice materials) might constitute academic misconduct.

Further policies applicable to PHYS 350 are available in this document.