UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON-CLEAR LAKE

 

SYLLABUS – Fall 2005

 

 

PHYS 5431               Classical Mechanics

                                    M W 05:30 – 06:50PM SSB 3306

 

INSTRUCTOR:          David Garrison

OFFICE:                     BAYOU 3531-2        

EMAIL:                      garrison@uhcl.edu

TELEPHONE:            281-283-3796

 

Course Description:    Lagrangian dynamics of particles, Hamiltonian mechanics; Canonical  Transformations; Poisson brackets

 

Prerequisites:               PHYS 3031 Univ Phys I-Mech, Heat & Sound

 

Textbooks:                  Mechanics, L.D. Landau and E.M. Lifshitz

                                    Classical Mechanics, Herbert Goldstein

 

Policies:

 

1.   Office Hours:      M W 2:30-5:30 pm and by appointment

 

2.   Measurements:    Two in-class exams & take-home problem sets

 

Date                 Percent

                                    Problem Sets                                                   30

Mid-term                                 Oct. 12            30                   

Final                                        Dec. 7              40

 

3.   Grading:              The grade boundaries will be (whichever is lower):

 

A – 90% or more than one standard deviation above the mean

B – 80% or class average

C – 70% or one standard deviation below the mean

D – 65% or one and a half standard deviations below the mean

F – 60% or more than two standard deviations below the mean

 

Refined letter grade system, including Ò+Ó or Ò-Ò, will be used

 

4.   Honesty Code:     I will be honest in all my academic activities and will not tolerate dishonesty.

 

5.   Make-ups:           Make-up exams are not recommended.  If you know ahead of time that you will be unable to attend an exam, please let me know in advance so that we can make other arrangements.

 

6.   Disability Accommodation Statement:     If you are certified as disabled and are entitled to accommodation under the ADA Act., sec 503, please see the instructor as soon as possible.  If you are not currently certified and believe that you may qualify, please contact the Coordinator of Disabled Services, at 283-2627, in Health and Disability Services.

 

 

Week

Topic

Chapter(s)

1

Equations of Motion (EOM) & Math Review

LL1

2

LagrangeÕs Equation

LL1 G2

3

LagrangeÕs Equation Continued

LL1 G2

4

2-Body Problem

LL2,3 G3

5

Collisions and Scattering

LL4

6

Kinematics of Rigid Body Motion

LL6 G4

7

Rigid Body EOM

LL6 G5

8

Midterm Exam

 

9

Small Oscillations

LL5 G6

10

HamiltonÕs Equations

LL7 G8

11

Canonical Transformations

LL7 G9

12

Canonical Transformations Continued

LL7 G9,10

13

Special Relativity

G7

14

Thanksgiving Break

 

15

Review

 

16

Final Exam