PHYS101: Elements of Physics

11/08/2019 to 04/16/2020 • Modified 08/08/2024

Course Description

A study of the basic concepts of physics for non-science majors. Included topics: Mechanics (motion, energy, simple machines, momentum, gravity), heat and thermodynamics, electricity and magnetism, sound and light, history and methodology of science.

Rationale

Since science and technology are dominant themes in our culture, every student should be exposed to some area of natural science. PHYS 101 is an introductory course designed for non-science and non-math majors to partially fulfill the general education requirement in the area of natural science.

Course Assignment

After reading the Course Syllabus and Student Expectations, the student will complete the related checklist found in the Course Overview.

For each Module: Week, the student will complete various online exercises in Cengage’s Inquiry into Physics system, WebAssign. These homework assignments will reinforce the content of the course textbook readings from the assigned module (CLO: A, B, C, D, and E; FSLO: SSI and SSI 3). 

Each quiz will build on the homework assignments and cover the Learn material for the assigned module. Each quiz will be open-book/open-notes and contain 25 multiple-choice and true/false questions and a 5 part matching question. In addition, quizzes for Modules 2, 3, 5, 6, and 7: Weeks 2, 3, 5, 6, and 7 will have 1 multi-part problem. This multi-part problem will be given at the time of the quiz. It must be written on paper and solved, and then an image of the solution must be uploaded during the quiz. The student must include his/her name on the paper. Each quiz will have a time limit of 1 hour and 30 minutes (CLO: A, B, C, D, and E; FSLOs: SSI 1, SSI 2b, and SSI 3).