iTunes U up to date

For those of you using the visual podcast in our iTunes U area: it is updated now with the last few lectures. Notes, diagrams, equations etc. are in the artwork track. Click the square icon in the left side of the progress bar, and it will pop out the artwork full screen, in HD.

Hint

Hint for written homework 2.

1. Part 2 is maybe tougher to think through, but the math is not that hard.
2. Part 1 will require some quadratic formula to solve, but part 2 does not.
3. Equations for x(t) and y(t) of the artillery round are not the only equations you'll need.
4. You can make a nice diagram on a piece of standard graph paper (in landscape mode), using 1 block for each kilometer.
5. Make use of the four significant figures in your calculations!

Sweet high speed photo of USN 5-inch naval rifle taking a test shot.

Homework 2 is UP.

Your second written homework PDF is now UP in Webcourses2.

Interesting side question

It would be an interesting side question to ask, in the artillery problem, whether the artillery shell is still on the way up when it hits or has it gone over the top of its arc and started heading down when it hits.

By the way, they use artillery out west for this purpose. I have seen them do it in the Bridger Range, near Bozeman, Montana.

Homework ready

The assignment for Monday, January 28, is now ready in WebAssign.

Be especially careful with your work on the last two items, problems 12 and 16. We will discuss one or both of those two problems on Monday.

Motion capture

We are studying basic quantities that describe motion: position, velocity, acceleration. It is interesting to think about the motion capture software by which television and film producers create exotic beings.

Input: position, velocity, acceleration deluxe.

Output: scary monsters from outer space.

Excellent.

Homework in WebAssign is set for 1/23/

You have a new assignment in WebAssign, due next Wednesday, 3:30 PM. GO! GO! GO!

Other than that, have a great long weekend.

Homework 1 grades are up.

The moped problem for writtern homework assignment #1 is now UP in Webcourses2.

The substitute lecturer, Dr. James Cooney, will pass your papers back to you tomorrow (Friday) in lecture.

Office hours, 11 AM

I will be available for office hours consultation at 11 AM today, until noon. Come to room PS158 in the Physical Sciences Building.

Homework 1 is ready

There is now a PDF of homework assignment 1 on its own page in Webcourses2. Look for the red apple image.

Work carefully and well. This assignment is due on Wednesday at the beginning of lecture.

Sentences

See if your decoded sentences show up legibly in the Webcourses2 grades page. I have all the statements decoded, and I have uploaded them back to the gradebook, but I am not sure your code and sentences are actually visible.

Historical record

Monday you will get your first written homework assignment, due on Wednesday. The written homework forms a large chunk of your semester grade. Check the diagram above; the volume of each sphere is proportional to the weight of each part of your semester grade.

That being the case, I have set up a set of files to show you what to expect. You can now view all the homework assignments, with solutions, from last semester. Look for the "Historical record" blurb page in Webcourses2.

Jan. 9 podcast now up

Your podcast of Tuesday's lecture is now available.

HW in WebAssign going OK.

The homework for tomorrow looks like it is going okay for the students who have signed up.

For those of you who have not gotten enrolled in WebAssign, you had better get on it. Do not be caught napping!

Fluid dynamics, ahead: the Orion Bullets.

Interesting view, many light years away in the Orion Nebula, of fluid turbulence in clusters of stars.

When we get to fluid dynamics later in the semester, we will tackle some basic problems that form a foundation for, eventually, understanding the Orion Bullets. Excellent.

iTunes U

Our lecture podcast is now available in iTunes U. There is a blurb page in Webcourses2 on how to subscribe.

Office hours

Office hours will be in room PS158, Physical Sciences Building, on Tuesday mornings, 11 AM - noon.

Here is a YouTube about how to find the Physical Sciences Building.

Excellent place to work

Cool place to work, the National Ignition Facility, building an inertial confinement laser fusion system. Nice.

Computer science majors: Check slide #9 for the leopard imaged by those lasers. Amazing.

Those of you who are aspiring physicists and engineers and computer scientists, this is the kind of job you should consider a target. When I challenge you to excellent performance, it is because I am thinking of you taking this kind of job. Good.