PHYSICS 180a, Fall 2000 Exam Reviews

Review for Exam 1

The first hour exam will be in OML 202 at 8:00 PM, Tuesday, October 10, 2000.
The exam will take 90 minutes.  You should bring a calculator. Also, you will be allowed one 8.5" by 11.0" equation sheet (both sides). A xerox of the tables on the inner back cover of the text will be provided.

Review: In class on Monday, a selection of review problems will be presented for discussion - you may email me with requests - selections of those or any other problems.

Reading covered: HRW Chapter 1-8.

Topics covered:

• units and unit conversion (Chapter 1)
• position, displacement, velocity, speed and acceleration
• constant acceleration problems
• projectile motion
• uniform circular motion
• relative motion; inertial and non-inertial reference frames
• types of forces: weight, normal, tension, spring, static and kinetic friction, air resistance (drag)
• Newton's three laws
• particle moving on a curved path: centripetal force
• work done by a constant force and by a variable force
• power
• kinetic energy, potential energy, mechanical energy
• conservation of energy
• work done by frictional forces, mechanical & internal energy

• significant figures
• how to sketch a graph of a straight line and a parabola
• differentiation and 1-d integration of simple functions
• vector addition, multiplication of vector by a number, dot product, conversion between direction/magnitude and components, unit vector notation (Chapter 3).

How to study

1. Begin by making a draft of your equation sheet, based on your experiences doing the problem sets (for example, you may already know you want to include something like Table 2-1).
2. If you haven't studied vectors in Math 120 or an equivalent course, you should test your understanding by doing 3.6E, 3.16E, 3.18P and 3.21P under test conditions (time pressure and looking only at the crib sheet). Check your answer in the back of the book.
3. Work through the "E" review under test conditions (time pressure and looking only at the crib sheet). If you find you need to look at the text or your notes, revise your crib sheet accordingly. Check your answer in the back of the book. If you have no trouble and get the right answer, move on to the next problem or section. If you get the wrong answer or are unsure about your approach, reread the related section, try one or two other odd numbered exercises (E), then try solving the same exercise again.
4. Review the problems in PS1-PS4, making sure that you now know how to solve all of them correctly.
5. Finally, test your skill by solving the problems in the "P" review. It is recommended that you try these, too, under test conditions.

• Always start by making a sketch or a graph incorporating the given information. At the end, look at your answer and ask whether it seems reasonable.
• Make sure you understand the relationship between speeding up/slowing down and the sign of the acceleration. If v and a have the same sign, the object speeds up; if v and a have opposite signs, the object slows down (slowing down is also frequently referred to as "deceleration").
• Virtually all Newton's law problems (Chapters 5 and 6) can be solved with the following step-by-step procedure. (1) Identify the forces acting on each object of interest and draw free body diagrams showing their magnitudes and directions. (2) Apply Newton's second law to each object. (3) Include any additional constraints, such as the equality of the magnitude of the accelerations of two objects. (4) Solve the equations.
• When you construct a free-body diagram for an object moving on a curved path, keep in mind that a centripetal force (an arrow labeled f_c) should NEVER appear in a free-body diagram. A free body diagram shows forces acting on an object, such as tension, normal force, weight, static and kinetic friction, and drag. The net force resulting from these is to be computed and set equal to the centripetal force required to keep the object moving on the curved path.

The "E" review

• PS2.89, 2.43E
• PS4.83, PS4.86*, 4.43E
• 5.15E, 5.17E
• 6.7E
• 7.21E, 7.30E*
• 8.13E, 8.49E
*PS denotes a problem in the Problem supplement (green paperback).  The answers to the even numbered problems in these lists are provided on the www page.

The "P" review

• 2.39P, 2.61P
• 4.37P, PS4.72*
• 5.52P, PS5.57
• PS6.49, 6.12P*, 6.15P
• 7.19P, PS7.52*
• 8.21P, 8.58P*

If you need help

• Come to office hours Wednesday and/or Friday 1:00-2:30PM
• I will also schedule special office hours for Tuesday Oct 10 1:00-2:30PM.
• Go to the discussion sections on Thursday and/or Friday.
• Visit the Math-Science Tutors in the colleges and Old Campus. The locations and hours of the tutors are usually posted at each Residential College Dean's Office.
• Work together with other students in the class.