PHY205: The Physics of Everyday Life   

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Physics of Everyday Life - Course Materials  

First Page of Final Exam for Dec. 19 2006

Assignments:

Term Paper, Due Thursday November 23 (Topic must be chosen by Oct. 25): Web Format / PDF Format

Problem Set 1, due Wednesday Sep.27: Web Format / PDF Format – Solutions in PDF Format

Problem Set 2, due Wednesday Oct.25: Web Format / PDF Format  – Solutions in PDF Format

Problem Set 3, due Wednesday Nov.8: Web Format / PDF Format  – Solutions in PDF Format

Problem Set 4 (last one), due Wednesday Nov.29: Web Format / PDF Format  – Solutions in PDF Format

Applets or videos shown in class:

Racing skiers, class 6

Tests:

Test 1, Oct. 4, 2006: Version A in PDF Format – Solutions in Web Format / PDF Format

Test 2, Nov. 13, 2006: Version A in PDF Format – Solutions in Web Format / PDF Format

 

Tests from previous years – Note that the course materials change from year to year, so the subject matter in these tests may not pertain to the current year:

Practice Test  from Fall 2005: Web Format / PDF Format  Questions 1-4, 7-9, 19-21, 25A all cover material which was covered in classes 1-7 of Fall 2006.

Practice Test Fall 2005 Answers: Web Format / PDF Format

Mid-Term Test Fall 2005 : Web Format / PDF Format  Questions 1-9, 19-21 all cover material which was covered in classes 1-7 of Fall 2006.

Mid-Term Test Fall 2005 Answers: Web Format / PDF Format

Here is a link to the final exam of Fall 2005 from utoronto libraries:  http://eres.library.utoronto.ca/tempfiles/tmp26363/d05.pdf

Some additional resources that you might find helpful or useful:

Hobson, Art. Physics, Concepts and Connections 4th edition, Pearson 2007.  This is the recommended text for this course, which should be stocked at the campus bookstore. The level of this text is quite appropriate for this course.  Most lectures will have references to some part of this text.

Knight, Randall D. Physics for Scientists and Engineers. Pearson 2004.  This is another recommended text, which is stocked at the campus bookstore.   This is a HUGE text, much of which is at a higher level than is appropriate for this course, but it definitely covers everything.  Most lectures will have references to some part of this text.

Hewitt, Paul G. Conceptual Physics, 10th edition, Addison Wesley, 2006.  This is an excellent introductory physics text which covers all areas of first year physics, including much of the material from this course, and also relativity, cosmology and other less “everyday” topics.  The cartoons that Paul Hewitt draws in this text are both amusing and instructive.

http://www.utoronto.ca/writing/  Writing at the University of Toronto.  A large site with lots of resources which may help you in preparing your term paper.  You may want to check out the “Advice” page on this site.

Math Hints: Web or PDF format. A little page I developed which might help you with the math-aspect of this course.

Bloomfield, Louis A. How Things Work – The Physics of Everyday Life, 3rd Edition, John Wiley & Sons, 2006. The text which was used for this course in 2005 (actually we used the 2nd edition). It is a terrific book.

Griffith, W. Thomas.  Physics of Everyday Phenomena, 4th edition, McGraw-Hill Science/Engineering/Math, 2003.  Another good textbook for a course like this one.

Macaulay, David. The New Way Things Work, Houghton Mifflin/Walter Lorraine Books: 1998.  A book aimed at older kids and adults, it actually covers much of the material in this course in a fun way.

Langone, John. The New How Things Work: From Lawn Mowers to Surgical Robots and Everything in Between, National Geographic, 2004.  A colourful and well organized book that deals with much of the material in this course.

Fountain, Henry.  The New York Times Circuits: How Electronic Things Work, St. Martin's Press, 2001.  A great book that goes into a lot of detail about how 80 different technological devices work, including computers, CD players, remote controls, and Automatic Teller Machines.

 http://www.howstuffworks.com/  A popular, highly sponsored and advertising laden web-site, with some nice free essays on practical subjects.  Many authors.

Brain, Marshall.  How Stuff Works, Wiley, 2001.  A book based on the above web-site.  Pretty flashy, and a little disorganized.

Here are some nice monthly magazines, all of which have paper versions in the Physics Library:

 

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