Science is an adventure of the whole human race to learn to live in and perhaps to love the universe in which they are. To be a part of it is to understand, to understand oneself, to begin to feel that there is a capacity within man, far beyond what he felt he had, of an infinite extension of human possibilities.
I.I. Rabi in G. Holton, F.J. Rutherford, F. Watson, Project Physics Course, Hot, Reinhart & Winston, New York (1970,1981), preface.

Contact information:

Prof. Duncan Carlsmith, 4285 Chamberlin, 262-2485, duncan@hep.physics.wisc.edu

Office Hours: MWF 9:40 or by appointment

You can get to this page from www.physics.wisc.edu by clicking on Undergraduate Program, and from the online course list, selecting Physics 241. Questions about accessibility to Physics 241 web materials should be directed to Professor Carlsmith.

Text -"Elementary Modern Physics" by Paul A. Tipler, Worth Publishers 1992, ISBN 0-87901-569-1 available at the University Bookstore and through online sources.

Topics and assignment schedule - see detailed syllabus.

Exams - two in class exams (2 Mar, 13 Apr) and one final (10 May, not cumulative). No early or late exams will be available. If you miss one exam, the other two will each count 30%. A second missed exam will count as a zero.

Homework - due in discussion session each week. Exercises from the text are assigned on the syllabus. Prepare a legible neat derivation of the solution of each assigned problem demonstrating your understanding. Use words. Numerical answers will generally be found in the back of the text. No credit will be given for a numerical answer alone. Staple your solution sheets together. Do not use paper clips or other fasteners.

Paper - A five page paper on a topic covered in the last ten years of the "Physics Today" (www.physicstoday.org).  A one paragraph outline is due 29 March. The final draft is due 12 April.

Grade - the three exams, homework, and paper are each 20% of your final grade.

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