Rather than taking workshop time, I thought I’d give a briefing on the longest/most challenging problems of the current week’s Mastering Physics assignment here. There are a lot of problems but only three that are rated higher in difficulty than 1 out of 5. Number 1 is rated a 4, and #7 and #16 are each rated a 2.

You might also be interested in the median time it takes students to do problems… the eight longest problems, in descending order, are #6, #15, #16, #1, #19, #18, #4 and #8.

Finally, I plan to collect physics lab notebooks at the end of next Tuesday’s lab period. I would also like to do some checks on problem set notebooks; since Krishna is already doing that with math problem set notebooks during the math exam, I think I’ll join him in checking physics problem set notebooks at the same time.

This is going to be the 3rd problem on this week’s quiz.

Download (DOCX, 22KB)

• Blank copy of Math Quiz #10 is available at the Math page.
• Math Quiz #10 Revisions & Reflection are due 9am Mon. Feb. 5.
  
• See this post for detailed guidelines for Revisions and Reflections

Although some of this information is not immediately pertinent to the Energy Project posters, here are a few sites intended to help people create posters for scientific research presentations. (The main difference is that you are not presenting original research, which affects what some of the appropriate subsections should be.)

Designing Conference Posters

Better Posters (blog)

You’ll notice a wide variety of examples and even some conflicting advice (for instance, Colin Purrington is not a fan of the portrait layout for posters, while Better Posters features one as an example of good design.

In the end, you have significant latitude simply to do what makes sense for the work you are presenting. But these sites provide lots of ideas, thoughtful critiques, and resources that you may find helpful.

• Please find problem set assignment at the Math page, also linked in the main navigation bar.
• Complete All Problems in your Math Problem Set Notebook. Bold underline problems also due via WebAssign by 9pm on Fri. Feb. 2, 2018.
• A reminder that the problems chosen for submission via WebAssign are not necessarily the most important or the most interesting on the problem set; sometimes those are just the problems which are available on WebAssign.
• Advance notice: Math Problem Set Notebook Checks during Math Exam 3, Monday February 5, 9am.

I’m aware that many of you were affected by power outages yesterday, so I’ve changed the due date to tonight at 9 PM for the Week 13 physics homework – John

• Chemistry: McMurray & Fay 10.1 – 10.5; 8.1 – 8.6
• Math: Stewart 4.6, 4.5
  • Math Reading Responses due via WebAssign 3pm Sun. Jan 28
• Physics: Wolfson 22.1 – 22.4; 23.1 – 23.4
  • Physics Reading Response due via MasteringPhysics 6pm Sun. Jan. 28

• Reminder: Poster Tour Write-ups are due 1pm Tue. Jan. 30. See Energy Project page for details.

Though there was no physics quiz this week, there will still be an IDEAl solution problem due next Wednesday, Jan. 31, based on Chapter 8 material. This is Problem 7 from the Week 12 Mastering Physics assignment. This should look a lot easier after working Chapter 20 problems!

Download (DOCX, 19KB)

As a reminder, Chemistry students will be working with their groups to make two soaps and one detergent. 

The oils we have available for soap making are as follows:

• Coconut
• Avocado
• Olive
• Almond
• Corn
• Grapeseed
• Vegetable
• Walnut
• Sesame

Please consult with your group and pick two oils to use before coming to lab next Tuesday.

As a reminder, we will be doing a workshop on reading scientific papers on Thursday during our normal chemistry slot (9-11 am).

Choose one of the peer-reviewed sources you found for your project and bring a printed copy to the workshop. If possible, make sure the paper you choose is an original research article rather than a review article.

It is a good idea to bring writing implements that will help you annotate in different colors (highlighters, gel pens in different colors, colored pencils).