Exams

Chapters from French's book are denoted with a prefix F, while chapters from Giancoli's book are denoted with a prefix G.

Four hour exams will be given during the term. In the case of an unavoidable conflict, you must notify me at the earliest time to be eligible to make up the exam. In the case of an emergency, be prepared to provide documentation if you wish to petition for a makeup opportunity. Only one make-up exam will be given, near the end of the term, and it will be comprehensive. However, one exam can be dropped from the grading, as an alternative to taking the make-up exam. See the Grades page for a complete description of the exam grading options.

Calculators may be used on the exams, and one page of handwritten notes. If you do not have a scientific calculator, you should get one before the first exam.

There will be a comprehensive final exam at the end of the term.  You must make every effort not to miss the final exam, since there is no makeup final. In case of a missed final, Baylor policy requires an incomplete, which must be resolved in the next semester. A complete schedule of final exams can be found on the Baylor Spring 2005 Exam Schedule. Baylor policy permits the schedule to be changed if three final exams are scheduled on one day. If you have a conflict, you must resolve it by mutual arrangement between the professors of the courses involved. Normally, exams for non-major electives will be rescheduled before exams in major or required courses. No requests to reschedule an exam will be considered less than 30 days before the exam.

Exam Structure and Strategy

The hour exams will normally have two multi-part homework-style questions, plus some multiple choice questions, normally of a conceptual nature, requiring less calculation. You should write you answers as neatly as possible to achieve the greatest possible credit. Be complete, and show all equations used. If you are not sure of the equations, try explaining what you would do in words. Just because you are stuck on a problem does not mean you should panic. Use strategy to get as much credit as possible on the problem.  Do not turn in blank problems if you can avoid it. Partial credit will be awarded generously on exams, if you provide enough information to merit it. The final exam will be entirely in multiple choice format, so partial credit is not applicable. The problems on the final exam will be shorter to allow all topics to be covered.

Preparation for Exams

A common complaint in courses such as this is that the students will say they did well on all the homework, but could not work the exam problems. This is usually a result of incomplete preparation. The exams test your knowledge more completely than the homework, since they cover more material and force you to make decisions about which concepts apply to the problems.  In the homework, this is usually obvious, since you have just studied the material. It is important to spend enough time on the material to be comfortable with generalizing it to new situations. In the sciences, it is not enough to just know how to solve problems which have been seen before. If you really understood the problems you worked for the homework, and took time to read the book to recognize the concepts (not just equations) that apply, you should have no trouble recognizing the same concepts in the exams.

You can help avoid difficulties on the exams by going back and reading the chapter after you did the homework, so that you are sure you understand the concepts and their physical meaning. Physics is not about finding the equation that has the same symbols in it as your problem. Those symbols have a meaning, and you will do much better in the course if you take the time to learn the physics behind the equations.

Another way to avoid trouble on the exams is to be sure you can work every problem yourself. Working through someone else's solution is no substitute for puzzling through the problem on your own.  Those frustrating moments (or hours) when you can't figure out which equations apply, or when you don't seem to have all the variables you need, are the same moments when most of your learning is occurring. The amount of hard effort you put into this course is directly proportional to what you will get out of it. There are no shortcuts to learning physics.