Assignments for Physics 125/225
Spring 2001

Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6, Week 7, Week 8, Week 9, Week 10, Week 11, Week 12, Week 13

Week 1
  1. Read Chapters 1 and 2 in Gould, Tobochnik, and Christian and skim through as much of the text as you can.
  2. Send the instructor an e-mail with the following information:
    1. intended major
    2. Science Background
    3. Mathematics Background
    4. Computer Programming Background
    5. Interests:
    6. Reasons for taking the course. Include your personal objectives and goals.
    7. Copy the following into your message: "I pledge not to copy commercial software from the Computer Simulation Laboratory for my personal use nor to give it to friends. I am also responsible for the security and safety of the computers."
    8. Also send me a message listing the programming books that you will read and the programming language that you plan to use initially.
  3. Due January 23. Write a paragraph or two (separate from the lab report) briefly summarizing the important points of Chapter 1 as you understand them at this time. In what ways are computer simulations like laboratory experiments? In what ways are they different? What is the difference between a computer simulation and a numerical computation? e-mail your summary to me.
Week 2
  1. Get the alarm code from Sujata Davis, the physics secretary.
  2. (Default assignment). Do Exercises 2.1, 2.2, 2.3. 2.4, 2.5, 2.6 and Problems 2.7 and 2.8. The main computational objectives during the first two weeks are to understand how to convert a first-order differential equation to a simple difference equation, and to understand the rudiments of Java or another programming languages. Or start by converting programs to Java, C/C++, or Fortran. Or start by learning LaTeX. Or ask me for suggestions.
  3. You might find it useful to download the empirical data in Table 2.2. Plots can be made with GPlot or Gnuplot or Kaleidagraph (MacOS 9).
  4. Remember to back up your files on planck at the end of each lab session. Read the following file to learn how to use ssh and scp.
  5. Explore the course web site and the site of the associated text.
  6. First lab report tentatively due on Tuesday, January 30.
Week 3
  1. The first laboratory report is due Thursday, February 1. If you have any questions about what should be in your lab report, please ask me.
  2. Remember that your "solutions" to the exercises are separate and should be e-mailed to me. Your solutions should include appropriate comment statements.
  3. Now is a good time to start learning LaTeX which is installed on all the OSX and Linux computers.
  4. Remember that you need to send me every Tuesday your weekly progress report. This report should include a daily log on the time spent on the course and what you did during this time. You should also discuss what your goals were for the week, what you were able to accomplish, what and how you learned, and what you did not accomplish.
  5. Please ask questions and make suggestions for improving the assignments, handouts, discussions, etc.
Week 4
  1. Remember that your weekly progress report is due today. Be sure to include a daily log, your goals, and your accomplishments and your failures.
  2. If you have not completed your first laboratory report, please see me.
  3. Start on Problem 3.1 and try to do Exercise 3.3 and Problem 3.4. Graduate students might want to do Problems 3.7 and 3.8.
  4. The Java tutorial at Sun might be helpful.
  5. Ask more questions in lab!
Week 5
  1. Second lab report on Chapter 3 due by the end of the week. Chapter 4 will be ready by Thursday.
Week 6
  1. Write your weekly progress report in lab if you have not done so already.
  2. Exercises 4.1 and 4.2 and Problem 4.5 are recommended. Do additional problems as time permits. I have not handed put the rest of the chapter which treats a mini-solar system and scattering as well as suggestions for projects.
  3. We will start Chapter 6 on chaos after the semester break.
Week 7
  1. I apologize for having to be away the week of March 12. Both Dan Blair and I will be available on Friday, March 9. Joshua Gould will be available on Tuesday morning, March 13. However, the discussion time and labs will meet as usual and I expect you to make progress and e-mail me your weekly progress report. I will check my e-mail while I am gone.
  2. The programs in Chapter 6 are relatively straightforward. They can be understood on their own right, but the excerpts from Chapter 5 might be helpful. However, don't worry about the text in Chapter 5 much. The main thing to do is to spend your time figuring how the programs in Chapter 4 (new versions), the simple harmonic oscillator and the pendulum in Chapter 5, and the programs in Chapter 6 work. Make sure you download and install the latest SiP package on your computer. We are now using packages which means that the programs in Chapter 6 must be in the directory, chapter6, which is a directory in sip. That is the meaning of the statement, package edu.clarku.sip.chapter6;, at the top of the programs.
  3. We have written two interfaces so that your class should either implement Model or AnimationModel. If you are simply going to plot your data at the end of your calculation, Model is sufficient. With Model you need to instantiate SControl while with AnimationModel you need to instantiate SAnimationControl. AnimationModel is normally used with multiple Threads so you also have to implement Runnable. You also can implement RateEquation if you want to solve the differential equation as in SimpleHarmonicOscillator and Poincare. Import Drawable if you want to do an animation (see PlanetModel in planet3). SAnimationControl allows you to have Start, Stop, Continue, Step, Clear, and Reset buttons. To make a plot you need to addPoints. If you want to draw the plot at the end of the calculation, use plot.repaint. If you want to draw the points as they are generated, use plot.render (guaranteed to be drawn as they generated) or plot.setAutoPlot(true) (not guaranteed). Look for how these statements are used in the various programs. You will soon be able to write programs that will impress your friends. If necessary, read about interfaces in your Java book.
  4. Chapter 6 does not introduce new programming techniques, but uses what you already know to introduce some new interesting physics, the physics of chaos. Problems 6.1, 6.2, and 6.3 are recommended. You probably won't have time to do more, but read as much as you can. A laboratory report on Chapter 6 will be due on Thursday, March 22.
Week 8
  1. Remember that a lab report on Chapter 6 is due by the end of this week. Talk to me on late Tuesday afternoon or anytime on Wednesday if you need help. Your main goal should be to learn new physics, for example, period doubling, the road to chaos, the nature of chaos.
  2. A short quiz on chaos will be given in class on Thursday.
  3. Please remember to send me your weekly progress reports.
Week 9
  1. Write a brief essay (one paragraph) commenting on the following statement by Robert May. "Its study does not involve as much conceptual sophistication as does elementary calculus. Such study would greatly enrich the student's intuition about nonlinear systems. Not only in research but also in the everyday world of politics and economics we would all be better off if more people realized that simple nonlinear systems do not necessarily possess simple dynamical properties." Should all students be required to understand the nature of nonlinear systems? Essay due Thursday, March 29.
  2. Unless you have made explicit arrangements with the instructor, a laboratory report on some aspect of Chapter 6 is due this week.
  3. Check out Applications of physics in finance to get an idea of the wide range of applications of physics.
  4. We will start Chapter 7 on Thursday.
  5. Talk to me about the subject of your final project.
Week 10
  1. Recommended problems in Chapter 7: Exercise 7.1, Problems 7.2, 7.3, 7.5. A lab report based on Chapter 7 is due by Tuesday, April 10.
  2. A paragraph describing your final project is due by Friday, April 13. The final project is due by the last day of finals.
  3. If you have not done so already, start a Web site that minimally describes your final project. A prototype is available.
Week 11
  1. Chapter 12 is now available. The programs are still in True BASIC, but drafts of some of the programs are also available.
  2. In case Spree Day occurs on Tuesday, April 17, class will still be held for graduate students and anyone else wishing to attend.
Week 12
  1. Assignment due Tuesday, April 24. Write several paragraphs summarizing the important aspects of Java that you have learned. These aspects include objects, classes, interfaces, static methods, threads, for example. What else have you learned? Some reading might be necessary.
  2. Note to students who have not met the reasonable deadlines for turning in their proposal for their final project or lab reports: your grade for these assignments will be reduced.
  3. Chapter 11 suggested problems: Problem 11.1, 11.2, 11.3, and 11.6.
  4. Typo: Natali has kindly pointed out a typo on Page 375, Problem 11.1b. The function f(x) = 1/x should be integrated from 1 <= x <= 2.
  5. Weekly summaries are still due at the beginning of every week. They are particularly important at this time because some of you will choose to spend more time on your project relative to the time you spend on the suggested problems.
Week 13
  1. Chapter 12 is now available and Chapter 13 will be available on line later today.
  2. I made some updates to the TeX tutorial (added references and how to rescale the size of figures). If you have any requests for more examples, please let me know.
  3. Please do not forget the weekly summary, Web site, and Java assignment.
  4. I will be away on April 30, May 1, and May 10 (the last day of finals). Please do not wait until the last minute for help.
  5. Class on April 26 will be in BP357.

Suggested format for lab reports
Sample lab report.
1998 Assignments

Updated 26 April 2001.