Astronomy picture of the day [Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) Atmospheric Imaging 
Assembly (AIA) image at 30.4 nm]

Phys 4C Light and Modern Physics - 2021 Fall

Course Syllabus: please read carefully.

Instructor: Professor Ringwald
E-mail: ringwald[at]csufresno.edu and replace [at] with @
Phone: (559) 278-8426
Also: (559) 278-2371

Office: Room 11 of the J-wing of McLane Hall
(near the ground-floor Women's Room and 15 meters east of the large lecture hall McLane 161)

Office hours (between August 23 and December 9): MoWe 3:30-5:00 p.m. and TuTh 5:00-6:00 p.m.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any problems in this course, or if you're doing well, and just want to talk. It's in my interest, and I care, that you do well.



The COVID-19 pandemic: The following sections regarding COVID are subject to change given changing circumstances on-campus and in the community. Please check the COVID website for the most up-to-date information at: www.fresnostate.edu/coronavirus


Course Description (from the Fresno State 2021-2022 General Catalog): (3 credits). Prerequisites: Phys 4B with a grade of C or better, Math 77 with a grade of C or better. Maxwell's equations, geometrical optics; electromagnetic radiation; physical optics; introduction to special relativity; quantum physics; and the physics of atoms, nuclei, and the solid state.

Lecture meeting times and location: Schedule 75208 (Section 01), TuTh 3:30-4:45 p.m. in McLane 162.

Videos of all classes have been posted to YouTube and are linked to the Course Schedule (see below).

Iclickers or clickers are NOT required for Phys 4C: I never use them. I also never use Mastering Physics.

Holidays: September 6 (Labor Day), November 11 (Veterans' Day), November 24-26 (Thanksgiving Break).

Required Course Text, which should be available in Kennel Bookstore:

Recommended Course Texts, all of which are excellent sources of worked examples:

Course webpage: http://zimmer.csufresno.edu/~fringwal/phys4c.html . This is not on Canvas: I do all my own web programming.

The Homework Assignments are available on the course webpage, at: http://zimmer.csufresno.edu/~fringwal/hw4c.html.
Solutions to the homework assignments will be posted to the course webpage the day after they are due.

Course grades will be awarded for the following final percentages:
85.000-100% = A; 70.000-84.999% = B; 60.000-69.999% = C; 50.000-59.999% = D; 0-49.999% = F.

These percentages will be computed from the following:

Do the homework, even though it won't be graded this semester. If you don't, you won't know the material on the exams, which count a lot.

A favorite pastime is to try and determine a ``running'' grade (in other words, trying to figure out a grade based on a single exam or some subset of it). Since there are many contributors to the final grade, this isn't very useful. The above grading scale will not be moved: how any student's grade is determined doesn't depend on any other student's grade.

Professor Ringwald will be happy to fix any errors that occur in the grading. If after any errors are fixed, students still want to contest their grades, the students are required to do it in writing. This written request must be typed and must be a minimum of half a single-spaced page of 12-point type for exam or Final Exam questions, and a minimum of one single-spaced page of 12-point type for the overall grade. It is to be submitted one time, either to Professor Ringwald during his office hours, or to his mailbox in McLane 173.

  • Mid-Term Exams and the Final Exam: There will be two Mid-Term Exams which will be given on the dates in the course outline below. The Mid-Term Exams will consist of some concept questions as well as some problems that must be worked out in detail. The Final Exam will follow the format of the Mid-Term Exams, although it will be longer. Example Mid-Term Exams and Final Exams will appear on this website before the exams.

  • How to do well in this course: Physics is different from many subjects you may have taken. It requires intelligent reasoning, not merely memorizing. It is impossible to learn physics by ``cramming.'' Here is advice that should help students with the course.



    TENTATIVE Course Schedule (updated 2021 November 2). Always do the readings before class:

    Week Tu Th Read by Tuesday of next week
    1 8/24: Introduction; Maxwell's equations
    (Chapter 33)
    8/26: Electromagnetic waves (Chapter 33) Chapter 33
    2 8/31: Electromagnetic waves (Chapter 33) 9/02: Electromagnetic radiation (Chapter 33) Chapters 33 and 34
    3 9/07: Geometrical optics: reflection and refraction
    (Chapter 34)
    9/09: Image formation: mirrors
    (Chapter 35)
    Chapter 35
    4 9/14: Image formation: lenses (Chapter 35) 9/16: Practical optics
    (microscopes and telescopes)
    (Chapter 35)
    ;
    Homework #1 due (on Chapter 33)
    Chapters 35 and 36
    5 9/21: Interference of light waves (Chapter 36) 9/23: Interference of light waves (Chapter 36)
    and also click here;
    Homework #2 due (on Chapter 34)
    Chapters 36 and 37
    6 9/28: Diffraction (Chapter 37) 9/30: Diffraction (Chapter 37);
    Homework #3 due (on Chapter 35)
    Chapter 37; also re-read Chapters 33-35.
    7 10/05: Polarization (Chapter 37) ;
    Mid-Term Exam 1 to be emailed to students
    10/07: Mid-Term Exam 1 (on Chapters 33-35)
    due by email to Professor Ringwald by 11:59 p.m.
    Chapters 37 and 38
    8 10/12: Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity
    (Chapter 38)
    10/14: Relativity (Chapter 38);
    Homework #4 due (on Chapter 36)
    Chapter 38
    9 10/19: Relativity (Chapter 38) 10/21: Relativity (Chapter 38);
    Homework #5 due (on Chapter 37)
    Chapters 38 and 39
    10 10/26: Quantum physics (Chapters 39.1-39.2)
    (Thermal radiation and the Photoelectric Effect)
    10/28: Quantum physics (Chapters 39.3-39.8)
    (The Compton Effect, de Broglie waves,
    Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle)
    ;
    Homework #6 due (on Chapter 38)
    -
    11 11/02: Quantum mechanics (Chapters 40.1-40.6)
    (The Schroedinger equation)
    11/04: Quantum mechanics (Chapter 40.2)
    (The QM Particle in a Box)
    ;
    Homework #7 due (on Chapter 39)
    Chapters 40 and 43
    12 11/09: Nuclear physics (Chapter 43);
    Homework #8 due (on Chapter 40)
    11/11: Holiday Chapter 43; also re-read Chapters 36-40.
    13 11/16: Nuclear physics (Chapter 43) 11/18: Nuclear physics (Chapter 43) Chapter 41
    14 11/23: The Bohr model of the H atom
    (Chapters 41.1-41.3)
    11/25: Holiday Chapter 41
    15 11/30: Atoms (Chapter 41.6-41.7)
    (Angular momentum and spectra);
    Mid-Term Exam 2 to be emailed to students
    12/02: Mid-Term Exam 2 (on Chapters 36-40)
    due by email to Professor Ringwald by 11:59 p.m.
    Re-read Chapters 33-41 and 43.
    16 12/07: Many-electron atoms (Chapters 41.7-41.8);
    Homework #9 due (on Chapter 43);
    Homework #10 due (on Chapter 41)
    12/09: No class Chapters 41 and 42



    Please note:

  • Always show all work in all exams and course assignments, especially anything involving mathematical calculations, including the units. Not showing all work, and the correct units, will be cause for the grader to take off points. Also make sure to write the correct number of significant digits, also called significant figures: this error looks bad, and writing more than two excessive digits will be grounds for one point being deducted, for each instance.

  • Exams: There will be two Mid-Term Exams and a comprehensive Final Exam. The material for these exams will come from the lectures and assigned reading and, especially, the homework problems. If any student must miss the Final Exam for a very compelling reason (such as an illness documented by a physician's note), that student will receive a grade of I (incomplete) for Phys 4C for the semester. It will then be that student's responsibility to contact the university administration within the first 15 working days of the next semester to make the necessary arrangements to remove the I grade. See the California State University, Fresno General Catalog for regulations concerning the Incomplete (I) grade. Only students who can document very compelling reasons to miss Final Exams (such as with a physician's note) will be eligible for incompletes: other students missing the final exam will get a 0% on the Final Exam.

  • Students with Disabilities: Upon identifying themselves to the instructor and the university, students with disabilities will receive reasonable accommodation for learning and evaluation. For more information, contact Services to Students with Disabilities in the Henry Madden Library, Room 1202 (278-2811).

    University Policies -- The following University policies can be found at:

    University Services -- The following University services can be found at:

  • Contact Information for Chair: If there are questions or concerns that you have about this course that neither you nor I are not able to resolve, please feel free to contact the Chair of the Department of Physics to discuss the matter:

    Professor Douglas Singleton
    Department of Physics
    Email: dougs[at]csufresno.edu and replace [at] with @
    Phone: (559) 278-2523

  • This syllabus and schedule are subject to change in the event of extenuating circumstances. If you are absent from class, it is your responsibility to check on announcements made while you were absent. Your being registered in, and not dropping, this Phys 4C lecture section that Professor Ringwald is teaching means that you accept all the above terms on this syllabus.


    Go to the Phys 4C webpage. Go to Professor Ringwald's home page.

    Last updated 2021 November 2. Webpage by Professor Ringwald (ringwald[at]csufresno.edu and replace [at] with @)
    Department of Physics, California State University, Fresno. Please read this disclaimer.