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

Phys 4C Light and Modern Physics - 2022 Spring

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
(about 15 meters east of the ground-floor Women's Room and the large lecture hall McLane 161)

Office hours (between January 20 and May 11): MoWe 3:30-5:00 p.m. and MoWe 8:00-9:00 p.m.
If students need to see Professor Ringwald outside office hours, please call or email first.

Students don't need an appointment to come in during office hours. This is time set aside for you, when I will be in.

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 35218 (Section 03), MoWe 6:30-7:45 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: January 17 (Martin Luther King Day), February 21 (President's Day), March 31 (César Chávez Day), April 11-15 (Spring Break).

Required Course Text, which should be available in Kennel Bookstore (and are probably cheaper at Amazon):

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.

  • Make-Up Exams: Professor Ringwald is sorry, but he cannot give make-ups for Mid-Term Exams, nor can he give Mid-Term Exams or Final Exams in advance, for any reason. He has too many students for it to be humanly possible, because he cannot be in two places at once. Also, one can never be sure that a makeup or advance exam was really fair, since it must be different from the regular exam. If any student must miss a Mid-Term Exam for a compelling reason (such as a job interview or illness documented by a physician's note), the part of the course grade that Mid-Term Exam would have counted will be voided, and the rest of the grade will be counted as 100%. 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 in a timely fashion, and make the necessary arrangements to remove the I grade. See the California State University, Fresno General Catalog for regulations concerning the I grade. Sorry, but if any student must miss a Final Exam due to religious reasons, such as observing a bona fide religious holiday such as Ascension Day, that student will need to take an Incomplete (I grade) (see above): NO EXCEPTIONS. If any student miss miss a Mid-Term Exam due to religious reasons, such as observing a bona fide religious holiday, the part of the course grade that Mid-Term Exam would have counted will be voided, and the rest of the grade will be counted as 100% (see above): NO EXCEPTIONS.

  • 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 2022 May 17). Always do the readings before class:


    Week Mo We Read by Monday of next week
    2 1/24: Introduction; Maxwell's equations
    (Chapter 33)
    1/26: Electromagnetic waves (Chapter 33) Chapter 33
    3 1/31: Electromagnetic waves (Chapter 33) 2/02: Electromagnetic radiation (Chapter 33) Chapters 34 and 35
    4 2/07: Geometrical optics: reflection and refraction
    (Chapter 34)
    2/09: Image formation: mirrors
    (Chapter 35)
    Chapter 35
    5 2/14: Image formation: lenses (Chapter 35) 2/16: Practical optics
    (microscopes and telescopes)
    (Chapter 35)
    ;
    Homework #1 due (on Chapter 33)
    Chapter 36
    6 2/21: Holiday 2/23: Interference of light waves (Chapter 36);
    Homework #2 due (on Chapter 34)
    Chapters 36 and 37
    7 2/28: Interference of light waves (Chapter 36)
    and also click here
    3/02: Diffraction (Chapter 37);
    Homework #3 due (on Chapter 35)
    Chapter 37; also re-read Chapters 33-35.
    8 3/07: Diffraction (Chapter 37) 3/09: Polarization (Chapter 37) Chapter 38
    9 3/14: Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity
    (Chapter 38)
    ;
    Mid-Term Exam 1 to be emailed to students
    3/16: Relativity (Chapter 38);
    Mid-Term Exam 1 (on Chapters 33-35)
    due by email to Professor Ringwald by 11:59 p.m.
    Chapter 38
    10 3/21: Relativity (Chapter 38) 3/23: Relativity (Chapter 38);
    Homework #4 due (on Chapter 36)
    Chapter 39
    11 3/28: Quantum physics (Chapters 39.1-39.2)
    (Thermal radiation and the Photoelectric Effect)
    3/30: Quantum physics (Chapters 39.3-39.8)
    (The Compton Effect, de Broglie waves,
    Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle)
    ;
    Homework #5 due (on Chapter 37)
    Chapter 40
    12 4/04: Quantum mechanics (Chapters 40.1-40.6)
    (The Schroedinger equation)
    4/06: Quantum mechanics (Chapter 40.2)
    (The QM Particle in a Box)
    ;
    Homework #6 due (on Chapter 38)
    -
    - 4/11: Spring Break 4/13: Spring Break Chapter 43
    13 4/18: Nuclear physics (Chapter 43) 4/20: Nuclear physics (Chapter 43);
    Homework #7 due (on Chapter 39)
    Chapters 43 and 41
    14 4/25: Nuclear physics (Chapter 43) 4/27: The Bohr model of the H atom
    (Chapters 41.1-41.3)
    ;
    Homework #8 due (on Chapter 40)
    Chapter 41; also re-read Chapters 36-40.
    15 5/02: Atoms (Chapter 41.6-41.7)
    (Angular momentum and spectra);
    Mid-Term Exam 2 to be emailed to students
    5/04: Many-electron atoms (Chapters 41.7-41.8);
    Mid-Term Exam 2 (on Chapters 36-40)
    due by email to Professor Ringwald by 11:59 p.m.
    Chapters 41 and 42
    16 5/09: Many-electron atoms (Chapters 41.7-41.8) 5/11: Molecules and solids (Chapter 42);
    Applications: Lasers (41.9-41.10);
    Homework #9 due (on Chapter 43);
    Homework #10 due (on Chapter 41)
    Re-read Chapters 33-41 and 43.



    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.

  • All students are required to keep all course materials for the duration of the course. Retain all copies of all work you have done in all your classes, ever. Hang on to your textbooks, too: even the real stinkers can serve as bad examples.

  • 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.

    Sorry, but Professor Ringwald will under no circumstances give make-ups for Mid-Term Exams, nor will Professor Ringwald give Mid-Term or Final Exams in advance, not even for students who have legitimate reasons for being absent (including job interviews, illness documented by a physician's note, deaths in the immediate family that can be documented), or for students who are participating in University-sponsored activities, such as athletics or theatre. If any student must miss a Mid-Term Exam, the part of the course grade for which that Mid-Term Exam would have counted will be voided, and the rest of the grade will be counted as 100%.

    This is really the only possible solution, since it takes about eight hours of Professor Ringwald's time to prepare one of his cheat-proof exams, each of which must be different for every student who wants a make-up exam or an exam in advance. Scheduling make-up exams or exams in advance, in classes as large as Phys 4C, is also not humanly possible: during Professor Ringwald's first semesters at Fresno State he did allow make-up and advance exams, and quickly found it impossible to accomodate every student who wanted them, because there simply aren't enough hours in the week for it: this left no choice but to end the practice altogether of giving make-up exams and exams in advance. Even with smaller classes, one can never be sure that a makeup or advance exam was really fair, since it must be different from the regular exam.

    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.

    The above paragraph means that if anyone buys that student a plane ticket or otherwise arranges for that student to leave the Fresno area at the end of the term, whoever bought the ticket or make these arrangements is responsible for knowing when the Final Exam for this course is (listed above), and that students are not allowed to miss the Final Exam for this course for any reason other than an illness documented by a physician's note, or else that student will get a 0% on the Final Exam.

  • How exams are graded:
    If you don't remember the rules for significant digits, the following are four examples.

  • 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 2022 May 17. Webpage by Professor Ringwald (ringwald[at]csufresno.edu and replace [at] with @)
    Department of Physics, California State University, Fresno. Please read this disclaimer.