• Do the homework yourself. Not only does it count in the grading of the course, but it should let you know how well your understanding the material. Doing the homework will also prepare you for the Mid-Term Exams and Final Exams. Don't expect verbatim homework problems, however.
  

• Read the material in the text before you come to lecture. It's much harder to understand a lecture if one doesn't know at least roughly what the lecture will cover. Also, if you find something obscure in the reading, then you can ask Professor Ringwald about it during lecture. The readings are indicated in the course outline.
  

• Attend the lectures. Professor Ringwald will supplement the reading in the book through different presentations, working examples, and doing demonstrations. All students are responsible for everything covered in lecture, even if they don't attend. If Professor Ringwald decides to move a exam date and announces this during a lecture that you missed, you are still responsible for this.
  

• Plan to spend a minimum of 12 hours a week outside of class on this course. This course requires significantly more time in order to understand the material than most other courses.
  

• As soon as something is unclear please ask Professor Ringwald to clarify it, by email.

TENTATIVE Course Schedule (updated 2024 April 2). Always do the readings before class:

Please note:

Don't miss class. Listening to lectures and participating in discussions are much more effective than reading someone else's class notes. Active participation is even better: it will help you retain what you are learning.

This class will observe the five-minute rule: if I am five minutes late, you may go home. If you are five minutes late, you may go home. Don't be late.

All exams will be closed book and as such you may not use any notes or books during the exam, without the written permission of the instructor. Calculators, rulers, pencils, and erasers will be allowed. Phones or other devices that can communicate outside the classroom will not. Neither will laptop, notebook, tablet, or other kinds of computers (specifically defined as general-purpose machines with von Neumann architecture).

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), 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.

If for any reason a student leaves the classroom while an exam is being given, the student may not re-enter the classroom as long as that exam is still taking place. The student's leaving the exam will be taken to signify that the student has finished that exam. This includes trips to the bathroom, so plan ahead. Professor Ringwald regrets it has to be this way, but in the past students have attempted to cheat while doing this.

If a student absolutely must make a trip to the bathroom before finishing the exam, the student will be given an Incomplete (I) grade for the semester, just as if the student was sick. The student will then be responsible for resolving the I grade next semester, in the manner described in the Fresno State General Catalog.

Any student who arrives late for an exam, at any time after the majority of the other students are seated in their assigned seats, will have her or his grade on that exam lowered either by twenty percent or by one percent for each minute that student was late, whichever comes to more. Don't be late for exams.

Any student who turns in an exam at any time over one minute after the end of the class period in which the exam was given (e.g. any time after 7:56 p.m., in a class period that ended at 7:45 p.m.) will get a zero on that exam. Finish exams promptly.

Since during exams Professor Ringwald needs to supervise exams, he will not be able to discuss students' grades or assignment deadlines or to accept assignments during exams, until the exam is over. Professor Ringwald will be happy to answer any questions about the content of the exam in progress, however.

When taking exams, every student is required to sit in the assigned seat listed in the seating chart given on the front cover of the exam. Not doing so, without the explicit permission of the instructor, will earn a 0% for the exam.

All students are required to remove sunglasses and earphones of any kind during all exams, because they have in the past been used to aid cheating.

For 3-point problems, grades are the sum of the following, with a minimum of 0:


-3 points for work not shown, even if a numerical answer given is correct.

-1 points for the correct physics or formula but an incorrect numerical answer.

-2 points for a numerical answer over a factor of 100 or less than a factor of 1/100, or incorrect or irrelevant, incorrect, or incorrectly applied physics or formula.

-1 points for incorrect or omitted units.

-1 points for excessive digits that are not significant,
or an insufficient number of significant digits to express the numerical answer accurately.

The ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter is written as π. This is an irrational number with digits that go on forever, because a circle can be thought of as a polygon with an infinite number of sides. Approximately, π = 3.14159265...


Example 1 for the correct number of significant digits: (1.0) × π = 3.1

Example 2 for the correct number of significant digits: (1.00) × π = 3.14

Example 3 for the correct number of significant digits: (1.000) × π = 3.142

Example 4 for the correct number of significant digits: (1.0000) × π = 3.1416

Safety Measures: Face coverings will not be required during class at the beginning of Spring 2024 semester. The Student Health and Counseling Center has complimentary masks available for students who need them. The mask requirement may be modified if/when transmission rates in Fresno Country reach appropriate thresholds identified by the CDC.

Please remember that the same student conduct rules for in-person classroom instruction also apply for virtual/online classrooms. Students are prohibited from any unauthorized recording, dissemination, or publication of any academic presentation, including any online classroom instruction, for any commercial purpose. In addition, students may not record or use virtual/online instruction in any manner that would violate copyright laws. Students are to use all online/virtual instruction exclusively for the educational purpose of the online class in which the instruction is being provided. Students may not record any online recordings or post any online recordings on any other format (e.g., electronic, video, social media, audio recording, web page, internet, hard paper copy, etc.) for any purpose without the explicit written permission of the faculty member providing the instruction. Exceptions for disability-related accommodations will be addressed by Student Disability Services working in conjunction with the student and faculty member.

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

• Adding and Dropping Classes
  
• Cheating and Plagiarism
  
• Computers
  
• Copyright Policy
  
• Disruptive Classroom Behavior
  
• Honor Code
  
• Title IX

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

• Associated Students, Inc.
  
• Students with Disabilities
  
• Dream Success Center
  
• Library
  
• Learning Center Information
  
• Student Health and Counseling Center
  
• SupportNet Information
  
• Survivor Advocacy
  
• Writing Center

Questions and Assistance: Contact the Undergraduate Studies office

Useful Links

• Office of IDEAS (formerly Center for Faculty Excellence)
  
• Office of Institutional Effectiveness
  
• Student Outcomes Assessment Program (SOAP)