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

Phys 4C Light and Modern Physics - 2016 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 hours (between August 22 and December 8): MWTh 3:30-5:20
If students need to see Professor Ringwald outside office hours, please call or e-mail first.

Office: McLane Hall J-wing Room 11.
This is east of McLane 161, across the outdoor "hall" from McLane 149 and 151.

Students don't need an appointment to come to office hours. This is time set aside for you, when Professor Ringwald 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!


Course Description (from the Fresno State 2016-2017 General Catalog): (3 credits). Prerequisites: Phys 4B, Math 77. 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 75006 (Section 01), TuTh 2:00-3:15 p.m. in McLane 162.

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

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

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

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

Turn off and put away all phones and tablet, laptop, and wearable computers: the flickering of your screen distracts the people around you, even if you say you're using it for class. Take notes on paper.

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

Course grades will be awarded for the following final percentages:
85.00-100% = A; 70.00-84.99% = B; 60.00-69.99% = C; 50.00-59.99% = D; 0-49.99% = F.

These percentages will be computed from the following:

Do the homework even though it counts only a little. If you don't, you won't know the material during 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 web site 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 2016 November 17). Always do the readings before class:

    Week Tu Th Read by Tuesday of next week
    1 8/23: Introduction; Maxwell's equations
    (Chapter 34)
    8/25: Electromagnetic waves (Chapter 34) Chapters 34 and 35
    2 8/30: Electromagnetic radiation (Chapter 34) 9/01: Geometrical optics: reflection and refraction
    (Chapter 35)
    Chapter 36
    3 9/06: Image formation: mirrors
    (Chapter 36)
    9/08: Image formation: lenses (Chapter 36) Chapter 37
    4 9/13: Practical optics (Chapter 36)
    (cameras, eyes, telescopes, and microscopes)
    9/15: Interference of light waves (Chapter 37);
    Homework #1 due (on Chapter 34)
    Chapter 38
    5 9/20: Diffraction (Chapter 38) 9/22: Polarization (Chapter 38);
    Homework #2 due (on Chapter 35)
    Chapter 39;
    Re-read Chapters 34-36
    6 9/27: Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity
    (Chapter 39)
    9/29: Relativity (Chapter 39);
    Homework #3 due (on Chapter 36)
    Chapter 39
    7 10/04: Relativity (Chapter 39) 10/06: Mid-Term Exam 1 (on Chapters 34-36) Chapter 40
    8 10/11: Quantum physics (Chapters 40.1-40.2)
    (Thermal radiation and the Photoelectric Effect)
    10/13: Quantum physics (Chapter 40.2)
    (The Photoelectric Effect);
    Homework #4 due (on Chapter 37)
    Chapter 40
    9 10/18: Quantum physics (Chapters 40.3-40.5)
    (The Compton Effect and de Broglie waves)
    10/20: Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle
    (Chapters 40.6-40.8);
    Homework #5 due (on Chapter 38)
    Chapters 41.1-41.7;
    Chapters 42.1-42.3 and 42.8
    10 10/25: Quantum mechanics (Chapters 41.1-41.6)
    (The Schroedinger equation)
    10/27: Quantum mechanics (Chapters 41.1-41.6)
    (The QM Particle in a Box);
    Homework #6 due (on Chapter 39)
    Chapters 42.4-42.6
    11 11/01: The Bohr model of the H atom
    (Chapters 42.1-42.3); X-ray spectra (42.8)
    11/03: Atoms (Chapters 42.4-42.6) (QM H atom) Chapters 42.7-42.8;
    Chapters 44 and 45
    12 11/08: Atoms (Chapter 42.6-42.7)
    (Angular momentum and spectra)
    11/10: Many-electron atoms (Chapters 42.7-42.8);
    Homework #7 due (on Chapter 40)
    Chapters 42.7-42.8;
    Chapters 44 and 45
    13 11/15: Many-electron atoms (Chapters 42.7-42.8) 11/17: Nuclear structure (Chapter 44);
    Nuclear fission and fusion (Chapter 45);
    Homework #8 due (on Chapter 41)
    Re-read Chapters 37-41
    14 11/22: Nuclear structure (Chapter 44);
    Nuclear fission and fusion (Chapter 45)
    11/24: Holiday Chapter 43
    15 11/29: Nuclear structure (Chapter 44);
    Nuclear fission and fusion (Chapter 45)
    12/01: Mid-Term Exam 2 (on Chapters 37-41) Chapters 42.9-42.10, 43.8, and 46
    16 12/06: Molecules and solids (Chapter 43);
    Homework #9 due (on Chapter 42)
    12/08: No class Re-read Chapters 34-44





    Please note:

  • Class Attendance:
    All students are required and expected to attend all class sessions. All students are also expected to arrive for class on time, and to attend to the end of all class sessions. Doing otherwise is disruptive, in large classes like this. Please check your schedule and work out problems at the beginning of the semester. If you must miss a class for a compelling reason (e.g. job interview or illness documented by a physician's note), it is your responsibility to get the notes from another student. It is also your responsibility to check on announcements made while you were absent. To do this, check the notes taken by another student: I may or may not remember everything offhand.

    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: if you are, the instructor will require you to leave the classroom.

  • Always do the reading assignments before class. Class time is valuable: it is much better spent in informed, active discussion among us all than in just me talking. It always amazes me: the students who get "A"s are almost always the ones who keep up with the reading. The ones who don't, almost always are the ones who don't.

  • Don't be shy about asking questions in class, or during office hours. Remember that the only "dumb" question is the one you didn't ask, that fouled you up later because you didn't ask it. This is especially so in this class: there are some mighty strange things out there in the Universe.

  • Note taking: Everything I write during class, on the board or on overhead transparencies, is of primary importance for exams. Copy it into your own notes, which you may put between pages in the loose-leaf folder the Class Notes are in. Students who get grades of "A" often re-copy and re-organize their notes, after class. This makes learning active, and more thorough.

  • All students are required to turn off all portable phones, beepers, and pagers while classes are in session.

  • Laptop computers, tablet computers (such as iPads), and wearable computers (such as Google Glass) are NOT allowed during Phys 4C lectures or exams, not even for taking notes. If you need eyeglasses, use a pair without a wearable computer in them.

  • I often use e-mail to communicate with students, and please feel free to send e-mail to me. However, all assignments must be handed in as paper copies during class, which includes all homework.

  • NO late assignments can be accepted. Sorry, but it's just not possible, for classes this size. Assignments are due during the first five minutes of the class period specified by the due date, and will not be accepted at any time after this. Professor Ringwald does not allow or accept assignments slipped under his office door, or delivered to McLane 173 (the Department of Physics office), or e-mailed, or faxed, because they get lost so easily.

  • If any student in PSci 21 turns in work early or at any other time that does not suit the student, the student may not go through the other students' papers, in order to find and recover their work. This is a violation of other students' privacy, and it is also a form of cheating, and is a quite serious matter: if a student does not stop going through the other students' paper immediately when told by the instructor, that student will get a zero for that assignment, and may also be punished for cheating (see below). The instructor will return the submitted paper to the student when the other papers in that stack are returned to the other students in the class.

  • Always show all work in all course assignments, especially in homework involving mathematical calculations, including the units. Not showing all work, and the correct units, will be cause for the grader to take off points.

  • 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.

  • If a student wishes to withdraw from Phys 4C, the Dean of the College of Science and Mathematics may require written substantiation of the serious and compelling reasons for a withdrawal.

  • 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 probelms. 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.

    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. The reason for this is that, in the past, students who were allowed to take make-up and advance exams abused the privilege by attempting to use the situation to cheat. It is therefore quite impossible for Profesor Ringwald to give make-up exams or exams in advance without very substantial additional cost in his time (and it is not unusual for Profesor Ringwald to work 100-hour weeks creating opportunities for good students). If students never cheated, this might not be so difficult, but sadly, cheating is common enough to require serious steps to be taken to prevent it. 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 any student's parents or anyone else 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 (for example, any time after 3:16 p.m., in a class period that ended at 3:15 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.

    Calculators may be used for Phys 4C exams, but laptop computers may not. Electronic devices that can communicate outside the classroom, including Blackberries, Sidekicks, and cell phones, may not be used during Phys 4C exams.

  • 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 Madden Library (559-278-2811).

  • Honor Code: Members of the California State University, Fresno academic community adhere to principles of academic integrity and mutual respect while engaged in university work and related activities. Students should:

    (a) understand or seek clarification about expectations for academic integrity in this course (including no cheating, plagiarism and inappropriate collaboration)

    (b) neither give nor receive unauthorized aid on examinations or other course work that is used by the instructor as the basis of grading.

    (c) take responsibility to monitor academic dishonesty in any form and to report it to the instructor or other appropriate official for action.

    Instructors may require students to sign a statement on exams and assignments that “I have done my own work and have neither given nor received unauthorized assistance on this work." (This section on the honor code was a required syllabus policy statement by Fresno State.)

  • Cheating and Plagiarism: Cheating is the actual or attempted practice of fraudulent or deceptive acts for the purpose of improving one's grade or obtaining course credit; such acts also include assisting another student to do so. Typically, such acts occur in relation to examinations. However, it is the intent of this definition that the term 'cheating' not be limited to examination situations only, but that it include any and all actions by a student that are intended to gain an unearned academic advantage by fraudulent or deceptive means. Plagiarism is a specific form of cheating which consists of the misuse of the published and/or unpublished works of others by misrepresenting the material (i.e., their intellectual property) so used as one's own work. For more information on the University's policy regarding cheating and plagiarism, refer to the Class Schedule (Legal Notices on Cheating and Plagiarism) or the University Catalog (Policies and Regulations). (This paragraph was a required syllabus policy statement by Fresno State.)

    Students in Phys 4C may NOT collaborate with others on their homework assignments. Professor Ringwald used to encourage this, but too many students abused the privilege. Do the homework yourself: you will gain the maximum benefit from it this way. Remember: you NEED to practice doing these problems yourself for the exams, which count for most of the course grade. Professor Ringwald will be photographing this class several times, to get to know the class, and during exams, to prevent various forms of cheating.

  • Computers: At California State University, Fresno, computers and communications links to remote resources are recognized as being integral to the education and research experience. Every student is required to have his/her own computer or have other personal access to a workstation (including a modem and a printer) with all the recommended software. The minimum and recommended standards for the workstations and software, which may vary by academic major, are updated periodically and are available from Information Technology Services (http://www.fresnostate.edu/adminserv/technology/) or the University Bookstore. In the curriculum and class assignments, students are presumed to have 24-hour access to a computer workstation and the necessary communication links to the University's information resources. (This paragraph was a required syllabus policy statement by Fresno State.)

  • Disruptive Classroom Behavior: The classroom is a special environment in which students and faculty come together to promote learning and growth. It is essential to this learning environment that respect for the rights of others seeking to learn, respect for the professionalism of the instructor, and the general goals of academic freedom are maintained. Differences of viewpoint or concerns should be expressed in terms which are supportive of the learning process, creating an environment in which students and faculty may learn to reason with clarity and compassion, to share of themselves without losing their identities, and to develop and understanding of the community in which they live. Student conduct which disrupts the learning process shall not be tolerated and may lead to disciplinary action and/or removal from class. (This paragraph was a required syllabus policy statement by Fresno State.)

  • Copyright policy: Copyright laws and fair use policies protect the rights of those who have produced the material. The copy in this course has been provided for private study, scholarship, or research. Other uses may require permission from the copyright holder. The user of this work is responsible for adhering to copyright law of the U.S. (Title 17, U.S. Code). To help you familiarize yourself with copyright and fair use policies, the University encourages you to visit its copyright web page: http://www.fresnostate.edu/home/about/copyright.html
    For copyright Questions & Answers: http://libguides.csufresno.edu/copyright
    (This paragraph was a required syllabus policy statement by Fresno State.)

  • 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 for which Professor Ringwald is the instructor means that you accept all the above terms on this syllabus.


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

    Last updated 2016 November 17. Web page by Professor Ringwald (ringwald[at]csufresno.edu and replace [at] with @)
    Department of Physics, California State University, Fresno. Please read this disclaimer.