CORE-UA 214-001 How Things Work Spring 2023

Course Instructor: Philip Ponce de Leon Office Hours: Friday, 3:00-5:00pm

Course E-mail: htw.sp2023.nyu@gmail.com Office: 726 Broadway, Room 1035

Meeting Times & Places

Meeting Location Instructor Day Time

T 11:00am – 12:15pm
Lecture Meyer 121 Philip Ponce de Leon
R 11:00am – 12:15pm
Lab 002 T 03:30pm – 04:45pm
Aishwarya Ravindran, ar6844@nyu.edu
Lab 003 T 04:55pm – 06:10pm
Lab 004 W 09:30am – 10:45am
Venkata Palacherla, vp2201@nyu.edu
Lab 005 W 11:00am – 12:15pm
Silver 203
Lab 006 W 12:30pm – 01:45pm
Almas Purisic, ap4796@nyu.edu
Lab 007 W 02:00pm – 03:15pm
Lab 008 W 03:30pm – 04:45pm
Ajay Sivacoumare, as15799@nyu.edu
Lab 009 W 04:55pm – 06:10pm

Course Description
Do you know how electricity is generated and transported? How instruments create music?
Why the sky is blue and why there are rainbows? Why they are called “cell phones”? What makes
refrigerator magnets stick? How do computers work? How your computer monitor and plasma
screen TV produce their colors and pictures?
All of the devices that define contemporary living are applications of basic scientific discoveries.
The principles underlying these devices are fascinating as well as useful, and explain as well many
of the natural features and phenomena of the world around us. This course familiarizes you with
some basic principles of physics through their applications to selected devices such as CD and DVD
players, radio and cell phones, the basic electronic components of computers, lasers and LEDs, why
the sky is blue, how rainbows are made, and lenses. In learning the basic physics behind these
modern inventions, you will develop a deeper understanding of how the physical world works and
gain a new appreciation of everyday phenomena that are ordinarily taken for granted. The course
is designed for non-science students with an interest in the natural world. The basic physical ideas
needed to understand how things operate are presented using some mathematics, but none beyond
elementary high school-level.

Required Materials
1. How Things Work: The Physics of Everyday Life by Louis A. Bloomfield, John Wiley and Sons.
(WileyPLUS access is required for homework assignments)

“The book for this course How Things Work, by Bloomfield will be delivered to you through
the WileyPLUS platform. The cost of the book is $64.75 which will be added as a “book charge”
to your bursar bill, this is a savings of $47.25 over the publisher’s loose-leaf bundle price.
Should you decide to remove yourself from the program and find your course materials else-
where, you must login to the student portal and opt out of having the course materials provided
to you by February 7th. If you do not opt out by then you will be charged.”

2. How Things Work Laboratory Manual - available at the NYU Bookstore.

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Lecture
The topics covered in lecture will complement the weekly labs, and the homework and exams
will primarily test your understanding of these topics. They will track the textbook but the material
may be presented in a different manner or go beyond what is included in the text. You should read
assigned textbook sections BEFORE the associated lecture and make note of any questions.
Please ask these questions in lecture! If there is something you don’t understand, many
other students are likely having the same trouble. Lecture is the best place to resolve these very
common points of confusion. A portion of your grade will be based on course participation. One
way we will gauge that participation is through your responses to in lecture questions using Poll
Everywhere (see section below for more details).
I expect you to take notes during lecture and advise that you capture not only what is presented
on the board but also the explanations I give verbally and the results of in-class demonstrations.
This is not an online course, and I will not be distributing lecture notes or recordings
on Brightspace. If you will be missing lecture with a valid excuse (e.g., illness, religious holiday,
etc.), you can contact me at htw.sp2023.nyu@gmail.com, ideally in advance, and I will share lecture
material with you privately. If you abuse this policy or share the material with others (I can see
who views it), I will revoke this privilege.
Lastly, if there is some aspect of the pace, content, or structure of the course you believe could
be improved, please give feedback as soon as possible.

Laboratory
These weekly sessions are an essential part of the course. You must be registered for one
lab section and you may only attend this section. Everyone must submit their own individual
lab report for each experiment performed, even if the experiment was performed in groups. The lab
report should include answers to all questions and any data you may have collected. The lab
report will be due in lab one week after the experiment has been performed, unless the
class in not scheduled to meet (e.g., spring break), in which case it is due at the following meeting.
You are required to carefully read the laboratory instructions BEFORE you attend
the lab. To encourage you to do this, a short lab quiz will be given via Brightspace.
Your performance on the quiz will be factored into the grade on your lab report. Quizzes are
released on Thursdays at 12:15pm and due Monday by 11:55pm. You will have 10 minutes to finish
the lab quiz. Once you open the quiz, the timer starts and cannot be stopped. Plan accordingly.
Late lab quizzes will not be accepted.
If you will miss lab for a valid reason (e.g., illness, religous holiday, etc.), you MUST
fill out the Lab Absence Form on the Brightspace site under the Content tab. There
are no make-up labs. If your absence request is approved, you will be excused from that experiment
and be given a one week extension on your lab report from the previous week. Unexcused absences
will result in a grade of zero for the missed experiment and will not receive an extension for the
past week’s lab report. If you show up late to the lab or leave before finishing the experiment, you
will be docked points.

***If you miss an excessive number of labs, excused or not, you can expect to
receive an Incomplete for the course.

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Assessments and Policies

Assessment Weight Details

Laboratory 25% 10 Lab Reports (due 1 week after experiment)
Homework (WileyPLUS) 15% 10 Problem Sets (due 11:59pm ET, Thursdays)
Participation 5% Poll Everywhere & TA feedback
Midterm Exam 1 15% Thursday February 23rd, 11:00am in Meyer 121
Midterm Exam 2 15% Thursday March 30th, 11:00am in Meyer 121
Final Exam (Cumulative) 25% Time & Location TBA
EXAM POLICIES

ˆ All exams will be in multiple-choice format and a formula sheet will be provided. You will
need to bring a calculator to all exams. You may not use a cell-phone, laptop, or any
other communication device during the exams.
ˆ No alternative exam dates will be offered (i.e., no make-up dates)
ˆ If you will be absent from a midterm exam for a valid reason (e.g., illness, religous
holiday, etc.), you must contact me beforehand at htw.sp2023.nyu@gmail.com. If
excused, your grade for that exam will be set equal to your grade on the final
exam.
ˆ If you are absent from an exam without a valid excuse, you will receive a grade
of zero on that exam.
ˆ The final exam will be cumulative. If you are excused from the final exam, an incomplete
will be assigned for the course. You must discuss a make-up plan with the course instructor.

LATE POLICY FOR HOMEWORK AND LAB REPORTS

ˆ Homework assignments and lab reports submitted after their due date will be marked late
and lose credit.
ˆ Up to one week after the original due date, assignments will be eligible to receive 75% of the
original credit.
ˆ Up to two weeks after the original due date, assignments will be eligible to receive 50% of the
original credit.
ˆ Beyond two weeks after the original due date, assignments will not be accepted. They will
receive a grade of zero.
ˆ If you have been excused from lab and received a one week extension on your previous week’s
lab report, the late policy begins counting from the new due date. No extension will be given
for homework assignments.

Poll Everywhere
Poll Everywhere is an amazing resource we will use in this course to gauge understanding and
enhance participation in lecture. It is freely available to all NYU students. You will be required
to register for an account and should receive an email during the first week of class with further
instructions. Registering allows us to associate answers with your account. These answers will not
be graded for correctness, but they will factor into your participation grade.

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Course Schedule

Date Lecture Lab HW

T Jan 24 Introduction
No labs
R Jan 26 1.1: Skating, 1.2: Falling Balls
T Jan 31 1.3: Ramps
Lab 1: Math Review
R Feb 2 2.1: Seesaws, 2.2: Wheels PS1
T Feb 7 2.3: Bumper Cars
Lab 2: Kinematics
R Feb 9 3.3: Carousels, 4.2: Rockets PS2
T Feb 14 9.2: Musical Instruments
Lab 3: Measuring the Speed of Sound
R Feb 16 3.1: Spring Scales, 9.1: Clocks PS3
T Feb 21 Catch-up & Exam 1 Review Exam 1 Review
R Feb 23 Midterm Exam 1
T Feb 28 10.1: Static Electricity
Lab 4: Current Flow & Ohm’s Law
R Mar 2 10.2: Xerographic copiers PS4
T Mar 7 10.3: Flashlights
Lab 5: Capacitors
R Mar 9 11.1: Household Magnets PS5
T Mar 14 Spring Break
R Mar 16 Spring Break
T Mar 21 11.2: Power Distribution
Lab 6: Magnetism
R Mar 23 12.1: Radio, 12.2: Microwaves PS6
T Mar 28 Catch-up & Exam 2 Review Exam 2 Review
R Mar 30 Midterm Exam 2
T Apr 4 13.1: Sunlight
Lab 7: Interference & Diffraction of Light
R Apr 6 13.2: Discharge Lamps PS7
T Apr 11 13.3: LEDs and Lasers
Lab 8: Reflection, Refraction, & Dispersion
R Apr 13 14.2: Optical Recording PS8
T Apr 18 7.1: Woodstoves
Lab 9: Spectroscopic Analysis of Light
R Apr 20 7.3: Clothing, Insulation PS9
T Apr 25 8.1: Air Conditioners
Lab 10: The Photoelectric Effect
R Apr 27 8.2: Automobiles PS10
T May 2 15: Nuclear Physics
Final Exam Review
R May 4 Final Exam Review TBD
TBD Final Exam (Cumulative)

Assignment Due Dates

ˆ All homework assignments are due by 11:59pm (ET). For example, Problem Set 1 is due by
Thursday February 2 at 11:59pm.