General Information
Instructor
John E. Smedley
Carnegie 332, x6323
jsmedley@bates.edu
Meeting Times
Class: Tuesday and Thursday, 9:30-10:50 a.m., Carnegie 204
Lab: Meets in Carnegie 328
Text/Materials
The text is Physics of Hi-Fi: Analog
to Digital, by Orest Symko. This book is recently
out of print, awaiting a new edition, but we have acquired permission to
use photocopies. You need a laboratory notebook - an 8 ½" x 11 " spiral
bound notebook is suggested. Bring a calculator to class and to lab.
College Course Catalog Description
Physics 104. Physics of Electronic Sound. An introduction to electromagnetism
and electronics through the analysis of high-fidelity sound recording and
reproduction, and room acoustics. Demonstrations and laboratory exercises
are integrated with class work.
Class
Class attendance is essential to success in this course. I supplement the
reading with demonstrations, videos, listening exercises and computer simulations.
These will be difficult to experience fully through a friend's notes. On
the syllabus, the reading assignment for a given day will be discussed in
class that day. I encourage you to read the text before class, and bring
in questions that arise. On most thursdays you work in groups on problems
that are handed in at the end of class. These will contribute to your final
grade. On tuesdays I introduce the laboratory for that week, while on thursdays
time is reserved for discussion of the lab write-up. Always ask questions!
Problem Assignments
At the end of each chapter in the text, there are two sections called Questions
for Review and Exercises. I provide solutions
to these on the course web page. After reading a given chapter, you
should work through as many of these as you can before using my solutions
as a guide. I'm happy to talk about any of the solutions during class. The
in-class problems on thursdays will be most representative of the types
of questions I ask on exams. Solutions to these problems will be posted
on the web page as we work through them during the semester.
Laboratory
Experimental work is an essential component of physics and of attempts to
understand nature. You are required to complete all laboratory experiments,
during your regularly scheduled lab section, in order to pass
the course. In the event of a medical situation or family emergency, you may
seek authorization from the Dean of Students and contact me to arrange make-up
of a missed lab, otherwise, come to the assigned lab section on time.
All your lab notes, measurements, analysis and conclusions are kept in your
lab notebook. Experiments are done on tuesdays and wednesdays, and laboratory
notebooks must be handed in by Friday at noon sharp. Notebooks are
graded and returned at the beginning of your next lab session. Detailed
lab notebook tips are available on the
web page.
The Project
You may work either in a small group of 2-3 or individually on a project.
The last three lab periods of the semester are designated as project time.
Some previous project activities include acoustical analysis of rooms on
campus, design of a concert hall and speaker building. We'll discuss project
ideas several times during the semester as the course evolves, and specific
project guidelines are provided on the web.
Grading
Final grades will be determined according to the following weighting scheme: